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Archive for March, 2016

Campaign contribution reports belie claim by State Police commissioner he ceased political activity after 2013 letter; meanwhile, Senator’s bill poses a danger to civil service

Posted in Commissions, Corruption, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, State Police, Transparency on March 31, 2016| 9 Comments »

State Police Commission member William Goldring claims in an email that he ceased making political contributions after he received a letter from former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office nearly three years ago informing him of a constitutional prohibition against political activity.

Copies of campaign reports obtained by LouisianaVoice, however, indicate that four companies controlled by Goldring contributed more than $95,000 to various political campaigns subsequent to the July 3, 2013 letter.

The State Police Commission is currently wrestling with an investigation of political contributions by the Louisiana State Police Association (LSTA) even as three commission members, including Goldring, have come under scrutiny for their own contributions to political campaigns.

Meanwhile, LouisianaVoice has learned of a bill currently pending in the legislature that would repeal the constitutional prohibition against political activity not only by commission members and state police, but state civil service workers as well.

Senate Bill 76 by State Sen. Ryan Gatti (R-Bossier City) calls for a constitutional amendment to be approved by voters that would repeal the prohibition against political activity but would leave intact the prohibition against civil service employees seeking political office. http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=978216

Gatti’s bill, which would require two-thirds passage of both chambers, would delete the passage of the current law that says no person shall “solicit contributions for political purposes from any classified employee or official” while leaving in the prohibition against “use or attempt to use (one’s) position in the state or city service to punish or coerce the political action of a classified employee.”

All that sounds great in theory but we also know how the subtleties of the system work. Refuse to contribute to the boss’s candidate and suddenly the employee begins to get less than favorable performance reviews. He starts getting written up for minor infractions considered insignificant before. The chances for promotion dwindle and eventually disappear altogether.

That’s precisely why Civil Service was created in Louisiana in the first place by Gov. Sam Jones (1940-1944). Gov. Earl Long (1944-1948) dismantled Civil Service in favor of the old spoils system but Gov. Jimmie Davis reinstated Civil Service during his second term (1960-1964).

It’s not enough, apparently, to siphon contributions from the lobbyists, state contractors and PACs, but now they want to bleed state employees already fearful for their jobs after the eight-year reign of terror by Bobby Jindal. To put it simply as possible, this bill would be nothing but a return to the Huey Long Deduct Box era.

While restricting political activity on the part of classified employees, civil service rules also give them protection from just the kind of coercion they will be forced to endure should Gatti’s bill succeed. And if you don’t believe that intimidation will become a reality, I have a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn I’ll sell you cheap.

But back to Goldring, Freddie Pitcher and Commission Chairman Franklin Kyle, the three whose political contributions have put them in the spotlight because of their role in investigating political contributions by LSTA.

LouisianaVoice made another public records request, this one for “all correspondence from any commission members relative to any notice of resignation from the commission.”

We learned from that request that each of the three fell back on the explanation that they didn’t know the rules. That’s a thin excuse. For Pitcher who served as a district court judge and then as a judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeal, pleading ignorance of the law is especially disappointing.

This is the email string we received pursuant to our request:

From: Franklin Kyle
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 5:15 PM
To: Freddie Pitcher Jr.
Cc: Cathy Derbonne; Lenore Feeney; Thomas Doss; lfgrafton; Donald Breaux; Calvin W. Braxton, Sr.; Bill Goldring
Subject: RE: State Police Commission / Resignation

Freddie:

 I appreciate this email, and completely understand your position.  I, too, in my first term, was appointed, sworn in, and given an extensive rule book in which to abide by.  It is a cumbersome document, but admittedly one that was provided.  I think it would behoove all new in-coming commissioners to be fully briefed on the restrictions placed upon their appointment by the Executive Director and staff so these issues will not occur in the future.  Had that been done, I am confident that this issue would have never arisen. 

 With regards to your service on the Commission, I can’t thank you enough for your time, insight, and experience in dealing with the charges of this body.  You have truly been an asset to the Commission, and a wonderful blessing to work with.  On behalf of the entire Commission and staff, I wish the best in all you do.

 Franklin Kyle, Chairman

 

From: Freddie Pitcher Jr.
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 3:15 PM
To: Franklin Kyle
Cc: Cathy Derbonne; Lenore Feeney; Thomas Doss; lfgrafton; Donald Breaux; Calvin W. Braxton, Sr.; bill@
Subject: Re: State Police Commission / Resignation

Dear Chairman Kyle,

After reading Bill Goldring’s email I feel compelled to weigh in on the conversation regarding Commission members making campaign contributions. Like Bill, I did not have the benefit of an orientation when I was sworn in as commission member. Nor was I made aware of such prohibition when Bill or our esteemed Chairman was made aware of the prohibition. It was not until this controversy regarding the State Trooper’s Association members questioning the use of association funds to make campaign contribution that I was made privy to the rule  through Commissioner Braxton. I then had to call Cathy to find that my name was being mentioned very prominently in a Blog that was reporting on the contribution issue. But for the last minute heads up, I would have been completely caught off guard by the reporter last week who wanted to know if I was being forced or pressured to step down from the Commission. As you may have read, I responded by stating that “I am stepping down of my on volition.”

 Now that I am fully aware of the prohibition,  I feel that I must step down as a Commission Member so I will not feel constrained in my desire to help persons who I would like to support politically. I ran for elective office twice and would not have been successful but the campaign contributions I received from my friends and supporters. 

 Like all of us who serve on the Commission, it was a fulfillment of my civic responsibility. At no time during my service was I presented with an issue where I was conflicted because a contribution I may have made. And had one presented itself I surely would have recused myself.

 I wish the Commission members and staff all the best as you carry out the charge of the Commission.

 Freddie Pitcher 

 

On Mar 29, 2016, at 12:42 PM, Bill Goldring wrote:

Cathy,

After reading Franklin Kyle’s letter, I felt a need to go the record to be responsive. When first asked to go on the Louisiana State Police Commission by Governor Jindal I hesitated, in that over many decades I had been asked by many governors to serve on various boards and commissions, all of which I had turned down (i.e. Louisiana Board of Regents). Only because of my keen interest and involvement and support of law enforcement for the past 30 years, did I accept. Upon joining the commission there was absolutely no orientation or rules that were given to me. Approximately 3 years ago, there was a vacancy on the commission and I was asked who might be a suitable candidate to fill the spot. I suggested a prominent businessman, Boysie Bollinger who was accepted and sworn in. Within 24 hours he resigned when his attorney informed him of a ruling forbidding anyone on the commission to make political contributions or be involved in a political campaign. Mr. Bollinger personally called me to make me aware of the ruling which I was never informed. I then called and wrote to the governors office to get a full explanation of the responsibilities of commission members, which were never given to me. Since then I have been solicited personally (orally and by mail) by hundreds of people who I have continually turned down as well as sent them a copy of my enclosed correspondence. Just a few are listed below (feel free to contact them).

U.S. SENATOR DAVID VITTER

U.S. SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU

MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU

U.S. SENATOR WILLIAM CASSIDY

U.S. CONGRESMAN CEDRIC RICHMOND

U.S. CONGRESSMAN JOHN FLEMING

CITY COUNCILPERSONS STACY HEAD, LATOYA CANTRELL AND SUSAN GUIDRY.

 I certainly take my duties and responsibilities seriously and have abided by the framework and regulation of the commission. There is no reward or personal gain by my serving on the Louisiana State Police Commission and only do so as a civic responsibility.

 With regards,

Bill Goldring

 PS- as a final note, I fully understand rules and regulations put on state troopers, but cannot understand commission members having to adhere to same in that we do not come in contact with the public.

It’s perception, Mr. Goldring and when you’re in public service, perception is everything.

Candor is part of the equation making up perception and you haven’t been completely candid.

While Goldring did in fact cease all individual political contributions following that 2013 letter from Jindal Executive Counsel Thomas Enright, companies that he controls most certainly did not.

LETTER TO GOLDRING

Among the recipients of his corporate generosity were legislators, political action committees, State Treasurer John Kennedy, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, failed attorney general candidate John Young, Gov. John Bel Edwards, and several minor candidates.

CRESCENT CROWN CONTRIBUTIONS

MAGNOLIA MARKETING

REPUBLIC NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

SAZERAC

 

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DHH Secretary’s ‘personal issues’ reason given for missing legislative committee hearing turns out to be spring break

Posted in Budget, DHH, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Health Care, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians on March 30, 2016| 8 Comments »

The timeliness of Tuesday’s observation about holding our public officials accountable has come into play less than 24 hours after the post went up.

Today’s (March30) Baton Rouge Advocate revealed that only two of Bobby Jindal’s nine public-private partnership hospital contracts will be funded in the next fiscal year, a move that is certain to adversely affect low-income residents seeking medical care. http://theadvocate.com/news/15333761-70/seven-out-nine-public-hospitals-unfunded-in-next-years-budget-including-baton-rouge-and-lafayette

As severe as the projected cuts are ($58.4 million to Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge and $51.2 million to Lafayette General Health Center alone), Gov. John Bel Edwards appointee Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee has been AWOL at hearings before the House Appropriations Committee and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

The latest crisis is, of course, directly attributable to the short-sightedness of Bobby Jindal and his obsession with privatizing everything in state government that moved—even to the extent of having his lap dog LSU Board of Supervisors approve a contract turning over medical facilities in Shreveport and Monroe to private concerns which contained 50 blank pages.

As things now stand, it appears the only hospitals to be spared the knife (if you will pardon a terrible pun) are the LSU Medical Centers in New Orleans and Shreveport and they survived only because they house LSU medical schools.

The fiscal year 2017 budget calls for a 10 percent funding cut for DHH. That comes to $283 million right off the top but the number escalates to $750 million when the loss of federal matching funds are factored into the equation.

Besides OLOL in Baton Rouge and Lafayette General, other public-private hospitals impacted by the cuts include those in Alexandria, Monroe, Houma, Bogalusa and Lake Charles.

LSU Health Sciences Center Chancellor Dr. Larry Hollier testified that he was worried about the prospect of seeing the public-private arrangements go belly up. OLOL, he said, has 150 residents in training and Lafayette has 82. In all, LSU has about 800 residents scattered about the state.

State Rep. Ted James (D-Baton Rouge) noted that residents of north Baton Rouge, a predominantly black area, have lost both inner community hospitals when Earl K. Long was closed and later torn down and when Baton Rouge General-Mid City closed down its emergency room a year ago Thursday (March 31).

So with all this bad news swirling about, where was the DHH secretary?

Sure, DHH Undersecretary Jeff Reynolds testified but was unable to give clear cut answers to legislators’ questions about how funds saved from Medicaid expansion might be used to offset the DHH shortfall.

But Gee was still MIA. Reynolds said she was absent because of personal issues but that lame excuse was quickly shot down by DHH spokesperson Bob Johannessen told LSU’s Manship School News Service that Gee was spending spring break with her family.

Johannessen’s candor could get him in hot water. The boss never likes it when a subordinate reveals something that puts him or her in a bad light. And face it, this is a pretty bad light. He did recover some lost ground, however, when he added that legislators who were critical of her absence were “grandstanding.”

Well, yeah. That’s what politicians do. So why make it so easy for them?

Rep. Bob Hensgens (R-Abbeville) said he doesn’t recall seeing Gee at any Appropriations Committee or Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget meetings.

Rep. John Schroder (R-Covington) was even more critical. “It’s getting a little troublesome that the secretary doesn’t come,” he said. “The taxpayers want to hear from the boss when we start talking about these kinds of dollars.” http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/local/2016/03/29/millions-dollars-cut-state-hospitals/82402336/

Spring break? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? (the new polite way of saying WTF?)

Edwards appointed Gee, a professor of health policy and management in obstetrics and gynecology at LSU, to head DHH in early January. http://new.dhh.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/7/n/55

We just had a DHH secretary (Kathy Kliebert) whose brother-in-law got into hot water with the Louisiana Board of Ethics (does anyone have any idea how difficult that is to do after Jindal revamped the ethics board in 2008?) because he failed to disclose his employment by state Medicaid contractor Magellan Health Services. http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/11707352-123/brother-in-law-of-state-health-secretary

We just got rid of a governor who for eight years steadfastly refused to be held accountable for his action (or inaction, as the case may be).

Her appointment was described as “among the most important appointments Edwards will make in his new administration” by NOLA.com back in January.

At the time of the announcement of her appointment, she said, “I pledge to you I will use all of the skills I’ve used as a physician, a patient, a parent, and a policymaker to do everything I can to improve the lives and health of people in this great state.”

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/01/john_bel_edwards_dhh_secretary.html

Dr. Gee, those noble words might mean a little more to the taxpayers of this state if you would take your position more seriously and appear at important committee hearings. A public face on an agency in crisis mode is more than important: it’s critical.

It’s all about accountability.

We’ve already had one agency head (Kristy Nichols) to duck out on a committee hearing to attend a boy band concert in New Orleans. We don’t need an encore of that performance. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/10/06/kristy-kreme-knows-one-direction-ducks-out-on-legislative-committee-for-boy-band-concert-at-n-o-smoothie-king-arena/

Going on spring break at a time when the low-income residents of this state are staring at having to overcome even greater hurdles to obtain decent health care sends the wrong message—a message that we’ve become all too familiar with over the past eight years.

And that message is arrogance.

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LouisianaVoice is 5 and we’ve learned we’ve failed to hold officials to high standards; we deserve government we get

Posted in Corruption, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, ORM, Office of Risk Management, PACs, Politicians, Privatization on March 29, 2016| 20 Comments »

LouisianaVoice is having a birthday. We are now five years old.

The onset of Bobby Jindal’s privatization crusade (employees of the Office of Risk Management were the first casualties) in 2011 was the defining moment that gave birth to this blog.

In the ensuing quinquennium, we have logged 1.5 million words, not counting the upcoming book Bobby Jindal: His Destiny and Obsession, which will be available in mid-April. We have made several elected officials and appointed officials angry and uncomfortable—angry and uncomfortable because in the past, they had been unaccustomed to having to account for their actions.

No agency has been exempt from scrutiny, from the governor’s office to various state agencies, boards and commissions, and sheriffs’ offices.

Along the way, our efforts were recognized by the Washington Post which, in 2014, named LouisianaVoice and Bob Mann’s Something Like the Truth as two of the top 100 political blogs in the nation.

But after all is said and done, we have an admission to make.

We should never have been necessary but sadly, we were and we are.

Like it or not, we get the kind of government we deserve. We have the power of the ballot but when only 40 percent of voters exercise that right, what does that tell us about our state, our country? And when that 40 percent responds by marching like so many robots into the voting booths to obediently choose who the lobbyists, PACs, the blaring TV ads and slick campaign mailers tell us without so much as an whimper of protest or an independent thought as to the actual merit of those for whom we are voting, then we have abdicated our right to expect good government.

That’s also why we are faced with dreadful choices in this year’s presidential fiasco. Contrary to most pundits, it’s not voter anger that has created the current political atmosphere.

It’s voter apathy and just take a look who those who have stepped into the leadership void to proclaim themselves as the protectors of democracy. And we did it to ourselves on a national level just as we did it to ourselves on the state level first in 2007 and again in 2011.

And don’t for a moment think this is limited to Bobby Jindal. He had enablers. They called themselves legislators. With few exceptions, we call them leeches.

Try this: Attend any House or Senate committee meeting and watch the members of the committee as witnesses testify. If more than two or three members are actually listening, I’ll eat my Louisiana Tech baseball cap. They’re sitting up there, elevated above the audience, laughing and talking, leaving the hearing room to take a call or get a cup of coffee—just going through the motions of hearing public concerns.

We (and this is a collective “we,” as in just about every citizen in this state) have done a lousy job of holding our elected officials to a high standard of ethical behavior.

And as they say, the sewage flows downhill because those elected officials in turn have failed just as miserably in holding their subordinates to any kind of standards at all.

And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

At first, it came as something of a surprise to learn that two members of the State Police Commission and eight members of the Board of Dentistry had never taken the annual one-hour online ethics course required by law of every public servant, elected or appointed, salaried or not.

It’s not as though they can claim ignorance. They are told of the requirements and they each sign an oath of office.

Franklin Kyle Oath of Office

Freddie Pitcher Oath of Office

William Goldring Oath of Office

Nor have six members of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (LSBME) bothered to take the simple one-hour course, according to records provided by the State Board of Ethics. They include Drs. Michael Burdine, Kenneth Farris, Kweli Amusa, Joseph Busby, Roderick Clark, and former Board President Mark Henry Dawson who said LouisianaVoice was being “played for a fool” by plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the board.

Informed of the Board of Medical Examiners members who have not taken the course, one reader said, “As a physician, if I didn’t complete my required 40 hours of CME for the previous year, the LABME would not allow me to renew my medical license. Shouldn’t the members of the LSBME be held to the same standards they hold us to? And if they profess ‘ignorance’ on this matter, shouldn’t that be even more of a reason to have them removed?”

But wait. There’s more.

Also failing to take the course are Auctioneer’s Licensing Board Chairman Tessa Steinkamp, Secretary-Treasurer Darlene Levy, and licensing board legal counsel Larry Bankston.

And you also get recently retired (following a State Police “investigation” that cleared him of any wrongdoing) Angola Warden Burl Cain. http://theadvocate.com/news/15271102-172/former-angola-warden-burl-cain-cleared-of-misconduct-allegations-reports-say

Those having contracts with the state also are required to take the online ethics training.

Wade Shows, senior partner of Shows, Cali, & Walsh, a Baton Rouge firm with more than $3.4 million in contracts, has never taken the course and another attorney who has profited greatly from contracts with the Jindal administration, Jimmy Faircloth, took the course in 2012, but has not taken it since.

It should be pointed out that physicians and attorneys are required to take their own ethics courses provided by their professions.

But that does not change the fact that the State of Louisiana since 2012 has required that all public servants (elected officials, appointed officials, board and commission members, and contractors) take the on-line, one-hour course on an annual basis.

From time to time, we will be taking looks at other officials and state contractors to check for compliance with the requirement.

It may seem like a small thing but it becomes a very big thing when these people are not held to the same standards that rank and file state employees must meet.

We have not held the politically powerful accountable and they have not held those answerable to them accountable.

But most of all, we have not held ourselves accountable.

 

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Jindal still trying to convince others outside Louisiana he was a great governor in speaking tour; but we know better

Posted in Uncategorized on March 28, 2016| 9 Comments »

Bobby Jindal just won’t go away.

The best explanation we can come up with is the psychiatric definition of denial: “A primitive-ego defense–mechanism by which a person unconsciously negates the existence of… stress-producing reality in his environment by disavowing thoughts, feelings, wishes, needs, or external reality factors that are consciously intolerable.”

The stress-producing reality in this case is:

  • He is no longer governor;
  • He was a disastrous laughingstock of a presidential candidate;
  • In the last two presidential nomination sweepstakes, he has endorsed candidates (Rick Perry and Marco Rubio) who failed to capture voters’ interest;
  • He has been reduced to just another talking head spouting misrepresentations about his miserable eight years of botched fiscal policies.

And so it was that last Thursday (March 24) Bobby Jindal was the featured speaker at something called the Mary Elizabeth Babcock Lectureship in the American Conservative Tradition at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

It was enough that Bobby the Boy Blunder spoke at the event that in the past has showcased such conservative notables as William F. Buckley, Jr., James Kilpatrick, George Will, Zbigniew Brzezinski, David Gergen, Jack Kemp, Robert Bork, Bob Dole, and J.C. Watts.

But in terms of pure, undiluted B.S., the advance press release from Denison on Jindal’s “Challenges and Opportunities in America’s Political Landscape: the 2016 Election and Beyond” was way over the top.

Some examples of the drivel contained in that press release:

  • Bobby Jindal has a well-earned reputation as one of America’s most successful public sector executives and one of the boldest innovators in the health care and education sectors.
  • Jindal used his two terms as Governor of Louisiana to rebuild and diversify the state’s economy and financial footing in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
  • Jindal’s agenda included top-to-bottom reformation and privatization of the state-run charity hospital and the state’s healthcare payer systems. Fiscally, Jindal reduced the state budget by 26 percent, reduced the state employee headcount by 30,000, and implemented the largest income tax reduction in state history. With a bipartisan consensus, Jindal implemented statewide school choice programs and moved the state from the bottom five in ethics laws to the top five.
  • Jindal’s dramatic rework of Louisiana’s policy structure paid measurable dividends in the form of eight credit upgrades, $60 million in private capital investment and a ranking in the top ten in the nation for job creation and the highest ever per-capita income ranking in state history.
  • Despite being the nation’s youngest governor when he was elected in 2007, Jindal had been well-prepared to become the state’s CEO, with stints as the head of the state Department of Health and Hospitals, as president of the University of Louisiana System, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare—all before his 30th birthday.
  • In the private sector, Jindal advised senior management of Fortune 500 firms as an associate at McKinsey & Co. Jindal analyzed potential acquisition targets, assisted with product launches, and evaluated manufacturing processes versus best practices. Jindal managed teams of clients and consultants and aided health care payer, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and information technology clients.

Of course, Denison’s fairy tale press release, obviously written either by Jindal, Rolfe McCollister or some other delusional member of his team, neglected to say that:

  • He served less than a year with McKinsey & Co.—not exactly supportive of all the accomplishments claimed in the news release;
  • That “well-earned reputation as one of America’s most successful public sector executives” is pure fiction, concocted by someone likely smoking some really good stuff.
  • “…rebuild and diversify the state’s economy and financial footing” after Katrina and Rita? Jindal, for once in your miserable, deceitful career, tell the truth: You squandered a $1 billion surplus you inherited when taking office, thanks to federal funds for Katrina and Rita recovery, and left office with a $2 billion black hole of a deficit.
  • As far as his “top-to-bottom reformation and privatization” of the charity hospital system and his school choice programs, we’ll just let the record speak for itself. Ethics? That word isn’t even in his vocabulary.
  • “Well-prepared” to become the state’s CEO? The only thing he was well-prepared for was racking up frequent flyer miles in pursuit of higher office and running up monumental costs in the use of State Police security—a tab picked up by the taxpayers of Louisiana.

No, Jindal just won’t go away and he is doing everything he can to perpetuate the myth that he was an innovator who pulled the state from the brink of disaster.

That’s denial of the obvious.

For the real story of how his administration was rotten from top to bottom, you can pre-order a signed copy of my latest book, Bobby Jindal: His Destiny and Obsession.

After a couple of delays in the editing process, the book is now on track to be released around mid-April.

You may pre-order by clicking on the illustration of the book cover located on the upper right side of this post. You will be placing your order through Cavalier House Books of Denham Springs, which is only about three blocks from my home. When the books are received by Cavalier, the owner will summon me to the bookstore to sign each book to each purchaser before they are mailed out.

I can promise a much more accurate picture of our former governor, presidential wannabe than was provided in the Denison press release. The book, unlike that claptrap, is rooted in reality.

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On heels of possible ouster of three State Police Commission members, it’s learned required online ethics course ignored

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Corruption, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Politicians, State Police, Uncategorized on March 27, 2016| 9 Comments »

ETHICS DILEMMA

(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

The “investigation” by the State Police Commission of political contributions funneled by the Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) through its executive director has taken a most interesting twist. And suffice it to say that the folks over at LSTA aren’t raising their champagne glasses in a celebratory toast.

Remember our story of March 10 that revealed multiple political contributions by three commission members, their wives and business interests? https://louisianavoice.com/2016/03/10/state-police-commission-members-probing-lsta-appear-to-have-committed-similar-campaign-contribution-violations/

Well, that bit of information has resulted in the probability that three commission members will be told that they must resign or be removed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, according to a story by Baton Rouge Advocate reporter Maya Lau. http://theadvocate.com/news/15297801-173/three-members-of-louisiana-state-police-commission-may-be-ousted-over-campaign-contribution-issue

In addition, LouisianaVoice has learned that two of the three have never complied with State Ethics Board requirements that they complete an annual one-hour ETHICS course. That information comes on the heels of a similar story that several members of the State Board of Dentistry had never taken the ethics training. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/03/25/dentistry-board-members-fail-to-take-required-state-ethics-training-board-policy-attracts-unwanted-attention-of-ada/

Debora Grier, Executive Secretary of the Louisiana Board of Ethics, said ethics training became a requirement for employees, contractors and board and commission members in 2012. Section VII of the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics says, “Each public servant shall receive a minimum of one hour of education and training on the Code of Ethics during each year of his public employment or term of office.”

A public employee “means anyone, whether compensated or not, who is…appointed by elected official to a position to serve the government or government agency” or who is “engaged in the performance of a governmental function.”

The one-hour training consists of an online course accessed through the Ethics Board’s Web page and the Web page also keeps records of those who have taken the course in a timely manner and there is where the three members of the State Police Commission appear to have a problem in addition to the one involving their political contributions.

Commission Chairman Franklin Kyle of Mandeville, appointed in 2013, and William Goldring of New Orleans have never taken the required training, according to Ethics Board records. The third member, former appellate court judge Freddie Pitcher of Baton Rouge, who has already indicated he will step down, took the online course in 2013 and 2014 but failed to do so in 2015. He and Goldring were appointed to the commission in 2010.

Commission member Thomas Doss, appointed last year, has taken the 2015 course but Donald Breaux, appointed in 2014, and Calvin Braxton, appointed in 2015, have not. Commission Vice-Chair Lloyd Grafton of Ruston, appointed in 2013, took the training that year and in 2014 but did not in 2015, records reflect. Neither of those four members has made any campaign contributions.

LouisianaVoice has also learned that Kyle and Goldring were also active in making political contributions at the federal level.

 http://www.campaignmoney.com/finance.asp?type=in&cycle=10&criteria=Kyle&fname=franklin

http://www.campaignmoney.com/finance.asp?type=in&cycle=12&criteria=Kyle&fname=franklin

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/william-goldring.asp?cycle=16

Even as news of the likely exit of the three members was learned, the commission has hired Natchitoches attorney Taylor Townsend to lead the investigation into why the LSTA board allowed Executive Director David T. Young to give more than $45,000 to various political campaigns and to be reimbursed for “expenses.”  https://louisianavoice.com/2015/12/09/more-than-45000-in-campaign-cash-is-funneled-through-executive-director-by-louisiana-state-troopers-association/

That procedure was a major sticking point at the commission’s February meeting when member Calvin Braxton Sr. objected to approval of the January minutes because the minutes did not accurately reflect much of the discussion at that January meeting.

The key point, which was eventually incorporated into revised minutes, involved an exchange between LSTA attorney Floyd Falcon and commission vice chairman Lloyd Grafton of Ruston. In that exchange, Grafton said, “It (the method of making the contributions) almost makes me think there was something suspect here because of the check writing.”

http://theadvocate.com/news/14849801-128/state-commission-to-see-if-state-troopers-okd-money-for-political-candidates-including-gov-edwards

As an aside, there is no record of Falcon, who accused LouisianaVoice of being a “common complainer,” having ever taken the Ethic Board’s online ethics training.

Civil service employees and state troopers are prohibited from engaging in political activity, including making political contributions to candidates. In the LSTA case, the Code of Governmental Ethics, Section VIII of R.S. 18:1505.2(B) also lists the making of contributions or loans “through or in the name of another” as a prohibited practice. http://ethics.la.gov/Pub/Laws/cfdasum.pdf

The commission, the State Police equivalent to the State Civil Service Board, is charged with investigating wrongdoing on the part of state troopers but has no jurisdiction over the LTSA, a private organization.

Commission Chairman Franklin Kyle of Mandeville said on March 3 that a rule to show cause was issued to two retirees who have openly challenged the contributions “to produce the names of Louisiana State Troopers who allegedly violated State Police Commission rules in addition to any evidence they have that supports the allegations. Those gentlemen have until March 18, 2016, to do so, and additional subpoenas may be issued for any additional evidence that will assist the investigation. Upon receipt of sufficient evidence, a public hearing will be scheduled. There will be more information at the April meeting of the (commission), as well as subsequent meetings, until this investigation is completed.”

Kyle was putting the onus on two retired state troopers to come up with the names of LSTA members who may have initiated the contributions, a responsibility that would seem to be the job of the commission as an investigative board. The retirees have sought records from LSTA and their efforts have been thwarted at every turn, yet Kyle charged them with procuring the evidence need to conduct the investigation.

That apparently is not the way the administration wanted things done and the solution was quick in coming.

The attorney who had been spearheading the “investigation” was relieved of that responsibility and Townsend brought in. Townsend, a Democrat, is the nephew of former State Senator Donald G. Kelly and served as a state representative in his own right from 2000 to 2008.

He did not seek a third term but instead chose to run for an open state Senate seat formerly held by Kelly from 1976-1996. In something of an upset, he was defeated by Gerald Long (R-Natchitoches).

On March 10, LouisianaVoice revealed that Kyle and fellow commission members Freddie Pitcher, William Goldring, the wives of Kyle and Goldring and one of Goldring’s companies (Magnolia Marketing) had been active in making their own political contributions during their time of service on the commission.

We noted at that time that it would be interesting to see how the investigation of LSTA contributions would be handled in light of their own participation in political activity. We asked if they might recuse themselves, leaving the investigation to the four remaining board members.

Now that question has been answered. They will not be asked to recuse themselves, but may be asked to resign from the commission altogether.

 

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