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Archive for May, 2019

Controversy over firing of Southern University professors isn’t the first rodeo for Executive Vice President Ammons

Posted in Corruption, Ethics, Finances, Fraud, Higher Education, Judges, Lawsuits, Media on May 9, 2019| Leave a Comment »

When four Southern University professors filed suit against the school over the manner in which the school’s system-wide grievance committee handled their grievance hearing, it didn’t take long for the name of James H. Ammons, Ph.D., to surface as the prime antagonist in the decision to fire, demote or cut the pay for the professors.

A trial was held on Monday of this week after the three, along with yours truly, filed suit for what we are claiming to be an illegal executive session called by the committee to handle the professors’ claims.

At issue is the university’s handbook which gives the committee final say over whether the hearing would be open to the public or closed versus state law which gives the professors the right to request—and be granted—an open meeting.

Also challenged in the lawsuit was the announcement by committee chair Marla Dickerson that the committee had voted prior to opening the meeting to enter into executive session.

The state’s Open Meetings Law expressly says that all such votes shall be taken in open session and the votes recorded in the minutes, neither of which occurred. A decision on the lawsuit, heard by 19th Judicial District Judge Chip Moore, is pending.

The grievances were filed against University Executive Vice President/Executive Vice Chancellor Ammons, whose decision it was to terminate or demote the professors.

Investigation by LouisianaVoice into Ammons’ professional background revealed a checkered past during his tenures at two other universities prior to his being hired by Southern in January 2018.

While serving as chancellor at North Carolina Central University in Durham, he was implicated in a satellite campus CONTROVERSY which skated the edge of violating state rules on program establishment and conflicts of interest.

Briefly, that involved the establishment of an unauthorized satellite campus in an Atlanta, Georgia, megachurch that had donated $1 million to the university.

The New L.I.F.E. College Program was established at the church of Eddie Long, a North Carolina Central University graduate who had been named to the university’s board of trustees two years earlier. Ammons, when questioned about the campus, professed to not remembering specifics, but said, “I accept full responsibility.”

He agreed to REPAY the federal government more than $1 million of the $3 million dispersed in financial aid for ineligible programs.

His next stop was at Florida A&M and more controversy.

At the same time his ouster was gaining momentum following the 2012 hazing death of the school band’s drum major, Robert Champion, he was negotiating $356,000 taxpayer-funded low-interest business LOANS to a company run by Ammons and his son, James Ammons, III.

At the time of the loan through the state’s Black Business Loan Program, he had just accepted and then walked away from the provost’s position at Delaware State University.

Corporate records listed Ammons as manager of Ammons Food & Beverage, LLC, and his son as registered agent. After rejecting the Delaware State job as the school’s number-two administrator, he signed a new contract to remain at FAME as a faculty member.

The loan represented the largest made through the program, representing more than 15 percent of the $2.225 million approved by the Florida Legislature to assist Florida’s black small business owners.

As pressure mounted for Ammons to resign, including a call from the governor that he step down, Rufus Montgomery, a member of the FAMU Board of Trustees, said, “This is not about hazing. This is about leadership or lack of leadership at FAMU. There have been more than 30 issues over the past year that have come before this board.

“This all came under the watch of the current president,” Montgomery said. “We have the FAMU students on trial this fall, we have no band this fall, we have a drop in enrollment coming and I read the other day that the Florida Senate is investigating the school.”

J.L. CARTER, writing for the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Digest on Ammons’ appointment as Southern’s new executive vice-president, said, “The last thing the (Southern) system seemingly wanted to do was to add a reason for negative speculation. But with Dr. Ammons, it did just that.”

In retrospect, his words, more than a year later, appear somewhat prophetic.

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The Avengers Endgame provides inspiration for sequel to deal with annoying TV lawyer & medicine ads, robo calls

Posted in TV News on May 8, 2019| 3 Comments »

I watched the movie everyone was talking about this past weekend just to see what all the fuss was about. You know the one: The Avengers Endgame.

I’m not so much a fan of action movies, but after several years of watching local television newscasts, it did give me an idea for a sequel.

I have long contended that the only purpose of local TV news is to keep the lawyer ads from bumping together but hell, they don’t even make an attempt at separating them anymore. We get an ad for Attorney A, followed immediately by an ad for Attorney B, followed by some ad for some medication for some illness I didn’t even know I had, followed by the disclaimer that’s longer than the ad for the medication.

In one recent ad, I learned that the side effects for one medication can be both constipation and diarrhea, insomnia and drowsiness, depression and exhilaration—all in a single pill.

My neighbor was telling me the other day that his baby’s first words were: “Ask your doctor about…,” Other symptoms may include…,” One call, that’s all,” and “I want to be your lawyer for life.”

It’s a good thing the kid can’t answer the phone yet or he’d be saying, “Don’t hang up til you’ve heard this exciting offer,” “We can reduce your credit card interest rate,” “Your student loan application is approved,” or “Congratulations, you’ve won a free cruise.”

The glut of lawyer and prescription medication ads reminds me of one of my favorite sitcoms, WKRP in Cincinnati, where the radio station’s sole source of income seemed to come from its “Red Wiggler Worms” fish bait ads.

If you’re like me, you don’t care to hear any of that crap and you damned sure you don’t want your afternoon nap interrupted by some robo or push poll call.

And let’s face it, I’m sure a certain attorney is proud of his daughter’s going off to college and that he wants his son to get a haircut. But seriously, are we that eager to have them foisted off on us when we’re trying to watch the news to see who got shot last night in Baton Rouge?

I mean, we have our own families to fuss over. After all, I have a grandson who needs a haircut and a granddaughter in college, but so what? Do you really need to know that Every. Single. Noon. and. Night. On. The. Local. News? Get the cotton pickin’ haircut already and quit badgering us about it.

And do we really want a “paid actor” pretending to be a satisfied client of the attorney who “got me $700,000” blaring into our living rooms uninvited when the graphic beneath his/her image is telling us (in oh, such small lettering) that he/she is fake, a fraud, a shill? I think you can check that box “no.”

So, here’s my idea for the plot to the sequel:

Recruit Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Falcon and any of the others, the names of whom escape me for the moment.

Their mission is twofold:

One team, we’ll call it Team A, is to infiltrate every local TV station in Louisiana, find, and destroy all those mind-numbing medication ads and those goofy attorney commercials—and I mean ALL of them (except for that one Baton Rouge lawyer whose ads make fun of other lawyers, especially the one about a rival lawyer falling off the top of an 18-wheeler—those I like). It seems there’re more personal injury attorneys advertising today than Trump tweets. And your doctor is sick of being asked about all those medications. Zap all their ads. It would probably take only one or two superheroes to carry out that task what with all the TV stations being in Louisiana.

The second team, Team B, has a little more difficult assignment: Find the boiler rooms whence all those robo calls are emanating. Many of them are offshore, so it may take a few days, but it needs to be done as expeditiously as possible and with as much fanfare, forcefulness, crashes, fire, and explosions as in a real action movie.

Once located, a two-man team would be all that would be necessary to carry out wanton destruction: Thor and the Hulk. On second thought, maybe Spider Man could also have a role here.

With Thor’s hammer and the Hulk’s gigantic fists, they would crash through the doors of the boiler rooms and set about wreaking havoc on computers, phones, stolen IDs, and any other electronic equipment while Spider Man could secure all the “representatives” (I prefer to call them scam artists) in a giant web to be delivered to a hungry South Louisiana alligator.

I think that would be a great sequel, but I’m open to any ideas from others to improve on my concept.

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Ouachita asst. district attorney, brother of 4th JDC judge, suspended by Supreme Court for mishandling clients’ funds

Posted in Corruption, Courts, Ethics, Fraud, Judges, Lawsuits, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians on May 6, 2019| 2 Comments »

There is only one word to describe the courts in the 4th judicial District: rancid.

It was bad enough when it was revealed that:

  • ALLISON CAMPBELL, a clerk for 4th JDC judges, had mis-filed, shredded, or otherwise destroyed records (52 different writ applications missing for more than a year turned up as being used as an end table in Campbell’s office.
  • Or that when the Ouachita Citizen sued to obtain public documents from the court, the court’s judges sued the newspaper and its publisher Sam Hanna, Jr. to prevent having to make the documents available.
  • Or that Campbell’s sister is a prominent Monroe attorney, Catherine Creed, her father George Campbell was an executive with Regions Bank and was married to the daughter of attorney Billy Boles.
  • Or that a “duty” or on-call JUDGE (Larry Jefferson) would alter bond instructions, allowing an inmate charged with five counts of aggravated crimes against nature to walk out of jail and disappear.
  • Or that Monroe attorney and former Monroe city council member ARTHUR GILMORE, JR., was sentenced to 24 months in prison and temporarily permanently disbarred by the Supreme Court for violations of the federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The disbarment was handed down as permanent but he petitioned and was approved for readmission in January.

But now, we learn that the Louisiana Supreme Court has suspended the law license of Monroe attorney DANIEL J. HUNTER for one year after an investigation by the Office of Disciplinary Council found that Hunter had mismanaged his client trust account.

(Yawn). So what, you say? Happens every day. Some lawyer dips into the account for a quick trip to the casino with every intention of repaying the money—until he loses it and then loses again in an attempt to win it back. Sometimes it’s for more sinister purposes. Many times it’s just sloppy bookkeeping and funds get co-mingled. Mismanagement could be many things but you get the idea.

But wait. Daniel J. Hunter isn’t just any old attorney.

He is the brother of current 4th JDC court judge and former Louisiana State Rep. Marcus Hunter.

Daniel and Marcus are the sons of former Louisiana State Sen. Willie Hunter.

Daniel Hunter also just happens to be employed by 4th Judicial District Attorney Steve Tew as an assistant prosecutor. He was recently demoted to prosecuting misdemeanor offenses.

So, there you have your state judicial district court in Ouachita and Morehouse parishes.

Be proud.

Remember the adage that you get the government you deserve.

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HUD announces waiver of duplication of benefits for flood victims: scammers immediately start telephone campaign

Posted in Corruption, Ethics, Finances, Fraud, Grant, Grants, TV News on May 2, 2019| 6 Comments »

On Thursday, WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge posted a story that was welcome news to the August 2016 flood victims, yours truly included.

The gist of the story was that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had waived the duplication of benefits provisions, clearing the way for flood victims who had to settle for SBA loans to rebuild their homes to receive compensation from FEMA through Restore Louisiana.

Until that provision was waived, anyone who did not receive FEMA funding was forced to accept the SBA loans. In some cases, as with me, victims were directed by FEMA reps to the SBA table to apply for loans. This was done without FEMA’s bothering to tell flood victims that if they accepted—or if they were even offered and declined—an SBA loan, they were automatically ineligible for other federal assistance.

So, as you might surmise, news of the waiver of the duplication of benefits stipulation was welcome news.

That story by WAFB-TV was posted at 8:41 a.m.

At 5:57 p.m., a scant eight hours later, I received my first scam call about my eligibility for federal assistance.

The call from Morgan City, my caller ID said. I know no one in Morgan City, but I answered anyway, thinking perhaps it may be someone with a tip for a story for LouisianaVoice.

Instead, it was a woman asking for me by name, although it took me about three or four tries to understand whom she was asking for. Then she launched into her spiel about my application, saying she need to confirm certain information. It took several times for that information to get through, which was just as well as it gave me time to wonder why someone would be calling from Morgan City about my FEMA application.

After asking her to repeat herself several times, the call was suddenly disconnected. When I tried to call back, I got the usual message on robo calls that the call could not be completed.

So, there you have it, folks. The scam artists are already busily scheming to prey on flood victims, some of whom still are not back in their homes and some, like me who, at 75, is saddled with a brand-new 30-year $125,000 mortgage.

The purpose of this is not to whine about my misfortune because to be honest, we fared better than many flood victims: we got an excellent general contractor who did everything he promised to do at the price he quoted—and he did excellent work.

The purposed of this is to put other victims on notice that the scammers are actively trying to steal your identity to bilk you out of anything you may have coming to you. You need to be alert to these people and NEVER divulge any personal information, including your Restore Louisiana application number, your social security number or anything else.

And just because my call showed up on caller ID as being from Morgan City (Area Code 985), that doesn’t mean diddly. They steal numbers so that it appears you are getting a local call. Your call may be from Hammond, Lafayette or anywhere, and from any area code.

DO NOT BE A VICTIM!

 

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Emails from two OLOL execs attack Baton Rouge Business Report article—full day before story’s April 24 publication

Posted in Audit Reports, Corruption, Ethics, Finances, Fraud, Health Care, Media on May 2, 2019| 8 Comments »

Emails sent to the medical staff by the CEO of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOL) Scott Wester and the CEO of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health Systems (FMOL) Dr. Richard Vath attacked what Vath described as “a troubling article” by the Baton Rouge Business Report which Wester said included “a number of negative allegations about Our Lady of the Lake, and me in particular.”

The Business Report article, by Editor Stephanie Riegel, was published on April 24 and described in detail administrative and financial problems encountered by OLOL and FMOL and hinting at a connection between the firing of former FMOL CEO Michael McBride and the embezzlement of $810,000 from the foundation involving its former chief fundraiser John Paul Funes.

McBride, brought in to shore up FMOL, lasted a year. An outsider, he attempted to oust local power Wester but was himself shown the door.

If all that isn’t confusing enough, consider this: the two emails by Vath and Wester went out on April 23, the day before the article’s online publication.

Damage control isn’t unusual but damage control in advance of a “troubling article” is less common, to put it mildly. Especially in light of a paragraph in Riegel’s story: “Attempts by Business Report to reach Wester for comment were unsuccessful and OLOL officials declined to make him available for an interview for this story.”

It just seems to me that if you’re not going to avail yourself to an opportunity to tell your side of the story, you waive any rights to attack the messenger—especially the day before the story’s publication.

Which, of course, raises the question of just how did Vath and Wester get their hands on an advance copy of the story?

Something about the timing of all this just doesn’t pass the smell test.

For those who might need a refresher or for those living out of the Baton Rouge media coverage area, FMOL and OLOL were rocked late last year by the revelation that $810,000 had been embezzled from a foundation, established by OLOL to raise funds for projects like the new OLOL Children’s Hospital.

Chief fundraiser Funes, whose salary was listed at $283,000, subsequently fired.

But Riegel’s story went further by quoting McBride as saying the Funes scandal “was a symptom,” not the cause, of bigger problems at OLOL. McBride was quoted as attributing low OLOL employee morale to the “good ol’ boys’ network,” adding, “It is no coincidence that seven-plus years of stealing went unreported until new senior leadership was in place.

She described inroads into the Baton Rouge market by Ochsner Health Systems of New Orleans, quoting sources as implying that OLOL’s fees are currently about 25 percent higher than its competition at Ochsner and Baton Rouge General.

Those were the points with which the two emails obtained by LouisianaVoice appear to disagree, although neither email addressed any specific errors in the story, both choosing instead to deliver a “feel good” message aimed at lifting morale and deflecting from points made by Riegel.

“I believe the article paints an inaccurate picture,” Wester wrote. “I could easily make the case about why the ministry is strong and how the Sisters and System’s leadership have us on the right path. Instead, I want to apologize.”

Vath took a similar approach, writing, “The article is misleading and inaccurate in several ways and attempts to use recent leadership transitions as the starting point for several lines of attack against our ministry.”

“When reading the emails, it was impossible to know what Mr. Wester and Dr. Vath were talking about unless one received the Baton Rouge Business Report in published form,” said one OLOL employee.

“Both of the emails are camouflaging and obfuscation, and don’t address any facts or specifics of the article—nor of anything going on at the hospital.

“Just from the form and tone of the two emails, I was pretty confident that I’d agree with over 50 percent of the article even before I actually read it the next day,” the employee said. “Now that I’ve read the article, I agree with almost 100 percent of it—at least the parts I know about from working at OLOL.

“I’d love to have Mr. Wester and Dr. Vath tell us which parts of the article are not factual and/or untrue.”

 

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