Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?
–Signs (Five Man Electrical Band)?
I know, I know. The stealing of political signs is nothing new. It’s been a number-one pastime of election season as long as there’ve been election seasons.
But when a sitting mayor orders the thefts – and storage of the pilfered signs in a municipal warehouse – and it isn’t even his race…well, that’s just…Louisiana politics and the kind of nonsense that makes Louisiana a laughingstock.
Richie Sanderson is one of those challenging incumbent Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta in his bid for a third term as the representative from the PSC’s First District.
And thanks to Harahan Mayor Tim Baudier, Sanderson is having a pretty hard time keeping a fresh supply of yard signs because they just keep disappearing as fast as he can place them.
And it’s not just Baudier. Recently, a woman was spotted removing a sign from private property and when confronted by Sanderson’s people, she claimed she was the property owner and that the signs were placed without her permission.
She threatened Sanderson’s workers with trespassing.
The only problem was she wasn’t the property owner. In fact, she was the Skrmetta’s wife and Sanderson obtained an affidavit from the property owner attesting to the fact that he authorized the sign to be placed on his property.
So, who’s trespassing now, Mrs. Skrmetta?
But the real kicker to this entire sordid affair is that Sanderson’s team watched a city worker remove one of Sanderson’s signs and confronted him. The entire exchange is captured on this VIDEO.
This hapless city worker acknowledged that he had been ordered by Baudier to remove the signs and to transport them to a municipal warehouse for storage. The exchange takes on comical overtones as the desperate worker keeps trying to walk away from the interview, obviously uncomfortable with the position he’s been placed in.
LouisianaVoice attempted to contact Baudier for comment today, but those efforts were unsuccessful. Apparently, he isn’t too eager to talk about the signs but is pretty irate about the video of the city worker’s interview.
There’s another angle to the sign story: Sanderson, understandably angry over the theft of his signs (they do cost money, you know), had the foresight to place digital trackers on the signs (what a difference the electronic age has made in our lives) and was able to trace them as they made their way to three different storage sites.
Harahan police are now involved in the drama, so a lid has effectively been placed on any additional information about the ongoing investigation. But one has to wonder how much clout Mayor Baudier has over the police department and if he could in any way hamper the investigation at least until after the Nov. 3 election.
The answers would appear to be none and no as the police chief of Harahan is an elective office and Chief Tim Walker is not politically beholden to Baudier for his job.
One other note of interest:
In yesterday’s POST, LouisianaVoice noted that suspended attorney Scott McQuaig, who was previously contracted by the PSC as an outside legal counsel, was on today’s agenda to be hired to a $49,550 contract as an “outside consultant” to advise the PSC on cybersecurity.
We thought perhaps yesterday’s story might actually shame the PSC into at least tabling that matter since on the face of it, his previous contracts looked a little to cozy being, as it was, he was and is a pal and business partner of Skrmetta and given the fact he was only recently suspended from practice by the Louisiana Supreme Court (May 2019).
But noooo. McQuaig was their boy, suspension and all. The Good Old Boy Backscratching Express was too far down the tracks to throw on the brakes. Give him that contract, keep stealing those signs.
I mean, what’s the big deal about screwing over constituents with their own tax money? This is Louisiana, after all.
I was just wondering if some talented someone would write a sit com about Louisiana, warts and all. Even tho there is much graft and corruption, it is usually comical, too. Maybe the State Republican Majority Legislature could produce this and the profits could go into our general fund….no….wait….that isn’t a good idea at all. Anyway…just trying to find something useful and positive about the awful corrupt truth about Louisiana….sadly…
Nice job, Aswell.
[…] The Great Sign Theft Scandal of 2020 breaks wide open in Skrmetta’s PSC reelection bid; Haraha… […]
[…] Sanderson is even accusing Skrmetta’s wife of stealing his yard signs, which is demonstrably false and will probably get him sued for defamation. […]
LOL get him sued!!! For what? Show us where Sanderson said that. That was a quote from an advertising contractor. Not Sanderson. Get your so called facts straight. There is a Youtube video that proves what Sanderson claimed. Reporting has really gone down the drain as of late.