James Lavigne had been mayor of Pearl River, La. for 24 years. He lost the last election and called an emergency meeting Wednesday to say goodbye.
New Orleans CBS affiliate WWLTV had investigated Lavigne for “questionable spending and operations” which was followed by a report by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office which also questioned his spending. In October, he was indicted on seven counts including theft and malfeasance.
The New Orleans Advocate reports Lavigne wasn’t happy when the media showed up at his goodbye.
When reporters began showing up at Pearl River Town Hall, the 74-year-old Lavigne began threatening to leave, demanding to be told who had informed the news media of the meeting.
“It’s a public meeting,” said Ashley Rodrigue, of WWL-TV, who broke the story on financial irregularities at the town. “It was all over Facebook,” she added.
“Facebook can kiss my ass, and you too and Channel 4 news,” Lavigne said as he got into his town-owned GMC Denali and drove away.