After many unsuccessful attempts at obtaining public records from the Department of Education (DOE) and just as many times of experiencing foot-dragging and outright denials from the department, LouisianaVoice has initiated litigation against DOE and Superintendent of Education John White.
The lawsuit, in addition to immediate release of requested public records, seeks payment of attorney fees, court costs and the imposition of applicable civil fines for non-compliance with the state’s public records laws (R.S. 44:1 et seq.).
It is at least the third such lawsuit filed against DOE over the past several months. Last year, the Monroe News Star filed suit over voucher records and DOE quickly provided access to the documents it had previously denied.
Last October, Research on Reforms filed suit in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge over DOE’s failure to comply with public records laws.
The Independent, a Lafayette newspaper, also experienced difficulty in obtaining public records from DOE. The department first responded that no such records existed but then said they would be made available. But before giving the records to The Independent, White had the information released to a favored reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
LouisianaVoice last month even attempted to have an intermediary, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Chas Roemer, explain the importance of compliance to White in an effort to settle the dispute amicably.
The LouisianaVoice lawsuit was filed in 19th Judicial District in Baton Rouge on Wednesday and was assigned to District Judge Janice Clark.
Here are some of our outstanding public records requests on which we have received no response:
• From: Tom Aswell
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 10:04 AM
To: john.white@la.gov; troy.humphrey@la.gov
Subject: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
Pursuant to the Public Records Act of Louisiana (R.S. 44:1 et seq.), I respectfully request the following information:
Please allow me to review all contracts, purchase orders and authorizations to hire, executed and/or signed by Kunjan Narechania from January 1, 2012 through April 1, 2013. In providing these documents, please do not omit the signature page(s).
Please allow me to review all forms, including literacy, high school redesign and accountability authorized and/or signed by Kunjan Narechania from January 1, 2012 through April 1, 2013. Please include all signature page(s).
Please allow me to review all contracts, purchase orders and authorizations to hire executed and/or signed by Michael Rounds since his employment with DOE. Please include all signature page(s).
Please allow me to review all contracts, purchase orders and authorizations to hire executed and/or signed by David “Lefty” Lefkowith since his employment with DOE. Please include all signature page(s).
Please provide copies of all travel records/travel documents/travel reimbursements for David “Lefty” Lefkowith since his employment with DOE.
Please provide signed time sheets verifying David Lefkowith’s presence in the DOE offices since his employment with DOE.
• From: Tom Aswell
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 7:55 PM
To: john.white@la.gov; joan.hunt@la.gov;
Subject: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
Pursuant to the Public Records Act of Louisiana (R.S. 44:1 et seq.), I respectfully request the following information:
Please provide me with copies of any and all emails and other written communications, memorandums, letters or notes FROM and TO Hannah Dietsch dating back to the date of her employment as Assistant Superintendent of Workforce Talent which contain ANY reference to Value Added, Value Added Model, or VAM.
Please provide me with a list of all Recovery School District (RSD) employees who have received pay increases of 15% (fifteen percent) or more dating back to Jan. 1, 2012.
Please provide me with any and all emails, letters, notes and memorandums from John White relative to holidays for unclassified employees of RSD.
• From: Tom Aswell
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 7:55 PM
To: john.white@la.gov; joan.hunt@la.gov;
Subject: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
Pursuant to the Public Records Act of Louisiana (R.S. 44:1 et seq.), I respectfully request the following information:
Please provide me with copies of any and all emails and other written communications, memorandums, letters or notes FROM and TO Superintendent of Education John White dating back to Jan. 1, 2012 which contain ANY reference to Value Added, Value Added Model, or VAM.
Please provide me with a list of all Recovery School District (RSD) employees who have received pay increases of 15% (fifteen percent) or more dating back to Jan. 1, 2012.
Please provide me with any and all emails, letters, notes and memorandums from John White relative to holidays for unclassified employees of RSD.
• From: Tom Aswell
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 9:08 PM
To: john.white@la.gov; joan.hunt@la.gov
Subject: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
Pursuant to the Public Records Act of Louisiana (R.S. 44:1 et seq.), I respectfully request the following information:
Please provide me with the opportunity to review the official letter or email that you sent to inBloom to cancel the data storage.
Here are excerpts from the Louisiana public records act:
PUBLIC RECORDS
The Louisiana Public Records Act, La. R.S. 44:1-41, and Article XII, Section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution grants any person a right to examine and copy public documents in the possession of the state and its political subdivisions. The Public Records Act enables Louisiana residents to become knowledgeable about state and local governmental activities and, thus, to participate more effectively in public debate.
WHAT ARE PUBLIC RECORDS UNDER THE ACT?
To be “public,” the record must have been used, prepared, possessed, or retained for use in connection with a function performed under authority of the Louisiana Constitution, a state law, or an ordinance, regulation, mandate, or order of a public body. This definition covers virtually every kind of record kept by a state or local governmental body. La. R.S. 44:1(A)(1). In Louisiana, a “public record” includes books, records, writings, letters, memos, microfilm, and photographs, including copies and other reproductions.
HOW TO MAKE A PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
You may also make an oral request in person to inspect a public record. At that time, the public record must be immediately presented to you, unless the record is not immediately available or is being actively used at the time. If the public record is not immediately available, the custodian must promptly notify you in writing of the reason why the record is not immediately available and fix a day and hour within three days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays) when the records will be made available (emphasis ours).
If you visit the agency in person, the custodian of the records must provide a reasonably comfortable place for you to review the records. The custodian may prevent any alteration of the record being examined, but the custodian cannot review anything in the requesting person’s possession (including notes).
Louisiana Voice 
Thank you, thank you. For this and all the other efforts you’ve made to hold White, Jindal, and DOE accountable! Do you have a fund set up to receive donations to help with this effort?
I wish you success with your lawsuit and thank you for your perserverence in attempting to shine light on the secret dealings of John White and the D.O.E.
Go get ’em Tom! That knuckle dragging Neanderthal, White, I hope he coughs up all his pay raise to pay and then some! Thanks for exposing those thieves in the Jindal Administration. Now let’s see what they are really hiding. Have some cheese with White’s whine!
He needs to be held accountable for his actions! I have been reading your blog posts for a while and am thrilled you have filed a lawsuit against White. Can’t wait to see why he has been dragging his feet.
Great news!! You have my gratitude!!!
Give them what for, Tom.
There are several really sad things about the fact you had to file suit, all of which you already know.
There was a time not so long ago when the state’s mainstream media would have jumped into this with both feet. The fact more daily newspapers haven’t been more proactive is further evidence they, along with many government agencies providing services to the people, are being squeezed out of existence. Most daily newspapers no longer have the resources or the desire to be the 4th estate and the electronic media filters everything it doesn’t slant.
It’s all well and good that the blogosphere is democratic and open to anyone, but the vast, vast, vast majority of people with blogs are so bound up in axe-grinding and/or bias, they can’t exercise any degree of objectivity or fairness and are sometimes downright dangerous.
Keep up the good work and congratulations on a really good interview with Jim Engster this morning. You were calm, cool, collected, readily responsive, authoritative and informative.
I second all the above. Thank you for your service to all of us in this state.
Agree wholeheartedly.
I hope justice is served in Judge Clark’s court. I have seen her in action and she leaves a lot to be desired in a judge, but the people put her in office as they did Piyush.
Tom congratulations! I can’t wait to see how the little minions back peddle out of this one. 🙂
When she was campaigning for reelection, she told me that she once was a state employee and understood our plight… 😉
She seems to have done okay on this one:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/lsu_must_make_public_names_of.html
Many many thanks to you and your staff, if there is a fund set up for donations please let me know . I don’t have much but I will find some extra money to donate to help justice for the people if this State.
Just out of curiosity is there a way to file a public records requst for the contracts for the privatizing the State hospitials ?
Thanks
There was a fairly substantial filing fee that I had to pay. If anyone who cares to chip in, any contributions would be appreciated. The fee was a little more than $700 and should we win the case, we are asking that our costs, plus the cost of my attorney fees, be awarded.
Should any readers care to contribute, I will keep track of who gives and if the court awards our costs, I will gladly refund your contribution as well.
You may mail checks to:
Tom Aswell
107 North College West
Denham Springs, LA. 70726
Yeah!! What y’all said!! 🙂 You GO, Mr. Tom!!
Just Tom. “Mr.” was my grandfather, who raised me.
To add to Mr. Lobrano’s thought string, is there a way for others to add amicus briefs or should they also do records requests using your requests above as templates? I would bet if 20 – 30 people made the same requests that they would be hard put to ignore them all.
Now get ready for the rest of the surprise. They may very well try to charge you .25 per page for copying legitimate requests. Believe me, it’s one of their favorite tactics to limit public participation especially from local non-profit groups. You can appeal that especially if you’re part of an organization but no guaranatees that they won’t still try to use it to limit public input.
No problem. I have a handy dandy hand scanner I purchased from Office Depot for $100 and there is a Second Circuit Court decision against the Bienville Parish Clerk of Court which says members of the public may use a hand scanner to copy public documents and may not be charged for it.
Of course the governor’s office refused to allow me to use it on a three-page document a few months ago and I had to write a check for 75 cents. That was before I discovered the Second Circuit decision and I have since put the governor’s office on notice that it would be unwise to attempt to prevent me from using my scanner in the future because there could be additional litigation.
Tom:
Did you ever receive the financials from Office of Group Benefits (OGB) that you requested a while back?
Thanks!
Frank
Frank Jobert Executive Director, RSEA 49 Inlet Drive Slidell, LA 70458 frankjobert@aol.com (504)289-9424 (Cell)
Yes. I received those.
Godspeed Tom Aswell. The citizens of the state are lucky they have someone like you with guts and principles fighting the good fight against the jindalistas. Even though most are oblivious to the criminal conduct of the most despicable governor this state’s ever had.
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