Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for August, 2017

Terrebonne sheriff blows public funds for Crimson Tide tires on his patrol car even as he cuts back on employee benefits

Posted in Corruption, Ethics, Finances, Waste on August 14, 2017| 23 Comments »

I’ve got no quarrel with anyone who wants to display his loyalty to a particular college or professional sports team. As a Louisiana Tech graduate, I naturally pull for the Bulldogs and because I live in Denham Sprints, right next door to Baton Rouge, I’m an LSU baseball fan.

And I’ve been a Boston Red Sox fan all my life, dating back to the days of the greatest hitter of ‘em all, Ted Williams who also, incidentally, was very active in helping raise money for the Jimmy Fund, a benefit program for children suffering from cancer. He did so quietly and privately, regularly visiting sick children. There was one ground rule, however: no media were to know when he was there. On one occasion a sick child was holding Ted’s finger in his hand. As Ted tried to leave, the child wouldn’t let go. Williams had a nurse bring a chair to the child’s bedside and he sat there all night holding his hand.

I have LSU, Tech and Red Sox caps and T-shirts but no bumper or window stickers but see nothing wrong with those who openly support Mississippi State, Florida or even Alabama on LSU turf—even if that person happens to Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter.

You remember Larpenter. He’s the one who got a judge to sign a search warrant so he could raid the home of a blogger whose only sin was being critical of Larpenter. You know, free speech and all that.

A federal JUDGE threw that search warrant in the trash can and in doing so, gave a Larpenter a verbal lashing and a refresher course on the First Amendment while clearing the way for a civil rights lawsuit against the high sheriff.

Well, now we learn that Larpenter, even as he cut back on his department’s matching deferred compensation for his employees and cut a boat load of other benefits as well in an effort to overcome his department’s $3 million deficit, saw nothing wrong with blowing a tidy sum on special tires and rims for one of the Sheriff’s Department’s vehicles.

In what was obviously a hilarious joke on the local LSU fans, Larpenter’s tires have nice white raised lettering reading “University of Alabama Crimson Tide.”

And while the “in your face” rolling proclamation might rankle resident Tiger fans, it should really raise the hackles of local taxpayers who’re paying for this unusual expenditure.

This little gesture must certainly fall under the “What the hell were you thinking” classification of really stupid things to do, Sheriff. It would have been far more economical to just get a Tide rear window sticker—and it’d be a lot less offensive to those who write checks for their property taxes each December.

But then again, this is the type mentality we get from elected officials who feel sufficiently immune to voter outrage and who seem to think of their office as just that—their office, instead of belonging to the people who have bestowed upon them the privilege of occupying the office temporarily.

(Lord, I hope he doesn’t get a search warrant to come barging through my front door at 6 a.m. to seize my laptop the way he loves to do to bloggers who criticize him. I just painted the door and put in new flooring following last year’s flood and don’t need the aggravation.)

Read Full Post »

Louisiana Veterans Department Chief Joey Strickland: Those who fail to comply with regulations will be fired

Posted in Uncategorized on August 14, 2017| 2 Comments »

By Ken Booth

Guest Columnist

Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs Secretary Col. Joey Strickland

La. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Secretary Col. Joey Strickland said today the late night shredding of records at the Monroe Veterans Home “does raise eyebrows.”

This, fast on the heels of the discovery of a heretofore unknown mysterious replacement of the hard-drive in the Home’s security system five years ago upon orders of the then Administrator Ken Houston.

The hard-drive issue surfaced with discovery of the original 2012 work order from a West Monroe security firm.

Houston was ousted at the end of last month and replaced by Ms. Marquita Mikhaliak who had previously held the post of Assistant Administrator.

Strickland said today he dismissed Houston when he learned that the ex-Administrator had skirted all protocols and asked the State Board of Ethics if the Home could hire Ms. Mikhaliak’s wife as an upper level RN. The wife, Mary Charlene Murphy, was not hired.

That Houston chose to go around him and the leadership of the Department with this Ethics question, Strickland said, “was something I could not tolerate.”

In a letter today, The Secretary said he will visit the Monroe facility Wednesday with two Under Secretaries to personally check on continuing allegations of improprieties there.

“We will have our Legal counselor Julie Baxter Payer who is meeting with Congressman Abraham and a couple of spouses from the home that we have been working with at the Monroe Home,” Strickland said.

He also acknowledged that an OIG detective has briefed Payer about a 2016 marriage by an RN there to a Navy Veteran resident who had come into a sizeable “full pay” settlement. In that case the RN befriended the Navy vet, took him from the Home to Hamburg, Ark. and married him and returned him to the home the same day. She then quit the next month.

The veteran spent about three hours with an OIG detective  last week. The investigator was said to have been back at the Home today.

“I am going to lay down the law on the quality care treatment of our veterans and families,” wrote Strickland. “Those who fail to comply will be fired.”

In addition to his fact-finding mission to the Home Wednesday, Secretary Strickland said he would be back at the end of the month “for a Town Hall Meeting with local veterans and Home residents with key staff so they can tell me about any concerns.”

(Ken Booth, now retired and living in Arizona, is a former longtime investigative reporter for KNOE-TV in Monroe.)

Read Full Post »

Fire Marshal Browning likes to give high-salaried jobs to cronies with few qualifications and to vendor/legislators

Posted in Corruption, Ethics, State Fire Marshal on August 14, 2017| 9 Comments »

There have been some curious hires at the State Fire Marshal’s office which have attracted the attention of LouisianaVoice.

Two in particular: former State Rep. Bryan Adams and Dean Smith.

Of the two, Adams raises the most questions.

There is no question that Adams, unlike Smith, possessed experience in firefighting, having served as Chief of the Terrytown 5th District Volunteer Fire Department for 31 years, from 1982 to 2013.

But when he resigned from the Louisiana House of Representatives in July 2016 after four years, seven months in office to take a position as Deputy Chief-Investigations with the State Fire Marshal’s office, he was already working simultaneously as Customer Service Manager for Ferrara Fire Apparatus of Holden, a company that had extensive dealings as a major vendor for the Fire Marshal’s office at a whopping $120,000.

That, combined with his position as State Representative, might raise eyebrows. As a member of the Legislature, he had a vote on the budget for state agencies, including that of Fire Marshal, which did business with his employer. CLICK HERE.

He was elevated to Fire Chief on January 2 of this year but his salary did not change. He remained at the Fire Marshal’s office for only another month after that, until February 12, when he went to work for the Department of Revenue at a salary of $71,300, a drop of almost $49,000 in salary. He recouped some of that lost salary on June 19 of this year when he went to work as Executive Director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board at $91,000 per year (CLICK HERE).

Bryan Adams

Begin Date End Date Agency Job Title Biweekly Pay Rate
6/19/17 Present CRT-Office of the Secretary Executive Director $3500.00 (6/19/17 to present)
2/13/17 6/18/17 DOR-Department of Revenue Executive Staff Officer $34.30/hour (2/13/17 to 6/18/17)
1/2/17 2/12/17 DPS-Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire Chief 4615.39 (1/2/17 to 2/12/17)
6/24/16 1/1/17 DPS-Office of the State Fire Marshal Deputy Chief-Investigations 4615.39 (6/24/16 to 1/1/17)

So, who is Dean Smith?

No, not the legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach who passed away in February 2015.

We’re talking about the Dean Smith whose last day as police captain for the Pontchartrain Levee District was January 27, 2017, not quite seven months ago and who went to work as a Fire Chief for the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal (SFM) three days later at a cool $85,000 per year.

Nothing in his background would seem to qualify him as Fire Chief.

The Louisiana Civil Service Department says Dean Smith began working for the Pontchartrain Levee District as a Police Captain on July 1, 2010 at a salary of $61,000 per year.

On March 12, 2012, he was designated as a Police Captain A and on October 1, 2015, his salary was $71,000 and remained at that level until his departure on January 27 of this year. Three days later, with no professional experience to qualify him for his Fire Chief position, his salary jumped by $14,000 per year, to $85,000.

Dean Smith

Begin Date End Date Agency Job Title Biweekly Pay Rate
01/30/17 Present DPS-Office of State Marshal Fire Chief $3269.23 (1/30/17 to present)
3/5/12 1/29/17 Pontchartrain Levee District Police Captain A $2744.80 (10/01/15 to 1/29/17)

$2639.20 (10/1/14 to 9/30/15)

$2537.60 (10/1/13 to 9/30/14)

$2440.00 (10/1/12 to 9/30/13)

$2346.40 (3/5/12 to 9/30/12)
7/01/10 3/4/12 Pontchartrain Levee District Police Captain $2346.40 (7/1/10 to 3/4/12)

Smith was a volunteer fireman in Gonzales when Browning was Fire Chief there and the two are close friends, often joining each other on motorcycle rides.

Smith was also an Ascension Parish deputy sheriff at one time. While in that capacity, he had a gun to discharge accidentally, striking a prisoner in the spine and rendering him a paraplegic. He left the sheriff’s office after that, was elected a justice of the peace and eventually resigned to work for the levee board.

Irony of ironies, we are informed that one of the current duties of the man who once accidentally shot and paralyzed a man is to serve as firearms instructor for the Fire Marshal’s office.

Despite holding down a critical job like Fire Chief, it’s impossible to reach Smith by telephone because, you see, he has no phone extension at the Fire Marshal’s office. None. Nada. Nil. Zip. Attempts to call him on two separate occasions by LouisianaVoice met with explanations that he had no extension but that a message would be given him to return the call.

Of course, he never did.

Wanting to know just what it was that Smith did to earn his $85,000, we emailed State Fire Marshal Butch Browning, the man himself. He should know, after all:

From: Tom Aswell [mailto:azspeak@cox.net]
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 1:07 PM
To: ‘butch.browning@la.gov’ <butch.browning@la.gov>
Subject: FW: DEAN SMITH

Mr. Browning:

How long has Dean Smith worked for the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal and why does he not have a phone extension?

What, exactly, is his title and what are his duties?

You will notice our email was sent at 1:07 p.m. last Friday. Minutes later we received a receipt showing that Browning had read our email at 1:08 p.m.

_____________________________________________
From: Butch Browning [mailto:Butch.Browning@la.gov]
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 1:08 PM
To: Tom Aswell <azspeak@cox.net>
Subject: Read: FW: DEAN SMITH

Your message

To: Butch Browning
Subject: FW: DEAN SMITH
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 1:07:24 PM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
was read on Friday, August 11, 2017 1:08:01 PM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada).

But Browning never answered our inquiry, so four hours later, at 5:12 p.m., a follow-up email was sent but alas, he must’ve already started his weekend for he never opened that message:

From: Tom Aswell [mailto:azspeak@cox.net]
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 5:12 PM
To: ‘butch.browning@la.gov’ <butch.browning@la.gov>
Subject: FOLLOW UP

I received the receipt showing that you read my previous email but you didn’t respond. You should know that it isn’t in your best interest to ignore me when I ask valid questions. And those were valid questions I asked before.

Not a threat, just friendly words of advice.

As we said, Butch, not a threat. But legitimate inquiries should never be ignored. As the slogan at the top of our web page says, “It is understandable when a child is afraid of the dark but unforgivable when a man fears the light.” The tactic of ignoring inquiries has never worked. It will not make us go away; quite the opposite, in fact.

So, to learn just what else besides teaching firearms safety does a Fire Chief at SFM do to earn his $85,000, we were forced to turn to other sources, current employees in the Fire Marshal’s office, both of whom said Smith and Browning are pals from way back.

One of those says Smith was hired to oversee the non-existent SFM fleet of boats. Well, it shouldn’t too difficult for a Fire Chief with no apparent firefighting experience to watch over boats that don’t exist.

He also cooked jambalaya for attendees at a firefighters’ conference held in Houma the weekend of July 19-22. Oh, well, at least there most likely was some fire involved with that.

If that conference could somehow be deemed an emergency, perhaps that might justify the use of the SFM’s special service trailer. The trailer was “up-fitted” in May 2015 from 5 Alarm Fire Apparatus of Raceland at a cost of $4,649 “for USAR emergency field food service cooking during emergencies.” The Fire Marshal’s office said at the time the expenditure was necessary, that the office “has no way of supporting USAR events or emergencies when they take place. This up-fit cooking trailer will now support events and emergencies with equipment for field food services when necessary.”

They probably also made good use of the 30-gallon roll-around combo set (complete with paddles for stirring the jambalaya) purchased in January 2015 from Krazy Kajun Cookware for $895.

But, despite the apparent critical need for an $85,000 per year Fire Chief, Boat Watcher and Jambalaya Cook, he doesn’t have a telephone extension at the Fire Marshal’s headquarters in Baton Rouge even though that’s where he works reports to collect his salary.

Read Full Post »

Did LA State Troopers Association lobby for Manzella’s placement on LSPC? Pieces in place for such a scenario

Posted in Commissions, Corruption, Ethics, Governor's Office, State Police on August 13, 2017| 21 Comments »

When Monica Manzella showed up for her first meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) last November, she received a warm greeting and a hug from State Police Lieutenant Rodney Hyatt.

We were curious how they knew each other so well. It was, after all, her first meeting.

Hyatt, other than his state trooper duties, also was—and still is—President of the Headquarters Chapter of the Louisiana State Police Association (LSTA). Click HERE. He is also one of the four troopers who drove a state vehicle to San Diego via the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas last October to cheer on and party with their boss, then-State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson as he received a national award.

Manzella, appointed to the LSPC last October, was an assistant city attorney for the City of New Orleans and had, as part of her duties, signed off on Local Agency Compensated Enforcement (LACE) contracts between the City of New Orleans and Louisiana State Police (LSP). Under LACE, state police are paid by the local district attorney to help beef up traffic enforcement. Some characterized her work on the contracts and her appointment to the commission as a possible conflict of interest but she dismissed that concern out of hand.

Other than his position as headquarters chapter president of LSTA and her signing off on LACE contracts, there was no apparent connection or any obvious reason why the two would be on such friendly terms at her very first meeting.

But thanks to the wife of retired state trooper Leon “Bucky” Millet of Lake Arthur, a connection that appears a little more than casual has been discovered.

Bucky Millet first set the stage a year ago at the LSPC meeting of August 11, 2016, when he filed a formal complaint about the manner in which LSPC members were supposed to be appointed and the manner in which those requirements were being ignored.

[Please keep in mind that LSPC is the Louisiana State Police Commission, which rules on appeals of troopers subjected to discipline and LSTA is the private, non-profit association comprised of active and (some) retired state troopers as members. Some retirees have been expelled from the LSTA for questioning certain activities. The two, LSPC and LSTA, are completely separate entities.]

In his complaint, Millet referenced Article X, Part IV, Section 43(C) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 which stipulates the following:

  • The presidents of Centenary College at Shreveport, Dillard University at New Orleans, Louisiana College at Pineville, Loyola University at New Orleans, Tulane University of Louisiana at New Orleans, and Xavier University at New Orleans, after giving consideration to representation of all groups, each shall nominate three persons. The governor shall appoint one member of the commission from the three persons nominated by each president. One member of the commission shall be elected by the classified state police officers of the state from their number as provided by law. A vacancy for any cause shall be filled by appointment or election in accordance with the procedure or law governing the original appointment or election, and from the same source. Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, the president concerned shall submit the required nominations. Within thirty days thereafter, the governor shall make his appointment. If the governor fails to appoint within thirty days, the nominee whose name is first on the list of nominees automatically shall become a member of the commission. If any nominating authority fails to submit nominees in the time required, or if one of the named institutions ceases to exist, the governor shall make the appointment to the commission.

LouisianaVoice had earlier made a public records requests for any such letters of nominations from the university presidents. Only a single letter from Centenary College President Kenneth Schwab to then-Gov. Mike Foster dated Jan. 15, 2003, was provided.

For the full story of just how dysfunctional the LSPC was at that meeting, click HERE.

So, when Manzella was appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards two months later, was that procedure finally followed? Well, yes and most probably not so much.

Thanks to Vivian Millet’s extensive Internet search, we now know that Lt. Hyatt and Manzella had their own history, dating back to March of 2016.

It seems that both Hyatt and Manzella were among 28 attendees from across the U.S. who earned their security Master of Arts degrees in Security Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) in Monterey, California, on March 25.

The CHDS curriculum is an 18-month master’s degree program in homeland security.

Click HERE to see the press release and to see a class photo of the proud graduates. It’s a rather small photo, so here’s a little help with the identities: Hyatt is on the far right in the front row in complete Louisiana State Police uniform and Manzella is behind him and to his right, in the red top.

Which brings us to the question of how she got her appointment to LSPC.

She obtained her J.D. in Law from Loyola University of New Orleans in 2005 (click HERE). Loyola could have been expected to nominate one of its alumni—if it had been asked to do so.

That certainly makes sense. But it didn’t go down that way and with Hyatt in a key position with the LSTA and with LSTA the subject of what the LSPC attempted to pass off as an ongoing “investigation” of its illegal campaign contributions funneled through the personal bank account of the LSTA executive director, the stage was certainly set for a little politicking on her behalf. LSTA needed desperately to stack the commission with members friendly to the LSTA who would lend comfort and support to LSPC Chairman, State Trooper T.J. Doss and other like-minded members.

So, did Hyatt and the LSTA exert a little friendly persuasion to secure a seat on the commission for Manzella? Did they engage in a little back channel diplomacy in order to wrangle the appointment of a member guaranteed to be friendly to the LSTA?

Given the outcome of that investigation by Natchitoches attorney Taylor Townsend, who still has yet to provide a written report of his findings as required by his $75,000 contract and despite repeated demands that he do so, it would seem the Manzella—and subsequent—appointments have paid off handsomely for the LSTA. She has been everything LSTA could want—and more, as she moved from new member to vice chairman of the commission in a matter of just a few months while voting the LSTA line.

Which only underscores the necessity of at most, abolishing the LSPC and to put a constitutional amendment before voters to bring LSP under State Civil Service as it once was or at least, wiping the slate clean and beginning anew with all new members, unaffiliated with any political faction or with any organization and with the common goal of cleaning up the image of State Police and the troubled LSPC.

Failing either of those options, the term “Tarnished Badge” will soon refer to something other than just the nom de plume of a frequent commenter to LouisianaVoice posts.

Read Full Post »

Chair, Co-Chair of State Police Commission apparently share more than a ‘professional’ relationship; check into BR hotel

Posted in Uncategorized on August 10, 2017| 57 Comments »

Normally, a man’s tryst with a lady friend who is not his wife would be of no concern to us. It’s not an activity we would recommend but some things, after all, are really no one else’s business.

Unless the amorous couple happen to be chairman and vice chairman of a state commission that decides important issues like appeals of disciplinary action against state troopers or which votes on whether or not to conduct thorough investigations of illegal campaign contributions or which concocts evidence against its executive director in order to force her resignation because she insisted on following the law on certain procedures.

State Trooper T.J. Doss, a nine-year State Police veteran, is chairman of the Louisiana State Police Commission.

New Orleans attorney Monica Manzella, formerly the assistant city attorney for the City of New Orleans, was appointed to the commission by Gov. John Bel Edwards last October. She quickly rose to the position of vice chairman.

The commission has experienced considerable turnover in the past 12 months, with six members and an executive director submitting their resignations. After today, that number could increase to eight.

LouisianaVoice has been receiving tips that Doss and Manzella were each other’s overnight guests for several months—sometimes at the State Police Academy barracks where Doss was staying while assigned to Baton Rouge from his normal base at Troop G in Shreveport. Other times they were said to be staying at Manzella’s residence in New Orleans.

On Thursday, only hours after the monthly commission meeting, they got a little careless. We got word they were at a movie and were staying at the Watermark Hotel in downtown Baton Rouge. The hotel building, originally a bank, is the former State Office Building that was sold and transformed into an elegant hotel and restaurant.

Acting on our tip, it was a relatively easy matter to catch them exiting the movie theater CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO . As they exit, Doss can be seen carrying two mugs. They had just seen a movie at Baton Rouge’s Movie Tavern. The Movie Tavern serves beer and allows patrons to keep the containers. It is against State Police regulations to drink and drive a state police unit.

“Mug” shot

Less than an hour later, they can be seen exiting his state-assigned Ford Explorer entering the hotel where they went straight to the registration desk CLICK HERE, picked up their keys and headed straight for the elevators.  They carried no luggage, an indication that they—or at least one of them—had checked in earlier.

Checkin’ in

As said earlier, it’s normally no one else’s business but when two people sit on a seven-person commission that literally has the power to make career-altering decisions, it is critical that a professional relationship be maintained between members. Personal affairs should be strictly off-limits in the interest of fair and impartial decision-making, uninfluenced by personal feelings for fellow members. The fact that Doss and Manzella serve as chair and co-chair of the commission only serves to underscore the need for separation—literally and figuratively.

Moreover, the two arrived at the Watermark in a state-owned Ford Explorer assigned to Doss. State Police policy and procedure strictly prohibits the transporting of civilians in the state vehicles for any purposes other than state police business.

State Police Ford Explorer assigned to Trooper T.J. Doss parked outside Watermark Hotel Thursday…in spot reserved for Baton Rouge City Police.

Manzella is a civilian and they certainly did not appear to be on state business as she twice slipped her arm around Doss’s waist as they were at the hotel registration desk, once even patting him gently on his buttocks.

At this point, the only reasonable option left open for each of them is to resign immediately from the commission. Should they decline to do so, State Police Superintendent would seem to have no choice but to direct Doss to step down. In Manzella’s case, it would be the responsibility of Gov. Edwards to remove her—and Doss should Superintendent Kevin Reeves does not do so.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »