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Archive for the ‘Politicians’ Category

π-yush completes packing of LSU Board of Supervisors with long-time Republican Party loyalist Chester Lee Mallett

Posted in Boards, Campaign Contributions, Commissions, Contract, Contracts, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Politicians, Privatization, Public Records, State Agencies, Transparency on September 6, 2012| 3 Comments »

Chester Lee Mallett of Iowa likes to spread his money around but his political involvement is mostly restricted to conservative Republican candidates at both the state and federal levels.

Described as a “well-established businessman” and “a true conservative,” Mallett has served on the board of Louisiana’s Citizen Insurance Company and the State Licensing Board for Contractors—appointed to both boards by Gov. Bobby Jindal. More recently, Jindal appointed him to serve on the LSU Board of Supervisors.

The reasons for Jindal’s continuing to call on Mallett to serve in various capacities are not difficult to understand. Like many of the governor’s appointees, he has proven himself to be a generous donor to Jindal’s campaigns through personal contributions ($10,000) and seven of his companies ($148,500) since Jindal’s first gubernatorial campaign of 2003.

Mallett does not limit his largesse to state political candidates (although he has chipped in another $61,000 to other Louisiana candidates). Since 2004 alone, he contributed an additional $166,400 to national Republican candidates, all but one of whom are from Louisiana, and three separate contributions of $30,800 each to the Republican National Committee and another for $5,000. Additionally, Brad Mallett of one of Lee Mallett’s companies contributed another $30,800 to the RNC.

Republican congressional beneficiaries include U.S. Sen. David Vitter ($6.400), congressmen Jeff Landry ($5,000), Charles Boustany Jr. ($5,000) and Bill Cassidy ($5,000). Other prominent Republicans receiving contributions from Mallett include Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin ($2,500), Newt Gingrich ($1,000), Texas Gov. Rick Perry ($2,500) and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney ($2,500).

Though a Republican loyalist, he did contribute $2,300 to Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu in 2007 and $3,700 to the State Senate campaign of Democrat Willie Mount of Lake Charles in 2004.

Described as “an avid social reformer,” Mallett counts as his greatest achievement the creation and operation of The Academy of Training Skills (ATS) in Lacassine. ATS, whose corporate offices are located at the same Iowa address of all of Mallett’s other companies, opened in 2008, and serves as an alternative facility for individuals who are at risk of going to prison. Those with non-violent or non-sexual offenses are given an opportunity to reside at ATS and to enroll in any of several training programs.

ATS, approved by the Louisiana Department of Corrections, takes residents by referral from local court jurisdictions. The facility’s web page says it is seeking accreditation from the American Correction (sic) Association (ACA) and that a trade school was planned for the site. The website also said plans were in place to expand to a 1,000-resident capacity.

The American Correctional Association, located in Alexandria, Virginia, confirmed that ATS received accreditation in 2010, an indication that the ATS website has not been updated for at least two years.

Claims by ATS that residents are trained for jobs and that they receive counseling and medical treatment for addictions, however, are in dispute.

While the ATS web page touts training in pipefitting, welding, electrical, millwright, heavy equipment operator and instrumentation fitter, at least one district attorney who refers offenders to facilities such as ATS said he has experienced numerous complaints about the program and no longer refers offenders to ATS.

A spokesman for the district attorney, who requested that he not be identified because of political implications, said all his referrals now go to Cenikor Foundation, a Houston-based center with facilities in Baton Rouge.

“We just stopped sending people to ATS,” he said. “The jobs they were getting our people were jobs hamburger flipping at fast food restaurants, not technical skills. The claims that they are providing medical treatment don’t seem to be valid, either, because our referrals told us they received no medical treatment.

“Moreover, ATS works these people and pays money into personal accounts for each resident, which is certainly an accepted practice,” he said. “However, without exception, when our referrals completed their programs there, instead of receiving the money in their accounts, they wound up owing ATS money.”

He also said ATS appears to have difficulty in retaining facility directors. “There’s a lot of turnover there,” he said. “No one seems to stay more than a few months. Some of the directors seemed to try to do what the program advertises but they don’t last long before they’re gone.”

Now, it appears that Mallett may be expanding his operations to include online classes as part of the Louisiana Department of Education’s (DOE) Course Choice Program.

The Course Choice Program ostensibly provides students at failing schools the opportunity to take the online courses instead of continuing in their old schools. All the classes are online and providers are allowed to set their own course fees.

One of those approved by DOE is ATS Project Success of Michigan, which claims on its web page to offer courses in 41 states, including Louisiana. Academy of Training Schools (ATS) of 21089 South Frontage Road in Iowa, which is the same corporate address as Mallett’s seven other enterprises (including Academy of Training Skills), appears to be the Louisiana ATS entity through which courses are to be offered.

The Academy of Training Schools also contributed $6,000 to Believe in Louisiana, a 527 tax-exempt political organization founded by Baton Rouge Business Report Publisher Rolf McCollister.

McCollister was Jindal’s campaign chairman in his successful 2007 run for governor and served as chairperson of Jindal’s transition team.
Julio Melara, president of the Baton Rouge Business Report, was appointed by Jindal to the Louisiana Stadium Exposition District (Louisiana Superdome) Board in February 2008, a month after Jindal first took office.

Jindal appointed Mallett, a Republican insider, to the LSU Board in July and all the pieces now appear to be in place for Jindal to do whatever he wants with LSU in general and the LSU Medical System in particular. The recent firing of Dr. Fred Cerise and the reassignment of Dr. Roxanne Townsend would seem to support that theory.

Jindal said as much on July 2 in an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News:

“We’re the only state in the country that runs our own government-owned, government-operated hospitals. I’ll be the first to tell you that’s not the best way to provide health care. And we’re replacing that. We’re transitioning folks on our Medicaid program to privately-run insurance coverage.”

Jindal, of course, neglected to mention that those state hospitals, particularly Charity Hospital in New Orleans served, not only as a medical safety net for indigent citizens of the state and as teaching hospitals for both the LSU and Tulane University schools of medicine.

Charity was never reopened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 even though only the basement of the 21-story facility was flooded and more than 200 military and medical volunteers restored the hospital to conditions that many said were superior to the hospital’s pre-storm state. For whatever reasons, however, electricity, which was working in the hospital, was ordered turned off and the doors were locked.

With all but one of the LSU Board members appointed by Jindal, the governor now has carte blanche to bulldoze ahead with dismantling the state’s Medicaid program—just as he promised he would in his interview with Van Susteren—in favor of privately-run insurance coverage, most likely administered by large campaign contributors.

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New LSU teaguing by π-yush may be imminent; Raymond Lamonica rumored on way out as System general counsel

Posted in BESE, Commissions, Education, Governor's Office, Higher Education, House, Senate, Layoffs, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Regents, Teague, Transparency on September 4, 2012| 5 Comments »

Reports out of the State Capitol on Tuesday has yet another state employee about to become a victim of the ongoing Piyush Purge.

LouisianaVoice has learned of plans by the administration to fire LSU System Office General Counsel Raymond Lamonica.

If true, Lamonica would be the third LSU official to be teagued by Jindal in less than six months. System President John Lombardi was fired in April by the LSU Board of Supervisors acting on directions from the governor and last month, Dr. Fred Cerise, head of the LSU health care system similarly dismissed.

Reached at home Tuesday, Lamonica acknowledged that he had heard the reports but had no additional comment. “Not yet, anyway,” he added.

Lamonica was appointed as United States attorney for the middle district of Louisiana in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. President Bill Clinton appointed L.J. Hymel to replace him in 1994. Prior to that, Lamonica worked as executive counsel to Gov. Dave Treen.

If the reports are accurate, Lamonica would be only the latest in a growing line of rank and file state employees, agency directors and cabinet secretaries who Jindal has either fired outright or, in the case of two legislators, demoted from committee assignments.

Besides members of board and commissions who are routinely replaced by governors with political allies and campaign contributors, Jindal has replaced, in order:

• March of 2008—Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Executive Director Jim Champagne, who opposed Jindal’s campaign promise to repeal the motorcycle helmet law;

• September of 2008—Department of Social Services Secretary Ann Williamson, after criticism of shelter conditions following Hurricane Gustav and problems with a post-storm food stamp program;

• June of 2009—Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member Tammie McDaniel, after she disagreed with some of the administration’s public education policies;

• October 2009—Melody Teague, a social services grant reviewer, after testifying in opposition to Jindal’s plan to streamline government;

• February 5, 2010—Department of Transportation and Development Secretary William Ankner, after a company that contributed $11,000 to Jindal’s campaign was awarded a $60 million highway contract despite not having the low bid;

• August 13, 2010—State Alcohol and Tobacco Control Secretary Murphy Painter, after being accused of sexual harassment and fired after rejecting a permit application to SMG, the New Orleans Superdome management company, that would allow Budweiser to erect a large tent and signage in Champions Square. Budweiser had offered $300,000 to the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District to sponsor the tent for tailgating parties at Saints home games;

• April of 2011—Office of Group Benefits (OGB) Director Tommy Teague (husband of Melody Teague), after failing to display sufficient enthusiasm over Jindal’s plans to privatize his agency;

• June of 2011—Tommy Teague’s successor Scott Kipper, after apparently irritating his boss, Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater over the number of OGB employees he would recommend to be laid off;

• March of 2012—Office of Elderly Affairs Executive Director Mary Manuel, after testifying she was never informed of Jindal’s plans to move her agency from the governor’s office to the Department of Health and Hospitals;

• March of 2012—State Rep. Harold Richie (D-Bogalusa), demoted from his vice-chairmanship of the House Committee on Insurance after voting against a tax rebate for those who donate money for scholarships (vouchers) to private and parochial schools;

• April of 2012—LSU System President John Lombardi, after publicly criticizing massive budget cuts imposed on higher education by Jindal;

• June of 2012—Secretary of Revenue Cynthia Bridges after it became obvious that an alternative fuel tax credit law signed by Jindal which granted tax credits for the purchase of certain fuel-efficient automobiles would cost the state upwards of $100 million;

• June of 2012—State Rep. Jim Morris (R-Oil City), was removed from his vice-chairmanship of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee after resisting efforts by Jindal to use one-time money to fund recurring expenses in the state’s General Budget;

• August of 2012—Dr. Fred Cerise, head of the LSU health care system, after criticizing Jindal budget cuts which gutted the LSU medical system of hundreds of millions of dollars.

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What’s in a name? Apparently lots of contributions and choice appointments to state boards and commissions

Posted in Boards, Campaign Contributions, Commissions, Education, Ethics, Governor's Office, Higher Education, LSU, Politicians, Public Records, Regents on September 3, 2012| 6 Comments »

What is the difference between “Louisiana Believes” and Believe in Louisiana?

Basically, the former is a catchy slogan employed by the Louisiana Department of Education to promote a myriad of educational reforms initiated by Gov. π-yush Jindal while the latter is a 527 tax-exempt political organization about which precious little is known.

Believe in Louisiana appears to be little more than a tax-exempt propaganda machine for Jindal’s legislative package, particularly as it pertains to education. In fact, it would seem that not much originality went into coming up with the slogan “Louisiana Believes.”

The Academy of Training Schools, Nature’s Best, Progressive Buildings and Progressive Merchants, all located at the same address as several other businesses owned by Chester Lee Mallett of Iowa, combined to contribute $9,000 to Believe in Louisiana, founded by Baton Rouge Business Report Publisher Rolf McCollister.

McCollister was Jindal’s campaign chairman in his successful 2007 run for governor and served as chairperson of Jindal’s transition team. Julio Melara, president of the Baton Rouge Business Report, was appointed by Jindal to the Louisiana Stadium Exposition District (Louisiana Superdome) Board in February 2008, a month after Jindal first took office.

Mallet, for his part, was recently named by Jindal to the LSU Board of Supervisors.

Though not legally required to reveal the identities of its contributors, Believe in Louisiana, in a self-proclaimed nod toward transparency, lists more than 400 persons or organizations who contributed more than $1.6 million in 2008, 2009 and 2012.

Of that amount, some $512,000, or 32 percent, was contributed by persons or entities outside Louisiana. The largest such contribution was $225,000 by Advocates for School Choice of Washington, D.C.

Other major contributors to Believe in Louisiana include:

• Ashbritt, Inc. of Pompano Beach, Florida ($75,000);

• ABC Pelican PAC ($25,000);

• FVE Investments of Alexandria ($25,000);

• Louisiana Manufacturers PAC of Baton Rouge ($25,000);

Even more revealing, however, is the list of expenditures by Believe in Louisiana.

Of the $1.5 million spent by the organization, $1.3 million, or 86.7 percent, was spent out of state.

That’s 86.7 percent of all expenditures that an organization ironically calling itself Believe in Louisiana spent out of state.

How is it that an organization can refer to itself as Believe in Louisiana while keeping only 13.3 percent of its costs in-state?

The best explanation might lie in the fact that of that $1.3 million spent outside Louisiana’s borders, almost $1.2 million went to an outfit called OnMessage of Alexandria, Virginia, and Crofton, Maryland.

Last October, OnMessage announced that Timmy Teepell, Jindal’s re-election campaign manager and his former chief of staff, was joining the consulting firm as a partner and head of its new Southern office in Baton Rouge.

To date, OnMessage has no Baton Rouge address nor does it have a local telephone listing. Moreover, Teepell has maintained a high profile in the governor’s office on the fourth floor of the State Capitol and even retains a reserved parking spot in the Capitol rear parking lot.

From Nov. 15 through Dec. 31, 2011 (after Teepell left the governor’s office), Jindal’s campaign paid Teepell more than $50,600 in four separate payments.

During that same period, Jindal’s campaign paid OnMessage more than $110,000.

In March of this year, however, Believe in Louisiana paid OnMessage $456,551, ostensibly for such expenses as media production, media buys and polling and research.

Skeptics might be prone to wonder why nearly a half-million dollars in polling, research, media production and media buys would be necessary six months after Jindal’s re-election. But not us. We would certainly never suggest that this was a ruse to disguise payments to Teepell. The most ethical administration in Louisiana history would certainly never stoop to such tactics.

Contributors to Believe in Louisiana who also contributed to Jindal’s political campaigns—with their corresponding contributions to Jindal’s political campaigns in parentheses are as follows:

• Allen Dickson of Shreveport: $5,000 ($77,000 by Dickson, family members and his wholesale pharmaceutical company);

• Aubrey Temple of Deridder: $5,000 ($15,000);

• Bob Perry of Houston: $50,000 ($15,000);

• Brentwood Health Management of Shreveport: $5,000 ($15,000);

• Brookwood Properties of Baton Rouge: $5,000 ($5,000);

• Centene Management Co. of St. Louis: $50,000 ($5,000);

• Central Management of Winnfield: $42,000 ($5,000);

• Dave Roberts of Prairieville: $10,000 ($10,000);

• David Voelker of New Orleans: $25,000 ($50,000 by Voelker, family members and Voelker’s companies;

• E.G. Beebe of Ridgeland, Mississippi: $20,000 ($20,000);

• Edward Diefenthal of Metairie: $100,000 ($30,000 by Diefenthal, his wife and his company, The Woodvine Group);

• Florida Marine of Mandeville: $10,000 ($5,000);

• Gary Chouest of Cut-Off: $20,000 ($91,500 by Chouest, family members and various businesses;

• Donald Bollinger of Lockport: $125,000 ($62,850 by Bollinger, family members and various businesses;

• Joseph Canizaro of New Orleans: $100,000 ($45,000);

• Keith Van Meter of New Orleans: $10,000 ($17,000);

• Lane Grigsby of Baton Rouge: $10,000 ($7,000);

• Lee Domingue of Baton Rouge: $100,000 ($7,000 from Domingue and his business, AppOne);

• Madden Contracting of Minden: $25,000 ($37,500);

• Nexion Health in 13 different locations: $3,250 ($71,000);

• Phyllis Taylor of New Orleans: $50,000 ($15,000);

• Robert Yarborough of Baton Rouge: $7,700 ($33,584);

• Rolfe McCollister of Baton Rouge: $4,100 ($21,000);

• Ryan Corp. or Dallas: $50,000 ($25,000);

• Southern Recycling of New Orleans: $10,000 ($25,000);

• USAA of San Antonio: $25,000 ($10,000);

• Bill Dore of Lake Charles: $100,000 ($25,000).

• Amedisys Medical Services of Baton Rouge: $25,000 ($11,000);

Besides the contributions to both Believe in Louisiana and contributions to Jindal’s campaigns, some of the contributors, professional associates or family members have been rewarded with plum committee and board appointments. These include:

• Lee Mallett, LSU Board of Supervisors;

• Yarborough, LSU Board of Supervisors;

• Charlotte Bollinger of Lockport, Board of Regents for Higher Education;

• Paul Dickson of Shreveport, University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors;

• Dave Roberts, Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (Superdome) Board;

• Julio Melara of Baton Rouge, president of the Baton Rouge Business Report, Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District Board;

• Bill Windham of Bossier City, Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District Board;

• Aubrey Temple of Deridder, Coastal Protection and Restoration Financing Corp.

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Layoff notices going out to OGB in anticipation of Piyush privatization putsch: eager nation awaits his GOP speech

Posted in Civil Service, Governor's Office, Layoffs, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Prison, Privatization, Retirement, State Agencies, Transparency on August 24, 2012| 7 Comments »

The procedure for laying off up to 121 employees of the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) has been initiated by the Jindal administration in the aftermath of the privatization of the OGB Preferred Provider Organization (PPO).

A memorandum dated Aug. 23 has been circulated to OGB employees by Steven Procopio of the Office of Human Resources in the Division of Administration setting the effective date of the staff reductions as Jan. 2, 2013.

The layoffs must be approved by the State Civil Service Board but the board on Aug. 1 approved the awarding of the contract for the PPO to Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) of Louisiana, so the consideration of the layoff proposal should be little more than a formality by the board which has demonstrated a propensity to roll over and play dead for the administration.

BCBS already is the TPA for the state’s HMO.

Positions affected by the termination notice are in Internal Audit, Administration, Quality Assurance, Fiscal, Flexible Benefits/Imaging Services, Legal and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Compliance, Customer Service, Information Technology, Claims and Provider Services.

Employees of these offices are domiciled in the parishes of East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Ouachita, Caddo, Calcasieu and Rapides.

The BCBS assumption of the third party administrator (TPA) duties for the PPO is scheduled to take effect with the beginning of the new calendar year in January.

Gov. Piyush Jindal and Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater have consistently insisted that the state should not be in the insurance business and that a private entity can administer insurance claims on behalf of state employees more cheaply and more efficiently than the state—despite OGB’s having built reserves of $500 million over the past half-dozen years.

Several independent studies have intimated that premiums are likely to increase after the first year because a private TPA will face the double whammy of the need to show a profit and the requirement to pay taxes on profits—factors the state never had to consider when it administered the claims.

Jindal, who made a point of voicing his concern and respect for state employees when he ran for governor has shown little, if any, of either sentiment since becoming governor. In fact, he has consistently attacked state employees at every turn including the orchestration of failed attempts to dismantle Civil Service and to gut the state employee retirement system—both to the detriment of state workers.

Jindal, after failing to sell state prison facilities, simply closed two of them and then announced the closure of Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville without notifying the legislative delegation in that part of the state—a delegation which until then had been fiercely loyal to him.

The closure of the Mandeville facility will adversely affect more than 500 employees and up to 170 inpatient recipients of mental health care. Moreover, with its closure, there will be no state facility offering mental health care for an entire section of the state that includes the parishes of Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Washington, Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson.

Other state medical facilities and LSU teaching hospitals also are threatened by the lost of some $800 million in Medicaid funding and higher education also has taken a major hit with near catastrophic budgetary cutbacks.

Yet, as all this economic train wreck careens out of control down the tracks, Jindal continues to travel the country—initially auditioning for the vice presidential nomination on Mitt Romney’s ticket and when that failed, soldiering on as the dutiful lap dog in support of the Republic Party that has relegated him to a minor speaking role at next week’s GOP convention.

Hardly an appropriate token of appreciation, considering all he has done on behalf of his second choice for the nomination while ignoring a state falling apart back home.

The leadership vacuum experienced by Louisiana during this administration is not what one would expect to read of in Jindal’s book Leadership and Crisis, now is it?

The real of the crisis, after all, is his abysmal lack of leadership.

If, as New Orleans’ Gambit so succinctly pointed out, he truly has the job he loves, he should return to Louisiana to address the myriad of problems facing the state and in so doing, put his money (read: efforts) where only his mouth has been.

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Grading a ‘delusional’ governor: can we get a charter/virtual governor for ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade? How about a governor voucher?

Posted in BESE, Broadband, Internet, Charters, Computers, Contract, Contracts, Education, Governor's Office, Politicians, Privatization, Revenue, Vouchers on August 23, 2012| 21 Comments »

BATON ROUGE (CNS)—From Shreveport to New Orleans, from Amite to Alexandria, they’re beginning to catch on to the smoke and mirrors act of snake oil salesman Piyush Jindal, masquerading as governor of Louisiana and wannabe shining star—but now a fading star—of the national Republican Party.

And the picture isn’t a pretty one, at least from Piyush’s perspective—if, that is, he is even aware of the growing tide of resentment over his failed programs. Those failures run the gamut: from the $250 million wash-away berms in the Gulf of Mexico to the rejection of more than $800 million in federal grants for broadband internet, early childhood development and a high-speed rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans to nightmarish cuts to higher education, state hospitals and Medicaid.

The question of his understanding of the depth and breadth of the problems is a matter of open speculation. One of his handlers recently described Jindal as “delusional.”

Definitions of the term vary somewhat in their wording but all say essentially the same thing:

• “A fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact;”

• “A false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory evidence…”

• “A false belief or opinion;”

• “A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence…”

If Jindal doesn’t see and appreciate the looming consequences of his programs, i.e. school vouchers, budget cutbacks, privatization, hospital closures, then at least the readers of the Shreveport Times appear to understand and to come to grips with the dilemma of a disconnected governor.

A poll of Times readers this week asked one simple question: “How would you grade Jindal’s performance as governor?”

The term “grade” is significant here when one considers Jindal’s own penchant for “grading” Louisiana’s public schools in an apparent effort to categorize as many as possible as “D” and “F” schools to clear the way for new, mostly for-profit charter and online virtual schools and for his ill-conceived voucher/scholarship program, all of which rip money from local public school districts, leaving them in a deeper fiscal chasm than before.

The results of that poll late Friday afternoon showed, out of 866 votes cast, 593 (68.5 percent gave Jindal an F. Another 138 (15.0 percent) gave him a D. So, 83.5 percent of respondents gave him either a D or and F. Only 70 (8.1 percent) gave him an A while 33 (3.8 percent said he warranted a B and 32 (3.7 percent) gave him a C.

Jindal’s grading method for schools says that any school with a C, D, or F grade is considered failing and eligible for parents to move their kids out to a voucher school. Accordingly, 87.3 of respondents say he simply doesn’t measure up.

(Of course the poll is unscientific, but it certainly is interesting to know that he was re-elected with 66 percent of the vote of 20 percent of voters who went to the polls and now 68.5 percent see him as an utter failure.

Just to make sure there was no stuffing of the ballot box, we attempted to vote twice to see if we could. We could not, so the results, though unscientific, are significant because north Louisiana, along with the Florida parishes, is considered one of the areas of the state where he is strongest.

Taking the results of that poll into account, perhaps we should consider the implementation of a “charter” or “virtual” governor or perhaps vouchers could be issued for Louisiana’s citizens to select another governor if we are unhappy with the one we have.

Of course, like school vouchers, that would not preclude one over the other.

In other words, we would still have Jindal as the public governor, but we also would have a private governor of our choosing who would be accountable to no one.

Wait. We already have that.

The Monroe News-Star also has challenged the governor and his superintendent of education John White on the matter of what is and what is not public record. That publication has filed a lawsuit over records White has claimed are part of the “deliberative process,” a term that never existed before Jindal took office.

Gambit, a New Orleans publication, recently published a column with the headline: “Jindal’s got the job he wants? Prove it, Governor.”

The article asked the not-so-rhetorical question of why, if he truly had the “best job in the world,” would he spend so much time away from Louisiana?

Pointing out as others have recently that there are plenty of problems to occupy Jindal’s attention, Gambit submitted a “Bobby-do” list of tasks for the governor to tackle now that he has been officially eliminated from Mitt Romney’s vice presidential veepstakes:

• Keep Southeast Louisiana Hospital (SLH) open. In 2009, Jindal shut down the New Orleans Adolescent Hospital (NOAH), justifying the move by pointing out that its patients could receive the care they needed at SLH in Mandeville. Gambit asked where can those patients turn to now for treatment, Mississippi? With the closure of SLH scheduled for October, an entire region of the state—the most populous region of the state, it might be pointed out—will have no public mental health hospital.

• Address the catastrophic cuts to higher education with something more than your rhetorical “do more with less” mantra.

• Put real accountability into the public school voucher program. This program, passed by Jindal and now administered by his hand-picked superintendent of education (we’ll get to him presently), is an unmitigated disaster worthy of a Three Stooges or Marx Brothers comedy.

Except that this scenario is not funny.

Which brings us to White and his traveling dog and pony show which has played to less than enthusiastic reviews thus far.

First of all, White should have the good sense not to stroll late into a meeting with a parish school board (already a hostile audience) in open shirt with sleeves rolled up, dressed, in the words of one observer, “like he was attending a corn husking party,” complete with half-unzipped pants.

Is this really the image the leader of the state’s educational system wishes to convey in a public meeting of local elected officials? Apparently so.

Kevin Crovetto, a Ponchatoula High School teacher, got in what was possibly the best zinger of the night when he said if White and his staff were judged by the same standards proposed for teachers, they would be rated “ineffective.”

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board was, predictably, equally unimpressed.

Board member Al Link said that under the new teacher evaluation system, teachers will be held accountable for the academic progress of their students while the responsibilities of the student and parents are not addressed.

The state continues to put mandates on teachers, jumping from one mandate to another, to the point that teachers are finding it impossible to do their jobs, Link said, adding that the state now is saying some teachers are not meeting expectations so now their jobs are being given to persons who are not certified.

White responded by saying that he is “not keen” on certification and that anyone who is a college graduate and who is “proficient” should be allowed to teach.

Yet florists, plumbers and auctioneers are required to be licensed in Louisiana.

And just who is in charge of determining proficiency?

When Crovetto and others questioned White about the new voucher program that allows students who qualify to attend private schools and charter schools—at the expense of public school systems, White, incredibly, responded by indicating he cared little about the financial drain on public schools so long as voucher students get an education.

Let that sink in, folks. The head of Louisiana’s public education system says he is unconcerned about the financial hardships imposed on local school systems so long as voucher students get an education—at places like:

• Delhi Charter where, until public pressure forced a change in policy, a girl even suspected of being pregnant could be forced to submit to a physical by a doctor of the school’s choosing;

• Light City Christian Academy in New Orleans where the founder of the school calls himself “Apostle” and “Prophet;”

• New Living Word School in Ruston, which does not even have books, teachers, or classroom space and where the state recently circumvented the local building inspector to issue a building permit for a construction project to expand the facility (remember Willie Stark in All the King’s Men and the collapse of the school fire escape?);

• Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake that teaches that the Loch Ness Monster is real as a means of supporting the fundamentalist theory that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. It also uses textbooks that teach that American slave owners were benevolent, kind-hearted overlords, that the Ku Klux Klan was a “reform” organization that protected women and children, that the “Trail of Tears” was responsible for the conversion of many American Indians to Christianity;

• BeauVer Christian School in DeRidder that couldn’t grasp the proper spelling of “Scholarship” on its sign advertising free vouchers.

And, let us not forget, Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Denham Springs), who says she is all about teaching the Christian beliefs of our forefathers in charter schools and vouchers for Christian schools but was opposed to vouchers for an Islamic school in New Orleans.

All these factors are part and parcel of the administration of a governor who more and more, exhibits signs of a growing disconnect with reality.

• Delusional: a false belief based upon a misinterpretation of reality.

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