NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥� A southeast Louisiana official has been accused of committing perjury for failing to disclose information related to a in the state's in response to a lawsuit brought by a prominent local climate activist.
St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard denied in a deposition that she knew her mother-in-law could have benefited financially from parish rezoning plans to make way for a 222-acre (90-hectare) grain export facility along the Mississippi River.
Hotard also said in court filings, under oath, that no correspondence existed between her and her mother-in-law about the grain terminal, even though her mother-in-law later turned over numerous text messages where they discussed the grain terminal and a nearby property owned by the mother-in-law's marine transport company, court records show.
The text messages were disclosed as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by Joy Banner, who along with her sister, Jo Banner, successfully led efforts to earlier this year. It would have been built within 300 feet (91 meters) of their property and close to historic sites in the predominantly where they grew up.
The legal dispute is part of a broader clash and , pitting officials eager to greenlight economic development against challenging industrial expansion in the heavily industrialized 85-mile industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans often referred to by environmental activists as 鈥淐ancer Alley.鈥�
鈥淲e are residents that are just trying to protect our homes and just trying to live our lives as we have a right to do,鈥� Banner said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The Banner sisters gained national attention after cofounding the Descendants Project, an organization dedicated to historic preservation and racial justice.
In the text messages turned over as part of Joy Banner's lawsuit, Hotard, the parish president, says that she wished to 鈥渃hoke鈥� Joy Banner and used profanities to describe her. Hotard also said of the Banner sisters: 鈥淚 hate these people.鈥�
Hotard and her attorney, Ike Spears, did not respond to requests for comment after Tuesday's filing. Richard John Tomeny, the lawyer representing Hotard's mother-in-law, Darla Gaudet, declined to comment.
Banner initially sued the parish in federal court in December 2023 after Hotard and another parish councilman, Michael Wright, threatened her with arrest and barred her from speaking during a public comment period at a November 2023 council meeting.
鈥淚n sum: a white man threatened a Black woman with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a public meeting,鈥� Banner's lawsuit says. It accuses the parish of violating Banner's First Amendment rights.
Wright and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Hotard and Wright have disputed Banner's version of events in court filings.
At the November 2023 meeting, Banner attempted to highlight Hotard's alleged conflict of interest in approving a zoning change to enable the grain export facility's construction. Banner had also recently filed a complaint to the Louisiana Board of Ethics against Hotard pointing out that her mother-in-law allegedly would benefit financially because she owned and managed a marine transport company that had land 鈥渘ear and within鈥� the area being rezoned.
In response to a discovery request, Hotard submitted a court filing saying 鈥渘o such documents exist鈥� between her and her mother-in-law discussing the property, the grain terminal or Joy Banner, according to the recent motion filed by Banner's attorneys. Hotard also said in her August deposition that she had 鈥渘o idea鈥� about her mother-in-law's company's land despite text messages showing Hotard and her mother-in-law had discussed this property less than three weeks before Hotard's deposition.
Banner's lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial early next year.
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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96
Jack Brook, The Associated Press
