In the overall scheme of things, it’s a relative minor point but nevertheless one that the Director of the Disclosure Division for the Louisiana Board of Ethics should know better than to do.
After all, the rules are laid out quite specifically with allowable and prohibited activities clearly delineated in periodic bulletins sent out to all state employees—particularly during the election cycles every four years.
State Civil Service General Circular Number 2015-027, dated July 15, 2015, says, “This general circular is being issued to remind classified state employees of the “do’s and don’ts” of political activity because of the upcoming election cycle. It is important to remember that the following restrictions apply to ALL elections, local, state and federal.” (emphasis theirs)
There followed a list of seven activities allowed under Civil Service and a list twice as long (15) of prohibited activities.
We call attention to Item “o,” or 15th on the list which says state classified employees may not “‘Like’ or ‘follow’ a candidate or party on Facebook, Twitter or other form of social media.” DOS AND DON’TS OF STATE ETHICS CIRCULAR 2015-27
But yet, there it was, a Facebook “like” for gubernatorial candidate David Vitter by Robin Falcon Gremillion who earns $80,500 per year in her classified position as the Disclosure Division Director for the Board of Ethics. STATE ETHICS ORGANIZATONAL CHART
No biggie, except for the uneven application of the rules.
For instance, a supervisor for the Office of Risk Management, before it was privatized by Bobby Jindal, received an unsolicited ham from a vendor for Christmas. Because it was mailed and not delivered in person, she did in fact receive it and was promptly fined $250. Did we mention it was unsolicited?
Troopers’ Association’s first endorsement ever
On the other side of the ledger is that unprecedented endorsement by the Louisiana State Troopers Association that has much of the association’s membership more than a little rankled.
“It’s not that I don’t support (John Bel) Edwards, because I do,” said one member. LSTA Executive Director David Young said the endorsement is “rare.” “That would have to be rare, as in never, since this is the first time the LSTA has ever endorsed a candidate and the membership was not consulted on this action. I don’t know of a single member who was consulted,” he said.
He told LouisianaVoice that he felt the endorsement was made at the express wishes direction of State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson. “He wants to be appointed for another four years and this was his way of playing up to the front-runner. If (David) Vitter had been ahead in the polls, I can promise you the endorsement would have gone to him. This was an overtly transparent move to put Edmonson in the good graces of the projected winner. He is desperate. He is the only one who could have done this. He had to know the general membership would be furious.”
He went on to say that the endorsement is not allowed because it is a “blatant violation of LSP policy and should be investigated.”
LSP policy provides that No commissioned officer of the State Police shall participate in political activity by:
- Soliciting votes or contributions for any political candidate, organization or cause;
- Making political contributions.
- Making a public political statement or address
- Wearing a campaign badge, ribbon or insignia.
- Distributing political campaign cards, posters or buttons.
- Attending a social function which is designed as a fund raiser where a contribution or ticket is required, even if a ticket is offered to the employee free of charge.
- Becoming a candidate for office, serving as a member of any political committee or taking part in the management of a political party or organization.
- Publicly displaying political literature, placards, bumper stickers or signs in or on any personal property (except by non-civil service employed spouse on community property).
- Actively participating in an effort to recall from office an elected official (other than by signing a recall petition.
- Becoming a candidate for any state, parish, municipal or other political office (other than position of classified employee serving on state civil service commission).
Shot at LouisianaVoice
On Sunday (Nov. 15) Edmonson sent a lengthy “feel good” email message to all Department of Public Safety commissioned personnel in which he said he looked forward “to continuing to lead State Police through the election, the transition, and into the new administration.”
He also urged DPS personnel to “ignore internal political ‘noise’ and rumors that will characterize the next month.” He acknowledged that there were decisions he might reconsider but said, those were “few in number.” But then, in a direct shot at LouisianaVoice, he said, “I cannot dwell on those who would criticize the content of what we have done nor the means used to accomplish our goals.”
Earlier, in an address to state troopers, he characterized blog posts by LouisianaVoice about LSP as “B.S.,” and that those who commented on the posts without giving their names were “cowards.”
Fanning refugee phobia, courtesy of Vitter and Jindal
And speaking of cowards, Vitter wasted no time jumping on the anti-Syrian refugee bandwagon—much like Bobby Jindal and all the other hysterical neocons who are convinced that New Orleans is being overrun as this is being written by 10,000 Syrians bent on blowing up the Superdome. (Note: There are no plans to import 10,000 and to date, only 14 refugees have entered Louisiana. Also, of the seven identified Paris attackers, none were from Syria; they were all Europeans).
Both Vitter and Edwards have called for a halt to immigration of the refugees to Louisiana but that hasn’t stopped Vitter from trying his best—by lying through his teeth, of course—to tie Edwards to President Obama’s policy of accepting the refugees, though Edwards had zero to do with the decision.
As pointed out by Robert Mann, if Vitter is truly concerned about the non-existent “influx” of Syrian refugees, he should probably discuss the issue with wife Wendy. She is the general counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans which oversees Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities is the volunteer agency that assists refugees in settling in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas. http://bobmannblog.com/2015/11/16/vitter-doesnt-want-syrian-refugees-in-louisiana-he-should-talk-to-his-wife/
But Vitter’s only objective, indeed, his only hope, is interjecting fear and loathing in the race. That’s what losers do. If he is really so concerned about the threat from the imaginary “influx” of terrorists from Syria, he may wish to explain his whereabouts during two of three Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the volatile situation in Syria from 2012 through 2014. http://bobmannblog.com/2015/11/16/vitter-absent-from-2-u-s-senate-armed-services-committee-hearings-on-syria-2012-14/
He would have had plenty of time to ask all the right questions at those hearings—had he only been there.
Vitter’s and Jindal’s fanning the flames and hatred have been effective. Catholic Charities in Baton Rouge has been receiving death threats after it was learned that a single refugee was settled in the Capital City. And that refugee has since moved on to Washington, D.C.
Thank you, Bobby. Thanks Vitter. You lived down to our expectations.
Bye-bye Bobby party starts early
Perhaps it is only fitting that following his hysterical executive order to suspend that dreaded “influx” of refugees, Jindal suspended his hopeless quest for the Republican presidential nomination, with the ego-laced comment that “This is not my time.” Well, Bobby, you surely got that right. Want a clue as when will be your time? Hint: Think never.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bobby-jindal-not-time-231232217.html;_ylt=AwrT6VrdtUtWyKgAC3IPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw–
Of course, Jindal won’t go simply away. He just had to pose one more threat to our weary psyche. “One of the things I will do is go back to work at the think tank I started a few years ago—where I will be outlining a blueprint for making this the American century,” he said.
Whoo boy. Just what we need: More harebrained ideas to save American exceptionalism from little Booby.
To paraphrase the title of Joe Namath’s autobiography, I can’t wait until tomorrow ‘cause it gets crazier every day.
When the El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras refugees – woman and children – were streaming across the border in 2014, I saw a woman with a sign – “This is not our problem. These are NOT our children.”
I cried. She is so wrong. These are her mother. These are her babies.
It’s not Christian, it’s not Catholic or Islam or Jewish or … It’s simply human.
It’s 14 human beings.
Well said Mark.
I knew something must have been amiss in the Jindal campaign when he was spotted in Louisiana over the weekend.
Bobby Jindal does NOT speak for my friends and me. We have already communicated to Jindal’s staff that we are happy to host Syrian refugees.
The best thing for Gov. Jindal to do at this point is immediately step down. This would automatically hand the reins to Lt. Gov. Dardenne. Even better, Jindal could pull a play from the EWE playbook during the Roemer transition and informally surrender control of the administration to the transition team of Saturday’s winner right away so they can get a head start on dealing with the state’s massive problems. Assuming that person is John Bel Edwards, the best thing he could do would be to immediately announce the planned appointment of Jay Dardenne as his commissioner of administration. We need to move quickly rather than suffer through another 7+ weeks of failed leadership.
Your first idea is a good one, but didn’t that transition happened about eight months ago?
It certainly should have.
P. S. Hope you are inspired to do a toon on this.
Tom, please don’t take your eye off the ball. Jindal’s announced move to America Next seems to suggest a salary. I always suspected his choice of the term “Next” projected his morning after strategy. Otherwise the guy’s not employable. You seem to have the resources and the savvy to find out if Piy can funnel his unused PAC money to American Next. He has a house near LSU to build and furnish, after all, and I can’t believe his book royalties will cover little more than bathroom fixtures. We all knew this day was coming. Now that it’s here, I realize I hadn’t planned for my own morning after. Three weeks ago, I was banking on Vitter. Oh well.
And I still say America Next will be his version of the 700 Club with adherents cheerfully paying for his guidance, if not blessing. P. S. Unless members of America Next all buy Jindal books as Christmas presents, he won’t be able to buy a kitchen faucet with its proceeds.
I have come to the conclusion, assembling information from many sources and watching jindal for 8+ years, that he can’t think, meaning analyze. It will be no surprise if his only job prospect is with his own company. Calling it a “think tank” is ironic. How he will generate revenue to sustain operations is a mystery.
Isn’t it interesting that jindal “suspended” his campaign rather than “ending” it. Under FEC rules, suspended campaigns can continue fund raising while ended campaigns cannot. Soooo….if anyone out there is still foolish enough to support this guy, he can still rake it in.
Of course, the “think tank” can accept donations any time. “America Next” – still a clear threat since he can still make noise through his propaganda machine. Wonder if that is where his loyal campaign staff will go for their next paychecks.
Yes, he can continue to make noise but I believe the results of his campaign have clearly shown that few or listening.
Reblogged this on tmabaker.
Jindal will get by. P.T. Barnum and David Duke have shown there are enough suckers out there who will part with their money. Vitter will get by. He’ll become a lobbyist, I suppose. Or he could always work as Wendy’s paralegal.
100% dead on.
“Vitter will get by. He’ll become a lobbyist, I suppose.”
I don’t know if Vitter would have much success as a lobbyist; I understand he is intensely disliked by his colleagues in D.C.
Edmondson states that those who comment and don’t leave their names are “cowards”. No Mike, they are fearful of what you might do to them. The fact that you would be so interested in their identities should scare us all.
P.S. I am posting my real name, so I am sure you can now look up my address and phone number. If it makes you feel better, give me a call.
Clearly the LA. State Ethics Board is selective when it comes to investigating ethics violations. Hopefully JBE cleans house in all the state boards Jindal rigged in his favor. As for Colonel Edmundson calling people cowards who haven’t revealed their names on these posts is exactly why they don’t.
It rings of privacy violations such as when Jindal wanted the names of all the people who signed the recall Jindal petitions. You can’t bully people from
exercising their first amendment rights.