The Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) and its legal counsel, Floyd Falcon, went to great lengths last year to inform the general public and the media that LSTA was not a public entity and had no official affiliation with Louisiana State Police (LSP).
The issue of separation was invoked on several occasions not only by LSTA and Falcon but by Natchitoches attorney Taylor Townsend, retained by the Louisiana State Police Commission LSPC to investigate illegal campaign contributions by LSTA.
That position was taken in an effort to thwart an investigation by Townsend of the contributions. It worked. Townsend, in his report back to LSPC recommended that “no action be taken.”
LSTA, LSPC, Falcon and Townsend repeatedly said LSPC had no jurisdiction to investigate LSTA, a private, non-profit organization, because it was not affiliated with LSP and that there was no connection between state police and the association other than association members were active and retired State Troopers.
But when four retired troopers appeared before LSPC (the state police equivalent of the State Civil Service Board) to complain about the political contributions (including $10,000 each to Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards in their respective campaigns for governor), they were promptly drummed out of the association on the recommendation of the Troop A (Baton Rouge headquarters) affiliate chapter of LSTA.
But wait.
At least two of the retirees (Leon “Bucky” Millet of Lake Arthur, one of the original four retirees to complain of the contributions and another retiree we shall call Lawrence because he prefers that his name not be revealed because he is still an LSTA member, last week received an invitation to attend a “Retiree BBQ” on Oct. 12 at the LSTA offices at 8120 Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge.
The invitation asked that invitees “Please RSVP to Karen Schexnayder.” Schexnayder is an administrative Assistant for the Office of Motor Vehicles which like LSP, is part of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
But here’s the real kicker:
Included at the bottom of the invitation so as to make it easier to RSVP was a state email address for Schexnayder.
Here is the LSTA invitation, forwarded to LouisianaVoice by Lawrence:
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
So if LSTA, LSPC, LSP, Floyd Falcon, and Taylor Townsend all insist that LSTA is a separate entity from LSP (LSTA officers receive a stipend from LSTA for their service on the board), how is it that Schexnayder, clearly a Department of Public Safety (DPS) employee, is performing clerical work for a private organization that insists there is no connection between it and LSP?
The same question occurred to our friend Lawrence a couple of years ago when he requested the email addresses of LSTA board members. That email list was provided to Lawrence on Nov. 15, 2015, by LSTA employee Hillary Moses via the following email:
From: Hillary H. Moses
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2015 10:35 PM
To:
Subject: Re:
Hello Mr.:
Below, I have listed the information you requested. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Exec. Director David.T.Young@la.gov
President Stephen.Lafargue@la.gov
F Edwin.Knowles@la.gov (Kirk)
L James.O’Quinn@la.gov
Retiree Doussan.Rando@la.gov
Young, the LSTA Executive Director, is not a state employee nor is he a retired state trooper, so it’s puzzling why he would have a state email address. (But then, all those campaign contributions were laundered through Young’s personal checking account and he simply submitted expense receipts for reimbursement, so with so much chicanery taking place at LSTA, why the hell not give him a state email account?)
Lawrence, upon receiving his retiree barbecue invitation, decided to see if LSTA board members were still listing their state email addresses as their contact emails—a practice that is against state ethics laws. So, at 12:46 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 18) he sent the following email below to Moses:
From:
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 12:46 PM
To: Hillary H. Moses
Subject:
“Hillary, thanks for your email. I have this email from you from 2015 which lists all the board of directors then. If you notice, all the email addresses are government email address. Are you telling me now that you and the LSTA are now in charge of government email address? Has this information been a policy change?
It didn’t take long for a response. Nine minutes later, at 12:55 p.m., Moses assured Lawrence that state email addresses are no longer used for LSTA correspondence:
From: Hillary Moses
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 12:55 PM
To:
Subject:
The Association no longer uses state government e-mail addresses for the purpose of LSTA correspondence.
Hillary H. Moses
Louisiana State Troopers Association
(225)928-2000
At 2:14 p.m., Lawrence emailed LouisianaVoice his take on Moses’s response:
From:
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 2:14 PM
To: Tom Aswell
Subject:
I beg to differ as spelled out on the retiree invitation.
Millet was not content with merely voicing his disgust to LouisianaVoice. He responded directly to the Troop A Affiliate President who just happens to be the one who made the motion to revoke the memberships of the four retirees:
From: Bucky Millet <teammoonlite@yahoo.com>
Date: September 14, 2017 at 5:00:01 PM CDT
To: “karen.schexnayder@la.gov” <karen.schexnayder@la.gov>
Cc: Kevin Reeves <kevin.reeves@la.gov>
Subject: Retiree BBQ
Troop A Affiliate President Derek Sentino:
I would like to respectfully decline your invitation to the retiree BBQ. As documented in the LSTA minutes, you apparently, on behalf of the Troop A affiliate, made the original motion to remove me and three other members, two of whom were Lifetime vested (47 years), and two others who were long-term members.
All four were in good standing until they were so bold as to shed light on unethical and illegal actions taken by the LSTA. As you are quite aware the LSTA has signed a consent agreement admitting to some of the violations and a fine was required.
The four members honorably served their country—three in Vietnam and one in Iraq in addition to serving the people of the State of Louisiana.
I would wonder if the money to be spent for the BBQ could be used to better serve the 20-plus retired members who were flooded. Apparently the LSTA found money to provide $1,000 to the active members who flooded.
They also find money for gifts and entertainment for the legislators and Governor.
The remaining retired members need to realize that they are apparently considered as has-beens.
Apparently to be part of “THE BLUE BROTHERHOOD,”
1.You must be an active member.
2.You must be able to violate the oath that you have taken and overlook unethical and illegal behavior.
Leon “Bucky” Millet
So, the bottom line is this: Someone must address the question in clear and convincing terms of whether or not LSTA is actually an independent organization as it claims or does it have the tacit approval to co-mingle its activities and correspondence through LSP by calling on the services of state employees and state email?
From where we sit, the lines are hopelessly blurred.
Louisiana Voice 
“OH, MY,MY MY” I wonder how long of an investigation it will take by Kevin Reeves to determine who ordered Karen Schexnayder, a classified civil service employee, to coordinate the supposedly private event on the taxpayers’ dime.
I am afraid We will have to wait as long as we have been waiting for a decision on the San Diego/Vegas Gate Investigation.
So Sad what LSP has become!
Drain The Swamp!
Will Taylor Townsend get another $75,000 from the LSPC to issue a VERBAL opinion (no report was previously fashioned) to resolve this latest issue of separation of official and unofficial status of LSTA?
Does no one see the need to abolish the LSPC and fold its duties and responsibilities back into the State Civil Service Commission?
Are you listening Jon Bel? How about you Mr. New Colonel Superintendent who is looking more and more like your predecessor every day?
The state employees involved using tax payer resources without any care or concern do so with impunity. Floyd Falcon’s law partner and brother, Mark Falcon, has more power at the Division of Administration than Jay Dardenne. Mark also rules Civil Service with an iron fist and if you are/were a client of their private law firm as a civil servant you have immunity from any of the rules or the law for that matter. It should come as no surprise that one of Floyd’s and Mark’s private law partners, Sherri Gregoire, was just set up with a lush civil service position within a state agency that never existed before and was “created” specifically for her. The Falcons’ talons run deep in state government and JBE does as they say no matter how ethically bankrupt it is.
Well now, I think this is the S.O.S., just a different circumstance on a different date!
As I read this article, I kept reflecting back on episodes of Sanford and Son (one of my favorite sitcoms of all time). I’m getting old now, and I can’t remember the name of the character (not Grady, and maybe another reader will remember), but he would occassionally visit the Sanford residence, and someone (usually Fred) would ask: “Well, are you a ____________ (plumber, other profession)?,” and he would respond something along the lines of, “Well, on Mondays I am, but on Wednesdays, I’m a _______________.” That seems about the answers that may likely come from anyone trying to ascertain whether the LSTA is or isn’t affiliated with LSP. Now if we’re talking Tuesdays, well…………………………..
“How about you Mr. New Colonel Superintendent who is looking more and more like your predecessor every day?”
“Meet the new boss; same as the old boss…” We know we’ve heard that somewhere before.
Great Attorney General case, if we have one
They need to have a barbeque in Baton Rouge, and grill the top three levels of LSP Command, along with the majority of the politicians down there. Cook the whole lot of the vermin !