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Archive for February, 2017

Guest columnist examines the role of Attorney General, suggests Landry ‘tone down’ his bickering with governor

Posted in Attorney General, Governor's Office, Judges on February 14, 2017| 24 Comments »

By Stephen Winham

“Senator, I believe the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the president.” [Sally Yates in reply to current U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during her Senate confirmation hearing as Deputy U. S. Attorney General, March 24, 2015].

“My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts,” … “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.” [memo to her staff before Sally Yates was fired as Acting Attorney General, January 30, 2017]

 Shortly after he was sworn in, on January 30, 2017, new Acting Attorney General Dana Boente released a statement rescinding Yates’ order and vowing to “defend the lawful orders of our president.”

 (emphasis mine)

I’m not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV (though there is an attorney named Stephen Winham in St. Augustine, Florida), but I firmly believe the roles of both the U S. and our state’s attorneys general are often misunderstood and, sometimes, misrepresented.  We repeatedly hear the attorney general is the “people’s attorney” – and, to a large extent, that is true. However, notwithstanding anything else they may or may not do, attorneys general are, primarily, the government’s attorneys.

In addition to upholding the constitution and statutory laws, AGs are sworn to represent and defend the government. They are, in other words, government’s in-house law firms.

So how can any attorney represent any entity and not also represent its sitting chief executive?

It is important to remember that we have a judicial branch of government.  Attorney General opinions are just that—opinions.  Only through the judicial system are legal disputes ultimately resolved. While justice departments can and do provide legal guidance, they are not the final arbiters on questions of the law, itself.  In a true legal sense, the judicial branch of government is designed to be a direct servant of the people.

Departments of justice, both state and federal, are executive, not judicial branch departments. We have sometimes allowed the U. S Justice Department and our own attorney general to assume judicial powers they don’t have. Attorney general opinions are often treated as if they are judicial rulings. They clearly are not. To the extent departments of justice enforce the law, they are subject to the court system in the judicial branch like everybody else.

In the first quote above, Yates answered correctly. It is certainly the responsibility of the attorney general to give independent advice to the president. If I hire an attorney, I certainly expect that person to give me “independent” legal advice. What value do I get from an attorney if I expect him or her to simply validate everything I say or do? That would hardly constitute sound legal representation. And, even if I have been charged with committing an illegal act, don’t I still deserve the best representation possible to ensure justice is served?

I firmly believe Yates was wrong in the second case – the memo to her staff.

Though he artfully hedged on the issue, Acting Attorney General Boente’s position is also correct.

What should Jeff Sessions, now confirmed as Attorney General, do now with regard to presidential executive orders? He has reportedly recently indicated he will defend the President’s travel ban order. However, during his confirmation hearings he voiced opposition to denying U. S. entry to Muslims on the grounds of religion.

I’m in no position to advise AG Sessions, but if I was I would suggest he tell Trump he will effectively defend any part of the order that is lawful, but make clear that he will have great difficulty defending anything in it that appears to be clearly unlawful. He should defend any ambiguities in favor of the President to the extent possible, of course, since he is our government’s attorney.

If Sessions and the President cannot come to an agreement, and assuming the President is unwilling to rescind and perhaps issue a modified order, the Attorney General should resign. He should certainly not air any disagreements with the President publicly, as Ms. Yates did. Regardless of her personal motive, she weakened her client’s (the government’s) case.

Like 42 other states, Louisiana elects its attorney general. Recent events lead me to believe it may be time to reconsider that. Our state attorney general has gone out of his way to take legal positions counter to those of our governor. Would he do so if the governor appointed him?

Again, how can our state’s attorney defend our state, but not its chief executive?

Jeff Landry’s motivation for constant bickering with the Gov. Edwards doesn’t really matter. What matters is whether he can effectively represent the state’s (and, to that extent, the people’s) best interests while doing so. Notwithstanding his laudable efforts in consumer protection and Medicaid fraud prosecutions, he does the state and its people a disservice by not providing legal representation to our governor and, even more so, by openly defying him.

For the good of our state, isn’t it time for Landry to tone it down?

 

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A walk, a balk, and lots of talk but in the end LSPC stands by its man, Col. Mike Edmonson, and nothing is accomplished

Posted in Civil Service, Commissions, Corruption, Ethics, Governor's Office, State Police on February 9, 2017| 12 Comments »

One quit, another walked out and a third just said he wanted some answers and a fourth presented a witness who seemed a little too well-coached and in the end, nothing was accomplished because the fifth, aka the chairman, had the look of a Cervidae enrapt in the vehicular illuminating devices (deer caught in the headlights).

Just another routine meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) on Thursday.

Well, maybe not so routine. There was the shouting match between members Jared J Caruso-Riecke (the “fourth” as referenced above) and Lloyd Grafton (the “one” above) with both men invoking words like “best face,” “integrity,” and “pontificate.” Oh, number four said “pontificate” a lot.

Meanwhile, the man around whom the entire controversy swirled, State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson was off somewhere out of state collecting another award to go in his trophy case or schmoozing with Louisiana politicos at the Washington MARDI GRAS.

Caruso-Riecke, of Covington, brought Louisiana State Police (LSP) Human Resources Director Ginger Krieg before the commission to explain the smoke and mirrors concept of how the appointment of Jason Starnes to the role of retired Undersecretary of Management and Finance Jill Boudreaux (even though he possesses zero accounting experience) was accompanied by an immediate promotion to lieutenant colonel and a $25,000 per year pay increase without incurring any additional expense as promised by Edmonson.

The position was created last August when Edmonson asked for the creation of an unclassified position to oversee Management and Finance. At the time, he said there would be no addition expenses to LSP and that the position was not being necessarily for Starnes.

Krieg explained that Boudreaux had retired and her $100,000 per year position was never filled so the $25,000 pay increase for Starnes actually amounted to a savings to the state.

What Caruso-Riecke and Krieg failed to mention in their exchange (which seemed so well-rehearsed that one of them should receive an Oscar nomination) was that state statute says the governor “shall” appoint an Undersecretary of Management and Finance. So, if the law is followed and an undersecretary appointed….poof! There goes that savings.

Grafton reiterated what Edmonson had said in August and said Caruso-Riecke was just putting a “good face” on the duplicity of Edmonson, Starnes, and Edmonson’s supporters on the commission. Caruso-Riecke erupted, accusing Grafton of an “absolute falsehood.” He admonished Grafton to not “sit down there and say I’m trying to put a ‘best face’ on something when I’ve gone above and beyond in trying to get to the truth.”

Here is the video link to that EXCHANGE.

“What have you done other than pontificate for the press?” he asked, practically shouting.

Grafton, in a more subdued voice (relatively speaking), said, “I’ve tried to keep some integrity on this commission and there is none. You came on this board with an agenda and that agenda was fulfilled last month when (former Executive Director) Cathy Derbonne resigned from this commission because of the harassment and the crap she was having to put up with since (pointing to commission Chairman T.J. Doss, of Shreveport) a State Trooper was TDY’d (assigned temporary duty) to Baton Rouge to hang around her office every day and to find fault with her and (who) said at a public meeting that he was gonna get rid of Cathy Derbonne. He followed through with that (and) lived up to my low expectations of him and he managed to have this commission stuffed with people who want to endear themselves with State Police management who could care less about the civil service function of this board. The Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) has absolutely helped destroy this commission.”

Grafton said the commission is supposed to investigate, among other things, claims of harassment brought by troopers but now those claims “go straight to management and that trooper doesn’t have a chance. That just destroys the civil service standing of this board.

“I have 55 years of law enforcement education experience. I know something about what is integrity and what is not. Wanting to go to a Christmas party is more important than holding management accountable and it’s going to come back to haunt you.

“The only salvation for this commission is for it to be dissolved and for the Civil Service Commission to take over the oversight of the State Police because right now we have no oversight whatsoever. The Colonel of the State Police (Edmonson) can do anything he wants to. He can lie, he can do anything and he does plenty of it and nobody holds him accountable.”

Caruso-Riecke interrupted Grafton, denying that Edmonson said there would be no pay raise for the new position. “Why don’t you listen to the tape instead of sitting up her pontificating (apparently he likes that word because he kept using it) for the press? For you to sit up here and act like you’re holier-than-thou and the only one with any integrity and character? That’s insulting to everyone else sitting here.”

“Anyone who joined in with that lynching of Cathy Derbonne has no character and I’ll stand by that,” Grafton replied.

“Last I checked, she resigned,” Caruso-Riecke shot back, conveniently forgetting that her fate had long been decided before her resignation.

But Grafton did not forget. “She resigned because she was told she was gonna be fired.”

Donald Breaux of Lafayette asked Grafton to identify those who said she was going to be fired. He had not opened his mouth to that point and probably should not have then since the worst-kept secret in the room was that there were four solid votes, a majority, to fire Derbonne just as Doss had indicated he wanted done. Derbonne was even told that during a 30-minute break in the January proceedings. “You bring up a lot of stuff, Grafton, but you have nothing to back it up with,” said Breaux, a former sheriff.

“When you say Grafton doesn’t know what’s going on in the State Police, you have underestimated my ability to get information,” he said.

Grafton, the most senior member of the commission, subsequently announced that he was attending his final meeting. “I’m through,” he said. “This commission has become useless and the only way it can ever be fixed is for the governor to get involved. I resign.”

His rant was followed in short order by member Calvin Braxton of Natchitoches who said he was not resigning but would refuse to participate in an executive session on the agenda about which he had no prior notice.

“I’m a reasonably intelligent person and I don’t like being kept in the dark and I am being kept out of the loop on this commission. You’ve got an item on the agenda calling for an executive session to discuss a trooper’s appeal. I was told nothing about this and I refuse to be a part of it.”

Here is the link to his part of the discussion:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOMahyElYQ0&feature=youtu.be

Moments later, both he and Grafton were gone.

Then it was Eulis Simien, Jr.’s turn. The Baton Rouge attorney, who was appointed to the board last year, said like Grafton, it was his impression at the conclusion of Edmonson’s presentation last August that there would be no pay raise involved for the new position. “I said at a prior meeting that I would like for the person who said that to come to us and explain what he said,” he said. “Instead, we get the head of HR. That’s not who made the presentation to us last August. I asked for him to come before us and I want him to come before us.”

All the bantering, shouting and “pontification” of Thursday’s meeting comes on the heels of a 13-page report by the Louisiana Board of Ethics that investigated the practice by the LSTA of having its Executive Director David Young make political campaign contributions in his name to circumvent prohibitions against political involvement and then reimbursing Young for “expenses.”

It was LouisianaVoice’s initial story about the contributions more than a year ago that launched the investigation which resulted in three former LSPC members being forced to resign when it was learned that they, too, had contributed to campaigns.

The recent Ethics Board report only went back to 2014, so the $10,000 in contributions to former Gov. Bobby Jindal were not included in its investigation. It did, however reveal that LouisianaVoice‘s report that $10,000 was contributed to Gov. John Bel Edwards was considerably less than the $17,500 actually contributed to his campaign.

LSTA and Young got off extremely light with a fine of only $5,000, the document reveals. While state law allows an imposition of a penalty “equal to the amount of the contribution plus 10 percent ($35,000 plus $3,500 in this case), LSTA and Young were actually subject to fines of about $70,000, or twice amount of the total contributions, for “a knowing and willful violation.”

Young had admitted to the LSPC more than a year ago that the money was laundered through his personal account so as to allow the LSTA to get around the prohibition against such political activity. That constitutes “a knowing and willful violation.”

It was the embarrassment of the LSTA and Edmonson that forced the LSPC to conduct a sham investigation of the activity, an investigation that resulted in the recommendation that “no action be taken.” That recommendation was made by Natchitoches attorney and former State Sen. Taylor Townsend, a political supporter of Gov. Edwards who was paid $75,000 to issue an unwritten, “no action” recommendation.

And on Thursday, it culminated in the resignation of a conscientious commission member, the walkout of an honorable member, and further questions from another member who appears to want to do the right thing—if someone would just tell him what was said.

But there are four other votes on the commission and their interests obviously lie elsewhere.

Why else would the commission have as its chairman a State Trooper who conceivably could one day be called on to investigate his boss?

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Sen. John Kennedy must have sipped him some weed killer before vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary

Posted in Education, Senate on February 8, 2017| 51 Comments »

In the nearly six-year history of LouisianaVoice, I have written more than 1,600 posts averaging about 1,500 words each (about two million words total).

This will likely be the shortest post ever.

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy VOTED in favor of confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, a post for which she is totally and completely unqualified. This is the woman who favors guns in schools to protect against grizzly bears.

We expected no less of Cassidy after his fawning all over her during the confirmation hearings. I mean, the man embarrassed himself with his unbridled admiration of incompetence.

With Kennedy, we held onto the slim chance that he would show a spark of independence and/or intelligence (though in his TV ads during the campaign, he professed to having backed Donald Trump “from the beginning”).

But in the end, it appears that he’d “rather drink weed killer” than show that he had a spine or a shred of integrity. (On the other hand, in another of his tasteless ads he did say, “You oughta have a gun,” so maybe it was the grizzly bear comment that compelled him to vote in favor of confirmation.)

Whatever.

Just remember that one vote if you don’t remember anything else about John Kennedy.

 

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Planned repeal of Dodd-Frank Bill is Trump’s most insane domestic policy move yet; Wall Street will run amok again

Posted in Economy, Finances, Uncategorized on February 7, 2017| 12 Comments »

When I took issue with the moronic drivel contained in that pro-Trump email that popped up on my inbox recently, my post generated an unusually large number of comments. And while the majority were supportive, as expected, many others took me to task for daring to criticize anything about President Orange Hair. Some even took my criticism of Trump as an admission of support for Hillary. It wasn’t.

But being the glutton for punishment that is in my DNA, I’m back for more. So all you Trump supporters out there, get ready to pour it on because what I’m about to say is backed up by fact instead of the emotional, unsubstantiated rhetoric typical of the conversation I overheard earlier today (Feb. 7) as I waited to pick up a to-go order for dinner.

The two men were watching a national newscast (most likely Fox) when a story came on about criticism leveled at Trump by Sen. John McCain. The older of the two said to the other, “What’s that guy’s name? The war prisoner. He needs to keep his mouth shut. He’s not for America.”

Whoa. A man who fought for his country, was captured and spent five years as a prisoner of war. Not for America. What the hell is that man using for a patriotism barometer?

But he wasn’t through. “Trump’s right to keep them foreigners out. They don’t belong here. They just want something for nothing but nobody owes them a thing.”

Here’s a news flash for you, Mr. America: A 2012 study revealed that immigrants were behind more than 75 percent of new PATENTS from top 10 patent-producing American universities.

Perhaps we owe them something, seeing as how their patents became the property of the universities for whom they worked.

As I listened (Yeah, I was eavesdropping but their loud voices made it easy for me), the man continued to lament the costs of welfare which (as I’m certain he doesn’t know—or care) pale in comparison to the corporate welfare via tax breaks, offshore bank accounts, and the export of jobs overseas to countries where workers are paid a couple of dollars per day, if that. What if Congress went after the corporate welfare fraud? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the nation’s infrastructure might be repaired. Hungry kids might be fed. The federal deficit could be addressed in realistic terms. But for the real “welfare queens,” consider THIS.

One of the comments on my post about the shallow email defended Trump by saying he’s doing what he said he’d do and that I would lose my credibility when the wall between the U.S. and Mexico is built. Well, don’t be surprised of Canada builds a wall first. They don’t like the guy, either. Yes, he’s doing what he said he’d do, and that’s what scares the hell out of me.

And what can we say about Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer other than “Never forget BOWLING GREEN”?

As if the foregoing aren’t bad enough, consider this:

Trump (and nearly everyone else on the planet) heaped criticism on Hillary Clinton over the Benghazi debacle. So what does Trump do nine days after taking office? He approved a RAID on Yemen without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup operations. The result was the death of a Navy Seal, an eight-year-old American girl, and 30 other civilians.

Remember how Trump attacked Hillary for her Wall Street connections and promised in his inauguration speech that the voice of the American people would be heard? Let’s review.

Since his election, he has loaded his administration with Goldman Sachs ALUMNI. Do you seriously, for one nano-second believe that Goldman Sachs (or Trump) has the least bit of consideration for your problems, your concerns?

If you still think Golden Hair is your golden boy, then take a look at what he’s done in his first few days in office:

He is vowing to scrap the reforms put in place by the DODD-FRANK BILL that attempted to rein in reckless Wall Street hedge funds, junk bonds and the like that destroyed the country’s housing market and plunged the U.S. into the Great Recession. You can now look forward to an economic collapse of even greater proportions because Trump has thrown red meat to the Wall Street carnivores.

Bernie Madoff was correct when he said he was guilty of running the biggest Ponzi scheme within the biggest Ponzi scheme of all—Wall Street. It crashed before and it will crater again under a weight of runaway greed. Book it. It will happen.

He has promised to gut the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, to cut pollution limits for power plants, and oil and gas, and to eliminate a rule that limited bribery and corruption in oil operations—all aimed at reducing federal regulations. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/02/03/Trump-s-Rollback-Clean-Air-and-Water-Rules-Could-Raise-Health-Care-Costs

Getting the government out of our lives has a wonderful ring to it if:

  • You’ve never had to work at a job that doesn’t have sick leave and paid vacations;
  • You’ve never had a job that did not pay overtime after 40 hours per week;
  • You’ve never had a job that did not offer health benefits;
  • You’ve never had a job that required you to work six days per week;
  • You’ve never been a child forced to work in a sweat shop 50 hours per week;
  • You’ve never had a job where workers were routinely injured, maimed or killed on the job with no worker’s compensation insurance or other means of recovery;
  • You’ve never had to worry about such things as the electrical wiring in your home;
  • You’ve never had to call a cop or a fireman for assistance;
  • You’ve never had to worry about the quality of food you purchased.

In other words, getting government out of our lives is great in theory provided you’ve never had to worry about the concerns above, conditions that actually prevailed before government regulations were passed that changed all those things for the better. And those were just a few examples of how government has gotten into our lives—for the better.

Yes, the regulations can be a hindrance to those who would put profits ahead of the welfare of their employees. And let’s face it, these corporations simply are not going to regulate themselves. They’ve already shown that when they furtively dump toxins into our rivers and lakes. They’ve already shown that when Volkswagen deliberately tries to game the system. They’re shown that when insurance companies like Allstate and State Farm screwed over homeowners following Katrina and the floods of last August—and insurance companies have regulators but they’re politicians whose campaigns are supported by…..insurance companies.

Trump has already shown that he meant it when he made those campaign promises to roll back regulations. And the people heard and still they voted against their own best interests.

That, of course, raises a very important question: Will your life be better after he has made good on all those promises? Don’t count on it.

That question will be lost in all the misdirection of childish arguments over the size of the inauguration crowd, terrorist attacks that did or did not occur that were are were not covered by the media, or criticism over Saturday Night Live skits (criticism that has most assuredly been a YUGE ratings boost for SNL).

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LSTA gives former legislator new gun; retired trooper files complaint with OIG, IA over illegal campaign contributions

Posted in Civil Service, Contract, Contracts, Ethics, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Politicians, State Police on February 5, 2017| 3 Comments »

One thing we’ve learned about the Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA), the independent lobbying organization for Louisiana State Police (LSP), is that despite a recent $5,000 fine for illegally making political contributions, the organization was far from through.

At the 2016 LSTA retreat in New Orleans held at the Omni Hotel Jan. 18-20, former Speaker of the House Chuck Kleckley (R-Lake Charles), who was front and center on state police pay raise issues, was rewarded for his work on behalf of State Police while in office.

While retiring state troopers are usually given a watch, the LSTA board voted to purchase a handgun costing several hundred dollars for Kleckley.

Technically speaking, the presentation of a handgun by a grateful LSTA was not a “political” contribution, given the fact that term limited Kleckley had left office on Jan. 11, a whole week before he was given the gift.

It’s interesting to note that state ethics laws strictly prohibit the receipt of anything of value by state employees but do not apply to barely out of office legislators.

LSTA New Orleans / January 20, 2016

Meeting with Command Staff

Col. Edmondson, Major Jason Starnes and Col. Dupuy addressed the board of directors. Command Staff covered LSP issues, Legislative issues and LSTA issues.

A Motion was made by Mr. Rodney Hyatt for the LSTA to purchase a handgun for Mr. Chuck Kleckley, seconded by Mr. Badeaux with no objections, the motion passed.

Here is the State Board of Ethics agenda item dealing with the LSTA contributions:

Louisiana State Board of Ethics Agenda

Friday, January 20, 2017
Docket No. 15-1385

Assigned Attorney: Jennifer Land
Re: Consent opinion regarding the Louisiana State Troopers Association making campaign contributions in the name of its executive director and then later reimbursing him for those contributions.
Law: La. R.S. 18:1505.2A(1) provides that no person shall give, furnish, or contribute monies, materials, supplies, or make loans to or in support of a candidate or to any political committee, through or in the name of another, directly or indirectly.
Facts:The Louisiana State Troopers Association and its executive director, David Young, signed a consent opinion for violating La. R.S. 18:1505.2A(1) and paid a civil penalty of $5,000.

 *(Source: Louisiana Ethics Commission’s Internet web page)

It is well-documented here as it has been elsewhere that when Bobby Jindal refashioned the Louisiana Board of Ethics in 2008, ethics laws for public officials were effectively gutted and the Ethics Board rendered all but impotent. His ethics “reform” prompted mass resignation of ethics board members who were the only ones at the time to understand the significance of what he had done. Besides usurping the board’s enforcement powers, the move effectively dismissed outstanding ethics violations charges against several of Jindal’s legislative allies.

But even the Ethics Board in its weakened condition was able to do what attorney Taylor Townsend, hired to investigate the LSTA’s campaign contributions, could not. Townsend, hired to investigate what appeared to be a money laundering type of scam to conceal illegal political campaign contributions by Louisiana state troopers could find no reason to even file a written report, let alone take any definitive action against troopers involved in the decision to make the contributions.

So, perhaps Mr. Townsend, in light of the Ethics Board’s actions on Docket No. 15-1385 cited above, can tell us just what he did to earn that $75,000 stipulated in his contract. He certainly doesn’t appear to have investigated anything.

While Townsend may not have been able to find any reason for punishing those responsible for the decision to funnel Louisiana State Troopers’ Association’s (LSTA) funds through its Executive Director David Young in an obvious attempt to circumvent civil service or in this case, Louisiana State Police Commission rules, retired State Trooper Leon “Bucky” Millet isn’t giving up so easily.

Millet has filed a formal complaint with both State Police Internal Affairs and with the Louisiana Office of Inspector General.

In an apparent effort to held Inspector General Stephen Street prove that his office is something more than expensive window dressing and to assist him in any investigation his office may choose to pursue, Millet also included a 2001 decision by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeal. That decision upheld a lower court ruling that the City of Kenner was justified in firing members of the executive board of the Kenner police association for making political contributions.

Rather than read the entire ruling, the key passage in the court’s decision is highlighted in yellow on pages 1, 3, and 4.

Of course no good deed goes unpunished. When Millet and three other retired state troopers voiced their objections to the political contributions (which included $10,000 each to Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards over a period of two election cycles), they became marked men by their brothers in blue—at least by those on the LSTA board.

With only two “no” votes (by Troop Presidents Chris Brown of Troop B and Larry Badeaux of Troop C), the four retirees were unceremoniously kicked out of the LSTA, their combined memberships of half a century revoked—with no reason given other than that it could. So much for backing the blue from within. So much for any pretense of inviting, or even allowing differing opinions. Get caught laundering money and punish the whistleblowers. It’s the classic “shoot the messenger” type of action that LSP is supposed to be above.

Unfortunately, LSTA has shown it is run by petty, vindictive people unwilling to accept responsibility for their own actions.

Here is the portion of the minutes to the Nov. 2, 2016, LSTA Board meeting in which the votes were taken to expel the four retirees:

Louisiana State Troopers Association

November 2, 2016 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Title: Louisiana State Troopers Association Board Meeting

Date of Meeting: November 2, 2016

Where: LSTA Office, 8120 Jefferson Highway Baton Rouge, LA 70809

Start Time:          9:00 AM

The meeting was called to order by President Jay O’Quinn. The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance led by Jay O’Quinn followed by a prayer by David Young.

Jay O’Quinn called roll as follows:

Derek Sentino, Troop A President

Chris Brown, Troop B President

Larry Badeaux, Troop C President

Chance Thomas, Troop D President

Chris Wright, Troop E President

Andy Stephenson, Troop F President

Hack Willis, Troop G President

Dale Latham, Troop I President (Absent)

Heath Miller, Troop L President

Rodney Hyatt, HQ President

Doussan Rando, Retiree Rep (Absent)

Jay O’Quinn, LSTA President

David Young, Executive Director

Old Business:

David Young updated the board on the Ethics Board investigation and its findings. The ethics board has ruled against the LSTA and fined the LSTA $5000.00.

A MOTION was made by Derek Sentino to accept the advice of our attorneys, acknowledgement of the facts of the Ethics Board ruling and pay the $5000.00 fine.  Seconded by Chance Thomas. No opposition.  The motion passed.

A MOTION was made by Derek Sentino to remove LSTA members Jesse Perry, Blaine Matte, Leon “Bucky” Millet and Tanny Devillier and for each removal of a member to be voted on separately. Seconded by Heath Miller. 

Roll Call Vote: Jesse Perry

Derek Sentino, Troop A President – Yes

Chris Brown, Troop B President – No

Larry Badeaux, Troop C President – No

Chance Thomas, Troop D President – Yes

Chris Wright, Troop E President – Yes

Andy Stephenson, Troop F President – Yes

Hack Willis, Troop G President – Yes

Dale Latham, Troop I President – Absent

Heath Miller, Troop L President – Yes

Rodney Hyatt, HQ President – Yes

Doussan Rando, Retiree Representative – Absent

Vote: 7-2, Passed

Roll Call Vote: Leon Millet. 

Derek Sentino, Troop A President – Yes

Chris Brown, Troop B President – No

Larry Badeaux, Troop C President – No

Chance Thomas, Troop D President – Yes

Chris Wright, Troop E President- Abstain

Andy Stephenson, Troop F President – Yes

Hack Willis, Troop G President – Yes

Dale Latham, Troop I President – Absent

Heath Miller, Troop L President – Yes

Rodney Hyatt, HQ President – Yes

Doussan Rando, Retiree Representative – Absent

Vote: 6-2, Passed

Roll Call Vote: Tanny Devillier

Derek Sentino, Troop A President – Yes

Chris Brown, Troop B President – No

Larry Badeaux, Troop C President – No

Chance Thomas, Troop D President – Yes

Chris Wright, Troop E President – Abstain

Andy Stephenson, Troop F President – Yes

Hack Willis, Troop G President – Yes

Dale Latham, Troop I President – Absent

Heath Miller, Troop L President – Yes

Rodney Hyatt, HQ President – Yes

Doussan Rando, Retiree Representative – Absent

Vote: 6-2, Passed

Roll Call Vote: Blaine Matte

Derek Sentino, Troop A President – Yes

Chris Brown, Troop B President – No

Larry Badeaux, Troop C President – No

Chance Thomas, Troop D President – Yes

Chris Wright, Troop E President – Abstain

Andy Stephenson, Troop F President – Yes

Hack Willis, Troop G President – Yes

Dale Latham, Troop I President – Absent

Heath Miller, Troop L President – Yes

Rodney Hyatt, HQ President – Yes

Doussan Rando, Retiree Representative – Absent

Vote: 6-2, Passed

A MOTION was made by Derek Sentino to send a letter to the four members who have been removed from the LSTA. Seconded by Chris Brown. No Opposition, the motion passed.

So no one on the board had the nerve to tell them to their faces. They were notified by letter.

Real class.

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