EDITOR’S NOTE: Pursuant to our public records request of Wednesday, July 11, LOSFA informs us that the number of positions eliminated was actually 58–not 47 as first reported. The number 47 was based on earlier figures released by LOSFA. We have updated the numbers accordingly.
LouisianaVoice was the first to break the news of the 58 classified employees were to be laid off, effective June 30, at the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA).
Now that that messy little item has been taken care of and those 58 employees are gone, LOSFA is advertising on the state’s civil service web page for a new job opening that will pay up to $76,000 per year.
The opening is for the position of Procurement Director 1 and the salary range is $3,023 to $6,361 per month, or $36,276 to $76,332 per year.
But none of the recently laid off employees need apply; the civil service announcement is quite specific in saying the new position is promotional only. “You must be an employee of the Office of Student Financial Assistance in order to be considered for this position,” the announcement says—in bold lettering.
Interpretation: Someone in the LOSFA is about to receive a promotion and a sizable pay bump.
LOSFA, besides serving as the guarantor for student loans, also supports the state’s TOPS and START programs, the Early Start Program, the Rockefeller State Wildlife Scholarship, the State Matching Funds Grant, Go Grant, Chafee Education Training Voucher Program, the Volunteer Firemen’s Tuition Reimbursement Program, John R. Justice Student Loan Repayment Program, Financial Literacy for You (FLY) and College Knowledge.
The 58 employees lost their jobs because of the privatization of LOSFA and at the time that LouisianaVoice first learned of the layoff plan, agency Executive Director Melanie Amrhein promised us she would inform us who in the office would be retained.
She never got back to us, but we learned through other sources that three unclassified employees, each making approximately $100,000 per year, would not lose their jobs. Those were, besides Amrhein, Deputy Executive Director Sujuan Boutté, Assistant Executive Director for Fiscal and Administrative Affairs Jack Hart and Assistant Executive Director for Marketing and Outreach David Roberts.
The agency justified its layoff plan to the Department of Civil Service in April by saying:
• A reduction of overhead was necessary to maintain support of state programs;
• An attrition of staff leads to ineffective administration and further strain on generating revenue;
• Contracting services will potentially result in higher performance on portfolio while allowing the agency to retain a higher net income with reduced overhead;
• The timeline provides an orderly conversion from in-house functions to managed contractor operation;
• Adversely-affected employees will be given time to fine new employment.
(Just not with us, the justification might have added.)
So, just what will the new Procurement Director 1 be doing?
According to the civil service position announcement, the lucky person will “direct and coordinate all aspects of a procurement program for a small agency in the central procurement office or satellite field facility.”
That’s a pretty ambiguous description at best although the announcement does go on to say that the new person will be responsible “for approving emergency acquisitions of commodities,” although it’s just not clear what “commodities” LOSFA will be acquiring.
Around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, we attempted to contact Amrhein, Boutte, Roberts and Hart as well as LOSFA general counsel George Eldredge but no one answered either of the five phones.
The new position is administrative in nature, but with all those 47 employees now gone, who will this new Procurement Director 1direct/administer?
But wait! We get further clarification in the job description. It seems that whoever is promoted to this position will “establish goals and objectives and monitor performance to improve efficiency for the procurement process of the department” and will also “assist agency staff by providing data for establishment of goals and objectives.”
Well, that certainly clears up a lot of questions relative to the overall merits of privatization (read: layoffs) and it certainly is consistent with the administration’s rock solid policy of transparency and accountability.
Just try explaining that to 58 former employees.
Louisiana Voice 
So I’m dense and possibly naive; Are you saying that cutting state employees is a “bad” thing? I personally have no sympathy. Welcome to my “real” world.
Well, it’s certainly heartwarming to know that you have “no sympathy” in your “real” world. Whether you realize it or not, you encounter public employees every day. They are your kids’ teachers; as cops, they keep order from descending into chaos; they attempt to douse the flames should your house catch fire; they build and repair roads and bridges, they issue you your driver’s license; they provide water and sewer service to your home; state employees issue you your state income tax refund; state employees attempt to keep chemical and oil companies from polluting the ground, water and air; state employees fight wildlife poachers and patrol our waterways to ensure your boating and fishing safety and state employees provide medical services to those unfortunate enough not to have coverage.
Obviously, though, you’ve got yours, so you have “no sympathy” for the people who live down the street, who go to your church and whose kids play Little League baseball with your kids.
Like it or not, public employees do perform a myriad of services that you apparently are too “dense” and “naive” to recognize. Many of those jobs come with a lot of pressure that you probably are oblivious to. Try, for example, to manage a multi-million lawsuit against the state where you are the one charged with the responsibility of making a determination of liability and then choosing whether to fight it in court or settle. Try working on an interstate highway like a man I knew in north Louisiana who was run over and killed on the job by a drunk driver. Try going into a burning building to save a child or try to reason with a deranged person barricaded in a building with hostages. The firemen who died the World Trade Center were public employees. I don’t know if you noticed, but they ran into the WTC in an attempt to save lives. The two Insurance Department employees shot and killed last year were public employees.
You may have “no sympathy,” but I have “no patience” with opinionated people with open mouths and closed minds.
But to answer your question, I was saying no such thing. What I was saying–the point that you obviously chose to ignore–is that an agency laid off 58 people at relative modest salaries and then turned right around and advertised for a $76,000 position that none of the laid-off employees are eligible to even apply for.
Well said, Tom! After 35 years of putting my heart into a job that I love, the feelings generated during the last legislative session were hard to take. I understand that the downturn in the economy left both public and private sector employees with fewer resources. There seems to be a sentiment among some, however, that working for the state is the same as dining at the public trough – almost like we are getting public assistance rather than being compensated for the work that we do. I have a feeling that thousands of state employees would like to shake your hand right now! Thanks for your research, your straight-shooting comments, your humor and your tenacity. You ask the questions and push the buttons that we cannot.
He sure does. I love to read what he has uncovered.
J Benson: You should have stopped writing after your first six words.
Tom: Thanks for the great article. Looks like the fix is in.
Those employees should get together, find an attorney (if they can in B.R.) and sue LOSFA and Civil Service for fraud. Civil Service does nothing to protect state employees. An agency can say and do anything it wants concerning employees and civil service will take whatever is said at face value. Once again an agency is being allowed to become top heavy, while civil service stands idly by and allows it to happen. Maybe you should call and get Ms. Templet’s opinion on LOSFA’s most recent request to promote a Director of nonexistent staff.
Tom, your response to Benson was right on point. Thank you.
How people can continually think their everyday lives do not involve public employees is beyond me. Also, statements like, I don’t get involved in politics. For God’s sake, a person is involved in what a political decision was or will be everyday. From things like sidewalks in your neighborhood, construction of bicycle and walking paths, installation of traffic lights, taxes, insurance, whether a bar can be on the corner or not,etc. etc. I just don’t get it!. I loved your list of public workers.
How many times have we seen a job description written for one particular individual in order to retain them or hire them from outside sources? These are usually those who have connections to the administration and/or a political appointee. Hate to admit it, but seen it too many times!!
Thank you, Tom, for your beautiful response to J Benson. If a thinking person would only take a moment to imagine life without a functioning government, he/she would quickly see it as the horror it would certainly be. Yes, people are dense, and seem to be growing remarkably denser.
Now what needs to happen is that all these laid off state employees sign the Recallbobbyjindal.com petition, so we can get rid of the bastard.
When your state/federal government is one of your largest employers, to me that indicates you have too much government. Layoffs, job consolidations, pay cuts, furloughs are pretty common these days in the private sector. My position at work could be cut tomorrow and I’d be out. I know that. I hope I’m ready for that if it happens. It just seems you and (and the other comments here) are focusing on not being appreciative of the work of state employees. Not true. I appreciate what they do individually (I even say thank you when they help me out at the DMV). My take (which was obviously missed): Just because someone’s employer happens to be the government doesn’t mean they are entitled to that job. Show me where government is being fiscally responsible in any way with the money they take from my paycheck — they’ve probably got several $1 million contracts with some companies to study that and generate some random report nobody ever reads. And just to clear up a point for the record: I have not received a state income tax refund in more than 10 years, but I really do appreciate the employee(s) who promptly process the check I send them each year.