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Senate confirmation hearings on Edmonson’s appointment more resembled marathon butt kissing than search for truth

Posted in Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Senate, State Police on May 18, 2016| 13 Comments »

To call Wednesday’s confirmation hearings by the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee on the reappointment of State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson a love fest would be grossly inaccurate.

What transpired during the 21-minute “grilling” of Edmonson more closely resembled a group hug—or more accurately, a group butt-kissing—than a real consideration of the candidate’s qualifications to serve another four years as head of the state’s law enforcement agency.

The committee took no vote on confirmation on Wednesday but will re-convene before the current session closes to vote on all nominees.

Before going any further, it is important to know which committee member asked specific questions about how a state trooper who twice had sex with a woman while on duty—once in the back seat of his patrol car—managed to keep his job under Edmonson.

It is vital to know which member asked how a trooper in Troop D was allowed to work a couple of hours and then go home to sleep the rest of his shift for years before LouisianaVoice revealed the payroll fraud and why three separate supervisors who knew of that activity but did nothing went undisciplined.

Which committee member inquired about the promotion of a Troop D lieutenant to captain and troop commander—after it was learned he was abusing prescription drugs on the job? And which member wanted more information about that same captain being caught lying (a firing offense) but who was never disciplined?

Likewise, voters should know which committee member demanded to know how a lieutenant in Troop F could be caught abetting an underage girl’s entry onto the gaming floor of a Vicksburg, Mississippi, casino, fined more than $600, and then promoted to captain and commander of Troop F.

It would be interesting to know which committee member probed the reason Jill Boudreaux was allowed to take an early retirement incentive buyout, receive 300 hours in accrued leave pay, retire for one day and return to work—with a promotion to a higher position—the very next day, all while pocketing about $59,000 to which she was not entitled.

And which committee member demanded to know why high-ranking state police administrative personnel were allowed to reside in the State Police Academy VIP quarters while going through marital problems? The latest to do so is Interim Undersecretary Custodian of Records of the Office of Management and Finance within the Department of Public Safety Maj. Jason Starnes who is reported to be currently living there, courtesy of Louisiana taxpayers. The VIP quarters are unofficially known as the “Dupuy Suite” in honor of Edmonson’s Chief of Staff Charles Dupuy reportedly stayed there on the state dime following the breakup of his first marriage.

And of course, we’d all love to know who spoke up to ask questions about that furtive amendment tacked onto an innocent bill in the closing minutes of the 2014 legislative session that almost gave Edmonson an illegal $30,000 per year bump in his retirement. Only a tip to LouisianaVoice from an anonymous source thwarted that attempt even though the bill, with the amendment intact, passed and was actually signed by Bobby Jindal.

With no need to keep readers in suspense any longer, here are the identities of the committee members vigilant enough to seek answers to those nagging questions:

No one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, no one, and no one.

Here is the link to the video of the 92-minute committee meeting. Scroll over to the 1:12 (that’s one hour and 12 minutes into the hearing) mark to hear Edmonson inspiration opening remarks and those of the committee members (if you can stomach it).

http://senate.la.gov/video/videoarchive.asp?v=senate/2016/05/051816S~G_0

That’s correct. The people you sent to Baton Rouge to look out for our interests never opened their yaps a single time to ask a single question about the string of improprieties linked to the administration of one Mike Edmonson. Not one, not once.

That’s not to say a few of the members didn’t speak up. Several did and their fawning and slobbering all over Edmonson was nothing short of nauseating.

Take Sen. Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe): the guy was so infatuated with Edmonson that he couldn’t stop talking. Literally. The man didn’t seem to know when to shut up. Even Edmonson appeared embarrassed at Walsworth’s blathering about what a wonderful job he was doing as head of state police, keeping us safe and all.

At least Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia) did ask one question that was relevant. That was about the state troopers detailed to patrol the New Orleans French Quarter. (Surely you didn’t think it was Riser who asked about that amendment that nearly gave Edmonson that raise. It was Riser who authored the amendment in the first place, though he first denied it before finally fessing up.

Sens. Greg Tarver (D-Shreveport), Troy Carter (D-New Orleans), Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville), Jim Fannin (R-Jonesboro), and Committee Chair Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) each took turns trying to out-snorkel each other and folks, it was not a pretty sight. To say they were blowing smoke up his toga simply isn’t descriptive enough.

The nearest anyone came to alluded to any of the myriad of problems that have brought trooper morale down to ground zero was when Peterson made a passing remark about “disgruntled employees.”

Peterson then cautioned Edmonson that there are differences between Bobby Jindal and Gov. John Bel Edwards (no kidding?) and that there are not different philosophies that he should be cognizant of. The jury’s still out as to just what the hell she was talking about.

After the committee had strewn rose petals (and possibly even palm leaves) in Edmonson’s path, he was appropriately humble.

“I’m not perfect, but gosh, I try to be,” he gushed.

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Mike Edmonson’s appointment not official yet; Senate committee set to consider his confirmation on Tuesday

Posted in Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Senate, State Agencies, State Police on May 16, 2016| 8 Comments »

The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee will meet Tuesday at 11 a.m. to consider confirmation of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ reappointment of Mike Edmonson as State Police Superintendent just as a complaint has been filed with the State Police Commission by a retired state trooper.

Even though Edmonson has been superintendent for eight years, going back to the beginning of the Bobby Jindal administration, his reappointment for another term must be meet the approval of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee just as other gubernatorial appointees must pass muster with the committee.

Butch Browning’s reappointment as State Fire Marshal was confirmed by the committee last week.

The Edmonson confirmation hearing on Tuesday stands as the most controversial of all appointments by Edwards despite his having already served eight years as superintendent.

That’s because of reports of inconsistent and uneven discipline meted out for certain offenses to only token punishment for offenses ranging from abetting underage gambling to quotas for DWI arrests to payroll fraud to stalking by a trooper to a state trooper having sex in his patrol car while on duty—all documented by LouisianaVoice.

All those revelations came on the heels of LouisianaVoice’s story in 2014 about an attempt orchestrated by Edmonson to pad his retirement by about $30,000 a year despite his having locked in his pension years earlier.

Generous retirement benefit boost slipped into bill for State Police Col. Mike Edmonson on last day of legislative session

That attempted came when Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia) slipped an amendment onto SB 294 by Sen. Jean-Paul Morrell (D-New Orleans) during the closing minutes of the 2014 legislative session. Morrell’s bill originally was a benign bill dealing with procedures for formal, written complaints made against police officers. Thirty-seven senators and 90 members of the House, including then-Rep. John Bel Edwards, voted in favor of the amendment.

Reps. John Bel Edwards and Kevin Pearson will request investigation of Edmonson retirement amendment source

And now comes retired State Trooper Scott Perry with his official complaint to the State Police Commission over the appointment of Maj. Jason Starnes as Interim Undersecretary of Management and Finance.

The problem with his appointment is that Starnes’s estranged wife, Tammy, is Audit Manager for LSP and Jason Starnes, with his promotion, will supervise her department.

Between them, the two earn more than $225,000 a year. Jason Starnes is paid $129,000 per year and Tammy receives $96,600.

While nepotism laws would seem to prohibit such an arrangement, and while it certainly appears to be unethical, there appears to be a loophole that has been cited in numerous opinions by the Ethics Board. That exception says if the employee, in this case, Tammy Starnes, has been in her position for a year or more, it is permissible for an immediate family member to supervise her.

When Tammy Starnes initially joined LSP after transferring from another state agency, her $92,900 salary at the time was $11,700 more than that of Jason Starnes and was in charge of monitoring LSP’s financial transactions, including those of her husband but now their lines of authority are reversed.

Jason Starnes, in addition to his $129,000 salary, also reportedly is receiving free housing, courtesy of LSP, according to one source.

Since separating from his wife, he is said to be living on the state dime in the LSP Training Academy VIP quarters.

Louisiana Title 42 covers the Code of Governmental Ethics. Part II, Section 1111 A(1) of Title 42 says in part, “…No public servant shall receive anything of economic value, other than compensation and benefits from the governmental entity to which he is duly entitled, for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of his office or position.”

Free living quarters would certainly fall under the description of economic value.

Depending on whether or not the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee has the cojones to give Edmonson’s record something other than a cursory look, the debate over his nomination could spark lively debate.

Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) is the only senator to vote against Riser’s amendment to Morrell’s SB 294 two years ago and she chairs the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Adding to the intrigue, if indeed there is to be any intrigue with Edmonson’s nomination is two other members of the committee are….Morrell and Riser. And Morrell would be justified if he was still smarting from Riser’s hijacking of his bill two years ago.

Given that Edmonson was originally appointed by Republican Bobby Jindal, it’s somewhat interesting that the committee is made up of four Democrats and three Republicans.

On the other hand, his nomination for reappointment now comes from a Democratic governor, which could put the four Democrats in an uncomfortable position of having to oppose a fellow Democrat’s nomination.

The bottom line, however, is that Edmonson is neither the fair-haired boy of the Republicans or the Democrats; he is the creation of the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association, one of the most powerful political influences in the state.

Make no mistake about that. It was the Sheriff’s Association that dictated that Jindal appoint Edmonson, who’s only qualification was his experience as an LSP public information officer. One former law enforcement official said unless an appointee has experience supervising personnel, there is no way he can be qualified to lead an entire department, especially one as large and far-ranging as LSP.

The association’s only criteria was the appointment of someone they could control.

And they got him.

But it would not be unprecedented for the committee to at least ask probing questions. Committee members threatened to withhold confirmation of Bruce Greenstein as Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals in 2011 if he didn’t reveal the name of CNSI, a company he formerly worked for, as winner of a huge DHH contract. And after being grilled over his dealings with with the Regents in a fiber optics projects involving eight Louisiana research universities, Ed Antie of Carencro abruptly withdrew his name for consideration for a seat on the Board of Regents.

Here are the names and email addresses of the members of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee:

After Tuesday, we will know for certain if the committee members have the courage to make difficult but morally correct decisions or if they will collapse in the proverbial puddle at the feet of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association.

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First signing for my Bobby Jindal book is this Saturday in Denham Springs; two others set for Winnfield, Mandeville

Posted in Book Review, Campaign Contributions, Corruption, Economy, Education, Ethics, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, PACs, Politicians on May 10, 2016| 13 Comments »

Three book signings have be set for my latest book, Bobby Jindal: His Destiny and Obsession.

Our first book signing will be this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs’ Antique Village. It’s the same store where I held my first book signing for my first book, Louisiana Rocks: The True Genesis of Rock & Roll.

Also on hand for this Saturday’s signing will be Del Hahn, author of Smuggler’s End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal. Hahn is the retired FBI agent who successfully pursued Seal. I had a small hand in the book as editor.

Before we go any further, it might be worthwhile to point out that my book about Jindal is not a powderpuff book in the mold of the two books by Jindal which probably resulted in his dislocating his shoulder from repeatedly patting himself on the back.

Please know that this book was undertaken and written in its entirety with zero collaboration or cooperation from anyone in the Jindal camp.

It’s the kind of book that result in my being removed from Jindal’s Christmas card list—had we ever been on that list, which we certainly were not.

This 294-page book is an examination that addresses several issues:

  • How did Jindal become a multi-millionaire after only three years in Congress?
  • Jindal’s claims of a new high standard of ethics are debunked by his own actions as governor.
  • Jindal’s claim of transparency is also belied by his penchant for secrecy.
  • His vindictive nature in firing or demoting anyone and everyone who dared disagree with him.
  • His awarding of prestigious board and commission memberships to big contributors.
  • His sorry record in protecting the state’s environment and the state’s coastline.
  • His mysterious deal to sell state hospitals via a contract containing 50 blank pages.
  • His single-handed destruction of higher education and health care.
  • His near-comical, yet pathetic candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

There is much, much more, of course, but you will have to get the book to read it.

Here is the current schedule for upcoming book signings:

  • Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs: Saturday, May 14, at 2 p.m.
  • The Winn Parish Library in Winnfield: Thursday, May 19, at 2 p.m.
  • Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Mandeville, Saturday, June 18, from 2 to 4 p.m.

This schedule will be updated as additional signings are scheduled.

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Dentist prosecuted by State Board of Dentistry questions state’s legal defense of investigator contracted by board

Posted in Attorney General, Boards, Commissions, Contract, Contracts, Corruption, Ethics, Governor's Office, Lawsuits on May 6, 2016| 14 Comments »

A Shreveport dentist found guilty by the same individuals on the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry who investigated and prosecuted him (accuser, prosecutor and judge—all in a neat little package) has written a letter to Attorney General Jeff Landry questioning the propriety of the state’s defending a private investigator formerly under contract to the board but who may not have carried errors and omission insurance normally required of companies and individuals contracted with the state.

Here is the text of the letter to Landry by C. Ryan Haygood, DDS:

             I wanted to bring your attention to the illegal conduct of the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry and its agents that are currently being defended in multiple Louisiana State and federal courts by your office.

            Multiple dentists asked Buddy Caldwell’s office to investigate the egregious conduct of the LSBD and its agents over the years, but were ignored. However, Caldwell did choose to have his office defend their members and agents when they were sued for malicious conduct. Your office is currently representing Camp Morrison, Dana Glorioso, Karen Moorhead, and Barry Ogden. The board of dentistry had the legislature change the law after the suit was filed to cover the defense of Morrison, Glorioso, and Moorhead.

            Morrison was a state contracted investigator for the board of dentistry who was required (but failed) to have his own insurance coverage; and the other two, Moorhead and Glorioso, were his independent contractors. None of them were ever state employees. All are now claiming coverage through the FARA insurance program designated for state employees. All claim attorney-client privilege with your office, which is providing them with a legal defense through Barbara Melton with The Faircloth Group.

            Morrison is currently under investigation by the State Inspector General’s office and is expected to be criminally charged for fraud, perjury, and billing fraud to the state. Many dentists complained for years about his criminal acts, extortion, and harassment techniques. The other two worked for him as undercover investigators without a license, which is a criminal act under Louisiana law. Karen Moorhead also perjured herself under oath.

            It is my understanding that the Attorney General’s office cannot, by statute, defend someone who has broken the law. As you might imagine, Buddy Caldwell’s office did no due diligence into the matter before it was quickly passed off to his friends at The Faircloth Group. According to one former board member, Faircloth has billed more than $500,000 for their defense.

            Additionally, your office recently undertook the defense of Sam Trinca, Dean Manning, and James Moreau who are members of the board of dentistry, as well as the board of dentistry itself which were all recently named as defendants. It is probable that at least two of these defendants have perjured themselves in relation to this matter. Furthermore, the board of dentistry recently bragged in their August 2015 board meeting that because they were officially named as defendants in this case, they would be saving money since the state would be undertaking their costs of defense. Once again, I don’t believe your office was ever charged with defending criminal conduct in such matters. I ask your office to please examine this role as their attorney.

            There was a definite problem with risk management system under Caldwell who worked overtime to keep this case alive. Instead of working to fix the problem so that the state isn’t paying multiple claims for numerous dentists in the future, Caldwell acted as an enabler for improper and unlawful conduct. I ask you to please investigate this matter personally and make a determination to not continue defending this crew. I think if you look at the record, you’ll be as appalled as I am.

Edwards asked to replace LSBD members

At the same time, LouisianaVoice has learned that Gov. John Bel Edwards recently surprised some observers by replacing several longtime members of the Auctioneer Licensing Board after learning of that board’s questionable acts and egregious behavior.

84-year-old Widow Files Pro Se Lawsuit Against Auctioneer Licensing Board over sale of her residence, rental property

Some dentists, our source said, are now calling on Edwards to do the same for the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry (LSBD), which some, especially dentists, consider one of the most corrupt boards in Louisiana.

Multiple state agencies are currently examining the smoke coming from the Canal Street offices of LSBD. The board is currently being investigated by the Office of the Inspector General, the Attorney General, and the Legislative Auditor pursuant to complaints of corrupt acts and behavior.

In case Governor Edwards needs suggestions on whom to replace first, our source had a couple of suggestions:

  • Dean Manning is currently being sued along with other former board members, staff, and agents for his role in a board hearing in which a Louisiana dentist alleges the board participated in criminal conspiracy and unfair trade practices against him by revoking his license to practice in Louisiana. The Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the board’s decision on grounds that the board general counsel Brian Begue, serving as the “independent counsel,” violated the dentist’s right to due process. The court notes among other things that Begue acted over-zealously to deny the right to a fair hearing by harassing the dentist, openly questioning his integrity on the stand, acting as a de facto prosecutor, as well as judge and jury. Manning did nothing to stop Begue from doing this. In fact, the dentist alleges that Manning actually encouraged the process. In reference to the hearing, a Louisiana 2nd Circuit decision suggests the potential of a corrupted investigation and a strong inference that other members of the board engaged in conduct attributed to the dentist’s local competitor to remove the dentist from the local marketplace. The court goes on to say that if these allegations regarding Dies’ behavior are ultimately proved, “they would strongly suggest that Dr. Dies’ conduct was motivated less by altruistic concern for the public than animus to suppress a competitor. They would also prove that other board members agreed with Dr. Dies to engage in conduct to accomplish these objectives.”
  • Ike House was placed on the board of dentistry after he testified as a witness in the same hearing listed above. House testified that one of his long-time patients did not have periodontal disease. The dentist charged by the board for “fraudulent diagnosis of periodontal disease” claims the patient did indeed have a severe level of periodontal disease that was causing loss of bone and periodontal attachment around her teeth. The patient saw the dentist after leaving House’s office for care with the new doctor. She was surprised to hear that she had a severe level of disease and that Dr. House had let her mouth deteriorate under his care. Dr. House was faced with the precarious position of admitting that he was guilty of negligence or testifying against the dentist.

LSBD members need to be well-informed, fair, and just. Most of all, they need to put the law and protecting the public over their own self-interests or that of their friends. It’s time to make some changes at the LSBD.

You have our suggestions on where to start.

Louisiana must do better.

Oh…and let’s replace the director and staff while we’re at it. There should be many great candidates in Baton Rouge from which to choose when the board moves its headquarters to the Capital City.

 

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LouisianaVoice unearths 5-year-old Foster Campbell letter blasting Nungesser for his lack of action on coastal erosion

Posted in Coastal Erosion, Corruption, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Politicians, Public Records, Senate, State Agencies, TV News on April 28, 2016| 10 Comments »

I have been accused of “intellectual laziness” by one of our readers.

That comment came after I posted my last story about Billy Nungesser’s negating 18 writs of mandamus filed over his failure to take certain actions and to produce public documents requested by the Plaquemines Parish Council in 2010 during the time he served as Parish President. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/04/26/insight-into-nungesser-disregard-for-laws-revealed-in-his-blatant-disregard-for-public-records-demands-other-actions/

“Must be a slow news week,” said the writer, who identified himself only as “Who Cares.” He went on to say, “Reporting on topics six years old is intellectual laziness.”

Well, Who Cares, or whatever your real name is (probably a political ally or even Nungesser himself), it really wasn’t intellectual laziness, but an effort to let readers know the type individual who now holds the second-highest elective office in state government.

The point of that story was to illustrate the past may well be prologue (to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare’s The Tempest…or was it that 1967 episode of Ironside?), i.e. if he was capable of such abuse of office then, who’s to say he won’t attempt the same type shenanigans as lieutenant governor?

Oops, sorry. We almost forgot: he already has. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/04/12/louisiana-has-a-new-clown-prince-but-its-egg-not-a-pie-all-over-lt-gov-nungessers-face-after-succession-of-blunders/

So, Who Cares, there was a relevance to the post and if you thought that was old news, read on.

Precisely five years ago today (April 28, 2011) Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell sent quite a testy letter to Nungesser who at the time was ramping up his first run for lieutenant governor barely six months after his October 2010 re-election as Parish President.

And lest anyone think our rehashing of Campbell’s five-year-old letter is an endorsement for his election to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by David Vitter, it’s not. We have not and do not intend to make an endorsement in that race.

But Campbell took Nungesser to task for his political exploitation of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and for his failure to take the lead in coastal restoration prior to that disaster.

Here is Campbell’s letter in its entirety:

            I received your letter on your thoughts of running for Lieutenant Governor. You wrote that you have been busy helping Plaquemines Parish and our state to recover from Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. You described “struggles with federal bureaucrats” and your amazement that a foreign company (British Petroleum) would be put in charge of cleaning up the spill.

            You’ve concluded that you can do the most good for Louisiana by leading the effort to rebuild our image as Lieutenant Governor. You asked for my opinion, so here it is:

            I wrote to you and all Louisiana elected officials after watching you and Gov. Jindal on national television following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well. You and the governor were taking every media opportunity to express your anger at BP and the federal government.

            My question then, and now as well, was: Where have you been?

            You have been leader since 2007 of the parish that is Ground Zero for coastal erosion, and yet, I have heard not a word from you about the part played by other “foreign” and multinational oil companies in damaging Louisiana’s coast.

            Louisiana political leaders have known for years that oil and gas production has contributed heavily to the destruction of our marshes. It is also well-established that the force of Katrina which ravaged Plaquemines Parish and southeast Louisiana, was heightened by the loss of our barrier islands to erosion.

            The silence of you, Gov. Jindal and other elected officials from coastal Louisiana is deafening when it comes to asking major oil companies to pay for the damage they’ve caused. Your later father (William Nungesser), who (sic) I knew well, worked for the only statewide politician to make such a demand, Gov. Dave Treen. He was absolutely right.

            As destructive as it has been, the BP oil spill is minor compared to the devastation of coastal erosion which costs Louisiana a football field of land every hour. Maybe it is easier to go on CNN and rant about BP and a federal government perceived as unpopular in Louisiana than to stand up to powerful corporations doing harm to our coastline.

            I have written to you, Mr. Jindal, Mr. Vitter, Ms. (U.S. Sen. Mary) Landrieu, Mr. (U.S. Rep. Steve) Scalise, and others on this issue and I never get a reply. Maybe when you run for Lieutenant Governor, you can tell the rest of the story. I would welcome a frank discussion with you on Katrina, BP, coastal erosion and the oil industry. Let’s ask Tulane to host an event in New Orleans. Let’s determine who owes who (sic) for what. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Foster Campbell

Public Service Commissioner

 C: Louisiana Elected Officials

     Prof. Oliver Houck (Tulane University Law School)

No further comment seems necessary.

 

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