GONZALES -- Two Ascension parish employees were fired after accusations of allegedly doing drainage work on a ditch along Bayou Trace Street, a private road.

One of the two fired employees was Todd Elisar, who served as the vegetation supervisor in the parish's public works department.

His son Lee spoke to WBRZ about the situation, saying it all started in March 2024, when he filed a work order to have work done on a ditch along Bayou Trace, saying it pretty much floods every time it rains.

"I called the parish to put this work order in after being told to do so by Jade Robin. Jade was my dad's boss, who met me at the ditch to assess the drainage issue," Elisar said.

Lee says the job was to include getting rid of trees and clearing them.

"The first house on the road is Ricky Compton's, who was head of planning and development when his home and other homes along Norwood Rd were built. He is also the one who gave the right of way to build this private road along the already existing ditch," Elisar said.

Several neighbors in the neighborhood said the flooding would affect the road on Bayou Trace, and water would get onto their yards. According to parish documents, the ditch is outside the easement and therefore on private property.

A little bit of work was done on the ditch.

"The parish pulled their equipment after three days on the job, leaving it half completed, and all seventeen homeowners who signed off want answers. Once it was given to drainage in June, the only role my dad had was to assist drainage, and he was instructed to do so," Elisar said.

WBRZ was told by Elisar that a firing packet for Todd said he was fired back in December for allegedly violating parish ethics policies.

"Ricky Compton shut this job down, and he, along with Parish President Clint Cointment, wrongly fired my father, who was in charge of the vegetation, the grass cutting of all the parish," Elisar said. The mistakes made by the drainage department were dumped on vegetation, and this makes no sense. A lot is being covered up here," he added.

Elisar says the parish failed to verify the servitude before starting work.

Lee called Ascension Parish Councilman Joel Robert, who spoke with WBRZ.

"From what I understand, the firing was complete in the packet with contradictory statements between the higher-ups involved amongst themselves and amongst some other evidence that was presented," Robert said.

He criticized Parish President Clint Cointment and the parish government for not being more open about this situation.

"It would be very surprising to me if he wasn't, I'm not even saying to be involved, but how could you not know? Knowing in that position is being involved. Take accountability for your staff and your administration," Robert said.

Robert was also asked if he believed this situation was worth the two being fired for.

"Can somebody accidentally go and do work on private property? It can easily happen. I mean, there are so many requests, and so many roads and so many orders," Robert said.

WBRZ reached out to the parish president's office, which declined to speak, saying it's an ongoing legal matter and therefore can't comment on the situation.

Elisar told WBRZ that the Louisiana Board of Ethics is investigating the situation.