GONZALES — In a moment of frustration, an Ascension Parish councilman told told a colleague to "wipe (his) face" after suggesting he'd kneel in front of another local official.
Councilman Corey Orgeron disputed, when asked, if the words were a reference to oral sex but claimed he meant it as a religious reference.
Orgeron made the provocative comment in an email to Council Utilities Committee Chairman Chase Melancon, criticizing him for being too willing to follow Parish President Clint Cointment's lead by declining to put something on the agenda.
"I don't kneel in front of Clint," Orgeron wrote in a May 19 missive to Melancon. "You may want to wipe your face."
In an interview earlier this week, however, Orgeron defended the retort as entirely appropriate and in no way a sexual innuendo.
Rather, he said, he meant to say that Melancon was too beholden to Cointment and should wipe his face next time he kneels before someone he treats as a "god."
"If you're going to stand before your god and do everything you're little god tells you to do, you'd better be clean," said Orgeron, who contacted The Advocate after learning a records request for his emails was filed Monday.
When pressed on his explanation, he persisted.
"Nah, man," he said. "If I wanted to say something about oral sex, I would have said something about oral sex."
Orgeron has been a critic, at times, of Cointment's administration and has been among those who have aired frustrations with the way the president has handled various matters, from hiring to transparency.
Melancon has more often been a more reliable vote for the administration, but also stakes out his own path on some issues.
In an interview Friday, Melancon said Orgeron gave him the same explanation of the "wipe your face" comment. But he declined to say how he perceived Orgeron's remarks initially, or if he accepted that explanation.
"That's between Mr. Orgeron and I," he said. "That's not something I'm going to comment on publicly. Him and I are dealing with our personal stuff internally."
However, in another email, Melancon expressed frustrations over the comment and Orgeron's behavior generally. He forwarded Orgeron's statement to Cointment and Council Chair Teri Casso, saying doesn't believe Orgeron's interpretation.
In Melancon's explanation to Casso and Cointment, he said he tried to contact Orgeron for days about the comment by phone and by visiting his law office.
"He finally contacted me back and explained this (the last email) was a biblical metaphor," Melancon wrote to the president and council chairwoman on Sunday afternoon. "I didn't buy it, but I will allow you to decipher it on your own."
Melancon noted that while the earlier back-and-forth over the agenda was shared among several email recipients — where Orgeron attempted "demonstrate his more high ground and the pedestal that he puts himself on" — the "wipe your face" email was part of a later exchange that was sent to him alone.
Orgeron is a first-term councilman from Prairieville and a lawyer. He is active in his church, St. John the Evangelist Church, and has served on its committee overseeing Girl and Boy Scout troops, his campaign website says.
He is also a members of the Knights of Columbus, a male Catholic service organization.
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'Wipe your face': Ascension councilman's provocative comment to colleague stirs frustrations - The Advocate
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