Call it coincidence, but the Baton Rouge Advocate today had an interesting lead editorial thanking State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson and Gov. Bobby Jindal for assigning 100 state troopers to patrol the city of New Orleans through Labor Day in response to a Bourbon Street shooting spree on June 29 that left one dead and nine others injured. http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/9965586-123/our-views-thanks-to-state
Certainly the timing of the editorial had nothing to do with the controversy swirling around the secretive passage of an obscure Senate bill during the last day of the recent legislative session that proved financially beneficial to Edmonson.
And certainly it had nothing to do with the fact that Advocate publisher John Georges wants to keep Edmonson happy because Georges holds a majority ownership in seven firms which provide video gambling machines and other services to gambling establishments—and because Edmonson oversees gaming through the State Gaming Control Board chaired by Ronnie Jones who served as Edmonson’s confidential assistant prior to his appointment to the Gaming Control Board. He is still listed as Edmonson’s confidential assistant on the State Police web page even though Jones says he resigned from that position last August. http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/john_georges_gets_back_into_ga.html
Jones denies any knowledge of Georges’ video poker interests and says Edmonson is not his boss. “I wouldn’t know John Georges if he walked in the room right now and the fact that he has gaming interests doesn’t impress me,” he said, adding that Edmonson “has no control or influence over my board or its decisions.”
Jones’s denials notwithstanding, it appears we can dismiss any chance that the Advocate might delve into the murky political machinations behind the amendment especially tailored for Edmonson (though it did catch one other state trooper up in its generous net).
House Speaker Chuck Kleckley refused to open an investigation into the infamous Edmonson Amendment because he said the amendment was part of a bill that originated in the Senate. But one would expect no action from Kleckley. Otherwise, Jindal might remove his hand from his butt and Kleckley would then be rendered unable to speak—not that he’s ever said anything profound anyway.
The amendment, of course, tacked on an additional $55,000 per year to Edmonson’s retirement benefits and though Edmonson has since said he will not accept the extra income, he apparently overlooked the fact that the bill is now law, thanks to Executive Counsel Tom Enright’s stamp of approval and Jindal’s signing it as Act 859, which makes it impossible for him to arbitrarily refuse the financial windfall.
And it’s true enough that, Senate Bill 294 by Sen. Jean-Paul Morrell (D-New Orleans) did originate in the upper chamber and we now know that the amendment was added by Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia) but Kleckley conveniently overlooked the fact that three members of the Conference Committee which tacked on the amendment were members of the House.
But what about Senate President John Alario, Jr. (R-Westwego)? Certainly the esteemed Senate President would never let such a furtive move stain the stellar reputation of the Louisiana upper chamber. Surely he will launch a thorough investigation of the amendment since the bill and the ensuing amendment were the works of members of the Senate.
Don’t count on it. It’s rare that an elected official will bite the hand that feeds him—or a family member.
In this case, we’re speaking of one Dionne Alario, also of Westwego, who just happens to hold the title of Administrative Program Manager 3 for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety at $56,300 per year. She was hired last November and somehow manages to pull off the unlikely logistics of supervising DPS employees in Baton Rouge while working from her home in Westwego.
Oh, did we mention that she also just happens to be Sen. John Alario’s daughter-in-law?
We attempted to contact her at the Baton Rouge headquarters through the DPS Human Resources Department but we were given a cell phone number with a 504 (New Orleans) area code.
So if you expect Alario to conduct an investigation into the Edmonson Amendment, you can fuggedaboutit. It ain’t happening. His nest has been sufficiently feathered as to guarantee there will be no questions on his part.
It’s beginning to look more and more like the ol’ Louisiana political science professor C.B. Forgotston is correct: This entire Edmonson Amendment affair is quickly being swept under a very big rug.
Call out the clowns, circle the wagons, shoot the messenger and let a couple of months pass so folks forget…..how terribly sad on so many levels.
Tom, it’s well past time to forward all this information to the FBI Public Corruption Unit. That’s our only hope. Your research is exceptional.
I agree and believe the FBI should have been on this the day after it broke! In many ways Jindal’s corruption is far worse than EWE’s. How? Edwards’ corruption focused mostly on the gaming industry. Hence, I can avoid being adversely personally impacted by his corruption by not patronizing gaming establishments in Louisiana. With Jindal, he pulls stunts like this Edmondson amendment or the Murphy Painter fiasco, and we ALL have to pay for it through our tax dollars whether we want to or not. We have no way to avoid an adverse financial impact to us personally in Jindal’s case. It’s long since past time the FBI reined in guys like Riser and Jindal in my humble opinion!
I believe the law itself is unconstitutional. They probably will ignore that little detail.
All the more reason we’re counting on Louisiana Voice, C.B. Forgotston and especially John Kennedy to not let this issue be swept under a rug. And what about Lee Zurik? I hope he’s working on this.
I truly hope that State Treasurer john Kennedy will not fall asleep at the wheel on this one. I have all the confidence in the world that Mr. Kennedy was serious when he said he wanted an investigation into the matter. He is one of a very few who are not afraid of our governor. Tom Aswell is another one who tells it like it is. This can not be swept under the rug
Thanks again Tom
I see I wasn’t the only one who observed a plethora of State Police headlines!! Highway drug bust in the Florida Parishes with photos and murder investigations elsewhere. I vote for FBI involvement.
Outsider
Give them hell Butch!! I have really enjoyed your no-holds-barred articles. Don’t ever back down; just keep reporting the truth. My hat’s off to you.
An old class mate
NEAL McFADDEN (Ruston High, 1961: The Class with Class.)
Their one other editorial today was “Go Slow in School Zones.” Typical Advocate mamby-pamby, kid-gloves pseudo-journalism.
I had really noticed lately how the Advocate portrays just about every bust our increasingly Gestapo-like State Police make very favorably and with no mention of the financial cost or constitutional boundaries no doubt being crossed.
Thanks Tom for investigating this and making these connections.
Stay on this Alario daughter-in-law thing. It’s an affront to all other state workers who actually show up for work every day. Do a records request for her attendance records and/or any written agreement that she could work outside of the office.
Is this one of the reasons that Kennedy is persona non grata with Villere and the LAGOP?
Rule No. 1: You are not allowed to be your own person or think for yourself in Jindal’s and Villere’s Republican Party.
Rule No. 2. See Rule No. 1.
When I dropped my subscription to the Advocate 2 weeks ago they asked why I was leaving. My main reason was the major overhaul in their editorial staff resulting in a lesser product. They still have two or three decent writers but it’s only a matter of time until they either fire them or they quit our of frustration for not being allowed to publish the truth. My second reason, which is a pet peeve of mine, is that you cannot comment on anything online unless you have a Facebook account. I know many people use these and that’s fine. I just don’t care to especially with their constantly changing rules on what they allow themselves to do with your personal info. Thanks so much for this blog and others like it that fearlessly report what is really going on.
I still have my subscription, but agree with you 100% on everything else you’ve said (which is so often the case).
Thank you Stephen. I appreciate the insights you share on this and other sites as well.
No politician in this state can investigate any other politician or government employee without pissing in their cheerio’s as every one of them has had a hand in the cookie jar somewhere along the line . Before I retired from DOTD there were several co-workers of mine that made a bad decision and applied for the drop program to early and found themselves in the same fix as Edmonson , but they didn’t get bailed out . If Edmonson can do it everybody should be able to . What a disappointment Jindal has been . I looked to him as a great hope for Louisiana . The ‘ Advocate ‘ will be out of print soon as no one I know still reads it except for the obits . I’m heading for the ” TEA ” party , Nothing left for me anymore in either major party . Oust them all in November and stop buying the Advocate .