FIRST IN PRINT: President's race heats up; Ourso confronts Stevens on medical center vote

A vote last week on introducing an ordinance allowing Parish President J. Mitchell Ourso Jr. to negotiate for land for a new medical center led to the first public confrontation between Ourso and his only announced opponent, Parish Councilman Eugene P. Stevens Jr.

Unrecognized by the council chair, Ourso took the microphone at the Parish Council meeting to question why Stevens voted for the introduction when a campaign poll he is running said Stevens favored rebuilding River West Medical Center, rather than build the free-standing emergency room and walk-in clinic that Ourso is working for.

“Mr. Stevens wants to reopen River West to save the taxpayers...and he votes for me to intro to acquire the land,” Ourso said. He said he wanted to say to Stevens, “I'm confused. Which one you for?”

Stevens stood up behind the council dais, as Council Chairman Matthew H. “Matt” Jewell of Maringouin gaveled.

“You're out of order,” Jewell told the parish president, who left the council chamber.

“He was directing it at me and I stood up and he walks out,” Stevens recalled the scene in an interview Monday. He said he couldn't hear what Ourso was saying.

Stevens said he voted for the introduction of the ordinance because Ourso “had me outnumbered, and I don't want the people to be without a hospital.”

Stevens said he had favored further negotiations with the group of local doctors who bought River West shortly before it was closed, but the parish president gave the council a report and closed the discussion.

“The council did not have a choice on it,” Stevens said. “He had his seven little people who are going to vote with him every time, so why should I vote against him?”

The Ourso Administration has said the doctors rejected the sale at the appraised value of the damaged hospital, and that under Louisiana law the parish could not pay more.

“They've been running a slander poll for the last week and a half,” Ourso told the POST/SOUTH later. He said his wife was one of those called to answer some 20 minutes worth of questions, which he said contained false information on him from his stand on the Baton Rouge Loop Project to Iberville's unemployment rate during his tenure, and comments about his father, the late Sheriff Jessel M. Ourso Sr.

“As a public official, I stand to be accused,” the parish president said. “I don't care about none of this stuff [sic], but they need to leave my daddy alone. My daddy's been dead 33 years. Let him rest in peace.”

“He slandered Michael Distefano when he ran,” Stevens alleged. “What's the difference in me doing a poll?” He said Ourso ran an ad headlined “Straight Talk” every week during his 1997 campaign against Distefano to become Iberville's first parish president.

“He was always talking about the DA's office and about the machine he was running against,” Stevens said. “Now, he's talking about me. I'm slandering him? Because I never said anything bad about anybody.”

Stevens would not discuss the poll questions included on the survey run for him last week by Myers Research.

“It's my poll, and I want to get the results before anything,” the councilman said. “Numbers are numbers, and whatever they are, good or bad, they're going to tell me what I need to do.”

Stevens had been the Parish Council's first and only chairman until April 2000 when he resigned rather than face a challenge from Jewell, who was elected in a 10-3 vote. Stevens lost a head to head contest for the chairmanship to Jewell in January in a 7-6 vote, and announced his candidacy for parish president shortly afterwards.

Whatever the poll results are, Stevens said he is going ahead with his race against Ourso. He said he has not started raising money, but has hired the campaign firm of Ourso-Beychok of Baton Rouge to handle his race.

“I ain't playing around,” he said. “I'm going to do this one time, going for the gusto.”

“If you don't have nothing to talk about yourself and what you’re going to do, then all you have is to knock down your opponent,” Ourso said.

“I feel very, very confident,” the parish president said of his own race. “I said it was my last around, and I mean it. This is my last round. My mission is health care in Iberville. That's my mission as I wind down my career.”

President's race heats up

Ourso confronts Stevens

on medical center vote

By Deidre Cruse

Government Reporter

A vote last week on introducing an ordinance allowing Parish President J. Mitchell Ourso Jr. to negotiate for land for a new medical center led to the first public confrontation between Ourso and his only announced opponent, Parish Councilman Eugene P. Stevens Jr.

Unrecognized by the council chair, Ourso took the microphone at the Parish Council meeting to question why Stevens voted for the introduction when a campaign poll he is running said Stevens favored rebuilding River West Medical Center, rather than build the free-standing emergency room and walk-in clinic that Ourso is working for.

“Mr. Stevens wants to reopen River West to save the taxpayers...and he votes for me to intro to acquire the land,” Ourso said. He said he wanted to say to Stevens, “I'm confused. Which one you for?”

Stevens stood up behind the council dais, as Council Chairman Matthew H. “Matt” Jewell of Maringouin gaveled.

“You're out of order,” Jewell told the parish president, who left the council chamber.

“He was directing it at me and I stood up and he walks out,” Stevens recalled the scene in an interview Monday. He said he couldn't hear what Ourso was saying.

Stevens said he voted for the introduction of the ordinance because Ourso “had me outnumbered, and I don't want the people to be without a hospital.”

Stevens said he had favored further negotiations with the group of local doctors who bought River West shortly before it was closed, but the parish president gave the council a report and closed the discussion.

“The council did not have a choice on it,” Stevens said. “He had his seven little people who are going to vote with him every time, so why should I vote against him?”

The Ourso Administration has said the doctors rejected the sale at the appraised value of the damaged hospital, and that under Louisiana law the parish could not pay more.

“They've been running a slander poll for the last week and a half,” Ourso told the POST/SOUTH later. He said his wife was one of those called to answer some 20 minutes worth of questions, which he said contained false information on him from his stand on the Baton Rouge Loop Project to Iberville's unemployment rate during his tenure, and comments about his father, the late Sheriff Jessel M. Ourso Sr.

“As a public official, I stand to be accused,” the parish president said. “I don't care about none of this stuff [sic], but they need to leave my daddy alone. My daddy's been dead 33 years. Let him rest in peace.”

“He slandered Michael Distefano when he ran,” Stevens alleged. “What's the difference in me doing a poll?” He said Ourso ran an ad headlined “Straight Talk” every week during his 1997 campaign against Distefano to become Iberville's first parish president.

“He was always talking about the DA's office and about the machine he was running against,” Stevens said. “Now, he's talking about me. I'm slandering him? Because I never said anything bad about anybody.”

Stevens would not discuss the poll questions included on the survey run for him last week by Myers Research.

“It's my poll, and I want to get the results before anything,” the councilman said. “Numbers are numbers, and whatever they are, good or bad, they're going to tell me what I need to do.”

Stevens had been the Parish Council's first and only chairman until April 2000 when he resigned rather than face a challenge from Jewell, who was elected in a 10-3 vote. Stevens lost a head to head contest for the chairmanship to Jewell in January in a 7-6 vote, and announced his candidacy for parish president shortly afterwards.

Whatever the poll results are, Stevens said he is going ahead with his race against Ourso. He said he has not started raising money, but has hired the campaign firm of Ourso-Beychok of Baton Rouge to handle his race.

“I ain't playing around,” he said. “I'm going to do this one time, going for the gusto.”

“If you don't have nothing to talk about yourself and what you’re going to do, then all you have is to knock down your opponent,” Ourso said.

“I feel very, very confident,” the parish president said of his own race. “I said it was my last around, and I mean it. This is my last round. My mission is health care in Iberville. That's my mission as I wind down my career.”

President's race heats up

Ourso confronts Stevens

on medical center vote

By Deidre Cruse

Government Reporter

A vote last week on introducing an ordinance allowing Parish President J. Mitchell Ourso Jr. to negotiate for land for a new medical center led to the first public confrontation between Ourso and his only announced opponent, Parish Councilman Eugene P. Stevens Jr.

Unrecognized by the council chair, Ourso took the microphone at the Parish Council meeting to question why Stevens voted for the introduction when a campaign poll he is running said Stevens favored rebuilding River West Medical Center, rather than build the free-standing emergency room and walk-in clinic that Ourso is working for.

“Mr. Stevens wants to reopen River West to save the taxpayers...and he votes for me to intro to acquire the land,” Ourso said. He said he wanted to say to Stevens, “I'm confused. Which one you for?”

Stevens stood up behind the council dais, as Council Chairman Matthew H. “Matt” Jewell of Maringouin gaveled.

“You're out of order,” Jewell told the parish president, who left the council chamber.

“He was directing it at me and I stood up and he walks out,” Stevens recalled the scene in an interview Monday. He said he couldn't hear what Ourso was saying.

Stevens said he voted for the introduction of the ordinance because Ourso “had me outnumbered, and I don't want the people to be without a hospital.”

Stevens said he had favored further negotiations with the group of local doctors who bought River West shortly before it was closed, but the parish president gave the council a report and closed the discussion.

“The council did not have a choice on it,” Stevens said. “He had his seven little people who are going to vote with him every time, so why should I vote against him?”

The Ourso Administration has said the doctors rejected the sale at the appraised value of the damaged hospital, and that under Louisiana law the parish could not pay more.

“They've been running a slander poll for the last week and a half,” Ourso told the POST/SOUTH later. He said his wife was one of those called to answer some 20 minutes worth of questions, which he said contained false information on him from his stand on the Baton Rouge Loop Project to Iberville's unemployment rate during his tenure, and comments about his father, the late Sheriff Jessel M. Ourso Sr.

“As a public official, I stand to be accused,” the parish president said. “I don't care about none of this stuff [sic], but they need to leave my daddy alone. My daddy's been dead 33 years. Let him rest in peace.”

“He slandered Michael Distefano when he ran,” Stevens alleged. “What's the difference in me doing a poll?” He said Ourso ran an ad headlined “Straight Talk” every week during his 1997 campaign against Distefano to become Iberville's first parish president.

“He was always talking about the DA's office and about the machine he was running against,” Stevens said. “Now, he's talking about me. I'm slandering him? Because I never said anything bad about anybody.”

Stevens would not discuss the poll questions included on the survey run for him last week by Myers Research.

“It's my poll, and I want to get the results before anything,” the councilman said. “Numbers are numbers, and whatever they are, good or bad, they're going to tell me what I need to do.”

Stevens had been the Parish Council's first and only chairman until April 2000 when he resigned rather than face a challenge from Jewell, who was elected in a 10-3 vote. Stevens lost a head to head contest for the chairmanship to Jewell in January in a 7-6 vote, and announced his candidacy for parish president shortly afterwards.

Whatever the poll results are, Stevens said he is going ahead with his race against Ourso. He said he has not started raising money, but has hired the campaign firm of Ourso-Beychok of Baton Rouge to handle his race.

“I ain't playing around,” he said. “I'm going to do this one time, going for the gusto.”

“If you don't have nothing to talk about yourself and what you’re going to do, then all you have is to knock down your opponent,” Ourso said.

“I feel very, very confident,” the parish president said of his own race. “I said it was my last around, and I mean it. This is my last round. My mission is health care in Iberville. That's my mission as I wind down my career.”