The race for Lafayette city marshal may not be the most exciting of this year's local political contests, but it could prove the most historic.
The race for Lafayette city marshal may not be the most exciting of this year's local political contests, but it could prove the most historic. By Patrick Flanagan
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014
So far this year, attention has mostly focused on the Lafayette Parish School Board races and the challenge by a retired assistant district attorney against his vulnerable former boss, with the city marshal's contest taking the backseat. The DA and school board races will surely keep their places in the spotlight going into election day Nov. 4, but there is a story here, too. It's an intrigue-filled political contest, one with historic implications, big ideas, rumors, allegations and a 30-year incumbent facing three challengers, all with intertwining back stories hinged on the possibility of Lafayette voting a new city marshal into office for the first time in 66 years.
In his 30 years as Lafayette City Marshal, Earl "Nicky" Picard has never been more vulnerable than he is in this year's campaign for six more years in office. The competition will be tough, especially from challengers Brian Pope and Kip Judice, while Joseph Cormier won't be helping matters, as he and Picard are the only Democrats running - a factor that could result in split votes in the city's more liberal-leaning and black precincts.
Both the Lafayette city court and marshal's office were jointly created by legislation passed over a century ago. The deputies of the marshal's office have the same powers as police officers and sheriff's deputies, but ultimately they work at the mercy of the city court, carrying out orders, delivering subpoenas and executing arrest warrants.
THE CHALLENGERS
Joseph Cormier
Cormier and Picard are no strangers; their relationship goes back to 1996 just as Picard was finishing his second term since being appointed in 1984. Cormier would force Picard's first run for re-election, but after pulling a mere 27 percent of the vote, the former policeman/deputy gave Picard a third term in office.
With no challengers in 2002, Picard walked into his fourth term. Six years passed and Cormier was back to give Picard his second run for re-election. Like their first go-around in 1996, Cormier again lost by 73 percent of the vote. Cormier would also leave something for Picard to remember that race: a federal lawsuit claiming the marshal had defamed Cormier's character during the campaign by leaking a confidential police file to a TV reporter; the suit would eventually be dismissed by a federal magistrate judge.
Now, with Picard trying for a sixth term - he already holds the record for Lafayette - the 65-year-old Cormier is back, but this time the stakes have drastically changed, for him and the marshal.
According to an AOC televised Sept. 19 candidate forum - The IND was unable to reach the opponent by phone - Cormier's campaign has targeted Picard's decision to arm his deputy marshals with machine guns, Tasers and K-9 drug dogs. "We don't need automatic weapons or dogs," Cormier said during the forum. For the most part, Cormier has largely saved his criticisms for Picard, especially over his longevity in office. Cormier's suggestion: Two terms would have been plenty.
Brian Pope
The 49-year-old Pope (the only Republican in the race) says throughout his entire law enforcement career - 20 years with the marshal's office, 10 of those as Picard's third in line - he has had his eye on becoming marshal. Pope has been waiting for this year's election since 2008, following Picard's last re-election.
According to Pope, Picard indicated back in 2008 that he would step aside next time around, giving Pope his chance to run. Yet, about midway into last year, Pope says he realized Picard wasn't going anywhere. So, Pope retired and launched his campaign against his former boss.
"To bring this office into the future, that's why I'm running," says Pope. "I've got proven leadership, and if I'm elected it would allow for a seamless transition to keep the office where it is."
While Pope is quick to credit the marshal's office with being one of the best in the state, he also says there's room for improvements, mostly in terms of the diversity of its deputies.
"The office just doesn't reflect the complexion of this city," says Pope. "We have a recruitment plan in place, but in the end, the hiring and firing is all done by the marshal."
Pope also takes issue with Picard's affinity for out-of-state extraditions, which on many occasions have required travelling across the country.
"I think instituting a certain mile radius would be more cost-effective," says Pope. "Most of these people have been convicted, and most, not all, but most have paid their fines. The trigger oftentimes is them not doing their classes, which triggers a bench warrant for not completing their probationary conditions."
Kip Judice
Judice is also 49 years old, a longtime sheriff's deputy and the candidate with the biggest ideas for changing the marshal's office.
Judice, who's registered as an independent, is calling for more of a consolidated relationship with the sheriff's office, in addition to a more conservative approach to out-of-state extraditions, the cost of which oftentimes falls on the marshal's office, all depending on how the judge rules in a case.
"I feel confident I can come to the table not with just [Sheriff Mike] Neustrom, but with Chief [Jim] Craft and whoever the other future police chiefs are," says Judice. "When law enforcement works together, one group loses and it's the criminals."
Judice has also led the charge in criticizing Picard for the lack of diversity among his deputies.
"There's no diversity in that office, and that's one of the things that got my attention in running for office," says Judice. "If I didn't think I could improve it, I wouldn't run."
Judice admits Picard has done a good in his 30 years as marshal, but he also believes there's plenty of room to improve and make it a more streamlined office. And as far as the other two challengers are concerned, Judice says it's time to come up with some ideas of their own.
"Picard continues to talk about 1984 and a job well done, but nothing about where we're going in the future. And Brian, well he keeps on about keeping their television program and continuing with their accreditations. He recognizes that diversity is an issue, but that's a platform I've been addressing since the start of this race."
Judice's other proposed initiatives include a data collection effort to better understand why people don't show up for court, and a consolidation of the computer software used by the sheriff's and marshal's offices to keep tabs on each other's warrants and avoid the duplication of services by the agencies.
"Right now if you failed to show up in court for a speeding ticket, and you're also wanted in district court for committing a felony, that's not put into the same system," explains Judice. "So the deputy sheriff assigned to your felony and the deputy city marshal assigned to your traffic ticket, these two agencies will both show up at your house, sometimes within minutes of each other. And I've talked with the sheriff about this and [he] agreed there's things we could do."
THE INCUMBENT
With 61 years in law enforcement under his belt, Earl "Nicky" Picard walks the blue line; he probably bleeds blue, too.
Picard has been the Lafayette city marshal for the last 30 years. But before becoming marshal, Picard served as a Louisiana State Police trooper from 1953 until his retirement in the early 1980s. His retirement, however, wouldn't mark the end of his career as an officer of the law, and on July 1, 1984, Picard was appointed city marshal by what at the time was the Lafayette Parish Council, making him the 10th person to serve in the history of the post.
Out of his nine predecessors - including a woman who served nine years - Picard has been marshal the longest, and now he's trying to add another six-year term to his three decades in office.
Though he's mostly gone unopposed, Picard has had to defend his office twice before - in 1996 and again in 2008 - both times against the same challenger, Joseph Cormier. Picard took both of those elections without even breaking a sweat, pulling more than 73 percent of the vote each time. But the times have changed since his last run in 2008, and for Picard, this year's re-election is different from anything he's encountered before. This time around, he's not only dealing with Cormier, but two new challengers, both with aggressive campaigns that have no doubt endangered Picard's chances for another six years.
Asked for his thoughts on the difference between this year's re-election and past years - namely the emergence of so many challengers - Picard, without missing a beat, points to Oct. 10, the day he'll celebrate his 83rd birthday.
"There's no question in my mind that if I was 10 years younger, no one would be running against me; it's all about age," Picard says. "But as long as you have your mind, well, it's mind over matter and age doesn't matter."
And Picard is as witty and sharp as they come. In our 1.5 hour conversation, Picard had endless stories to offer for each and every question, all with picturesque detail and not a moment of hesitation on the who, what, when and where for each of the stories spanning the last six decades of his career in law enforcement.
One thing that quickly becomes evident in talking with Picard is that he's proud of his accomplishments as marshal, and that record, he says, is the message he's running on.
"Today, we probably have the No. 1 marshal's office the state of Louisiana," says Picard. "The other candidates keep saying they'll do a better job, but what they're not saying is how. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I think I know where to get most of 'em."
Picard is also quick to rattle off some the firsts that he's introduced during his 30 years as marshal, including: installation of the first courtroom metal detectors in Acadiana (1989), cruiser dash cams and laptops, K-9 drug dogs, Tasers, body cameras (yes, his deputies wear body cams), a pay plan allowing deputy marshals to receive overtime and training pay, as well as the expansion of the office arsenal with rifles, shotguns and machine guns.
Picard isn't shy in addressing his opponents' criticism either.
One factor at play in the election centers on a falling out between Picard and Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike Neustrom, which could very well translate into a boost for the campaign of Kip Judice, a 29-year veteran of the sheriff's office (currently on leave while he campaigns) who is expected to make a good showing Nov. 4, especially if he gets the backing of his 400 fellow employees at the sheriff's office.
Picard speaks highly of Neustrom, describing him as an "honest guy, a man of integrity, a good man," and gives himself credit for Neustrom's first election in 1993. But that would prove Picard's last time endorsing Neustrom.
The issue between the two started with Neustrom's decision to stop giving commissions to deputy marshals, citing a potential liability. But it would be another move by Neustrom that would seal the deal on their relationship.
"When he made the decision in 2007 to quit booking drunk drivers, and just give 'em summonses, without bond or anything, well, Kip Judice was one of those behind that, him and the warden, Rob Reardon, and I told them it was against the law and it would make my job more difficult," recalls Picard. "We used to meet almost every day. We haven't met since."
The issue eventually went before then-Attorney General Charles Foti, and while the practice was reverted to the old way of locking up DWI offenders (albeit on low, easy-to-meet bail), that wouldn't be the case for the relationship between the sheriff and marshal.
Picard also disputes a claim from challenger Pope. Since announcing his campaign earlier this year, Pope - Picard's former chief deputy/right-hand man - has maintained that his original plan was to run for city marshal in 2008. Yet he held off, saying an agreement was made that come 2014, Picard would step aside, retire and open the door for Pope to ensure success for the job he'd been training for his whole career.
"That's just not true; he probably made that up," claims Picard. "What happened is he took vacation on Dec. 22 and was due back Jan. 7, and without telling me anything he went and retired on the afternoon of Jan. 6. I had no idea until human resources told me, so I went in his office that morning and all the walls were clean. He didn't have the decency or respect to come talk to me, and I had to call the man's father to get him to turn in his uniforms and weapons, his vests and his computer."
Picard also takes issue with several of the criticisms and proposals coming from the Judice campaign, namely that he'll travel far distances to apprehend a criminal wanted by the Lafayette City Court. From Picard's perspective, regardless of whether the wanted person is in Opelousas or Alaska, it's his job to get them in court.
"I get criticized because I go to far-flung places to get people and bring them to court, but I'm doing my job," argues Picard. "If I don't get them, then the prosecutor can't do his job and the court can't do their job. Drunk driving isn't a traffic offense, it's criminal, and if I make no attempt to bring them in, how do I live with myself?"
Picard is also troubled with Judice's intentions for running, and recalls several meetings between the two earlier this year.
"He came sat in my office, more than once actually, saying, Marshal, you're not a con, I would never run against you," says Picard. "But then, he comes here one day saying he's concerned with my age: You're getting old marshal.' Is that a reason to run for marshal because the incumbent is old? Age and experience go together, don't they? I'm the oldest serving marshal in the history of this court, so I'm just supposed to go to pasture after I've brought this office into the 21st century? Well, I know I've done my job, I've got a 30-year record to run on, and I'm feeling good."