We’ve been trying to spread the message for some time now about how the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal is cognizant only of the well-being of Bobby Jindal and his presidential aspirations which, by the way, are evaporating like so much acetone-based nail polish remover.
We’ve sounded the alarm on reforms to public education, budget cuts to higher education, attempted pension reforms, privatization, the firing of state appointed officials and the demotion of legislators, the refusal to accept federal funding for Medicaid, broadband internet, a rail link between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, early childhood intervention and federal stimulus funds (though there seems to be no compunction about all that federal highway money that the state receives, nor hurricane relief when it’s needed).
We’ve written extensively about how the appointments to plum commissions and boards seem to gravitate toward big campaign contributors and how the appointees use their purchased positions to inflict the whims of the governor on state institutions and state employees.
And we were first to sound the alarm, thanks to a timely heads-up State Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard (I-Thibodaux), that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had not approved the Jindal administration’s half-baked state hospital privatization plan—a development which could cost the state another $800 million in Medicaid funds if the state does not submit its plan for approval in time for the adoption of next year’s state budget.
Now, though, it seems that others are beginning to catch on. There are rumblings of discontent in the Legislature, the Board of Regents backed the governor down in his attempt to fire the commissioner of higher education, the state school principals association simply walked away from a state-sponsored Principal of the Year contest over the criteria imposed on the selection process by Education Superintendent John White.
We broke the initial story about White’s decision to provide personal data on all Louisiana public school students to inBloom, a massive computer data bank controlled by Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch. The backlash from that story has forced White to back down on the agreement with inBloom, though we’re still skeptical about the legitimacy of his announcement that he was calling the information back into the Department of Education. It seems to us that it might be a little difficult to take back what was already submitted to inBloom. Kind of like getting the genie back into the bottle.
We are told, by the way, that White and his minions have literally freaked out over our latest request for public records relative to the DOE Value Added Model (VAM) for teacher evaluations. Apparently, there is some information in the records we requested that he desperately does not want the public to know.
And of course, there is that federal investigation looming over the governor’s office regarding that $184 million contract awarded to CNSI by its former employee, Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein. Greenstein was the first domino to fall in that little scandal and there could be more.
But now, state employees, while still maintaining their anonymity for the sake of keeping their jobs, are starting to sound off and they’re doing so loudly and clearly.
The essay below was penned by a state employee. We know the employee’s name but we are sworn to secrecy to protect a state worker who has seen wanton disregard for propriety and ethics up close and personal.
To summarize, the essay is about the surreptitious retaining of Ruth Johnson, retired Department of Children and Family Services Director, to a $49,900 contract from Feb. 18 through June 14 at which time she is expected to be hired full time at a six-figure salary.
Contract Details
Contract Number 720077
Contract Title DOA/OIT & RUTH JOHNSON
Contract Description PROVIDE CONSULTING, RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT TO THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ALL MATTER S RELATED TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES. 100% STATE GENERAL; $80/HOUR PLUS $4,377.60 TRAVEL
Agency DOA-OFFICE OF CIO
Amount $49,900.00
Begin Date 2/18/2013
End Date 6/14/2013
Approval Date 3/14/2013
Document Type CONSULTING CONTRACT-CFMS
Status ENCUMBRANCE SUCCESSFUL
Contractor RUTH JOHNSON
Contractor City and State BATON ROUGE, LA
So why put her on contract instead of hiring her outright?
For that answer, refer back to her contract, which runs through mid-June.
The Legislature, by law, is required to adjourn no later than June 6. When her contract expires, it will be too late for her appointment to full time status to be confirmed by the State Senate.
By going the route of a contract through June 14, DOA avoids the messy confirmation process and as we shall see in the essay below, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) has already seen through the ruse.
Here is the essay by Anonymous:
As I read recent headlines regarding the current administration, I find myself pausing to take a reflective look back. What I see saddens me.
There are so many who have chosen to defile the system with little regard or respect for their colleagues, Louisiana law, and even the Legislature for that matter. Some might even go as far as to say they’ve done so with an incredible degree of arrogance—assuming no one around them will notice. Maybe they assume no one will speak up. Maybe they have, like Jindal, become too callous to care. But I want to take a second to assure you—especially those “insiders” monitoring this blog—that your colleagues do notice.
Last Thursday, on the floor of the State Senate, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) called attention to a particular contract the administration planned to sneak by state employees and the legislature. You know the one that contracts out the Chief Information Officer position to former DCFS Secretary Ruth Johnson?
Yep, that one. It’s the one that seems to us, to be an attempt to circumvent both the legislative process as well as Louisiana law. It’s the same contract that fills what statute says must be an appointed and unclassified position—with a contractor, or vendor, if you will. It is the contract that was written for $49,900 (just $100 below the $50,000 level that requires approval of Contractual Review). And it’s the same one that expires one week after the session ends which would allow Ms. Johnson to avoid a confirmation hearing.
And most importantly, it is the one that allows Ms. Johnson to return to State service as a rehired retiree without having to follow any of the guidelines outlined by LASERS. href=”http://www.lasersonline.org/uploads/21ProceduresWhenHiringReemployedRetirees.pdf).”>http://www.lasersonline.org/uploads/21ProceduresWhenHiringReemployedRetirees.pdf).
Yes, they have been watching.
Do you know what else they’ve seen? How about that new position created for a family member of a current Louisiana Congressman? The $150,000 position that did not exist before now? They noticed. And are you aware they also noticed that the holder of that position, Jan Cassidy, called a state employee prior to her arrival to ensure a state contract won by her employer at the time (ACS/Xerox) was pushed through before she arrived? You didn’t think they would see that either, did you?
I’m sure it seems unbelievable they might not be as naive to the wrong doing as you assumed. Employees aren’t supposed to question things. But they have been. And you should know they’ve been watching much further back than just the past year.
They all noticed that job you filled with a family member of a prominent public servant only a few months after laying off a number of employees from the same area. They all noticed how the spouse of the current Deputy Commissioner was able to gain rights to a classified position, available when and if her unclassified one comes to an end. They saw the ethical violations involved as she discussed matters directly with her spouse and HR Director at the time.
And if it isn’t enough that the Deputy Commissioner is indirectly supervising his spouse, he actually ensured she was placed in the best position she could qualify for at the time. Yes, the gullible, never-figures-out-your-secrets employees noticed. And not surprisingly, it would seem as if a close friend of said spouse noticed as well. How else could someone close to retirement, who supervises no one, snag a $15,000 raise while her colleagues continue to work alongside her with no merit increases or opportunities to move forward.
Yes they have seen the Tim Barfields and the Bruce Greensteins – same people only differing faces. They have passed all of you in the halls, the parking lots, and sometimes at various functions and ponder how you could smile at them and make light of current events. They wonder how you walk these halls and look them in the eyes as if you haven’t plundered them for your own advancements.
And while they may not show it outwardly, they know what you have done for yourselves at the expense of others. They know who signed the papers and who pushed through the favors and you can bet they only wish they could ask you if it’s worth it. Is being on the inside with an inflated sense of entitlement and self-worth so much that you’d sell your integrity to move yourself forward? Is it worth losing any remaining respect your colleagues might have had for you? Is it worth not only stealing from and lying to the public, but also to the people you interact with on a daily basis?
I hope it is. Because in the end, that money and “insider” status is all you’ll have. Someday you’ll realize those are just temporary tokens you can’t take with you when you leave this place or when you yourself become one of this administration’s sacrificial lambs. Surely you can ask Bruce Greenstein about that one. I imagine he’d tell you that politicians will wither and fade, as will your self-imposed status, and you’ll be left with the people you stepped on and stole from to get to where you are. Maybe then, when you don’t think you hold the cards, maybe that will be a better time to ask – was it worth it?
And don’t worry – as always, they will be watching.
Jindal for president??? LOL, the fool isn’t even qualified to walk my dog. And I don’t even have a dog!. And if his integrity and honesty went up by a factor of ten then he’d still not be remotely qualified to walk the dog I don’t even have.
Upon reading this, something I read earlier tonight gives me the answer to all of the Jindal bunch:
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
John 1:10
Recommended Reading
John 1:1-18
Dr. A. W. Tozer once posed a troubling question: “What is the supreme sin of a profane society?” He found his answer in John 1:10. Though Jesus made the world and actually came into the world, the world still does not see Him, feel Him, respect Him, or know Him. “Surely,” Tozer said, “this is the great curse that lies upon mankind today — men are so wrapped up in their own godless world that they refuse the Light that shines, the Voice that speaks, and the Presence that pervades.”
On the other hand, how wonderful when we do know Him! When He is Lord of our lives, we have order restored, hope renewed, and eternity assured. Rather than drifting, we have a North Star. Rather than despairing, we have purposeful direction. Rather than hell, we have heaven.
It’s a fearful thing to be arrogant in the face of God, “but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
He is still in the world, but mankind scoffs in its ignorance of Him, almost completely unaware of His revelation that the Word can be known and honored and loved by the humble human heart.
A. W. Tozer”
This came from a daily reading of Dr. David Jeremiah who provided this reading for today and I couldn’t have said it better. These people are worldly and one day they will pay the price for their behavioral and it may be all to late.
The State of Louisiana has only one Deputy Commissioner and his name is Ray Stockstill.
I truly hope that enough people with the power to put a end to the destruction of our State will do so.
That is who exactly? The voters? The legislators? Certainly not law enforcement?
Nor judges. They no longer uphold the laws, but instead find ways to side with the employer when a favor is called in. Civil Service has long abandoned state employees in favor of lying and corrupt agency heads. Oh, include the CS Commission in this also.
“I will use every day, every hour of these next four years to make Louisiana the very best that we can be. I don’t believe in resting on our past accomplishments. I don’t believe in taking time off,” Jindal told a packed hotel ballroom of supporters in Baton Rouge after his reelection by a 2/3rds majority of the vote in 2011. So, we have three more years of Jindal and his administration making Louisiana the very “worst” they can before we the voters can do anything and by then it will be too late.
It’s never too late. We can start NOW by banding together to oppose them. Jindal is losing his power and karma is about to become this administration’s new best friend! 😉
“Is being on the inside with an inflated sense of entitlement and self-worth so much that you’d sell your integrity to move yourself forward?”
Apparently so.
The things this person writes about will always go on. It is a matter of degree. S/he is to be commended for being vigilant, but if the response is apathy, it will have little effect. Let us hope somebody is paying attention to his/her concerns.
Way back in the dark ages when I went to work for the state, department heads and other appointed officials got their jobs on the basis of political clout with little, if any, attention paid to qualifications. They didn’t get paid much and they didn’t try to do much except favors for the governor and his minions. Generally speaking, the classified employees who knew what they were doing were allowed to do so. Civil service protection existed for this very reason and was effective.
If we on the outside place any faith in the press and ethical bloggers, we have to believe we are moving in a direction worse than the old patronage system. Most department heads have qualifications for their jobs and are very well paid. They do what they want, including favors for the governor. Civil service has gone into sleep mode. Rather than simply following the common-sense intent of laws, the focus has intensified on finding loopholes. Sometimes the law is simply ignored until suits are brought and won.
Power does, all too often, corrupt. We have to hope those among our citizens who are vigilant will become more proactive in demanding change.
P.S. Thanks for doing this, Tom and I hope you will be able to post these kind of candid observations by folks on the firing line in the future. Some people have axes to grind that overwhelm their objectivity about these things. This person didn’t exhibit that and I’m willing to bet s/he is not alone.
WOW! Who’s next? I cannot wait to read the next one.
We all know it is happening and we, the working public, are not empowered to stop this ” ‘dick’ tator.” We love our State of Louisiana. It is sickening to see what he is doing, along with the “chosen few.” They are fleecing our State. In addition to high salaries, these salaries will directly affect their retirement benefits which in all likelihood will also fleece the State retirement system.
A while back someone said that Jindal has destroyed the lines between the three branches of government………….the legislative branch, executive branch and judicial branch. He has, in essence, become a dictator. Who, in his “right mind,” would destroy our right to free speech and our access to public records? Can it be that Jindal is so obsessed with his high hopes of a Presidency, or at the very least a high position in our government, that it has driven him “crazy?” If so, then have him committed. If not, those of you in power should take back the power afforded you by your elected position.
Reinstate the three branches of government and don’t fool the public into thinking it is too late. Rescind all that crazy legislation that you voted for, for whatever reason, and be the men and women that care about the public. Don’t walk/ride on the backs of the really poor to satisfy his agenda because ultimately, if you don’t, he will ruin our State by taking every penny out of our coffers.
What is really frightening here is that essay could be about any department or agency in the state today.
Exactly. These are connected career state employees, not Jindal appointees. They just happen to have friends in the position to “do something” for them, such as “detailing” them temporarily into higher positions to jack up their salaries with no actual change in duties.
However, it’s the toxic miasma of the current administration that makes these practices seem all the more odious in light of the austerity that their co-workers are experiencing. Rank and file are told to do more with less, while these people just get more and more.
Currently, there’s nothing that can be done about this. It is a shame that it is ok to steal earned wages from rank and file civil servants and civil service does nothing to protect these employees. If you call civil service to ask a question or for help, they don’t respond. When you do get a response, it’s in favor of the agency. The majority of attorneys in BR are under contract with state agencies helping agencies get through the loopholes.
Yet, the right continues to march on, trampling the minions, robbing the state treasury, and apathy follows in pursuit.
Where is our illustrious state treasurer in all this? Haven’t heard that they put duct tape on his mouth. What is he waiting for? Spill the beans in where our money is going. Also, how public are the payroll records of the Teepells who work in BJ’s office?
This administration is so fast and furious with their lies, deciet and thievery until he probably doesn’t know what’s going on…..
This was a very good comprehensive article on the corruption of the Jindal administration and more are needed. If it takes paid advertisements to make people understand how they have been used by Bobby, the money should be spent. What a shame it is that most people don’t want to be bothered to pay even attention.
Not only is all this corrupt and awful, it’s a slap in the face to those of us trying to serve the public. Just try to create a position or subcontract to fill actual programming needs for your office. Even when it’s something on federal grant funds and you can’t meet the goals of your grant without it. It will go through a long tedious process with scrutiny on many, many levels. If you get it through, you will already be far behind before you start because it takes so long. Or you will be denied and have to start over in a different way. A small, necessary $100,000 subcontract on federal funds at DHH will have more scrutiny and be harder to get approved than Greenstein’s massive CSNI contract.
The system works to punish those who try to do good work, and to reward those who charge who impede work or who put their own greed first.
Remember this one. Did anyone ever get into any real hot water over this?
http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2011/09/lsu_health_center_executive_re.html
PB, they get positions they want to create, created really fast. The turnaround time from civil service is really quick if the agency really wants it (“wink, wink”).
Do those details show a contract for the state CIO paid for by the Office of the CIO? Is she monitoring her own contract? Is that legal?
They don’t care if its legal.
I agree, they are out of control and don’t care if it’s legal or not. Who’s gonna enforce the law?
[…] heard from several sources that John White is worried (freaked out) by some Freedom of Information requests that were made about VAM. Well there is a lot to be […]
What does Jan Cassidy do? She was hired for procurement and IT but then Ruth Johnson was hired as CIO over IT, then Ruth moved into special projects to focus specifically on DHH MMIS and now Dickie Howze is CIO. So is Jan over procurement? Why hasn’t her position been made public? Is it b/c the administration doesn’t know what to do with her now that they realize she has a conflict of interest due to her past dealings with practically every state agency (I.e DHH MMIS, DCFS imaging project, DPS criminal history, etc) Jan has each agency doing print assessments so that a print management plan can be put into place. Does she not know that we know that her former employer was ACS/Xerox who is pegged to win this contract? Who will take Dickie Howze place? I wonder who he/she knows and if he/she is qualified for the position. I can’t help but wonder what vendor he/she will favor once he/she is planted in the IT position. Dickie was a no brainer. His close ties to Kristi and Ruth was bound to be of benefit. Greenstein brought in his buddy from Microsoft Zac Jiwa, Jeya at DPS had close ties with Mike Edmondson, Chad Mcgee (past CIO) had close ties with Foster, Jan with Paul Rainwater etc etc. The only qualification is friendship, qualified candidates need not apply
Theres more than that for qualifications: ability to do whats told without question from Jindalites, no qualms about destroying programs and lives in the blind pursuit of privatization, will take fall to prevent investigations from reaching Jindal, … you get the idea.
Nor, qualified employees with senority.
There are no profiles in courage anymore…it’s don’t do anything to be criticized for in the press even if that decision is the correct one for the benefit of the citizens in general…raise money..buy ads..feed the uneducated the kool-Aid…take the power and money to the bank f all of them