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Archive for the ‘Public Records’ Category

State slow in revealing purchase of $9 million golf course

Posted in Budget, Contract, Contracts, Golf Courses, Governor's Office, Public Records, Transparency, tagged on October 12, 2010| 3 Comments »

When the State of Louisiana purchased the assets of financially troubled Tournament Players Club (TPC) golf club in Marrero in Jefferson Parish on September 10, 2009, it’s no wonder the Division of Administration did not inform the State Land Office for a full year.

State Land Office (SLO) Administrator Charles St. Romain said his office is responsible for the identification, administration and management of state public lands and waterbottoms, but that he was unaware that the state had purchased the TPC facilities until September of this year.

The Act of Sale, dated September 10, 2009, was signed by then-Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis. The purchase price was $9,150,000. Davis resigned in August of this year.

Marrero Land and Improvement Association, headed by real estate developer Buckner Barkley, a financial backer of the Louisiana Republican Party and Gov. Bobby Jindal, donated about 250 acres of land in 2001—during the administration of then-Gov. Murphy Foster. The state in turn spent about $12.8 million to pay for the cost of building the course which hosts the Zurich Classic PGA Tournament each year.

The state then leased the property to TPC and Foster agreed to a deal whereby the state guaranteed a minimum number of rounds of golf at the facility each year. The rounds were to be purchased through hotel concierges in New Orleans but the hotel industry was not informed of the deal initially and the state found itself shelling out $5.1 million in the club’s very first year.

The club continued to lose money and in 2009, the state purchased the facility. The Division of Administration in November of 2008, more than nine months before the execution of the sales agreement, entered into an agreement with the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (LSED) to administer the club. LSED also manages the Louisiana Superdome.

LSED in turn executed a “golf facility management agreement” with TPC Louisiana under which TPC would manage the club for 30 years for a minimum of $100,000 per year, plus an incentive management fee of 2.5 percent of gross revenues and 10 percent of net revenues not to exceed $150,000 per year with annual increases not to exceed 3 percent per annum. That agreement was dated September 10, 2009, the same date as the sales agreement between TPC and the state.

No explanation was given as to why the state bailed out a failing facility for nearly $9.2 million and immediately turned the operation of that facility back over to the company that had been running it at a financial loss.

Even more puzzling is why the state saw the need to invest in a golf course in the first place. Or in the case of the Louisiana Legislature, four golf courses. The state is also financing the construction of courses in Lake Charles and Alexandria and it assumed operation of Black Bear Golf Course at Poverty Point in 2006. Since 1997, the state has spent in excess of $141 million on golf courses—all at a time when the state budget is hemorrhaging red ink and designer golf courses are on the decline in popularity and shutting down all over the country.

The Louisiana Municipal Police Employee Retirement System (MPERS) in October 2009 lost its $24 million investment in the Hal Sutton designed Boot Ranch Development golf club in Fredericksburg, Texas. That would be bad enough if that were the only such loss by MPERS, but it’s not. The retirement system has also dropped $12.1 million on Olde Oaks Golf Club in Haughton (and still losing $500,000 a year) and $3.1 million on The Club at Stonebridge, also in Bossier Parish. MPERS also lost an additional $15.7 million on its purchase of and improvements to the development of Olde Oaks properties, bringing its total losses just on golf courses to more than $39 million.

Golf courses that have recently closed in Louisiana include:

• The Bluffs Country Club in St. Francisville, designed by Arnold Palmer and which opened in 1988, closed in March of 2009;
• Sherwood Forest Country Club, Fairwood Country Club, and Shenandoah Country Club in Baton Rouge;
• Santa Maria Golf Course in Baton Rouge, designed by Robert Trent Jones (closed for a year before being re-opened by East Baton Rouge Parish);
• Carter Plantation Golf Club in Springfield in Livingston Parish, designed by David Toms, while not closed, has not performed up to expectations and is currently mired in litigation;
• Belle Terre Golf and Country Club in LaPlace in St. John the Baptist Parish (closed in August of this year).

In Georgia, the Fairways of Canton has closed, leaving that city on the hook for annual payments of $300,000. Other golf courses that have closed in Georgia include courses in Jones Creek, Tucker, and Roswell. In all, at least 15 golf courses in Georgia currently are on the market.

A quick internet check revealed clubs for sale all over the country, including three in Louisiana (Florien, Ethel, and Monroe). Others on the market in neighboring states include four each in Mississippi and Alabama, three in Arkansas, and a dozen in Texas.

It remains to be seen what, if anything, the state will realize on its investments in the four golf courses but should any or all of them fail, it’s pretty certain some hard questions will need to be asked—and answered.

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Return of the ‘Deduct Box?’

Posted in Civil Service, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Public Records, Transparency on July 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »

            Give State Rep. John Schroder (R-Abita Springs) credit: once he got the idea that picking on state employees was popular with the general public, he has stopped at nothing to offer up State Civil Service as a sacrifice at the Altar of Bobby Jindal.

            Schroder was successful at obtaining committee approval of HB-1478 (originally HB-1296) which would mandate that state employees not be paid for up to 11 legal holidays. Legislators, however, will not be required to forfeit their pay for 37 days of the regular 85-day legislative session during which they do not meet.

            In its original wording, HB-1296 stipulated that state employees would simply be required to take annual or accrued leave time for legal holidays. Somewhere along the way, however, someone must have realized that scenario presented no savings to the state since employees would receive pay whether they worked or took annual leave. Accordingly, the bill was amended to force employees to take legal holidays without pay.

            The bill, which was changed to HB-1478, was approved without objection by the House and Governmental Affairs Committee and now goes to the House floor for approval.

            Schroder was subjected to a flurry of emails from outraged state employees after his original bill calling for employees to take leave for holidays became public. He repeatedly refused to answer specific questions, saying things like, “(I’m) not sure what games you are playing, but I don’t have the time. You have no idea what’s going on and it’s clear you have an agenda slanted to the unproductive side. Keep spewing your anger across the state. In the end, I am working to solve problems and those willing to learn and listen can contribute right along as we work to make La. a better state.”

            On another occasion, when a writer asked why he did not address questions directed to him, Schroder responded simply, “God bless you.”

            One of those questions asked if Schroder had accepted a $14 increase in per diem payments (from $145 to $159) that went into effect on Oct. 1, 2009, a 9 percent increase at a time when Schroder was leading the efforts to abolish what he called “automatic” 4 percent merit increases for state workers. Merit increases for state employees are not automatic and in fact, once an employee receives all the step increases allowed for that pay grade, there are no more increases unless the employee takes another job or is promoted to a higher pay grade.

            Another question which Schroder refused to answer was whether or not he had accepted the $159 per diem for the 37 days (12 Fridays, 12 Saturdays, 12 Sundays, and Memorial Day) during which neither the House nor the Senate convenes. The per diem for those 37 days comes to $5,883 per legislator, or $847,152 for all 144 members. Memorial Day is one of the holidays for which state employees would receive no pay next year if HB-1478 becomes law.

            Schroder was also asked, but again refused to answer, if he was the primary author of HB-753, which would abolish the State Civil Service Commission and the Department of State Civil Service, effective Jan. 9, 2012. That bill, which calls for a constitutional amendment to be decided at the Nov. 2 statewide election, would dissolve the only avenue available to state employees to address grievances. State Civil Service prohibits state classified employees from contributing to or participating in political campaigns on behalf of any candidate. One of the reasons for the existence of civil service is for the protection of state employees. In the days of the old spoils system, employees were beholden to those elected officials and it spawned what is known as the “deduct box” more commonly associated with the administration of Huey Long.

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Louisiana Legislative Salaries

Posted in Budget, Civil Service, Economy, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Public Records, Revenue, Transparency on June 12, 2010| 1 Comment »

There’s a dirty little secret your legislators don’t want you to know.

Hiding behind the misnomer “automatic,” they were quick to agree to freeze state classified employee pay raises, but considerably more reluctant to take action adverse to their own part-time legislative income. But first, let us debunk what lawmakers prefer to disparingly refer to as “automatic” 4 percent annual raises for state civil service employees. The increases attacked by the Gang of 144 are merit increases and they are neither automatic nor annual. There comes a time when an employee maxes out on his or her raises and unless the employee is promoted or takes another job in state government, the raises, no matter how well the employee performs, stop. Period.

Of course, that’s not the case with legislators. Just last October, a true “automatic” increase from $145 to $159 in legislative per diem kicked in, giving legislators an automatic–and secret–increase of 9.5 percent. That’s $159 per day for every day of the 85-day session (60 days in odd-numbered years–$13,515 and $9,540 per session, respectively) despite the fact that neither the House nor the Senate meets on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. Neither do they meet on Memorial Day. That’s as many as 37 days during the 85-day session and 24 days in odd-numbered years during which they do not convene but for which they are paid nonetheless. That’s $847,152 during the 85-day sessions and $549,504 during 60-day sessions that is paid to members in abstention. Pro-rate that over 10 years and you can see how members of the legislature have ripped the state of to the tune of nearly $7 million–and that doesn’t even include special sessions that may arise.

But wait! There’s more!

Legislators draw a flat salary of $16,800 per year. Per diem for an 85-day session adds another $13,515 (60-day session per diem payments come to $9,540). Each legislator also receives an un-vouchered expense allowance of $6,000, plus up to $1,500 per month in other vouchered expenses. That comes to $50,340 to $54,315, depending on odd- or even-year sessions but not counting special sessions, for a part-time job. Either figure is considerably more than the average civil service employee makes for his or her full-time service. Moreover, each legislator receives a laptop computer for the Capitol, a desktop computer with high-speed internet service, up to three telephone lines for his or her district office, and up to $3,000 per month for the salary of a legislative aide. Finally, legislators serving on or before Jan. 1, 1997, or who were already participating in a public retirement system at that time, are eligible for retirement benefits of 3.5 percent of the member’s annual salary for each year of service. State civil service employees, by comparison, receive 2.5 percent of their annual salaries in retirement benefits.

Other Southern States.

Georgia legislators, make $49,000 a year which is comparable to Louisiana if you don’t count the perks provided their counterparts in Louisiana. In Alabama, lawmakers make about $33,110 per year and in Mississippi, the Senate took the unique step this year of voting 39-2 to lower legislators’ salaries by 10 percent. The measure, however, died in the House. Still Mississippi legislators make only $10,000 per year and in Arkansas, legislators draw a whopping $12,796 per year. Before you praise Mississippi too much, however, it should be noted that the legislature cut social welfare by 23.16 percent this year and hospitals and hospital schools by 16.68 percent. The smallest budget cut, however, was that of the legislature, which slashed its own budget by a measley 1.06 percent. Public education in Mississippi was cut by 5.73 percent and higher education’s cut was 3.42 percent and even as teachers across the state were facing layoffs, SB 2610 authorized increases of up to $8,300 per year to district attorneys in Mississippi.

Louisiana doesn’t seem to be unique when it comes to questionable legislation. Still, state civil service employees were caught off-guard when Rep. John M. Schroder (R-Abita Springs) attempted to push through legislation that would have forced them to take unpaid leave on legal holidays. As the controversy swirled around his proposed bill, he was asked to respond yes or no to a number of questions, one of which was “Have you accepted the $14 per day increase in per diem payments that automatically went into effect last October?” his response was a somewhat non-committal, “God bless you.” His bill to strip paid leave for holidays from employees failed.

Another bill that calls the courage of some 21 House members into question was HB 1390 by Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard (I-Thibodaux).

Richard, apparently recognizing the double standard of legislators’ accepting a 9.6% increase in per diem while denying 4% merit increases for classified employees, proposed freezing the per diem rate at $159 for two years, until July 2, 2012.

Richard’s bill, when brought brfore the full House, received 51 votes with 31 voting against HB 1390–just two votes shy of the majority needed for passage.

Those voting in favor of the bill: Damone Baldone, Taylor Barras, Robert Billiot, Jared Brossett, Richard Burford, Henry Burns, Tim Burns, Stephen Carter, Simone Champagne, Charles Chaney, Patrick Connick, Patrick Cortez, George Cromer, Michael Danahay, Herbert Dixon, Franklin Foil, Richard Gallot, Brett Geymann, Jerry Gisclair, Rickey Hardy, Lowell Hazel, Cameron Henry, Dorothy Hill, Frank Hoffmann, Nita Hutter, Robert Johnson, Sam Jones, Chuck Kleckley, John LaBruzzo, Nancy Landry, Walt Leger, Anthony Ligi, Samuel Little, Nick Lorusso, Rickey Nowlin, Kevin Pearson, Jonathan Perry, Rogers Pope, Jerome Richard, Clifton Richardson, Cedric Richmond, Christopher Roy, John Schroder, Gary Smith, Jane Smith, Karen St. Germain, Charmaine Stiaes, Kirk Talbot, Major Thibaut, Wayne Waddell, and Thomas Willmott.

Voting against the bill: House Speaker Jim Tucker, John Anders, James Armes, Jerrery Arnold, Elton Aubert, Austin Badon, Bobby Badon, Thomas Carmody, Billy Chandler, Jean Doerge, John Edwards, Hunter Greene, Joe Harrison, Reed Henderson, Frank Howard, Girod Jackson, Michael Jackson, Kay Katz, Eddie Lambert, Bernard LeBas, Joseph Lopinto, Tom McVea, Nickie Montica, Jack Montoucet, Barbara Norton, Stephen Pugh, Harold Ritchie, Joel Robideaux, Scott Simon, Patricia Smith, and Ernest Wooton.

Considering the financial plight of the state as a whole and the denial of merit raises for deserving employees in particular, we’re not at all pleased with those who voted to keep their own automatic increases but those who took a walk during the vote are particularly worthy of our disdain. A vote this important demands that each member display a modicum of courage and vote his or her convictions. To do otherwise is cowardly and demands an explanation.

So, here are those who did not vote on a key issue that failed by only two votes: Neil Abramson, Regina Barrow, Roy Burrell, Gordon Dove, Hollis Downs, Noble Ellington, James Fannin, A.B. Franklin, Mickey Guillory, John Guinn, Walker Hines, Rosalind Jones, Juan LaFonta, Fred Mills, James Morris, Erich Ponti, M.J. Smiley, Rickey Templet, Ledricka Thierry, Mack White, and Patrick Williams.

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