Kenner City Councilmembers plan to call for resignation of Mayor Ben Zahn

Jefferson Parish (WVUE) - Four Kenner City Councilmembers say they plan to call for the immediate resignation of Mayor Ben Zahn at the next city council meeting.

Councilmembers George Branigan, Kristi McKinney, Greg Carroll, and Brian Brennan added the measure to the supplemental agenda for Friday morning’s meeting.

Branigan tells FOX 8 the Zahn administration has spent $28 million since Hurricane Ida, and says he has questions about those expenses. Prior investigations from FOX 8 found the city paid select employees disaster pay for months after the storm. That included former Deputy CAO Chad Pitfield, who made $86,000 in disaster pay in the months following the storm.

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The resolution also points out the Zahn administration was recently the target of a federal subpoena regarding Pitfield’s employment with the city.

Pitfield was placed on leave without pay yesterday and was fired by the Zahn Administration today.

Along with calling for Zahn’s resignation, the supplemental agenda also calls for a Vote of No Confidence in Mayor Zahn, Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Foshee, and Chief Compliance Officer Adam Campo. It also calls for Foshee and Campo to resign.

Statement from Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn: “This is simply political theater – nothing more. My administration did the right thing. After receiving an allegation that fraud was committed, we called for an investigation of the employee in question. There was no delay. We then called for the employee, who all of us – including council members – have worked closely with over time, to be terminated.”

The supplemental agenda also asks the City Attorney to refer the matter to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, the Louisiana Attorney General, and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

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