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Archive for the ‘Public Records’ Category

π-yush obsession with secrecy, loyalty comparable to aura of paranoia that permeated darkest days of Nixon White House

Posted in Boards, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, LSU, Public Records, Transparency on October 15, 2012| 5 Comments »

In the past we’ve compared Piyush Jindal to Richard Nixon, primarily in the context of Jindal’s desire for absolute power and his intolerance for dissent. For the most part those comparisons were tongue-in-cheek, intended to show the governor’s absurd propensity toward micromanagement.

The comparisons were metaphors as much as anything else and not to be taken literally.

That was then.

Now, less than a year into his second term, Jindal, much like Nixon, is becoming more and more obsessed with secrecy.

Nixon’s attempt to conceal public documents behind a cloak of “executive privilege” has been supplanted by Jindal’s even vaguer term—something called the “deliberative process.”

Jindal demands complete and total loyalty from his minions with no room for dissent.

He is certainly entitled to expect—and demand—loyalty from his appointees. That is his right.

But his problems run much deeper; Jindal’s administration, much like that of Nixon’s is being permeated with the destructive mentality of paranoia.

That is, without question, the most serious and debilitating characteristic that can plague any elected leader and whether one likes Jindal or despises him, it is both sad and disturbing to watch the slow unraveling of what could have been. The realization that his mistrust of anyone who might pose a question about any of his decisions is slowly starting to paralyze the state he was elected to serve. The story of his administration will read not as history as it should, but more like a Shakespearian tragedy.

Now we have proof that he, like Nixon, is not beyond concocting outright lies to conceal his real intent and to advance his agenda. We have known this all along but now we have written documentation and, strangely enough, LouisianaVoice was the catalyst in this new, unfolding drama.

But this isn’t about LouisianaVoice.

This is a much larger and more important issue.

It’s about trust and credibility.

Jindal has steadfastly maintained that he has taken a “hands-off” approach to the day to day operations at LSU, even to the point of the governor’s executive counsel Elizabeth “I didn’t know there was a State Constitution” Murrill’s outright denial on Oct. 9 that she instructed LSU to hide behind the deliberative process privilege.

But nearly two months earlier, on Aug. 16, LSU attorney Shelby McKenzie wrote LSU Interim President William Jenkins that Murrill had specifically asked to review documents requested by LouisianaVoice.

The documents were also shared with Lee Kantrow, a private Baton Rouge attorney who serves as legal counsel to the University Medical Center board.

It seems they were shared with virtually everyone but the media which had requested the information in the first place.

Murrill, along with the rest of the governor’s office, of course, have employed the bunker mentality as they hunker down and now refuse to comment publicly on their being caught in the big lie.

Deliberative process is a legal term that never existed before Jindal took office in 2008.

It powers the process of deciding what qualifies as public record and what does not in that it protects deliberations in the governor’s office as well as in recommendations to the governor by agency officials.

A 45-page report by the Louisiana Law Review at the LSU Law School says of the deliberative process:

• The statutory deliberative process privilege allows the governor to fight the disclosure of any government record (emphasis ours) used in his decision-making process, even if that record is located outside the governor’s office. Some scholars criticize the very concept of the deliberative process privilege as eroding the “power and effectiveness of the citizens who we regard as sovereigns.” By adopting the phrase “deliberative process,” the legislature has attempted to implicate a body of law interpreting a particular exemption under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But it is not quite the clean fit the legislature might have envisioned. Left unsettled is whether Louisiana courts will or should embrace all the various intricacies in FOIA jurisprudence or craft solutions more faithful to Louisiana’s historically liberal public records doctrine.

• Under Act 495, the governor will also be able to deny access to “intra-office communications” between himself and his staff. Courts will have to decide just what types of communications qualify for this exemption, as a broad interpretation will result in this “new” addition to the statute amounting to little more than a smaller version of the governor’s prior custody-based exemption.

• Finally, Act 495 raises an interesting dilemma: are governors now required to archive records, rather than shred them upon leaving office? One reading of the new law seems to allow governors to shield forever the documents that they independently deem as revealing of their deliberative process, denying potentially valuable and enlightening information to historians and future generations.” (emphasis ours)

Apparently, all an agency head has to do to protect public records from scrutiny is to couch them in the form of recommendations to the governor.

To be fair to McKenzie, he apparently recognized the legal problems of hiding behind the deliberative process shield and attempted to straddle the issue with his letter. “The express provisions of the statute are not broad enough to apply to the current public records request,” he said. “An argument could be raised that the privilege is grounded in constitutional principles (oops! Just lost Murrill) “of separation of powers and personal freedom of expression,” adding that a resolution of the issue “is a genuine legal dispute” that only a court could resolve.

He said that because the deliberative process is being invoked by several state agencies, “it is unlikely that LSU will be the target of any legal attack on the privilege.”

So, while the prevailing philosophy seems to be to employ the deliberative process so liberally and so often that those seeking information to which the public is entitled become so confused and exhausted in their efforts that they will give up.

Don’t count on it.

Nixon did.

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DOE, John White are masters at obfuscation and baffling with B.S., but are not very good at dazzling with brilliance

Posted in BESE, Charters, Education, Public Records, State Agencies, Vouchers on October 9, 2012| 5 Comments »

The Monroe News-Star has sued them and the Associated Press keeps pounding out the message that the Louisiana Department of Education has consistently refused to provide public records to the media—even after having first promised to do so.

But after a recent exchange of emails with DOE, LouisianaVoice has arrived at the conclusion that perhaps it is just as well that the media cease its quest for the information and that the department remain non-compliant with such requests. At least it cuts down on the confusion.

A reader recently sent us a Youtube link to a video presentation in which one Dave “Lefty” Lefkowith hyped the department’s computer Course Choice.

Course Choice is Superintendent of Education John White’s brainchild whereby a business, a college or an individual may offer computer courses to students at a fee set by the business, college or individual providing the courses.

But back to Lefty. Here is the link to his presentation, poor audio and all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfFoeQFoduM

After viewing his stellar performance, we decided to check Lefty’s credentials.

Executive Speakers Bureau, a booking agency for public speakers, described Lefkowith as a resident of California whose speaking fee ranges from $10,000 to $15,000.

“Dave ‘Lefty’ Lefkowith is a dynamic hands-on change agent, successful as an executive, a corporate consultant, an entrepreneur and a speaker/trainer,” the speaker bureau’s bio profile said. “Dave provides leaders and organizations with the practical insights they need to be successful in the 21st Century.”

There was more, of course, but we had seen enough to wonder why, at a fee of $10,000 to $15,000, Lefty’s DEO Course Choice video sounded as if he were speaking from the bottom of an empty metal barrel.

So, naturally we made a public records request of the department as to how much Lefty charged Louisiana taxpayers to make such a poorly-produced video presentation.

The answer surprised us.

Lefty, it seems, charged the department absolutely nothing in the way of fees to make the promo. That’s because, explained DOE public information representative Barry Landry, ol’ Lefty is now a full time employee of the department.

Wait. What?

That news flash, of course prompted yet another public records request:

• What is David “Lefty” Lefkowith’s official title?

• When was he hired by the Louisiana Department of Education?

• What is his official title?

• What are his qualifications for his position?

A few days later we received this response:

“Dave Lefkowith replaced Parker Baxter. Lefkowith’s title is Director, which was the same as Baxter. Lefkowith’s first day with the Department was July 20, 2012. Lefkowith’s salary is $145,999.88, comparable to Baxter’s salary of $140,000. Dave has three decades of experience bringing innovation into the workplace and Louisiana has tapped his proven skills to bring innovation into the classroom. He has worked with private sector companies and government agencies across the nation to harness the talent of professionals in diverse industries and develop creative solutions to improve results. He is regarded as an expert nationally in these areas, and the skills and experience he brings will be critical in effectively implementing a number of large, complex programs and activities aimed at benefiting Louisiana school children.”

Several things came to mind after reading this:

• First of all, director of what? Lefty is simply described as a “Director.”

• Second, does anyone actually understand what the DOE response said? From our reading, it’s what we like to call gooney-babble.

• Third, if Lefty is really as “dynamic” as his bio on the Executive Speakers Bureau web page says he is and at $10,000 to $15,000 a pop, it would appear that as few as 10 to 15 of those “dynamic, hands-on” presentations a year would match what the department is paying him. So, why would he give all that up and leave California to become a hired hand in Louisiana?

We also checked out his predecessor, Parker Baxter. Here is what his DOE bio said about him:

“Parker Baxter is the Executive Director of the Office of Parental Options at the Louisiana Department of Education. He previously served as Senior Legal Analyst at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, working as project manager for the District-Charter Collaboration Compact project. He is an education attorney, consultant, and author with over ten years of experience in the field. Previously, Parker served for three years as Director of Charter Schools for Denver Public Schools (DPS) where he was responsible for authorization, quality assurance, oversight, and performance management of the district’s portfolio of more than 30 charter and contract schools. Prior to joining DPS, Parker was an aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where he worked on issues related to the No Child Left Behind Act and Head Start, and assisted in the formation and passage of the Higher Education Access Act. Parker has a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law and a Masters in Public Management and Policy from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service where he was a Dean’s Scholar. He is also a former special education teacher, an alumnus of Teach for America, and an honors graduate of Colorado College.”

Okay, so Lefty replaced the director of Parental Options (whatever that is) but now is the Director of the Office of Portfolio (whatever that is), which includes Parental Options, according to Landry in his follow-up response.

So our initial request for public records resulted in the following terminology being made available to us:

• Office of Parental Options;

• Center on Reinventing Public Education;

• District Charter Collaboration Compact Project;

• Teach for America;

• Innovation in the classroom;

• Implementing a number of large complex programs;

• Harnessing the talent of professionals;

• Developing creative solutions to improve results.

All for a mere $144,999.88 a year. What a bargain.

And for all that, we get a “free” Youtube video of amateurish quality.

As the old adage goes, be careful what you ask for…

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π-yush appointee to University Medical Center Management Corp. Board has state contracts worth more than $3 million

Posted in Ethics, Governor's Office, Higher Education, LSU, Public Records, State Agencies on September 17, 2012| 3 Comments »

When Gov. Piyush Jindal named his four nominees to the University Medical Center Management Corp. Board back in March of 2010, he not only was looking after some of his more generous campaign contributors, but he also placed one of them in a position of potential conflict of interest.

Dr. Christopher Rich of Alexandria currently holds three separate contracts with the state totaling more than $3.3 million and he has already run into ethical problems with one of those contracts.

Rich was named by Jindal as one of four nominees for the proposed billion-dollar University Medical Center that is to serve as a replacement for the 70-year-old facility that was closed after its basement was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Like many of Jindal’s high-profile appointees, Rich, his wife Vickie and business partner Dr. Mark Dodson, also of Alexandria, combined to contribute $9,500 to Jindal’s campaigns in 2007, 2010 and 2011.

Others nominated by Jindal and the amounts of their contributions included Tim Barfield of Baton Rouge, recently appointed by Jindal as Secretary of the Department of Revenue ($15,000); David Voelker of New Orleans ($70,000 to Jindal campaigns and to his political slush fund, Believe in Louisiana), and Donald “Boysie” Bollinger of Lockport ($183,850 to Jindal campaigns and to Believe in Louisiana).

Rich has a $516,646 contract to serve as Medical Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation (OWC) Administration that calls on him to approve or disapprove medical treatments and procedures for the Office of Workers’ Compensation.

That contract is actually to Chrickie Investments, a company owned by him and his wife Vickie.

In what has become an all too familiar theme, Jindal pumps up the salaries of his appointees even as state employees are being denied salary increases for a fourth consecutive year.

Even before he paid Barfield $250,000, which was more than twice what Barfield’s predecessor Cynthia Bridges was paid, Rich’s $516,646 contract as OWC Medical Director far outstrips the $168,333 paid to his predecessor, Dr. Larry Ferrachi.

In 2009, the Louisiana Legislature passed a law which changed the process for determining whether or not medical treatment was “medically necessary.” If a workers’ comp insurance company denies a treatment request, the denial is referred to the OWC medical director, in this case, Rich.

Though the law was passed in 2009, problems with implementing the rules to enforce the new law delayed the actual enactment date of the law until July 13, 2011.

In March of this year, Rich testified before the House Labor Committee that he was “denying 80 percent” of all treatment requested.

At the same time he was contracted to be the sole determiner of all medical treatment for Louisiana’s injured workers, he and Dodson were partners in Louisiana Ortho Services which held a $2.3 million contract to provide orthopedic services for the state, specifically Huey P. Long Medical Center.

Huey P. Long Medical Center is one of 10 state hospitals that make up the LSU Health Care System which is administered by the LSU Board of Supervisors which also oversees the University Medical Center Management Board on which Rich sits.

Because he also owned an interest in Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital which also provided medical treatment to injured workers, the question of his eligibility to make decisions on medical treatment which could financially impact the hospital as well as Mid-State came before the Louisiana Board of Governmental Ethics twice—in March of 2011 and again in January of this year.

In March 2011, the ethics board ruled that Rich was prohibited, in his capacity as Medical Director of the Office of Workers’ Compensation, from participation in any matter involving Central Louisiana Surgical Hospital.

Rich, however, maintains that he no longer practices surgical procedures.

In January 2012, however, a second opinion said there was no conflict regarding Rich’s relationship with L since he had terminated his relationship with Mid-State—only six months since the state had awarded Louisiana Ortho, that $2.3 million contract. Though he no longer is affiliated with Mid-State, he remains a partner in Louisiana Ortho with Dodson who in turn remains as a partner with Mid-State. The timing and the connections, to say the least, are curious.

Rich and Dodson also are partners in a company called Activemed, Inc., which has a contract for $523,000 to provide orthopedic medical services to Northwestern State University student athletes.

Activemed also provides secondary insurance, also known as a preferred provider network (PPN) for three Louisiana university college sports teams and athletes. Basically, the athletes’ primary health insurance is the first payor for sports-related injuries. Then, if the student treats with an Activemed provider and they are enrolled with Activemed, then Activemed picks up the tab for the remainder of the treatment.

This means that Drs. Rich and Dodson have direct control over which doctors Activemed refers injured students to and if those same doctors happen to treat any Louisiana workers’ compensation patients, there is a potential conflict of interest for Rich.

Activemed’s internet web page contains no list of medical providers, nor is Activemed listed under the Louisiana Department of Insurance either as an insurance company, a third party administrator (TPA), or an adjusting company.

So, a surgeon who says he no longer performs surgery but who is listed as the 2012-2013 team physician (since 1990) in the current Northwestern State University sports programs, holds three contracts with the state for medical services worth more than $3 million—and serves on the board of the University Medical Center Management Corp. Board under the auspices of the LSU Health System.

So much for the most ethical, accountable, and transparent administration in Louisiana history.

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It’s time for sleeping legislators to respond to π-yush abuses: LouisianaVoice asks readers to help drive them out of hiding

Posted in Boards, Campaign Contributions, Civil Service, Economy, Education, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Privatization, Public Records, State Agencies, Transparency on September 10, 2012| 10 Comments »

LouisianaVoice is going to conduct an experiment, but it will require the cooperation of as many of our readers as possible to make it work.

We are asking each or our readers (who are not state employees: that might constitute immediate Teaguing) to email their state legislators—representatives and senators—to ask them:

As critical as the LSU hospitals are to our LSU and Tulane Medical School Students, our indigent population, our medical research efforts, and much more, why is this being allowed to take place without so much as a peep from you? Are you unconcerned? Do you favor privatizing all primary services and assets of the state such as schools, prisons, hospitals, retirement benefits, medical insurance administration, surface water rights, roads and bridges, financial management, and so much more? What’s next, the sale-leaseback of the Pontchartrain Causeway?

Are you aware that the interim President of the LSU Medical School has been granted the power to sell the entire LSU Medical School program and all of its facilities? Are you? Do you think this is the power that should be vested in an appointed position made by the governor? Do you? What then is your role in state government? Apparently nothing more than to meet annually for 30 days and pass resolutions congratulating couples for being married 50 years, or a football player for being named as an honorable mention all-state, or something equally unrelated to the general welfare of the state that has no business cluttering up the legislative agenda. You might as well just leave your rubber name stamp on your legislative desk and stay home and make luncheon talks to the “Save the Ring-tailed Raccoon Society.”

I want to know where you stand on these issues and what you intend to do. Are you going to continue to allow your authority to be usurped by Jindal and his minions? Worse, are you going to Baton Rouge with hat in hand asking what else you can do to help Jindal legitimately rape the citizens of the state?

Moreover:

When are you, as my (representative/senator) going to stand up to Gov. Jindal and his runaway efforts to:

• Disembowel higher education;

• Destroy public education to the financial benefit of private contractors/campaign supporters;

• Dismantle the state’s flagship university by appointing political hacks to the LSU Board of Supervisors, firing capable administrators and closing/privatizing state hospitals;

• Allow voucher and online courses to take the place of public education without even a smidgen of accountability or standards to which public education is held;

• Continually allow our governor to usurp the powers and responsibilities that rightfully belong to the legislative branch, including the choosing of House Speaker and Senate President?

I want and expect a public and publicized answer by you on the entirety of this subject. You’ve been silent long enough.

Click here for a list of House members: http://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/H_Reps_ByName.asp

Click here for a list of Senate members: http://senate.legis.louisiana.gov/Senators/

Scroll down the list until you find your representative/senator and click on the name. The legislator’s email address will on the page that will appear. For representatives, you need only click on the email address but you will have to type the senators’ email addresses.

(Do NOT send this complete post; cut and paste only the part that is in italics. It’s not that we don’t want legislators to know the source of this idea (because we really don’t care if they know) but it’s best if the questions come from you, the reader. So, again, do not send the introductory paragraphs in which we solicit readers to send the emails. Send ONLY the text that is in italics. If you don’t know how to cut and paste, simply re-type the questions and send them as originals from you.)

When you have done this, be sure to keep accurate records as to which legislators, if any, respond and record each response verbatim. Also, keep records of those who do not respond. Set a deadline of Sept. 21 and beginning on Sept. 22, forward all responses to LouisianaVoice at louisianavoice@cox.net

Accordingly, we will publicize each response and we also will out those who ignore your emails.

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π-yush ‘slash and burn’ tactics reminiscent of first LSU Pres. Gen. Sherman’s March to the Sea–but without the charisma; 600 jobs, 50 beds to be cut at Interim LSU Hospital in N.O.

Posted in Boards, Budget, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, Jobs, Layoffs, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, Privatization, Public Records, RFP, Request for Proposals, State Agencies, Teague, Transparency on September 9, 2012| 4 Comments »

LouisianaVoice has learned that Gov. Piyush Jindal, through the LSU Board of Supervisors, is planning to lay off up to 600 people at the Interim LSU Public Hospital in New Orleans within the next few weeks in a move that will further reduce access to health care for Louisiana’s indigent population.

The action also would mean the loss of about 50 of the facility’s 201 beds.

The layoffs were mentioned by Dr. Frank Opelka, recently appointed to replace Dr. Fred Cerise as head of LSU’s health care system, during last week’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Though he said he would be accelerating the cuts that Dr. Cerise and Dr. Roxane Townsend had developed in an effort to mitigate negative impacts, Opelka never mentioned any numbers and apparently no one on the Jindal-dominated board, thought, or wanted to ask.

Nor did any board members inquire as to the impact the cutbacks would have on the ability to continue to provide health care to indigent residents and neither was the question raised as to how the action might affect some 300 residents who train at the facility.

The Interim LSU Public Hospital presently employs about 2100 persons, meaning that about 24 percent of the facility’s personnel and 25 percent of its beds will be lost.

Last Friday, Robert Barish, chancellor of LSU Health Shreveport, notified his faculty and staff that the LSU Board had approved a resolution authorizing the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport and the Health Care Service Division to issue a request for proposals (RFP) “for the purpose of exploring public-private partnerships for the LSUGSC-S affiliated hospitals, namely the LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, the E.A. Conway Medical Center in Monroe and the Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville/Alexandria.”

Consideration of that resolution was not added to the board’s agenda until late Thursday and the board subsequently amended the wording to include “each of the hospitals in Health Care Services Division.”

That amendment to include “each of the hospitals in Health Care Services Division,” while largely ignored and not discussed at all, is key in that it means that “every hospital within the LSU System is now on the table for privatization,” as one observer put it.

“Shreveport is moving faster but they are just the first,” he said. “The dismantling of indigent care will now occur much more quickly and more broadly.”

The resolution says, “The President shall have the discretion to authorize the release of the Request for Proposal and to accept the proposal that he deems in the best interest of the university.”

It did not specify if that would be current Interim President William Jenkins or his successor, recently rumored to be Steve Moret, current Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.

Administration officials and LSU Board members have denied that the fix is in for Moret to become the next president. Jenkins said it would be ridiculous to hire a consultant to conduct a national search if the decision had already been made.

The layoff plan is the latest example of the slash and burn tactics employed by Piyush in his zeal to cut health care services to the poor while at the same time dismantling the teaching hospitals that currently serve about 200 LSU and 100 Tulane University medical students.

Beginning with the firing of LSU President John Lombardi last April, Jindal, through his hand-picked Board of Supervisors, has fired or reassigned Drs. Cerise and Townsend and LSU System General Counsel Ray Lamonica.

At the same time, he has implemented severe cutbacks at Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center in Tangipahoa Parish and at LSU Hospital in Bogalusa—cutbacks that have adversely affected the availability to provide care in the areas of oncology, gynecology, disease management and pediatrics and the loss of up to 150 jobs at Lallie Kemp. Jindal also announced the closure of Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville, beginning next month, a move that will leave the entire southeastern section of Louisiana without state mental health treatment centers.

The most incredulous statement to come out of all this is that of Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin who, when asked whether Piyush was involved in Cerise’s firing, said, “That’s a decision for the board and the LSU System president.”

But almost as puzzling is the deafening quiet from members of the legislature whose constituents—both health care providers and their patients—stand to be negatively impacted by the recent chain of events.

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