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Archive for the ‘Governor’s Office’ Category

Don’t tell Bobby but we’re in his email address book and we get daily updates on how he ‘neutered’ GOP establishment

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Elections, Governor's Office on September 17, 2015| 8 Comments »

Many of our stories come to us by way of tips from readers. Sometimes they identify themselves but most of the time they’re anonymous because our sources often are state employees and they don’t want to be teagued.

Occasionally, the readers even provide us with copies of public records. If not, we make requests of the appropriate agencies for documents that will verify the story. The Division of Administration more often than not either ignores our requests or drags out compliance with the public records laws for weeks or even months.

Lately, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety has found a way to deny us access to records by claiming ongoing investigations and thus, justifying not releasing documents. But in most of those cases, we already have the records from our anonymous sources who pulled the records prior to their becoming part of an “ongoing investigation.” One vocal critic, writing under a fake name (we know who he is) even claimed we were breaking the law by having those records in our possession. Not so.

More recently, we have been the beneficiary of another source for a rather pathetic, but nevertheless amusing running story—Bobby Jindal’s desperate quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

The source is none other than Jindal himself.

Sometimes it’s by sheer luck that we stumble into some of our stories. We’re certain that Jindal and/or his people never intended that we be included in his email updates but somehow we got on his mail list and we get updates on his campaign every day. Sometimes we get two or three such updates in a single day.

Last night, following the debates (the kiddie table and the grown-up debates, though at times it was difficult to tell which was which), we received not one, not two, but three updates, each one proclaiming Jindal (kiddie table) all but nominated, elected and inaugurated.

In two of those, the first from Jindal and the second from wife Supriya, the message was the same: “The deck has been reshuffled.”

That prompted an observation from a friend who said, “Yes, this debate did reshuffle the deck. Unfortunately for Jindal, a joker is a joker no matter how many times the deck is reshuffled.”

Having said that, we now would like to show you some of the recent emails from Jindal camp members, including campaign manager Timmy Teepell, communications director Kyle Plotkin (You have to love his references to Jindal as “the Gov”), deputy campaign manager Tim Saler, Bobby and Supriya Jindal. This list is not all-inclusive because it would be too long but it is indicative of the delusions of mediocracy that seem to permeate Team Jindal. We pick up the dialogue on Aug. 21 and carry it through Thursday morning(Sept. 17). Of course, like any good televangelist, there is the perpetual request for money at the end. Here we go:
From: Kyle, BobbyJindal.com [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 5:26 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Fired Up

Governor Jindal just got off the stage at AFP’s Defending the American Dream Summit, and wow, the Gov (sic) crushed it. Check out this video I filmed a couple minutes after he finished speaking: People were so inspired by his message, they kept running up to the stage to try to shake the Gov’s hand. We are in the car headed to catch a flight to Iowa. Can you chip in $50 right now so we can capitalize on this momentum? It would be awesome to turn my phone on when we land in Iowa and be able to tell the Gov we just raised a lot of money. Thanks, Kyle Plotkin Communications Director, Jindal for President
(VIDEO WOULD NOT LOAD) 

 

From: Bobby Jindal – iPad [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2015 3:38 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Our first ad

We just released a new ad in Iowa that shows footage of my exchange with pro-amnesty protesters who tried to silence my speech at the Iowa State Fair with shouts of “citizenship now.” I confronted the protesters with hard truths: “If you want freedom, if you love America — follow the law, learn English, adopt our values and get to work!” You can watch the new ad here: https://www.bobbyjindal.com/new-jindal-ad-follow-the-law/ The ad will be targeted online to voters across Iowa for the next week. Can you chip in $25 right now so we can keep it running and make sure more people see it? Thanks, Bobby
  

From: Bobby Jindal – iPad [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2015 4:40 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Thank you

I am in the car headed to the airport to fly back to Iowa. I wanted to say thank you. The last few months campaigning have been inspiring. I wish we could bottle up the energy and passion we see everyday at events so you could experience it for yourself. I’m very grateful for the support you have given me so far. But campaigning for President is expensive, so I’m asking you to double down and make a donation as we approach our end of month fundraising deadline. Thank you, Bobby

 

From: Tim Saler – BobbyJindal.com [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 1:02 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: We all knew

Winning the Iowa Caucus has never been about money, looks, or media attention. The Iowa Caucus is all about grassroots campaigning. That is why we always knew that Gov. Jindal would do well there. He loves talking with voters one on one. Thanks to the support of people like you, we are seeing this come to fruition in the polls. The latest NBC Marist Poll has Gov. Jindal rising in the polls in Iowa again – currently tied with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. This is great news for the campaign, but we still have a long way to go. Will you help us continue this momentum with a donation? Gov. Jindal has been adamant about using your donations for actual campaign activities – no meals out with campaign staff. Your donation will go directly into the field, and directly towards winning Iowa. Please make your contribution today. Thank you. Tim Saler Deputy Campaign Manager, Jindal for President
From: Bobby Jindal [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2015 10:01 AM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Weekend reading

Everyday (sic) on the campaign trail, I get great questions from voters — one I get a lot is what I’d do if I were elected President. That’s an easy question because while other candidates spent the last few years looking at polling and hiring consultants, I spent my time thinking about what the next President needs to do to get our country back on track and developed detailed policy plans built on conservative principles. So far, I released my plans on repealing Obamacare, fixing our broken education system, harnessing American energy, and rebuilding our national defense. All the plans are available on my website for you to read. When you are running for elected office, it’s easy to say you are for something. Every Republican running says they are for smaller government. But of all the candidates running, I am the only one that has actually cut government spending. It drives the big-government crowd in Louisiana crazy, but I have governed and kept my conservative principles intact. I’m proud of that. I hope you have a great weekend. Bobby
  

From: Bobby Jindal [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 6:30 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Tomorrow night

I just landed in California for tomorrow night’s Republican Presidential debate. I’m fired up. I hope you will tune in to CNN at 6 p.m. eastern to watch. If you are excited for tomorrow night too, chip in $20.16 right now to let me know. Bobby
  

From: Bobby Jindal – iPad [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 7:03 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Just got off stage at debate

I just left the stage at the Reagan Foundation for today’s debate. If we learned anything from the previous debate, it’s that these events reshuffle the deck. Tonight’s debate was no exception. Sure, I talked about policy and substance. I talked about my record as the only Governor running for President who has actually cut spending. If you think that’s the kind of leadership we need from our next President, then make a special contribution of $20.16 now. But I also talked about how important this election is for our future. This may be our last chance to save the American Dream, and we can’t afford to turn our hopes over to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. That’s why I need your help to make sure I am on the main debate stage at next month’s debate. The pundits and analysts have declared I won tonight, and it is critical we keep the momentum going. Stand with me and make a contribution of $15, $10, or even $5 right now so our campaign has the resources we need to make sure I am in the next primetime debate. The campaign continues. The deck has been reshuffled. And we’re fighting our way up. Join us today. Bobby

 

 

From: Timmy, BobbyJindal.com [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Wednesday, September 16, 2015 8:23 PM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Jindal wins debate, neutered Republican establishment

In tonight’s debate, Governor Jindal neutered the Republican establishment in D.C. The Republican establishment in D.C. is the surrender caucus. They backed down on repealing Obamacare, stopping a dangerous Iran deal, and defunding Planned Parenthood. Republican voters are angry at Republicans in D.C. and they should be. It’s time for us to fight for what we believe in. Donate $20.16 right now to stand with Governor Jindal. Thank you, Timmy Teepell Campaign Manager, Jindal for President

 

 

From: Supriya Jindal [mailto:info@bobbyjindalhq.com]

Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2015 7:24 AM

To: Tom Aswell

Subject: Bobby did great!! FW: Just got off stage at debate

 

This is Supriya. Did you watch last night’s debate? Bobby did great! He’s right – the deck has been reshuffled again. We’re on our way up. Don’t you want to be a part of it? Make an instant donation right now to join our cause >>> $20.16 This is such an exciting time in the campaign. Bobby is off to Iowa later this week, and I’m looking forward to joining him again on the trail soon. I know we can count on you! -Supriya

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Kristy Nichols won’t be joining Jindal in White House; she bails for Ochsner lobbying job in wake of latest fiscal crisis

Posted in Budget, Contract, Contracts, DHH, DOA, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Lobbyist, OGB, Office of Group Benefits on September 16, 2015| 29 Comments »

“Danger, Will Robinson!”

Okay, for those of you not old enough to remember the ‘60s, that’s the catchphrase from the old CBS series Lost in Space.

But the warning might just as well be applicable for patients of Ochsner Health System come Oct. 15.

That’s the date Kristy Nichols will be leaving as Bobby Jindal’s Commissioner of Administration to become Ochsner’s Vice President of Government and Corporate Affairs (read lobbyist). That was something of a surprise in that the smart money had her going to Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana.

Even as Jindal was sending out an email blast informing all three of his Louisiana supporters that he had just landed in California for the Republican debate and that he was “fired up” (yes, he actually said that; we’re so lucky to be on his email list), Nichols was announcing her resignation.

In her own email sent to all Division of Administration (DOA) employees on Tuesday, Nichols said she will be helping Ochsner “to strategically manage their growth as a healthcare provider.”

In other words (well, not in other words; as Oscar Madison said to Felix Unger in The Odd Couple: “Those are the words”), she will be doing for Ochsner what she and her boss did for the state during her three-year reign.

There were some other classic quotes contained in Kristy’s email as well as the official announcement from Jindal’s office. “I believe that our accomplishments will provide lasting benefits for generations to come,” she said.

Well, the effects of her tenure will be felt for generations to come but to shoehorn the word “benefits” into that statement must’ve taken a bit of imagination on someone’s part.

“I am proud of the work that we have accomplished in making Louisiana a better place to live and raise a family, and I am confident that we will continue down this path going forward,” she added.

The amazing thing is she apparently said that with a straight face. In our upcoming book about Jindal, an entire chapter is devoted to why Louisiana is not a better place to live and raise a family. (A hint: there are nearly three dozen categories in which Louisiana ranks as the worst or near the worst in the nation—hardly a ringing endorsement of the claim of “a better place to live.”)

But for sheer brass cajones, the trophy has to go to Jindal who, in heaping praise on Nichols, said she has “fully dedicated herself to bettering the state of Louisiana,” and “Together, we’ve been able to reduce the size of government, improve health care across the state, and create a better, stronger Louisiana.”

No wonder the boy continues to languish at less than 1 percent in the Republican sweepstakes. Bobby, you may want to check out the 9th Commandment. That improved health care claim is a damned lie. There’s no other way to say it than to say our “Christian” governor is a damned liar. He knows it and we know it.

And as the state, barely two months into the current fiscal year, is already cutting $4.6 million in spending ($3.8 million of which fell on higher education), instead of sticking around to try to solve the mess, she bails. (But then again, we’ve had three years of her problem-solving and we know what that accomplished.)

Just as we learn that the TOPS free college tuition program will fall $19 million short, she lights a shuck.

Even as the projected budgetary shortfall for next year is already more than $700 million, she cuts and runs.

Most important, considering where she’s headed, the Legislative Fiscal Office informs us that Kristy’s office failed to account for $335 million in increased spending anticipated by the Department of Health and Hospitals. So, naturally, she’s going to work for Ochsner to (and we can’t repeat this often enough) do for them what she’s done for the state.

God help us but most of all, God help Ochsner, heretofore a premier provider of health care for residents of South Louisiana.

This is the individual who once said her job was to make Bobby Jindal look good. Well, we all know how that turned out.

She is the same one who commissioned an employee satisfaction/efficiency study only to find the results so devastating that she tried to keep them from becoming public. (Sorry to rain on your parade, Kristy, but it was leaked to LouisianaVoice which posted the results last October and which showed severe morale problems within DOA) https://louisianavoice.com/2014/10/02/employee-survey-of-doa-employees-reveals-simmering-morale-problem-no-one-more-popular-than-jindal-in-poll/

Then, after we ran the story, she set out on a crusade to find the leak and ended up punishing the wrong employees in the wrong agency. (How’s that for being proactive in addressing the problem of poor morale?)

She’s the same person who hired Alvarez & Marsal at $5 million and then promptly amended the contract (illegally) to $7.5 million for the company to find ways for the state to save $500 million. The 50 percent amendment was in violation of provisions that allow only a 10 percent maximum increase in contract amounts without legislative concurrence.

She’s the same one who orchestrated the Office of Group benefits debacle which raised premiums and lowered benefits for state employees, retirees, and dependents last year. That was after the state lowered premiums as a furtive means of lessening the state’s contribution obligations so that she and Jindal could use the extra money to patch over gaping budget holes—a tactic that depleted OGB’s reserve fund from $500 million to virtually nothing.

Kristy is the same one who has presided over budget disaster after budget disaster her entire tenure with this year’s patchwork effort barely lasting until legislators hit the door of the State Capitol to head back to their districts. Now, as higher education is facing even more budget cuts after the problem was supposed fixed, she smugly expressed confidence that the funds would be restored “if income forecasts improve.” She said she was “hopeful” about that possibility. http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2015/08/28/analysis-holes-and-worries-emerge-in-louisianas-budget/

And of course, we are all hopeful that we have the winning Power Ball ticket which would improve our own income forecasts.

And just last Friday (Sept. 11) a glowing press release was issued by DOA lauding the $75 million savings in the first year of the Office of Technology Services consolidation. http://www.doa.la.gov/comm/PressReleases/Consolidated%20Office%20of%20Technology%20Services%20Saves%20$75%20Million%20in%20First%20Year,%2009-10-15.pdf.

The only problem: the release was just one more in a long line of blatant lies designed to make the administration look good. And to be completely candid, it takes some real whoppers to do that.

Senate Bill 481 by State Sen. Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville) created the Office of Technology Services (OTS) and was signed into law by Jindal as Act 712 of the 2014 Regular Legislative Session as part of an effort to consolidate information technology (IT) services across state agencies.

At the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), for example, the IT budget has not been reduced and in fact, may have been increased, according to sources within DOTD.

DOTD is paying for things under the consolidation that it has never had to pay for before, such as paying DOA to house the servers and mainframe (previously housed in-house at DOTD facility). DOTD is also paying more to DOA for services such as the LaGOV Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP),    the state’s data warehouse which provides “end-to-end” support for statewide and agency-specific administrative business processes.

Moreover, DOA has not allowed DOTD to purchase new equipment (which was budgeted) for the last three years. As much as 40 percent of DOTD computer equipment is six years or older, making it difficult to design roads and bridges with modern software.

So, while some savings may have been achieved by other departments and some general fund money saved (of which DOTD uses none), DODT Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) money is not being saved.

And while some savings might be realized in the future, in the short term it is most likely paper savings.

All these attributes are what Kristy Nichols will take with her to Ochsner.

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Freagle, a groundbreaking political social network to connect voters and candidates, is set for Tuesday debut in Louisiana

Posted in Courts, Elections, Finances, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Judges, Legislature, Legislators, Media, Politicians, Public Records, Transparency on September 7, 2015| 6 Comments »

For political junkies and political reporters out there, this is just the ticket and it’s coming out party is tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 8, just in time for Louisiana’s fall elections.

Freagle, a free political social network designed to connect voters and candidates to engage the way our founders intended, will debut in Louisiana on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

LouisianaVoice anticipates it will make regular use of the site in order to keep its readers updated on political candidates.

Freagle.com will provide a personalized political platform on which voters can customize their issue and election preferences in order to cut through the noise and spin of our current political dialogue to learn who is on their ballot and where those candidates stand on the particular issues they care about.

“Freagle is designed to connect voters to the candidates on their ballot and provide a simple mechanism for learning about where they stand and what they will do if elected,” Freagle founder and CEO Niki Papazoglakis said. “It also allows candidates to easily engage with voters on the topics they care about individually without expensive micro-targeting and polling.”

Freagle is currently operating at: http://www.freagle.com/ . The full site will be live on Tuesday.

Citizens who use Freagle can easily determine who is on their ballot, in their specific precincts. The site will use the voter’s address to automatically connect them to the races on their ballots, but voters also have the ability to manually follow races in other districts. Voters are verified so there are no trolls or political operatives.

“I hope that by making it easy and convenient for voters to be informed and engaged on elections and amendments, more people will turn out to the polls this fall and feel confident that the votes they cast are for the people and topics that best reflect their personal views,” Papazoglakis said. “Ultimately, I hope that Freagle is a catalyst to re-engage voters in this representative democracy and get us back to a citizen-led government.”

Freagle’s other features will include:

  • Simple means of comparing candidates. Election forums will allow voters to conduct side-by-side comparisons of the candidates in each race on their ballot and on individual issues.
  • On-Demand candidates’ debates. Voters can pose questions to all candidates in a race who subscribe to Freagle from the Election Forum wall rather than individually through other venues like websites, Facebook or Twitter and without having to be selected or have timed responses in live forums.
  • My Ballot tool. Voters can research and make voting decisions throughout the election cycle and print their choices before going to the polls.
  • Verification. Voters are verified so there are no trolls or political operatives.

Papazoglakis said Freagle would also be a valuable tool for the news media. “The media will have a simple place to track all of the elections from a single location including who has qualified in each race, where the candidates stand on the issues, and how they are engaging with voters, “ she said. “In addition, comprehensive campaign finance reports are easily accessed from each candidate’s profile.”

Freagle will feature a custom report from the state Ethics Commission that will have significantly more information than the standard download from the Ethics website, Papazoglakis said, adding that the site will also include all campaign contributions for each candidate.

News media outlets wanting more information about Freagle should contact Papazoglakis at (225) 615-4570 or niki@freagle.com.

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Bobby Jindal on the campaign trail in Iowa: Comedy Central, a touch of Mel Brooks (but absurdity has a saturation point)

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Media, Politicians, Transparency on September 7, 2015| 15 Comments »

For a time, when Bobby Jindal or some other nut case Republican like Todd Akin opened their mouths, each utterance was more outlandish, more implausible than the last.

No more.

Even with Donald Trump, it appears we have reached a saturation point in absurdity with their inane rhetoric that plays to their constituency but does nothing to solve real problems. I mean, a wall constructed along our southern border? Seriously, Donald? When we have crumbling infrastructure (as already pointed out by Goldie Taylor, writing for http://bluenationreview.com/u-s-bridges-and-roads-are-failing-but-trump-wants-to-build-you-a-great-wall/), you want to build a wall?

It was kind of funny when Dan Quayle had a student add an “e” onto potato back in 1992. Reporters had a field day with that. Even though he was the incumbent vice-president under Bush, they lost that election to Clinton-Gore. The student, William Figueroa, then 12, spoke with wisdom beyond his years when he later commented that rumors that Quayle was an idiot were true.

Then there was that inconceivable claim by Todd Akin, the Republican running unsuccessfully for the Senate in Missouri back in 2012. Akin actually went on record as saying women who are raped cannot become pregnant. The full quote: “From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

He was defending his anti-abortion position and while there are those who hold to the belief that life is sacred, that has to be one of the strangest defenses of a religious tenet on record. (There are some who, weighing the GOP’s general antipathy toward helping those less fortunate, say that Republicans believe life begins at conception and ends at birth.) Akin was ahead in the polls at the time he made his ill-fated observation but that gaffe cost him the election.

But for the most consistent blathering of pure banal nonsense while on the campaign trail to oblivion, you have to hand the trophy to Bobby Jindal. No one does it better. The man obviously has never learned to heed the sage advice that when you find yourself in a hole, quit digging.

From his European “no-go” zones to his letter to President Obama in which he attempted to press Obama to delete any mention of global warming in his upcoming New Orleans speech to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Jindal has been a most unfunny joke.

He has even gone so far as to criticize the use of private emails by Hillary Clinton while requiring his staff to use private email accounts and even passing a law that closed off any semblance of transparency for his office. Granted, U.S. State Department classified emails are a tad more serious than those of a governor but perhaps Jindal would’ve been wise to let that one slide.

Let’s face it, folks, he makes Quayle look like a towering intellect, Trump like the epitome of reason, Hillary like a paragon of honesty, and Akin like….well, never mind. We really don’t have a comparison for that one other than to observe that Jindal pleads ignorance on the subject of evolution because he is “not a scientist,” despite holding a biology degree from Ivy League Brown University that says he is.

On the one hand, Jindal tells us he hid in a closet with a flashlight to read his Bible while in high school so his parents would not know of his conversion from Hindu to Christianity. On the other, he tells his adoring audiences in Iowa, “One of the things my dad told me every day was, ‘You should thank God every day you were born in America.’”

So, Bobby, if that’s the case, why didn’t you just come out of the closet?

If we didn’t know better, we might well believe the entire presidential campaign for both parties is being scripted by Mel Brooks. And who knows? Maybe all we need to round out the race is Gov. William J. Le Petomane.

One thing about Bobby Jindal, though. When he gets on one of his asinine rhetorical crusades, you couldn’t drag him off with a team of Budweiser Clydesdales. Our hyphenated-governor (as in part-time hyphenated) wants to eliminate hyphenated-Americans. “We’re not Indian-Americans or African-Americans or Asian-Americans,” he insists. “We’re all Americans.”

Well, Bobby, all those Indian-Americans who poured cash into your gubernatorial campaigns in the fervent hope that you would be their voice have turned their backs on you because you walked away from them first. You have alienated an entire bloc of voters and they’re not without influence—or money. But their campaign money has dried up for you. Like it or not, they are were your identity. But you lost your 2003 race for governor because the good Protestants of north Louisiana wouldn’t vote for you because of your dark skin and that, admittedly, was a poor reason. So your solution was to whiten your image right down to your official portrait hanging in your office and in the Old State Capitol and preaching the white gospel of smug superiority.

Now you’re running around hitting all 99 Iowa counties saying things like, “Immigration without assimilation is invasion” and “We’re not a melting pot anymore.” You say immigrants should “learn English, adopt our values, roll up your sleeves and get to work.”

That last part would fall under your definition of “American Exceptionalism,” I suppose. That would be where we embrace such idealistic values as instigating the war with Mexico so we could grab South Texas and herd Native Americans onto barren reservations in the name of Manifest Destiny. Or maybe it was the provoking of the Spanish-American War or the manufacturing of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident so as to give us a reason to plunge full-bore into a civil war in Vietnam where we had no business being and where we sacrificed 58,000 American lives and millions of Vietnamese lives.

And speaking of Vietnam, our friend and fellow Ruston native, retired newspaper editor Bill Brown posed an interesting question on Facebook today: Why is it, he asks, that the same people who wanted so badly to send draft resisters to prison for breaking the law during the Vietnam war now want to defend a Kentucky clerk of court for defying the law?

Perhaps Jindal’s idea of “American Exceptionalism” extends to the quagmire we’ve gotten ourselves into in the Middle East. Refresh me: whose side are we on this week? I support our military but I can’t support the politicians who send young men and women into conflict to die for oil and Haliburton. That’s not my definition of patriotism. And when the wounded return, they’re discarded like last week’s newspapers. Don’t believe that? Google the problems and delays in obtaining care for wounded veterans at VA hospitals.

American Exceptionalism is just another term for tunnel vision or blind, unquestioning faith in the motives and morals of our elected officials who buy their way into office on the bankrolls of corporate interests, defense contractors, Wall Street and lobbyists while doing everything possible to destroy labor unions and social services. American Exceptionalism is spending enough on the trouble-plagued F-35 fighter jet to have purchased a $600,000 house for every homeless American or to send thousands of low-income kids to Harvard. American Exceptionalism is screaming to the mountain tops about socialized health care when the real problem is socialized wealth care.

As for Jindal’s admonition to immigrants to adhere to the other two conditions—“learn English” and “roll up your sleeves and get to work,” consider this:

Perhaps, in applying those principles across the board, we should all be speaking Iroquois, Apache, Comanche, Cree, Sioux and other native tongues while hunting bison and making birch bark canoes and respecting the land and our natural resources.

 

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Obscure Auctioneer Licensing Board considering illegal rule to turn off any ‘unmanned’ video recorders during meetings

Posted in Boards, Fraud, Governor's Office, Public Records on August 31, 2015| 12 Comments »

The Louisiana Auctioneers Licensing Board doesn’t like former board member Robert Burns. Neither does the board’s attorney, convicted felon Larry Bankston.

That’s understandable. They haven’t like him since he uncovered payroll fraud and other irregularities and was bounced off the board by Bobby Jindal, whose idea of accountability is to hold whistleblowers fully accountable. When he was shown the door, Burns began video recording board meetings. During one meeting he even captured the board’s attorney saying Jindal’s office had advised the board not to worry about a legislative auditor’s report critical of illegal payments and illegal pay raises to part time executive assistant Sandy Edmonds.

Burns can be much like a canker sore when he puts his mind to it—irritating, always there, and impossible to ignore. But there’s nothing in the state public meeting statutes that says spectators—or media—must be liked. In fact, when the media (and Burns, through his newly-launched Web blog, is a member of the media whether that fits the board’s definition or not) become too cozy with public officials, then they no longer serve their purpose as the public watchdog.

Today (Aug. 31), we received a disturbing email from Burns. The Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board is considering turning off and removing his video recorder if he leaves it unmanned to go to the restroom or leaves the room for any other reason. “Frequently I am the only one in attendance” at board meetings, Burns wrote. True, the Auctioneer Licensing Board flies pretty much under the radar and attracts little to no media attention other than from Burns.

“If I need to go to the restroom or something,” he continued, “I leave the video camera running while on its unipod.” (I still don’t know why he doesn’t invest in a tripod which, unlike a unipod, is free-standing, but that’s another story.)

The AGENDA released for Tuesday’s (Sept. 1) meeting contains item number 8, which says:

  • Revision of Board Meeting Rules- In the event that the public videos or records the proceedings, such equipment must be manned at all times. Any equipment left unattended will be removed and turned off.

Now I am no attorney, though Mr. Bankston is, or at least he has been since he got the Louisiana Supreme Court to reinstate his licenses after his release from prison.

In 1994, then-State Sen. Bankston (D-Baton Rouge), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (appropriately enough), met in his law office with one Fred Goodson, owner of a video poker truck stop in Slidell. There followed a discussion of a plan to manipulate the legislative process so as to protect the interest of video poker companies.

And what did Bankston get as quid pro quo? Well, it seems he owned a beachfront condominium in Gulf Shores, Alabama, so Goodson agreed to pay Bankston $1,555 per month for the “non-use” lease of the condo—a bribe, as it were.

Indicted on October of 1996, he was convicted on two counts of racketeering the following year and sentenced to a 41-month sentence in federal prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

He was released on Nov. 6, 2000, and served the remainder of his term in a half-way house in Baton Rouge. He was disbarred on March 9, 2002, retroactive to Nov. 19, 1997, but on Feb. 5, 2004, with only one dissenting vote, the Supreme Court’s disciplinary committee recommended that he be re-admitted to the bar.

So today, he provides legal advice to the Auctioneer Licensing Board—a board that winks and looks the other way at payroll fraud on behalf of one of its part time employees.

“If the proposed rule passes,” Burns wrote, “the board apparently believes it has the right to ‘remove and turn off’ any video recording equipment left running. I see nothing in the statute that requires any equipment to be manned, nor do I see where they have any authority to tamper with my video equipment, much less ‘remove it.’

“This is just another effort by a public body hell-bent on deterring public transparency,” he said, adding that he was going to go on the assumption that Attorney General Buddy Caldwell “has been perfectly willing to aid and abet” in the proposed action.

Duly indignant over this flagrant violation of state law, I fired off my own email to the board which first cited the applicable state law on public meetings:

  • The law grants the public the right to attend and record the deliberations of public bodies including city and parish governing bodies; school boards; levee boards; port commissions; boards of public utilities; planning, zoning and airport commissions; other state, local or special district boards, commissions or authorities with policy making, advisory or administrative functions; and committees or subcommittees of those bodies. Judicial proceedings are exempted.

After providing that remedial lesson on the law, I wrote:

I am given to understand this item is to discuss a new rule which would allow the board to turn off Mr. Burns’ video recorder should he have to leave the meeting for a few minutes for any reason. I have a problem with this and I am personally prepared to take you to court over both.

First of all, you have no right to tamper with his video equipment. It is perfectly within the law for him to record the meetings as per the section on public meetings laws highlighted above. Whether he happens to be in the room at the time or not is irrelevant. It is his equipment, not yours, and he has every right under law to record any open meeting.

Moreover, if you follow through on this action, I will pay the costs of Mr. Burns’ filing a lawsuit holding the board chairperson and its legal counsel personally liable for all applicable fines and legal costs. Mr. Burns will not only file suit for damages under the open meetings laws but for harassment and intimidation, as well.

There’s another twist in this sordid soap opera. Item 2 on the agenda calls for a discussion of Burns. He recently lost a public records lawsuit against the board, not because he was wrong in his contention, but because, in the presiding judge’s words, the office of Attorney General Buddy Caldwell gave the board bad advice.

Be that as it may, the agenda said that the discussion of Burns may require an executive session.

Not so!

The only reason for an executive, or closed session is to discuss ongoing negotiations, pending litigation or personnel matters. In the case of Burns, he is not an employee of the board, so any claim of discussing personnel would be invalid as would any claim of ongoing negotiations. As for pending litigation, it is no longer pending. The ruling has been made and the case is over, so all excuses for executive session are out the window. So, if there is to be a discussion of Burns, he has every right under law to insist that all such discussion be done in open session for all (including video cameras) to see and hear. If the board does otherwise, it will be yet another claim in future litigation.

In fact, the board is now skating dangerously close to civil rights violations, which would throw any lawsuit into federal court.

 

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