Way back in November 2010, when I launched this blog, my very first story was about a hidden legislative perk: Pentagon Barracks housing. In case you missed it then or in case you’d like to re-read it, you can do so by clicking HERE.
Back then, the highest rent paid by a legislator for what amounted to prestigious apartments in a prime location was a whopping $565 for a 1,764-square-foot apartment – double the size of the next largest (10 units that are 882 square feet each).
Anyone know of a 1700-square-foot apartment (or house) anywhere in the greater Baton Rouge area that rents for $565 per month? Didn’t think so.
Fast forward 12 years to 2022 and we find via a public records request that the highest rent paid is $500 per month by (ahem) that paragon of virtue, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder(R-Gonzales). That’s right, the rent over a 12-year period that saw prices of everything else spike, the highest rent for a Pentagon Barracks apartment actually decreased – and Rep. Schexnayder was the fortunate beneficiary.
Here is a complete list of House members who have Pentagon apartments:
And here is the list of Senators with apartments (reduce to 50% by clicking – sign for full image) Note: Francis Thompson is a former senator now serving in the House:
On the Senate side, some members actually doubled up to share costs on those exorbitant $370-per-month units. They were Sens. Jay Luneau (D-Alexandria) and Gary Smith, Jr. (D-Norco), Ed Price (D-Gonzales) and Gary Carter (D-New Orleans), Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge) and Cameron Henry (R-Metairie), Jimmy Harris (D-New Orleans and Joseph Bouie (D-New Orleans), and Barry Milligan (R-Shreveport) and Jeremy Stine (R-Lake Charles). Who says politicians can’t be thrifty – especially when it’s their own money?
But let us return for the moment to Schexnayder, who, among other things, has sold his soul to the oil and gas industry – you know, those people who are raking in record profits by jacking your gasoline prices up because…well, because they can. (They blame Biden for shutting off a pipeline that was never built, but I just can’t get around those record profits. I can’t help but notice they haven’t given him credit for enriching stockholders.)
A member of the LOUISIANA REPUGNANTCAN FRAUD SQUAD, the Cliff Clavin LOOKALIKE was initially backed by Bobby Jindal. He recently show his true colors in a fine piece of reporting by Baton Rouge Advocate reporters Tyler Bridges and Sam Karlin.
The two journalists REPORTED that Schexnayder eschewed a state-approved contractor to perform renovation work on his Pentagon apartment in favor of hiring his two stepsons, Jonathan and Beau Diez, to perform the work and then tried to hand the bill to the state.
Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne refused to honor the bill for $48,462 and Schexnayder ended up paying it himself. It was immediately unclear whether the payment came from Schexnayder’s personally or whether it was paid by his campaign because the Ethics Commission’s campaign contribution/expenditure report is not current as yet.
But it is clear that Schexnayder skirted several state ethics laws in awarding his stepsons the contract. First of all, they are not licensed contractors, a condition for obtaining any state contract in excess of $50,000. Second, the cost came in just under that amount, although the costs of materials, if not included in that amount, could pushed the total well past $50,000. Thirdly, Schexnayder dodged ethics regulations regarding hiring family members because stepchildren, under the ethics regulations, are not considered immediate family, thus are exempted from nepotism prohibitions.
As a crowning touch, as it were, Schexnayder’s wife Phoebe purchased new appliances for the apartment and purchased them from Gorman Brothers in Prairieville. She just happens to be employed by (wait for it) …Gorman Brothers in Prairieville.
But that’s not the end of the Schexnayder saga. Not by any means. Louisiana is simply too rife with crass politics for that the director to yell “Print” for this scene.
The same two reporters WROTE the following day that Schexnayder had slashed the Division of Administration (DOA) budget by $3.3 million as retaliation for Dardenne’s refusal to pay Schexnayder’s stepsons’ company, DAPA Enterprises, for the renovation work.
Schexnayder was full of bluster over the issue, claiming that DOA uses the Pentagon Barracks “as a political tool.”
Speaking of political tools, Schexnayder took that $3.3 million that he cut from DOA and gave it to the lieutenant governor’s office.
Meanwhile, he is pushing his House Bill 756 hard. That bill would move the Pentagon Barracks, the State Capitol, the Capitol Annex, the Old Arsenal Magazine Museum and the adjoining grounds from DOA to the lieutenant governor’s office.
And oh, it seems that Schexnayder is indicating that he plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2023.
Louisiana politics at its best.
Louisiana Voice 
Tom, all I can say is that the audacity of this guy strains’ credulity. Absolutely unbelievable. And he will get away with it, no doubt. This is, after all, Louisiana politics (mirrored these days by so much of the U.S).
Agree, but he is a piker in audacity (as are most officials/people) when compared to the penultimate POTUS who set a new standard others certainly seem to have readily adopted – his crowning achievement as this country’s leader.
This is outrageous! I own a house in Arlington, VA, and currently have it rented for in excess of $3000/month. I am a Louisiana resident and I get to pay Arlington County over $10,000 a year in property tax.
This is so ridiculous. You can’t take historic sites and knock them around like this. It’s just not right. Those sights deserve special attention from contractors because of their historic nature. The legislators who keep BBQ pits and lawn chairs within the Barracks are violative sacred group. Make it part of the state museum system – kick those people out!
And Schexnayder will be elected- He has the right consonant behind his name, for “religious” and, well…The average Louisiana voter is not aware of these shenanigans or, when aware, shrugs, sighs, and helplessly or passively says, “here we go again”. Phoebe Schexnayder is not an elected official, neither is the Barracks her official residence–what gives her the right to intervene and upgrade at taxpayer’s expense? Fleecing the hoi-polloi. In the meantime, teachers (current and retired) get the crumbs, a la Marie Antoinette. Yes, the penultimate wrote the book; the enablers are following, Laws and regulations are there for the rest of us; not for those above us.
come you naysayers, you gotta run the guvment like a business! Praise God$$$. great job Tom, The C’s with a R behind their name can do no wrong, thanks topgun77 ron thompson
This fits into normal Louisiana politics, they all take advantage and misuse everything they can, especially after their first year in office. The skyrocketing fuel prices were due to the Biden Administration shutting down drilling and leases on federal and public lands. The proof is in the pudding, inflation out of control, stimulus?? That is what real Americans are about to pay for.
Not sure if Goose is real or joking. Oil companies shut in wells during 2020 -2021 because the price of oil got so low (and for short time it was negative). The total number of oil rigs has dropped every year since 2014 because of 1) drilling efficiency/horizontal drilling an 2) people using less gas. When we started to provide oil to European countries because of the war in Ukraine (5+ months ago) we did not have the excess capacity because the wells had been shut. It takes as much as a year to reopen a well after it is closed. Leases do not affect current production as it takes several years to scout a lease before wells are drilled. Thousands of leases are in the hands of oil companies right now that are not producing