Kevin Naquin, the city-parish councilman who led the charge to prevent Acadian Ambulance from getting whopping rate increases in 2012, [in]explicably recuses himself from a vote this year that gave Acadian exactly what it sought.
The city-parish councilman who led the charge to prevent Acadian Ambulance from getting whopping rate increases in 2012 [in]explicably recuses himself from a vote this year that gave Acadian exactly what it sought. By Walter Pierce
It was a stunning moment at the Lafayette City-Parish Council meeting on Jan. 8: After council members discussed at length proposed rate increases in the parish for Acadian Ambulance, which has an exclusive contract with Lafayette Consolidated Government - a monopoly in many observers' eyes - Councilman Kevin Naquin, a first-term newbie in politics better known as a Cajun accordionist but who has distinguished himself as a thoughtful councilman who does his homework, recused himself from the vote. Stunning because in February 2012 Naquin led the charge to block Acadian from getting similarly whopping rate increases.
Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Kevin Naquin
The council on Jan. 8 approved the rate increases unanimously, 8-0. Even if Naquin had exhibited his 2012 moxie and voted against the resolution granting the increase, it would have sailed through. The vote followed a unanimous vote by the parish's Emergency Medical Service Advisory Board - Drs. David Barczyk and Anthony Blalock, Bradley Cruise, André Fruge, Donna Landry and William Ritchey - in December granting the hikes.
Acadian's rate for emergency transport will rise from $673 to $822 this year and to $971 in 2014 - a 44 percent increase over two years. Non-emergency service will rise from $376 to $516 this year and in 2014 will jump to $657. That's an almost 75 percent increase over the two-year period. Currently fighting a $17 million judgement in an Avoyelles Parish class action suit over its billing practices,
Acadian got exactly what it was asking for this year from the City-Parish Council, unlike 2012 when amendments sponsored by Naquin undid similar hikes.
So why the remarkable moment? Turns out, Councilman Naquin paid attention during his state-mandated ethics training after winning election in 2011 to represent District 1 in northwest Lafayette Parish. When he's not squeezing out the chanky-chank or serving on the council, Naquin is a full-time sales representative for US Med-Equip, a Houston-based company that specializes in sales and rental of medical equipment, and last summer, months after he batted off Acadian's push for rate increases similar to the ones approved on Jan. 8, the ambulance company signed a contract for services with US Med-Equip.
"When it was brought to my attention that we would be doing repair work and possibly renting equipment to Acadian Ambulance in Texas, which is our home office, and some in Louisiana, I contacted Michael Hebert the [city-parish] attorney and said, Michael, this is what's going on,'" Naquin recalls. Hebert told him that voting on council matters involving Acadian could constitute a conflict of interest, even though Naquin made sure he had no contact with Acadian representatives in his capacity as a representative of US Med-Equip. (At his request a company representative from New Orleans drove to Lafayette to meet with Acadian about the contract; that employee will earn commissions on the Acadian contract.)
Naquin also discussed the situation with fellow council members, some of whom told him they thought because he didn't have a financial stake in the deal he could vote on Acadian matters and not run afoul of state ethics laws. But Naquin was circumspect. "I decided it's just not worth it," he says. "[Acadian] came to us, to the council members [before the Jan. 8 vote], and showed us the plan, but I told them, You can show me all the plans you want but I'm telling you right now, I'm not voting on it.'"