A Grand Coteau law firm is filing a lawsuit against the town of Washington alleging malfeasance in office.

The lawsuit by Granger & Trant Law Firm dates back to a client that is trying to move a home from Washington, but after the town’s failure to reply to an ordinance, they decided to attend a town council meeting and were shocked by what they heard.

“We kind of walked into a wasp’s nest so to speak,” says attorney Christopher Granger.

Granger says his client needed to go through the town’s historic district before he was able to move his home. 

“The ordinance clearly states if you don’t have an answer before 10 days of that application, your application is deemed approved,” says Granger.

Granger says his client didn’t get answer until the 32nd day, only to find out they were denied.

“The next step is to appeal it to the town council and so that’s what we were there to do. We were appealing the historic district’s decision,” says Granger.

He says one of the subjects of the meeting was the town’s budget for next year and as he puts it, once the discussion of last’s year budget came up, he provided concerning answers.

“You know he made comments that last year’s budget, the books were cooked, that it was fraudulent budget and they essentially cooked the books to be able to balance it,” says Granger.

Granger says the focus of their lawsuit is simple and mainly concerns no more than two lines.

“We’re going to be filing what’s called a writ of mandamus which is essentially a call of action for a private citizen to be able to hold a public official accountable to do what they are supposed to do,” says Granger.

Washington Mayor Joe Pitre declined to comment on the lawsuit until he goes through the entire file.