Former Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources Scott Angelle, who resigned his post right in the middle of the deepening crisis with the Assumption Parish sinkhole to run for the District 2 seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission, has been running a curious television ad in the 12-parish district.
He is running to succeed current commissioner James Field whose term ends on Dec. 31. Field, vice-chairman of the commission, is not seeking re-election.
The district includes all the parishes of East and West Feliciana, Iberia, Lafayette, Lafourche, St. Mary and Terrebonne, and parts of East and West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston and St. Martin.
Angelle’s agency was aware of possible problems with a salt dome in Assumption Parish nearly two years ago, yet he never alerted local officials. The sinkhole in the parish’s Bayou Corne community began forming on Aug. 3 and 150 area families were forced to evacuate. Angelle resigned four days later to run for PSC.
Today, the sinkhole, which has been the site of several earth tremors, is the size of several football fields—and growing.
The Department of Natural Resources issued a permit to Texas Brine to begin exploration of the dome to see if it could be mined. That permit was issued in May of 2010, just about the same time that Angelle left DNR temporarily to become interim lieutenant governor.
As soon as the sinkhole developed in August, Angelle resigned.
And curiously, Gov. Piyush Jindal has yet to make an appearance at the site of the disaster which has displaced hundreds of residents. If there are no hurricanes or Gulf oil spills, there are no national television network news cameras; ergo, no Jindal and now no Scott Angelle.
Instead, what we have been treated to is a well-edited television ad depicting Angelle as the savior of the offshore oil industry.
In this ad, you are treated to sound bites from a fiery Angelle speech about the federal offshore drilling moratorium. It’s bad enough that he sounds like the stereotypical southern politician as depicted in so many uncomplimentary old movies (the only things missing are the bourbon, the string bow tie, the white cotton suit and the spats), but the speech never happened.
But we jumped the gun and we’re not above admitting when we are wrong.
Contrary to our initial skepticism over the validity of the ad’s content, it now appears that he did indeed make the speech as depicted in his cheesy ad. It was at Lafayette’s Cajundome and the 15,000 or so in attendance were worked into an emotional lather, albeit before Angelle had taken the stage. We concede as much now. The fact that he was only one of several speakers should not detract from his soul-stirring rhetoric that was enough to conjure up memories of the Kingfish, Earl Long and George Wallace.
But make no mistake about it, it is all cheap theatrics. And make no mistake about this: Angelle had precious little to do with fighting President Obama on the drilling moratorium or with Obama’s subsequent lifting of the moratorium. That fight was led by Jindal and Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter in a rare cooperative effort.
But the ad certainly makes Angelle look like a champion of the people, a true demagogue.
When Jindal took office in 2008, he retained Angelle, who was appointed DNR secretary by former Gov. Kathleen Blanco in 2004. In 2010, Jindal chose Angelle to serve as interim lieutenant governor when former Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans.
Accordingly, it would not seem much of a stretch to assume that Angelle would remain loyal to Jindal should he be elected to the PSC in November, thus extending the governor’s reach into yet another state agency.
After all, as a couple of readers comment below, immediately after Angelle’s resignation as DNR secretary, Jindal appointed him to the LSU Board of Supervisors, thus tightening his control over the board even more.
Moreover, Jindal, as our readers so quickly pointed out, also made Angelle his legislative liaison to work on behalf of oil companies who were fighting the so-called “legacy lawsuits.” The resulting legislation weakened landowners’ power to force oil companies to clean up lease sites upon leaving the sites.
Now Angelle wants to “regulate” those same companies on whose behalf he worked so diligently to weaken landowner rights.
A closer look at just who is supporting his campaign is quite revealing and offers a much clearer picture of just where Angelle’s loyalties might lie if elected.
The Public Service Commission has jurisdiction over publicly-owned utilities providing electric, water, wastewater, natural gas, and telecommunication services, as well as all the electric cooperatives in Louisiana. The LPSC also regulates intrastate transportation services including passenger carrier services, waste haulers, household goods carriers, non-consensual towing, and intrastate pipelines.
No fewer than 85 such companies or persons affiliated with industries regulated by the PSC have contributed between $1,000 and $5,000 to Angelle’s campaign since his August resignation.
Altogether, those 85 have combined to pour more than $230,000 into his campaign coffers in less than three months.
Those contributors include energy, towing, communications and transportation companies, an ambulance service, oil and gas exploration companies, shale oil fracking companies and four companies owned by Jindal’s latest appointment to the LSU Board of Supervisors Lee Mallett of Iowa, Louisiana.
Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?
Louisiana Voice 
Did Piyush not also appoint Scott to the LSU board?
Yes you are correct Mr. DuCote. Days after his resignation from DNR the Governor appointed Mr. Angelle to the LSU Board of Supervisors, and it is the opinion of many that the action was done so the Governor would have more of his people on the Board to pass his initiatives, especially to consolidate the President and Chancellor’s job at LSU.
Yes he did appoint him to the LSU board one day before the gov’s office, not Scott Angelle, announced Angelle had resigned possibly to run for the PSC. Angelle is a career politico who will say and do anything to stay at the public trough. In other words he’s just the kind of minion that Piyush depends on to spread his sellout agenda. Angelle is a perfect example of the type of individual we citizens need to vote out of office although Piyush will probably just create a position for him and double his pay.
You are right on Bob in BR: Everything you say about him is correct, What will probably happen, unfortunately, is that if he loses the election, he will go back to being the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, and finish dismantling the Offices, which he has done during his tenure thusfar.
Mr. Angelle has big shoes to step into to fill Jimmy Fields’ position Mr. Fields is a dedicated PUBLIC SERVANT, and entered the PSC with no intentions of running for Governor, thus he served his constituents with no political ambitions in mind. He dealt with people without the political element in mind. He was always ready to help the clients he served, and has a great staff that is very effective. Mr. Angelle, on the other hand, has had political aspirations for quite a while, and in the opinion of many that he aspires to be governor, and utilized those poeple under his command to further his political ambitions. It is my opinion that Mr. Angelle wants the District 2 PSC Commissioner job to further his political ambitions by name recognition. The article was very well written and the FACTS are stated and are truthful. Anyone who has had any association with or worked under Mr. Angelle knows the facts and knows that the story is true and correct. He truly had the same political attitude as Governor Jindal, that being not wanting anyone to tell them anything they did not want to hear, and many a person went against their beliefs with fear of being dismissed if they spoke up. I urge all of the residents of the parishes in PSC District 2 do complete research on your own, and chose your candidate accordingly.
Was Scott not also Piyush’s head legislative lobbyist when the oil companies started fighting what they call “legacy law suits” because landowners were winning settlements against the oil companies for years despoiling lease sites? Did not the resultant legislation severely weaken landowner rights?
You are again correct Mr. DuCote. Mr. Angelle’s office fought long and hard to create the legacy legislation, with the Office of Conservation’s mission to protect the landowners of the state. Then, as time went on, and Mr. Angelle became the Governor’s Legislative Lobbyist, as well as the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, he fought what his Office initially did to as you say weaken the landowners rights? One needs to watch closely the Acadiana group of politicans who were associated with Foster’s tenure as Governor. A lot of their cohorts are inside of state government disguised as state employees.
Thank you Tom for this article. I always found that ad sooo cheesy and to find out he cut and pasted the whole thing just puts the icing on the cake. I laugh every time I see it. Keep in mind though that Erich Ponti, who I believe may be term limited is also accepting fees from those he would regulate if elected. I found it disturbing when he stated at the Press Club meeting that he “learned” he “had” to accept these funds while in the legislature. He seems to be following the same career path as Angelle and these two have each amassed war chests greater than the other 3 candidates combined. I don’t believe either of these represent a wise choice for Louisiana voters.
I happen to know of Eric Ponti, and just because he may be term limited, does not mean he can be compared in any way to Angelle. Mr. Ponti is a very sincere person, who is very active in his church parish, and to the best of my knowledge, does not have any aspirations to be anything more than PSC Commissioner. Mr. Ponti does not have the same ego attitude as one of the other candidates. And just to mention the candidates adressing the Press Club, in an article about same in the Baton Rouge Business Report, Mr. Angelle was asked about the ongoing sinkhole situation in Bayou Corne and his abrupt resignation from the Department of Natural Resouces, he responded that he was bound by law that he could not intervene in the workings of the Office of Conservation. He is correct, the Commissioner of Conservation in certain areas does have more authority than the Secretary. But it is well known among many that Angelle never let any law stop him from intervening in matters before the Commissioner of Conservation. I always heard that in a political race, there will be evils, but it is up to us to vote for the lesser of the evils. In this case, Mr. Ponti is clearly the lesser of the evils.
Perhaps I was too harsh about Erich Ponti but the fact remains that only he and Angelle are happy to take donations from those they would regulate. I had business dealings with Erich years ago and he always conducted himself competently and professional. I don’t read the BR Report but watched the segment on the news and found his statements and attitude regarding these donations disturbing. He has no experience whatsoever in PSC dealings. When you spoke earlier of filling Jimmy Fields shoes it sounds like a clear endorsement for Forest Wright who is a professional in the energy field and a proponent of smart and clean energy. He has headed several smart energy initiatives and is very aware of the actual workings of the PSC having testified to and for them on numerous occasions. Erich may work out to be a good commissioner and I wish him well in his future endeavors but his attitude toward donations again represent the type of mindset we need out of government. My opinion only but I much prefer the actual expertise and opposition to taking donations from firms he would regulate that Forest Wright offers. Take away the D or R behind their name and he is the overwhelming choice.
Sometimes, having knowledge of the inner workings of a board or commission can be detrimental. Especially in cases where individuals are looking to enrich themselves. I think our concern with Ponti and Angelle is based on gut feelings that they are out to enrich themselves. This is the year of the woman. Break up the ole boys club people. Look for integrity and dedication in choosing your voice for PSC commissioner.
I know Mr. Ponti too. I had voted for him before but will no longer do so because of his vote on the education bills. Since my school had piloted the new evaluation system, I shared what I considered valuable information on how the bills were flawed. (By the way, The Advocate published a story last week on Rep. Seabaugh discussing these same problems with the new evaluation system. If only he had read the bill BEFORE it passed. ) But back to Mr. Ponti. His response to me was that every child deserves the opportunity for a quality education. I have spent the last 20 years teaching public school students so that comment was a slap in the face to me. I will not vote for anyone who did not have the courage to stand against Jindal. I urge others to do the same.
To k2 Teacher: I have felt the same pain and disappointment when I have contacted a legislator about a matter that was important to me. I’m sorry you had to experience that, as I have the utmost respect for teachers in the State of Louisiana.
More interesting information on Mr. Angelle:
Anything wrong, are you kidding? It’s just La politics as usual, what could be wrong with that?
He did make that speech in Lafayette, LA in the Cajundome and the crowd reaction shot is true. Not that it’s not cheesy but I was there and it happened just like the commercial shows it.
Well if the commercial is in fact a true account of the town meeting, I will say that the first time I heard the commercial but was not looking at it, and before I even knew it was Angelle, to hear him stump I thought for sure it had to be the voice of Huey or Earl Long. Sounded just like their political speeches of times gone by! Is that who he was trying to imitate?
Interesting information on Mr. Angelle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCe7IU0NjM4
Portrait of a scalawag.