BATON ROUGE — Mayor-President Sid Edwards said Thursday that legislative auditors will review East Baton Rouge Parish's finances as he works to "restore trust" following the indictment of a Metro Council member and past leaders of the local bus system

Edwards said at a City Hall news conference that he met with Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack on Tuesday and asked him to take a look.

"He will have our total support to look into whatever he deems necessary," Edwards said. 

Blocks away from City Hall, the lunch rush drew crowds to downtown, and opinions about public trust varied with the menus. 

Tracy Vaughan moved to Baton Rouge last year and says he's an avid news watcher. He keeps up with it all, including news last month that a grand jury indicted five people, including a council member, in an alleged corruption conspiracy involving the CATS bus system. 

"I saw that," Vaughan said. "There are two sides to every story. If he is guilty, then he should be prosecuted."

Edwards said his office reviewed programs that used state and federal funds when he entered office in January 2025 to "put stronger safeguards in place to ensure integrity across City-Parish government."

"In recent weeks, we have all become aware of charges brought against individuals for possible misuse of public funds that predate my election," Edwards said. "However, the allegations themselves have understandably shaken public confidence in local government, and it is my responsibility to address (them) directly."

Metro Councilman Cleve Dunn, former Capital Area Transit System Chief Administrator Pearlina Thomas and CATS contractors Jay Colar, Terral “TJ” Jackson, and Erica Jackson were indicted on conspiracy charges related to Dunn's alleged abuse of his elected position to secure a $50,000 contract with CATS.

Edwards said the purpose of bringing the auditor in is not to uncover criminal behavior, but to make sure everything in the parish government's operations is "clean as a whistle," as well as to find more efficient and effective ways to operate.

"Some key areas of this review would include the handling of federal grants, direct state appropriations, cooperative endeavor agreements, contract administration and invoice processing," Edwards added in a statement. 

Edwards, who was joined by city-parish officials, as well as District Attorney Hillar Moore III, said that he is not sure how long the process will take after it begins next month.

Vaughan says he wants to see the city-parish government improve accountability.

"Because even as a citizen, everybody has rules," he said. "You're held accountable to pay your bills and do the right thing."