The Ends of the Earth: Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana; Part 2

<v Speaker>It will lengthen. <v Speaker>Put another link in the uh chain between New Orleans line <v Speaker>and the Jefferson Parish line, the lower end of our parish, and certainly in the very <v Speaker>near future, we will have a four lane highway from one end of our parish to the <v Speaker>other. <v Speaker>Thank you very much. Thank you sheriff. <v Speaker>I see some other parish officials, uh district attorneys <v Speaker>?inaudible? Lee Perez won't you come over here. <v Speaker>Get your picture took. You don't know how good you look. <v Speaker>And now, if we can please we'll have uh uh further down at <v Speaker>the ?inaudible?, do the official ribbon cutting ceremony. <v Speaker>Jimmy couldn't make it today. He told me I had to do it. <v Speaker>Ready? 1, 2 <v Speaker>When Perez was in his 70s, he realized that he could not go on forever. <v Speaker>And yet he wanted his influence in the parish to continue. <v Speaker>So he passed on the power, or at least attempted to- to his sons,

<v Speaker>Chalin and Lee. <v Speaker>Chalin became president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. <v Speaker>Lee became district attorney. <v Speaker>Perez arranged for them to be elected to these offices, and <v Speaker>they owe their positions, actually uh, to him. <v Speaker>Next Tuesday's election day. So we'll wait until the next week maybe and I don't know <v Speaker>we'll get together. <v Speaker>Basically, that's why I'm here today, is because of the fact that <v Speaker>I was just Perez's son and Plaquemines Parish had been good to him and good to me. <v Speaker>And uh when I was asked by him to uh take his place on the parish government, <v Speaker>I did so. <v Speaker>How how would you describe yourself uh in comparison to him as a political leader? <v Speaker>Oh, I think comparisons are odious, and I don't think I <v Speaker>should be the one to compare myself to my father. <v Speaker>But there's no question about the fact that I'm not a-um um <v Speaker>I don't have the-the personality uh that my father had.

<v Speaker>I do believe I have a-a tremendous compassion and ability to work. <v Speaker>And I do believe that I've been a very productive person, just as he was a very <v Speaker>productive person. But I don't believe that I have the <v Speaker>savoir faire. You might call it the uh the general personality <v Speaker>and ability to get along with people. <v Speaker>As my father did, he was great at that. <v Speaker>[band plays] <v Speaker>There's no doubt that that Judge Perez started a dynasty. <v Speaker>And I think that that Lee and Chalin inherited his dynasty. <v Speaker>Everybody went to them. In other words, this was the man you went to. <v Speaker>You didn't go to see your-your commission council your police jurors. <v Speaker>As such, you went to see the judge if you wanted to put in a project for a boat landing

<v Speaker>or uh-uh-uh-uh waterfront sites or something like that. <v Speaker>You didn't go to the council and present your-your project as you would in Arlene's or <v Speaker>Saint Bernard and order Jephson. You made an appointment to see see Chalin in his office <v Speaker>to get his blessing. And then, of course, once you got his blessing then it was all, you <v Speaker>know, taken care of, you'd have no problems. <v Speaker>And this is the way it's gone up until this time. <v Speaker>He's controlled the school board. <v Speaker>He's controlled the levee boards. <v Speaker>He's controlled the commission councils. <v Speaker>He controls every aspect of government in his parish. <v Speaker>Let the meeting come to on, please ?inaudible? <v Speaker>We have a very large crowd. A reporter from Time magazine described it uh perfectly. <v Speaker>He told about Chalin Perez coming in and beginning to read his resolutions. <v Speaker>For the record, the following resolution was proposed by Commissioner Kerby <v Speaker>seconded by Commissioner Basho and resolved that

<v Speaker>unanimously adopted. <v Speaker>And he would read this into the record with the other four commissioners sitting there <v Speaker>like dummies. <v Speaker>Unbelievable. And he would he would make this record and he'd read his <v Speaker>resolutions into the record [Interviewer]: without any discussion? <v Speaker>No discussion <v Speaker>Not only not only that, but Kirby or Bashmilah, whoever it might be, <v Speaker>would not have opened his mouth. <v Speaker>Chalin would just be reciting. <v Speaker>It would be a monologue on his part and no one in living <v Speaker>memory up until about a year and a half ago or so could recall <v Speaker>anyone voting against the uh Perez the administration. <v Speaker>All votes are unanimous. <v Speaker>This is how you prove your loyalty. <v Speaker>The Perez brothers are very sophisticated people in an old traditional <v Speaker>style. They're not the the national uh-uh cliché <v Speaker>of the Southern politician looking like Burl Ives in a white linen suit sitting on the

<v Speaker>porch with a mint julep. They're much more sophisticated than that. <v Speaker>And yet they're very different.uh-um Lee Junior is <v Speaker>uh in many ways uhuh a more courtly gentleman. <v Speaker>Many people describe him as being more outgoing, almost an anachronism, someone <v Speaker>who would probably be more at home in the 19th century, and the man of great family <v Speaker>loyalty who speaks reverentially of his uh late father. <v Speaker>Chalin Perez is a man who's involved in the detail work of parish government. <v Speaker>His brother Lee forfeits most of the detail work in the district attorney's <v Speaker>office to assistants, but sees his role as being more the symbol <v Speaker>of power. He would enter a courtroom not to plead a case, but to sit in the benches and <v Speaker>just stare at the jury, feeling that his presence was probably more compelling than <v Speaker>anything he could say. <v Speaker>But it uh could well be that the judge both realized that neither brother had <v Speaker>the personality to be able to wield all of the power, nor did they <v Speaker>have the ability to allow the other to wield all of that power.

<v Speaker>So he tried to create a balanced relationship. <v Speaker>This is a story about politics, about politics as grand opera. <v Speaker>It is the saga of Leander Perez and his two sons Leander Junior <v Speaker>and Chalin, both of whom inherited a lot of money and a lot of power when <v Speaker>their father died. But the Perez dynasty has fallen on hard times. <v Speaker>The sons of Leander are feuding. <v Speaker>And that's just got to have the old man tossing in his grave. <v Speaker>For its size Plaquemines Parish is one of the richest areas in the world containing <v Speaker>vast deposits of minerals and enormous oil reserves. <v Speaker>Since the 1920s, Plaquemines Parish has been the private kingdom of one <v Speaker>family-The Perez family. <v Speaker>It has dominated both politically and economically, making a fortune off of public <v Speaker>owned land. <v Speaker>Between them, Lee and Chalin Perez hold all the power that counts in Plaquemines Parish. <v Speaker>They are the law, but suddenly their hold is slipping.

<v Speaker>The brothers themselves are fighting for control of the empire that their late father <v Speaker>left behind. And there are signs that the domination of Plaquemines Parish by the Perez <v Speaker>family may finally be coming to an end. <v Speaker>And both of them no longer, in my opinion, have the confidence <v Speaker>they deserve to serve in public office in Plaquemines Parish. <v Speaker>But change is on the way to Plaquemines Parish in the person of council member Luke <v Speaker>Petrovich. In the midst of the feud between the brothers, Petrovich has stepped in, <v Speaker>emerging as leader of a group that seeks to topple from power both Perez brothers. <v Speaker>They are unjustly enriched. <v Speaker>You see a ?inaudible? these lands and not be in public office. <v Speaker>It probably wouldn't be a problem, but they have a-a compelling conflict of interest. <v Speaker>Judge Perez was more than a rabble rousing segregationist. <v Speaker>He was a brilliant manipulator and financier back in the 30s when the Louisiana oil <v Speaker>boom first began. He formed a corporation called Delta Development,

<v Speaker>which managed to secure leases on a vast expanse of oil rich parish land, <v Speaker>thousands of acres. And then he sublease that land to oil drilling companies <v Speaker>in exchange for overriding royalties. <v Speaker>He became a millionaire many times over. <v Speaker>And even today, Delta Development is a Perez family gold mine. <v Speaker>There is no way that they could have been treated more fairly. <v Speaker>The truth indicts them. <v Speaker>And the mere fact that they are trying to say that <v Speaker>I can be district attorney. <v Speaker>And that's what Lee is saying and Chalin is saying, that I can be president of the <v Speaker>Council and Commissioner of Public Affairs, who is entrusted with the responsibility <v Speaker>of supervising those Parish land and at the same time tried to tell the people <v Speaker>that they are justified in getting millions of dollars from those very lands that they <v Speaker>control is in itself a story <v Speaker>which indicts them.

<v Speaker>It makes them dishonest and it makes them border on <v Speaker>criminality. <v Speaker>The-the fact that they insist on saying they're right when they are so obviously wrong. <v Speaker>Uh Sure. The mentality. <v Speaker>[music starts: Well why don't you love me like you used to do? How come you treat me like a worn out shoe? <v Speaker>My hairs still curly and my eyes are still blue- why don't you love me like you used to do? <v Speaker>Well why don't you be just like you used to be? How come you find so many faults with me? Somebodies changed so let me give you a clue- why don't you love me like you used to do?] <v Speaker>

<v Speaker>I'm satisfied that I will never be convicted of anything because there has been no <v Speaker>wrongdoing on Chalin Perez's part. <v Speaker>Well, what's the problem then between you and your brother? <v Speaker>Well, unfortunately, I had an older brother who liked <v Speaker>to play, who really never took his job seriously. <v Speaker>And a lot of it had to do with the fact that Chalin Perez had <v Speaker>to tell his brother from time to time. Well, lookie, you want an airplane to <v Speaker>fly back and forth to your hunting camp and to efficient camp and that's just not right. <v Speaker>That's not an authorized expenditure of public funds. <v Speaker>And many other similar situations like that, where I was a guy handling the purse <v Speaker>strings, I was the head of the government. <v Speaker>And he wanted certain things. <v Speaker>And when I told him I'm sorry, I didn't feel that it was an <v Speaker>authorized uh expenditure of public funds.

<v Speaker>His immediate response was, I'm going to get you. <v Speaker>I'm going to investigate you. So after many years of threatening, he finally <v Speaker>has come through with what he has decided he was going to do to. <v Speaker>You make it sound almost like a child. <v Speaker>I beg your pardon. [Host]: You make it sound almost like a child, like a spoiled. <v Speaker>He is <v Speaker>I can't prevent him from saying anything about me. <v Speaker>I do not remark about his actions. <v Speaker>I have a sworn obligation as a district attorney to enforce the law, <v Speaker>and that's what I will do. I'm here to serve the people of Plaquemines Parish. <v Speaker>That was my father's wishes and I <v Speaker>will continue to be district attorney. <v Speaker>It's unfortunate that two men in their late 50s. <v Speaker>Two men with inestimable wealth. <v Speaker>And and one hesitates to say absolute <v Speaker>power within Plaquemines.

<v Speaker>But it uh it gets to feel that way sometimes. <v Speaker>And they're both still known as the sons of Judge Perez. <v Speaker>Now what happens? <v Speaker>It's the d.a.'s office. <v Speaker>Both men at the height of their power are uh quite wealthy <v Speaker>and they're still described as the children of uh Judge Perez, who's been dead <v Speaker>now for uh uh more than 10 years. <v Speaker>It would be perhaps frustrating to most people to be described that way forever. <v Speaker>I don't I don't like those terms. The two most powerful people in Parish have been <v Speaker>feuding because I've been trying to keep my nose to the grindstone run my <v Speaker>business and the parish business as it should be run. <v Speaker>I'm not out to indict my brother. I'm not out to hurt my brother. <v Speaker>It's the other way around. So there is no such thing as the feuding, but the opportunity <v Speaker>is there for people who have ambitions to try <v Speaker>to uh uh jump into a position where they where they see a

<v Speaker>disunity and disorganized situation, where they say, hi, this is my <v Speaker>chance, I'm going to take over. <v Speaker>I think CBS should be commended for that for that work and <v Speaker>point it out to the rest of the country saying, hey, we're going to tell everybody the <v Speaker>truth. <v Speaker>Huh? Absolutely. [laugh] <v Speaker>Luke Petrovich is a long time associate, the right hand man described by many as the <v Speaker>right hand man of uh Judge Perez. <v Speaker>So, uhuh Mr. Petrovich, I question whether he has seen any light. <v Speaker>He may have seen light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel, that light coming from <v Speaker>the rift between the Perez brothers. <v Speaker>And who knows what opportunities those hold for Mr. Petrovich. <v Speaker>The fact that he raises these issues about the oil leases, those are issues that have <v Speaker>been raised by many over the decades. <v Speaker>But it could well be that after 20 years of sitting on the police <v Speaker>jury and the commission counsel, it could be that Luke Petrovich wants to sit in that

<v Speaker>middle chair and run parish government. <v Speaker>A man who pays a dollar taxes or one hundred dollars in his pouch, <v Speaker>whether he's a millionaire or a poor black man, has a right <v Speaker>to complain. And if somebody tells you differently, they're lying to ya. <v Speaker>Now whatever political garbage has been spread is false. <v Speaker>Ya understand? And go ahead and pursue that line. <v Speaker>It's all right with me because I have no political ambitions. <v Speaker>I never did. Yes. <v Speaker>They're saying- wrote an article for whatever reason now we have disrupted parish, we <v Speaker>almost a place where you're embarrassed wherever you go, they laugh about it like a <v Speaker>farm. If we've planted a crop in, that crop comes up and we felt we had a good <v Speaker>crop, but we found out we got half the crop is full of weeds. <v Speaker>A good farmer then takes and he plows the whole thing under.

<v Speaker>He buys new seed and he plants it. <v Speaker>Gentlemen, I promise you, if you don't straighten your problems out, we the people are <v Speaker>kind of going to start impeachment proceedings and clear out this unit. <v Speaker>And hire new people and we don't want the old. <v Speaker>Look at little bug. April move your foot. Nah. What are y'all doing out here? Campaigning for Eddie Baulks Jr. What's he running for? School board representative. [cars honking] <v Speaker>This is the first time we ever knew there was a qualifying day before it was

<v Speaker>big. Big secret. <v Speaker>So this is the first time we have an open election. <v Speaker>It's exciting. It really is exciting. <v Speaker>Just take your time. They always made me vote absentee. <v Speaker>I know, just go in and take your time. Nobody's gonna rush you. <v Speaker>Is there anything over there? No uhuh. Be careful! <v Speaker>What do you think what do you think started started people getting this way? <v Speaker>Well, this is the first time there's any uh, let's say war within <v Speaker>the camp. I think we're all taking advantage of that situation. <v Speaker>Many of them said that they would vote their conscience <v Speaker>when they got in the voting booths. So uh I guess there was some

<v Speaker>underlying fear if you worked as an employee for the parish <v Speaker>or if you were given a check for your child that was in college, <v Speaker>your mother was receiving a widow's pension. <v Speaker>I guess there was some fear there. <v Speaker>But they the people are pretty well tied with the situation and they <v Speaker>they want freedom of voting for who <v Speaker>they want to. And not voting for who they are told to vote for. <v Speaker>?inaudible? <v Speaker>[music plays] <v Speaker>You know what this man say? Is when he goes, he goes hunting instead of heaven.

<v Speaker>So you kill more duck if you got more decoys the more decoys you got the more ducks ya kill. He said buy more posters- <v Speaker>we had a rally in at the church,- buy more posters, to get more votes. <v Speaker>So that's what I did. I bought more posters. <v Speaker>People have supported me in that way. <v Speaker>You know, I see it. You say you want to change. <v Speaker>Like I said before, one of our people here should be elected. <v Speaker>See, it's never was anyone around this-this area that's elected for anything in <v Speaker>a Parish Official thing you know? <v Speaker>Always were the same people all the time. Always the same people. <v Speaker>So I asked a few friends of mine, you know, which should I should I take a shot at? <v Speaker>They said, Well, we support you. <v Speaker>You get uhuh one vote, that start the thing. <v Speaker>They'll be saying, you know, if you went to the ballot, and then I will come up and say, <v Speaker>well I needed one vote to win the election. <v Speaker>And you won't be at the ballot. You didn't vote. <v Speaker>Right look. That's a hurting thing. That's a hurting thing right there Yeah. <v Speaker>[foreign language] All right ok. All right ok. <v Speaker>[more foreign language]

<v Speaker>Forgive me. <v Speaker>Huh. Don't forget me. You're coming to town Tuesday?Huh? <v Speaker>That's my wife's cousin. <v Speaker>OK, here we see out Tuesday. OK. <v Speaker>I'll be up front all day. <v Speaker>Thanks a lot. <v Speaker>I'll see you Tuesday, huh? <v Speaker>Yeah we'll see. Nuh uh nuh uh. I'll be down in the fall of communism. <v Speaker>I'm a working man. I'm not a politician. <v Speaker>I'm a working man. You know I'm a good man right now. <v Speaker>And I've always given to you. <v Speaker>Yeah. <v Speaker>[foreign language] No, it's all right. <v Speaker>It don't sound right. Anyway, wait wait wait [foreign language] <v Speaker>So if he still polls here, he's gonna hear.

<v Speaker>Yeah, he's going to he's gonna take 250 votes here. <v Speaker>He's gonna to take the 200 people before plus the 50 to give him 436 <v Speaker>plus plus anything. <v Speaker>It will be a hundred. <v Speaker>So there's 536 so we've only got a hundred people tonight 104 voters. <v Speaker>It's just going to be close, close, close. <v Speaker>No we waiting. 106 imports. <v Speaker>Oh no. <v Speaker>Who's this? Well we don't know yet. <v Speaker>?inaudible? That's good. <v Speaker>Great. <v Speaker>I'm sure he won here. I don't think he'd have any problem. <v Speaker>I think we gonna have his problem in imports. <v Speaker>So. <v Speaker>And also up at the old back nail store, I hope he had a poll- poll watcher there. <v Speaker>You know, that little store up there, it's only about 50 or 60 votes, but I think it's <v Speaker>important to have someone up there.

<v Speaker>[cheering] <v Speaker>[phone rings] Hello? ?inaudible? Yeah they just came home. We got it! We got it! We gotta sit down. We won! [cheering] <v Speaker>An official toast to Eddie Phillips, who's going to make our schools better. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>We had our first election, single mem-, nine single member districts and seven

<v Speaker>independent candidates were elected. <v Speaker>And I was delighted that the people actually came out. <v Speaker>We had 80 percent turnout. And I think one of the reasons was that <v Speaker>people it was like a pot, a kettle with the lid on. <v Speaker>And there was such pressure for 50 years or more people had not had anything <v Speaker>to say about who their representatives were going to be on the school board or any <v Speaker>other place for that matter. And um I was really happy <v Speaker>with the fact that they they voted some really progressive representatives <v Speaker>in who are genuinely interested in public education. <v Speaker>Chalin did actively campaign. <v Speaker>For many of the candidates, he and his wife campaigned in the school board race and lost <v Speaker>them all. <v Speaker>He lost them all where he campaigned, he lost them all. <v Speaker>He lost them badly, I thought. <v Speaker>If nothing more comes of this. <v Speaker>If we can have an election where more than one or

<v Speaker>two or three or five people can get into the race and sit, dance, <v Speaker>you know, express their views as to you don't have to vote for if you don't like them. <v Speaker>But at least give the the people the opportunity. <v Speaker>And I would hope that the people would take advantage of that. <v Speaker>[interviewer]: It's called democracy, isn't it?. <v Speaker>I guess if you want. Yeah, I guess so. <v Speaker>We use to have to draw water from the river and put it in the barrel and put the

<v Speaker>bone back in the barrel and roll the barrel on the levee, or either get a five gallon <v Speaker>can, go the river, and took the water home and sell it with peach kernels. <v Speaker>And you had to drink that, take a bath and everything else with it, with the stuff from <v Speaker>the babies on up until they got to the bigger ones. <v Speaker>And everybody take a bath in the same water. <v Speaker>My mother and father, they would take a bath behind us because we <v Speaker>didn't have the proper water to take a bath. <v Speaker>When was the first time you tried to get water? <v Speaker>That was back in back in the fifties. <v Speaker>Yeah, that was back in the fifties the first time. <v Speaker>And they went back about five years later and then they went back <v Speaker>again. Anyway, they went three times and it was denied. <v Speaker>You tell us what happened in 1960 when they went talk to the judge about getting water. <v Speaker>What did he say? In 1961? <v Speaker>Oh, he say uh I think he said over his dead body. <v Speaker>I guess he figured, well, like back then, they don't need nothing.

<v Speaker>I can tell you, the only people that stopped at the water line are two <v Speaker>people- Judge Perez and Chalin. <v Speaker>Chalin and I discussed and there was a question of economic feasibility, <v Speaker>ya understand? I said one of these days, I said you cannot in the modern <v Speaker>times deny people purified water. <v Speaker>All in favor say Aye. Aye <v Speaker>God dammit. God dammit. <v Speaker>So therefore before you took it out you should've brought it to the booth. <v Speaker>[talking over each other] Regardless, would you say two wrongs don't make a right right? <v Speaker>A town representative can ?inaudible? <v Speaker>And have the press come out and have a press statement saying we wanna know why the <v Speaker>attorney general is not investigating the NPCD. <v Speaker>[Everyone talking] That would show unified effort. The first time the

<v Speaker>fisherman organization got together to do a demonstration in front of the courthouse to <v Speaker>state that it needed some water in the town of Ironton and uh to demonstrate <v Speaker>to the elected officials that we want something done about the water <v Speaker>and about some other problems in the community. And as we were demonstrating, running <v Speaker>around, you could hear people saying, we fired up we ain't taking <v Speaker>no more. <v Speaker>We are fired up. We ain't takin' no more. <v Speaker>If you can imagine 300 people for the first time in their life, demonstrating and <v Speaker>beginning to feel a real sign of something really, really changing in <v Speaker>their lives. <v Speaker>Oh well, Mr. Perez, he wouldn't come out and talk but uh. <v Speaker>He sent uh Lou Petrovich out instead. <v Speaker>So he came out and he talked. <v Speaker>So we didn't go for no violence only thing we went for was to show them that we wasn't <v Speaker>afraid and that we meant business. <v Speaker>So i know, as far as my governmental attitude is concerned.

<v Speaker>Protest. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna cut the mustard. <v Speaker>I don't give in to protest. <v Speaker>No sir, I don't. <v Speaker>And of course, could not be here with us. <v Speaker>I'll tell you how happy I am to be participating in this program as we dedicate <v Speaker>the Ironton water line. <v Speaker>I'm Representative Frank Barry from the Belle Chasse Commune. <v Speaker>I represent, of course, Plaquemines Parish. <v Speaker>It's my pleasure to introduce to you the president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission <v Speaker>Council, Mr. Chalin Perez. <v Speaker>Thank you, Representative Frank Barry. And good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. <v Speaker>It's always good to attend a dedication ceremony <v Speaker>for a public improvement because it marks one more milestone <v Speaker>and the improvements which are constantly being <v Speaker>built throughout the parish of Plaquemines, which makes Plaquemines Parish the parish of <v Speaker>progress throughout the um entire state of Louisiana. <v Speaker>I know it's been a long time coming and I know that people have waited a long time

<v Speaker>for water here in Ironton. <v Speaker>I know that the people that are a little bit down the road are going to say, when are we <v Speaker>gonna get ours now? And I know that that's the next that'll be a part of the next <v Speaker>project. <v Speaker>The good reverend you open the faucet I'll catch the water. <v Speaker>How about that? All right. <v Speaker>You ready? <v Speaker>All right. All right. Here we go. <v Speaker>This clear water with plenty of fresh flow. <v Speaker>You know. <v Speaker>Let me see that. <v Speaker>Nice clear water, to huh? <v Speaker>I understand that there will be a dedication tomorrow, I want to make it clear that <v Speaker>we and many of our public officials will not be able to be here because of the fact that <v Speaker>we have our long scheduled Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival, which

<v Speaker>is always scheduled on the first weekend of December every year. <v Speaker>And that is the big one, big fan festival, which we have each year. <v Speaker>For that reason, there will be many of us who will not be able to attend the dedication <v Speaker>ceremony, which was scheduled for tomorrow. <v Speaker>I thank all of you for being here. God bless you all and have a lot of good <v Speaker>running water. Thank you. <v Speaker>[clapping]. <v Speaker>[music] <v Speaker>It wasn't no doctor. It wasn't no lawyer.

<v Speaker>It wasn't no politician. It was peace. <v Speaker>Gotta be very clear on that, understand? <v Speaker>If you're not clear on that you might've had a longer way. <v Speaker>Cause as long as we stay together, we can move mountains, some people <v Speaker>don't believe that because we had so much opposition, you can't get into a war in <v Speaker>Ironton. <v Speaker>So much opposition, but the people came together and I'm sayin' to everybody continue <v Speaker>what you're doing because I can see we have not stopped tonight. <v Speaker>?inaudible? Bill, we got Boothville, we got New Orleans, we <v Speaker>got Mississippi, we got South Africa, we got <v Speaker>Nicaragua, we got our brothers and sisters all over this country who are fighting what we <v Speaker>fight tonight. <v Speaker>[church music and chattering] <v Speaker>Hold it Hold it [applause]

<v Speaker>?inaudible? This is my wife. Congratulations, we're happy for you. Congratulations. You got your water. Congratulations. <v Speaker>Will have water. Congradulation to y'all. Do you know what all the excitement about? You got water now. Hello big guy, sorry we're late. We got here late and I wasn't dressed to <v Speaker>go to church. I'm sorry. You keep working at it that's right that's right keep the <v Speaker>people keep the pressure on you.

<v Speaker>Right. Right. With your help, we'll get it. <v Speaker>Yup yup keep the pressure on. <v Speaker>Ladies and gentlemen- I've been asked to say a few words, I'm Chalin Perez. <v Speaker>It's apparent that in in in the last couple of years, Chalin realizes that <v Speaker>he's got to talk to people. <v Speaker>I guess he's got to condescend to talk to people because he goes out of his way now <v Speaker>at functions, social functions and civic functions to go out and talk <v Speaker>to people and shake hands with people- proud of that time he was rather aloof and and <v Speaker>domineering and he was just uh up on a pedestal. <v Speaker>Do you think Chalin Perez is finished politically? <v Speaker>Yes. <v Speaker>Definitely. And I think his brother may be, too. <v Speaker>But most certainly at this point, if Chalin were to run for office, he would not win. <v Speaker>Do you think Chalin Perez would be reelected if there was an election today? <v Speaker>Imma let the voters decide that.

<v Speaker>There will be an election before too long when the courts finally reapportion. <v Speaker>Do you feel confident of it? <v Speaker>I'm confident that Chalin Perez has done a good job in running <v Speaker>past government. I'm confident the Chalin Perez, eventually the people will <v Speaker>recognize what he's done for the people of Plaquemines Parish as a good <v Speaker>public servant. <v Speaker>Do you think Chalin Perez is finished politically? <v Speaker>If he isn't, he ought to be. <v Speaker>Do you think [Interviewee]:he's a lot way he's a long way from being finished? <v Speaker>Any Perez- Lee or Chalin- is a long way from being finished <v Speaker>politically in this parish. I can tell you. <v Speaker>There are many people who still have a high regard for Judge Perez. <v Speaker>And for Chalin and for Lee. <v Speaker>Come on Gale you got it baby. <v Speaker>Come on. Come on Gale you got second. Come on Gale. You can't beat me, shit. <v Speaker>Come on, man. I only gotta ?inaudible? one of these suckers.

<v Speaker>Got you all the way. <v Speaker>Oh, I'm sweatin. <v Speaker>Pretty close to 1 o'clock when we began the seafood contest. <v Speaker>If you'd still like to enter you have a few minutes left to do so. <v Speaker>The contests are catfish cleaning, skinning, and tenderloining, shrimp heading, shrimp <v Speaker>peeling, oyster shucking We still need some duck callers. <v Speaker>[duck calling] <v Speaker>Now do that. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Here.

<v Speaker>I had read that <v Speaker>the game was getting hit with the TV. <v Speaker>They don't. They don't kill over limit brotha, I got him tagged. <v Speaker>Don't worry about it. That's the game warden. That's a find looking game warden. <v Speaker>Ain' that beautiful, you gave me the job brotha. The best in the world. <v Speaker>Judge Perez, king of the 1949 Orange Festival, officially opens <v Speaker>the coronation ball with an address. He has given his much needed help <v Speaker>and guidance to make the golden parish what it is today. <v Speaker>[music]The King and Queen lead the grand march around the spacious goring of the

<v Speaker>auditorium, bowing and waving graciously to their royal subjects. <v Speaker>As she ascends to her throne, the queen is greeted by the king, Judge Leander H. <v Speaker>Perez as they jointly rule in their majestic splendor <v Speaker>the golden parish of Louisana. <v Speaker>

<v Speaker>Thus when twilight comes and darkness falls on the golden parish of Louisiana, <v Speaker>the day's festivities come to an end.