An attorney for the East Baton Rouge Parish Attorney’s Office left his role Tuesday, according to an email to the Metro Council obtained by The Advocate, after an audio clip surfaced online in which he appears to criticize the mayor and police department.
Paolo Messina Sr., a special assistant parish attorney who handled cases regarding the Alcohol Beverage Control Board and the Planning and Zoning Commission, resigned after the recording surfaced of him making comments about Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Police Chief Murphy Paul at a community meeting last week.
During the meeting — hosted by councilmember Denise Amoroso regarding a local restaurant, Boil & Roux, that was set for a Nov. 16 hearing with the ABC Board — Messina called in to answer disgruntled residents’ questions about the upcoming hearing. According to Amoroso, one attendee then asked him why, in the resident’s opinion, Baton Rouge police weren’t enforcing the law at that restaurant.
“I don’t think they honestly care, OK? They’re not doing their job, and I can’t force them to do their jobs. The only person that can force the police to do their job is the mayor-president through Murphy Paul, and we’ve all seen what that has been,” Messina said in the recording, which was obtained by The Advocate. “I’m just being honest, I’m just airing our dirty laundry out of the city.”
Messina went on to explain his strategies for getting Boil & Roux to comply with the law depending on how the ABC Board ruled, including getting the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office involved and having ABC agents “shut them down.”
“For lack of a better word, they got Al Capone on tax evasion. That’s basically what I’m looking to do,” Messina said in the recording. “I’m looking to get [Boil & Roux owner] Maurice Walker shut down off of a code violation. It may not be pretty and it may not be sexy, but if it works it works.”
Parish Attorney Anderson Dotson declined to comment on Messina’s employment status or his comments, saying he and his office “don’t comment on personnel matters.”
When asked for comment on the matter, a spokesman for Broome said “the Parish Attorney’s Office is under the Metropolitan Council, not the Mayor’s Office.”
“Paolo said nothing wrong,” Amoroso said Tuesday, later adding that he “has really been one of the council’s greatest assets.”
Messina made 12 years with the Parish Attorney’s Office last Friday, according to employee records. He declined to comment Tuesday.
Paul declined to comment on Messina’s statements, according to a BRPD spokesman.
Boil & Roux received citations on May 5 on violations of operating without a permit, failure to cooperate with enforcement agents, failure to maintain all building and zoning codes and consumption of alcohol on the parking lot.
Owner Maurice Walker said Tuesday that the citations were related to a Cinco De Mayo event at the restaurant; he claims he did receive the proper permitting for the event but wasn’t able to pick it up in time.
The restaurant has previously been the subject of controversy. Some neighbors say loud music and partying is disrupting residential areas very late at night; they have urged Baton Rouge Police to take more aggressive action against the restaurant.
But the restaurant’s owners have said they are unfairly targeted because they are Black and insist they have followed the rules. Walker reiterated that sentiment Tuesday, saying he believed he is held to a higher standard than other restaurants in the area and that he was “disgusted” to find out Amoroso and Messina had met about his business.
“I didn’t want to make any bad blood between Boil & Roux and our neighbors,” Walker said.
Baton Rouge Police have said they enforce the noise ordinance “to the letter.”
Last year, Amoroso, whose district includes Boil & Roux, proposed legislation that would transfer enforcement of noise ordinances from police to the city’s alcohol regulatory board, which could take liquor licenses. She argued it would lead to more consistent enforcement.
“I don’t want anybody to shut down,” Amoroso said Tuesday. “I just want them to comply.”
But the measure drew criticism from Black council members, who argued it didn’t set a clear enough standard for offensive noise and could be used to unfairly target Black-owned businesses.
The new developments caused a brief flare-up in the minutes before the Metro Council meeting commenced Tuesday — councilmember Chauna Banks, a Democrat, held a microphone to her phone to play a video about Messina’s comments for the council chamber while other council members requested she stop, moved her microphone and whispered comments to her.
Boil & Roux’s hearing before the ABC Board was rescheduled for Dec. 7, according to Amoroso.
