Anyone who didn’t think the fix was in before the meeting ever convened had only to attend Wednesday’s meeting of the State Civil Service Board to realize that the outsourcing of the Office of Group Benefits was a done deal and the meeting itself a mere formality.
Anyone who thinks the Department of Civil Service has not become a toothless tiger had only to observe the manner in which the commission rolled over and let the governor’s proxy, i.e. Division of Administration (DOA) rub its tummy until the docile feline was once again asleep.
Oh, sure, the vote was close, 3-2, with members Curtis Fremin and Sidney Tobias voting no on the proposal by Gov. Piyush Jindal to issue a contract to Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) which will eliminate 177 positions, 121 of which are actually filled. Voting in favor of validating BCBS’s campaign donations to Jindal and his wife’s foundation were Commission Chairman David Duplantier, John McClure, and Scott Hughes.
Absent and not voting were commissioners Lee Griffin and Kenneth Polite.
Fremin and Tobias apparently were less than enamored by the smooth talking mouthpieces for Piyush as reports filtered out of the meeting that there had been considerable disagreement among commission members in the hours leading up to the meeting.
If those discussions prior to the regular meeting involved a full quorum (four members), then it would have constituted a violation of the state’s open meeting laws.
But that’s no big deal; the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has already set the precedent for ignoring that pesky little law that is of little or no consequence to this administration.
Accountable? Transparent? Open?
What a crock.
The commission majority on Wednesday apparently overlooked the Civil Service Department’s mission which is “to provide human resource services and programs that enable state government to attract, develop and retain a productive and diverse workforce that excels in delivering quality services to the citizens of Louisiana.” (emphasis ours.)
DOA and OGB officials were given time to explain in detail their reasons for wanting to outsource the Preferred Provider Organization which has accrued a $500 million surplus over the past six years but attorney J. Arthur Smith, who represented about 100 employees, was cut off in the middle of his presentation.
When Smith later attempted to respond to what he said was incorrect information provided by DOA, he was cut off sharply by Duplantier who snapped, “This was submitted in April and we just receive a three-inch thick stack of paper from you on Monday. This is not a debate and you have had your time.”
While Smith did, in fact, submit a thick stack of supporting documentation, including reports by two political scientists, and several publications showing problems with privatizing governmental functions, DOA’s complete proposal was contained in an eight-pate Power Point presentation that did little to evidence any real financial advantage of turning over the PPO and other claim services to BCBS.
At one point in the proceedings Wednesday, commission member McClure uttered the most curious statement since then-Rep. M. J. “Mert” Smiley, Jr. inquired of a state official if there were some way in which she could forbid employees from leaving her agency.
In the middle of discussion about whether or not the commission would approve the layoff of the 121 employees, McClure said, “Wisdom should be left to the political arena and not to us.”
Perhaps indicative of the way in which state agency heads across the board have capitulated to Piyush was the casual manner in which Charles Calvi Jr., chief executive officer of OGB (the third CEO since the administration first floated the idea of privatization/outsourcing a little more than a year ago), spoke of his employees who will soon be on the street.
Sixty-two of the 121 are eligible for retirement, he said.
Oh, good. That makes everything okay with them.
As for the others, he told the commission that they could avail themselves of training assistance from the state or pursue jobs with Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
“It is our hope that they find work,” he said.
That sounds vaguely reminiscent of another agency head who, in announcing to his employees that they were being outsourced, smiled as he informed them, “I still have my job.”
What went unsaid, of course, was if agency heads want to continue at their jobs, there had best be no dissenting opinions voiced.
Louisiana Voice 
Why don’t the employees involved file a class action suit against the Civil Service Board? They should be disbanded any way because they are of NO USE to State Employees !!!!!!!!!!!!
We have heard speculation that the Governor will go after civil service next. . . Not just the commission, but the entire system. During the Sunset review this year, the department was only recreated for two years, rather than the standard four. Also, some of the terms of the commission members will be up in December. I am pretty sure that one of the terms expiring is that of the Chairman. I am also pretty sure that other than the employee representative who is elected, the others are first nominated by various colleges prior to being appointed by the Governor. That could explain a lot. In those states that have experimented with the elimination of civil service, I have not heard of one that has a Governor who fires people for disagreeing with him. As a matter of fact, the last time we had a Governor who had a wide scale plan for firing people for political purposes was Huey Long. His actions actually led to the formation of modern civil service in Louisiana so that hiring, at least in the classified service, would be based on merit rather than whether or not you supported the Governor or contributed to his campaign. How strange that the same things that contributed to the development of civil service could also have a hand in its demise.
They have strayed from their mission and serve no useful purpose in protecting the employee. They have rules set forth in the constitution they violate daily to satisfy the unclassified agency heads. If they are abolished it will be their own doing. No sympathy here.
Not only a class action against the commission, but civil service also. I am filing a complaint with EEOC shortly against civil service.
Tom have you done any articles on how civil service does not protect the employees? I believe on their website they list how many appeals they have dismissed against employees. Also how many attorneys are on contract with state agencies. Some represent state agencies then turn around and represent employees in other state agencies. Namely Mark Falcon and its usually the same subject matter, i.e. firings, discipline, promotions.
It would be truly interesting (though not entirely to the good in the long run) to see how the influx of state employee money and lobbying would alter the balance of power. State employees are easy targets because we are limited in the kinds of response we can make to these assaults on job security, benefits, and conditions. Civil Service was supposed to insulate us from these political attacks. Civil Service is not doing its job. Without a union to protect us, without a strong voice in the form of a Civil Service, state employees will continue to suffer the brunt of the damage from this political re-engineering of government–not to mention the damage overall to citizens of the state in the continued degradation in quality and scope of services. Money is power in this state, and insofar as we are not allowed to use the power of our collective purse to support, campaign for, and elect legislators who will stand up for us, we will be continue to be powerless.
Brenda St. Romain and Charles Calvi ….I have a question…how do you sleep at night? I’d really like to know. You’re no better than the man you sold this agency out to. As a Christian, we’re commanded by Jesus to pray for people such as yourselves.
Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,”
With that in mind, I will pray for you both. I will also pray for Piyush Jindal, since it appears that the demon he exorcised has entered him, or it never really left when he converted to Catholicism.
Matthew 7:15-16
15: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” 16: “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
I didn’t, nor will I ever vote for Piyush Jindal because I was one of the few who could see the wolf in sheep clothing. I could see the writing on the wall. As time goes by and the more things Jindal gets away with, without accountability, I am reminded of the following scripture:
Daniel 11:3: “Then a mighty king will appear, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases.”
Tom, I want to personally thank you for all you do. You are the only voice state workers have. God bless you. Civil Service has sold out to Jindal. They must live in fear everyday of being dismantled. No agency is safe. If you’re a state worker in an agency that you think is safe, think twice. And, now that McClure thinks “Wisdom should be left to the political arena and not to us”, perhaps Civil Service should be dismantled.