re: Lawsuit seeks to void SpaceX tax deal, alleging violations of Louisiana open meetings law

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Louisiana government: Who has money in this state? Politicians need donations.
Spacex: We will come and say we're going to help Louisiana if you promise we won't have to pay any taxes.
Louisiana government: OK! Let's keep it a secret and make up silly names for this project so we can feel important.

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You attempted to make a connection.

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The industrial board was resurrected at a July 15 Vermilion Parish Police Jury meeting after nearly 30 years of dormancy. The agenda was posted online the afternoon before and included various committee reports, a replacement for a resigning juror and a closed-door executive session labeled “Vermilion Parish Litigation,” followed by a resolution on those cases. There was no mention of an industrial development board.

But according to the signed meeting minutes, the jury returned from executive session and voted unanimously to amend its agenda “to discuss a board,” then voted unanimously to revive it and name seven members to it.

State law does allow a body to amend its agenda during a meeting, but not as a “subterfuge” to defeat the law’s purposes. Most said the board’s revival fits that description, pointing to the roster of board members that was ready before the meeting.

“If you know it’s coming, that’s the kind of thing you can’t change an agenda mid-meeting about,” he said.

The suit says the jury also approved a settlement with ExxonMobil on July 15, with no agenda item for it. The petition describes the settlement as having helped clear the way for the state to acquire land later sold to SpaceX at “far below market values.”

In response to questions about the meeting, Gov. Landry’s office said in a statement, “Our Executive Council [sic] attended the July 15, 2026, meeting,” along with an assistant district attorney for the parish, to answer questions about the coastal case and settlement.

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I am for the space x project. I just do not trust little Landry. I think there’s something in the agreement that he didn’t want known and it’s nothing to do with other states finding out…

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response to questions about the meeting, Gov. Landry’s office said in a statement, “Our Executive Council [sic] attended the July 15, 2026, meeting,” along with an assistant district attorney for the parish, to answer questions about the coastal case and settlement.

The office said the settlement was discussed in executive session, but the police jury voted to approve it in an open meeting after the executive session.

The parish’s attorneys have a copy of the settlement, Landry’s office said, which the 24th and 25th Judicial District Courts ordered to be kept confidential.

But when the plaintiffs’ lawyers requested the agreement, parish counsel said the documents were returned to the governor’s office by its executive counsel, according to the petition. The governor’s office, Most said, sent someone to Vermilion Parish to have the jurors sign, then took the document away without leaving a copy.

“You can’t even go look at what your public officials approved,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before.”

The plaintiffs argue that without a copy of the settlement agreement, the parish has little way to tell whether the terms are being upheld.

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