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Our semi-annual fund drive continues: Please help us keep you informed about local and state government activities

September 21, 2017 by tomaswell

The story below about how a State Trooper was deprived of a buyout incentive the state was offering for early retirement by a state police official who, never intending to retire, took advantage of the package but returned to work the following day at a promotion and with an additional $59,000 is typical of the work LouisianaVoice does in efforts to expose wrongdoing, malfeasance, and waste in state and local government.

We work very hard to check our sources, obtain public records, and show how underhanded and deceitful some of (certainly not all) our elected and appointed officials can be. We document everything possible to document before printing anything about public officials so that you, the citizens of Louisiana, may know how your tax dollars are being spent—and more often than not, wasted.

But our work isn’t free—or even cheap. We must pay for public records. There are times when we may pay hundreds of dollars for stacks of records that yield nothing. No story, no revelations, no earth-shattering exposé. But then sometimes we find that nugget hidden away amongst hundreds of pages of documents that reveal what someone didn’t want us to know.

That digging also takes hours upon of hours of review of public records.

And then there is the cost of driving to agency after agency, parishes as close as East Baton Rouge and as far away as Caddo as we run down leads. One such trip even took us to Jackson, Mississippi, to track down records about a Louisiana official—records that produced a major story.

LouisianaVoice does not accept advertising nor do we charge a subscription fee to our readership. That is why twice a year, we conduct a fundraising drive. It is the generosity of our readers that allows us to keep doing what we do.

You are certainly not obligated to contribute but if you like what we do and respect that we stand for honesty and integrity in all levels of government, in accountability to the citizens of Louisiana, and in knowing the story behind the stories, we humbly ask that you help us accomplish those goals.

Please click on the yellow “DONATE” button at the upper right hand side of this post and contribute what you can via credit card or send a check to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, LA. 70727

Thank you.

Tom Aswell, publisher

 

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments »

Did Jill Boudreaux game the system to put the kibosh on retirement buyout for State Trooper so she could get hers?

September 21, 2017 by tomaswell

When Department of Public Safety (DPS) Undersecretary Jill Boudreaux took that early incentive retirement buyout and then returned after a one-day “retirement,” and after having promoted herself to Undersecretary, she not only pocketed $59,000 to which she was not entitled, but knocked a New Orleans State Trooper out of tens of thousands of dollars by denying his retirement request.

LouisianaVoice first published the story in April 2014 of how Boudreaux gamed the system (Click HERE for that story) back in April 2010 but only recently learned of how in doing so, she deprived a 28-year veteran of the opportunity to take advantage of the special incentive buyout offered at the time by the Jindal administration.

Here is a copy of the email Boudreaux distributed to DPS employees: EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE NOTICE

The email, dated April 21, spelled out the formula for calculating the buyout, based on salary and accrued leave time and offered the incentive plan to up to 20 applicants with participation being on a first come, first serve basis.

The problem for State Police Sgt. Troy McConnell was that he, unaware of the buyout plan, had submitted his retirement notice at 4 p.m. the previous day (April 20) in order to take a job as a member of newly-elected New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s security detail.

Some might say that the rules are the rules, but upon learning of the incentive the following day and knowing that it was virtually impossible for the state to process his retirement papers in one day’s time, he quickly contacted his superiors at Louisiana State Police (LSP) headquarters in Baton Rouge about rescinding and re-submitting his application with an April 21 date so that he would be eligible for the buyout.

His request was referred to LSP Human Resources (HR) and on up the chain to Boudreaux who indicated there were already about 20 letters of intent in HR at the time the memorandum was distributed and that most of those applicants had also called. She advised that once applications had been received by HR, they could not be withdrawn or cancelled.

Boudreaux’s position does not agree with that of a source with long time experience at LSP who said he was aware of more than one potential retiree withdrawing a request to retire. “The rule had generally been so long as the retirement board had not acted on the application, the potential retiree could select another date without prejudice,” he said.

“It was not unusual for a trooper to file a letter of intent to retire and then withdraw it for one reason or another and ask to set a new date” he said.

“But then none of those prior requests for changes would have negatively impacted Jill Boudreaux’s retirement and prompt return to service,” he added, “so this was an easy call for her to make.”

Nor did it correspond to information provided by the State Office of Civil Service.

While State Civil Services does not regulate retirement, here are the Civil Service Rules that deal with resignations:

12.11 Resignations

(a) An employee’s oral or written resignation becomes effective on the date and time specified by the employee. An oral resignation must be documented by the person receiving it.

(b) An employee may not withdraw or modify the resignation after the appointing authority accepts it, unless the appointing authority agrees (emphasis added).

The appointing authority in this case would have been LSP. Because less than 24 hours had elapsed when McConnell made his request to rescind his application, the State Police Retirement Board obviously had not had time to formally accept it. Accordingly, McConnell’s retirement application could easily have been withdrawn and re-submitted, Boudreaux’s claim to the contrary notwithstanding.

“That is consistent with what I’ve seen over the years,” the LSP source said.

And yes, the rules are the rules. No one, including McConnell questions that—except the rules did not prohibit his withdrawing his application for later submission as Boudreaux claimed. “It is what it is,” McConnell told LouisianaVoice by telephone today.

But that didn’t stop Boudreaux from grabbing one of the 20 incentives for herself, pocketing $59,000 and returning to work the very next day—with a promotion. You gotta love her chutzpah.

Boudreaux was subsequently directed by then-Commissioner of Administration Angelle Davis to return the money she had received but she never did. She retired for good six years later, on March 4, 2016, reportedly at the direction of Gov. John Bel Edwards. (See that story HERE).

Despite Boudreaux’s having elbowed her way to the front of the line—she reportedly was the very first to submit her application for the early retirement package—McConnell harbors no resentment today.

“Yeah, I was a little bitter at the time because I felt I should have been able to withdraw my application and re-submit,” he said. “But overall, I have been blessed to have been able to work for State Police all those years. I’m satisfied.”

Posted in Civil Service, Corruption, Ethics, Incentives, Retirement, State Police | 3 Comments »

It has now been 17 months and AG’s investigation of Union Parish jail rape still not completed: How long, Jeff Landry?

September 20, 2017 by tomaswell

Yesterday, Sept. 19, was the 17-month anniversary of the rape of that 17-year-old female meth addict in the Union Parish Jail by a man already convicted of aggravated rape who was awaiting sentencing. (See LouisianaVoice’s initial story HERE.)

Seventeen months and still no resolution to Attorney General Jeff Landry’s “investigation.”

Because the Union Parish Detention Center is run by a consortium comprised of the mayors of Union Parish municipalities, the Union Parish Sheriff, the Union Parish Police Jury and the local district attorney, District Attorney John Belton correctly recused his office from the investigation and requested the assistance of Landry’s office.

Apparently, that’s where the “investigation” ended.

Landry, who harbors an apparent obsession with issuing news releases that promote Jeff Landry almost on a daily basis, is never shy in boasting about his intolerance for wrongdoing and how his office will not stand for (fill in the blank for whichever hot button topic a particular days’ news release is about).

A few samples:

  • In the aftermath of the devastating Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has issued a Public Service Announcement to protect consumers from purchasing a flood-damaged vehicle. 
  • Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is warning the public of online promotions that mislead consumers to believe they can receive money from a settlement reached between the nation’s four largest tobacco companies and attorneys general from 46 states and territories.
  • “It is important for consumers to understand that if an advertisement sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said General Landry. “Louisiana consumers should be on guard that if a promotion is promising free money, it may not be legitimate.”
  • “Our award-winning Medicaid welfare fraud investigators work around the clock to fight waste, fraud, and abuse in this program so critical to our State’s most vulnerable,” said General Landry. “With the Governor’s expansion of Medicaid welfare, we recognize the need for even greater detection and prevention of taxpayer-funded Medicaid welfare fraud.”
  • “I have made it clear since entering office that the Louisiana Department of Justice will not stand for corrupt public officials,” said General Landry. “The people of our State deserve better and should expect more out of those who are appointed or elected to serve.”
  • Attorney General Jeff Landry today announced the arrest of a New Orleans woman for practicing dentistry without a license, providing services to illegal immigrants. “When there are unlicensed people posing as professionals, it violates the public’s trust,” said General Landry. “There are too many hard-working people in our State to let criminals affect their professions.”
  • “My Public Protection Division works tirelessly to ensure companies that deceive Louisiana consumers are held accountable for their actions,” said General Landry. “This resolution does just that and should serve as a reminder for those doing business in our State to follow manufacturing safety standards.”
  • In an effort led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, nine states are urging the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) to evaluate Obama-era consent decrees and ongoing civil rights cases with a goal of working collaboratively to end them.
  • “Our office fights daily to protect our State’s seniors and sick. Criminals preying on Louisiana’s most vulnerable will investigated, apprehended, and prosecuted,” said General Landry. “It is a disgusting travesty for the elderly, especially Holocaust survivors, to be scammed and robbed by those supposedly caring for them. I hope to get justice for our victims very soon.”
  • “My office will not rest in our pursuit of those who rob much needed services from our State’s most vulnerable,” said Attorney General Jeff Landry. “Our award-winning fraud detection and prevention unit remains committed to uncovering, investigating, and arresting those who attempt to defraud the system.”

You gotta give Jeff Landry credit: He certainly can self-promote.

Somehow, though, he can’t seem to complete an investigation of the rape of a 17-year-old girl even though he is in possession of the following relevant information:

  • He knows the date of the assault;
  • He knows the location of the assault;
  • He knows the identity of the rape victim;
  • He knows the identity of the rapist.

So, what more does he need? Why has his office’s “investigation” still not been completed after 17 months?

The answer is simple and it’s a sad indictment of the political culture and the political agenda of not only the state of Louisiana in particular but the entire nation in general.

It’s the same reason words like cooperation, bipartisanship, and compromise are relics of the past in Washington.

Just look around and you can see the answer everywhere, like so much low-hanging fruit:

In the words of one state official: It’s low priority because there’s no political capital to be gained.

Where, after all, are the votes in defending the rights of a 17-year-old girl who is a meth addict and who can’t vote?

She probably is oblivious to Landry’s gubernatorial aspirations.

Posted in Attorney General, Corruption, Courts, Crime, Elections, Ethics, Prison | 6 Comments »

LouisianaVoice kicks off fundraiser with goal of $20k

September 19, 2017 by tomaswell

It’s that time again and LouisianaVoice is requesting your help in this our second fund drive of the year.

In its six-plus years of existence, LouisianaVoice has broken many stories and has also been there to explain and expand other stories so that you, the reader, may have a better grasp of the hows and whys of state politics. By examining the inter-relationship between policy and politics, I feel LouisianaVoice has shone a light on official misconduct that has revealed:

  • The strong connections between campaign contributions and political appointments and contracts;
  • How an official “investigation” can be quietly thwarted simply by the selection of the person charged with conducting the investigation;
  • How campaign contributions to the right people by certain interests pay huge dividends;
  • How elected officials make generous use of campaign funds for non-campaign purposes;

https://louisianavoice.com/category/lsu/page/2/;

  • How elected officials parlay their positions into lucrative private sector gains;
  • How those who take oaths to protect the interest of Louisiana citizens don’t always remain true to those oaths.

LouisianaVoice peels off the outer layers of state and local government to reveal the sordid underbelly of political wheeling and dealing the mainstream media seldom, if ever, reports.

LouisianaVoice was there first with numerous major stories:

  • There was the story of how State Sen. Neil Riser (currently a candidate for State Treasurer) slipped an amendment onto an otherwise benign bill in the waning minutes of the 2014 legislative session that would have given State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson an addition $100,000 per year in retirement benefits. The bill would have allowed Edmonson to revoke his so-called “irrevocable” action of locking in his retirement several years earlier. It would not have given that same opportunity to thousands of other state employees who had also signed up for the unique Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP). Because of our story (the result of an anonymous tip), the courts ruled Edmonson was not eligible for the special treatment.

Numerous other stories about Edmonson’s loosely-run Louisiana State Police (LSP) appeared on this site and this site only, including stories of troopers who had been fined for sneaking an underaged woman into a Mississippi casino and subsequently promoted; a trooper who was hooked on prescription drugs and using them while on duty and was subsequently promoted; a trooper who engaged in sexual activity in his patrol car and received only token punishment, and of a trooper who repeatedly was asleep in his bed when he was supposed to be on patrol.

Those stories were capped with the infamous San Diego trip by 17 state troopers to see Edmonson win a national award. Four of those troopers went by car and took a side trip to the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and to Las Vegas. Only after that story broke did Gov. Edwards finally step in to force Edmonson’s retirement.

  • LouisianaVoice broke the story of how Troy Hebert used his position as head of the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) to coerce a restaurant manager in New Orleans to have sex with him in exchange for his granting her restaurant a liquor license.
  • LouisianaVoice broke the story that revealed that Superintendent of Education John White had entered into a surreptitious agreement with Rupert Murdoch to provide personal student information to Murdoch’s company, News Corp., the parent company of Fox News.

https://louisianavoice.com/2013/02/20/doe-emails-reveal-secretive-programs-ties-to-gates-rupert-murdoch-and-fox-news-network-agency-in-general-disarray/

  • We also broke stories that illustrated how State Sen. Conrad Appel profited by investing in a Microsoft program just as his committee approved the program for use in Louisiana schools and we showed how State Rep. Chris Broadwater who previously oversaw the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) went to work for SAS, a consulting firm within weeks of his office’s awarding a $4.2 million contract to the firm.

https://louisianavoice.com/2014/01/08/legislator-former-owc-director-took-job-with-firm-within-weeks-after-his-office-awarded-company-4-million-contract/

  • We wrote about how former Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols, skating perilously close to violation of the state’s ethics laws, took a job with Ochsner Health System after the Division of Administration under her watch signed a contract that contained, among other things, including 50 blank pages, provisions for Ochsner to assist Southern Regional Medical Corp., whose only member is Terrebonne General Medical Center, in the operation of Leonard Chabert Medical Center.

https://louisianavoice.com/2015/09/17/more-on-kristys-new-job-it-seems-ochsner-gets-17-6-million-for-running-chabert-hospital/

  • Only LouisianaVoice published a complete list of oil and gas contributions to each legislator that showed precisely why legislators were reluctant to pursue litigation against oil companies for destroying our marshes and coastal waterways.
  • And of course, LouisianaVoice wrote extensively about how Bobby Jindal attempted to railroad former ATC Director Murphy Painter because Painter refused to circumvent state requirements in order to issue a liquor permit for Tom Benson’s Champion Square. Jindal not only fired Painter, but even went so far as to trump up criminal charges against Painter, who was acquitted after a federal trial.

https://louisianavoice.com/2014/10/24/another-embarrassment-for-jindal-ex-atc-commissioner-murphy-painter-wins-defamation-suit-against-his-accuser/

  • LouisianaVoice was the first—and only—outlet to suggest that Painter was being framed by Jindal.

https://louisianavoice.com/2013/02/06/emerging-claims-lawsuits-could-transform-murphy-painter-from-predator-to-all-too-familiar-victim-of-jindal-reprisals/

LouisianaVoice does not accept advertising for obvious reasons (though I have noticed that WordPress has of late begun slipping ads in at the bottom of my stories—against my wishes and certainly not to my financial gain).

Our only alternative is to charge a monthly or yearly subscription fee, which I am holding off doing as long as possible because I want LouisianaVoice stories to be available to anyone who wishes to read them.

Only through your generous support can I continue to do what I do. What started initially as a blog devoted solely to news about state agencies, has mushroomed into requests to investigate local government, including courts, judges, school boards, sheriffs’ offices and even cold case murders.

I sincerely attempt to look into all requests (except matters involving family disputes; I leave that to the family courts). This takes time and money. I am encountering more and more resistance to my requests for public records which in turn, is going to require legal action. That costs money.

Out of town trips are not free and gasoline is not cheap.

Your financial support is the only thing that keeps LouisianaVoice churning out stories about official wrongdoing.

Our goal is $20,000.

You can give by credit card by clicking on the yellow “Donate” button at the right or you can mail your contribution to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, LA. 70727

If you value freedom of the press and if you appreciate what we do, please help keep the stories coming.

And please forward this post on Facebook.

Thank you.

Tom Aswell, publisher

Posted in Politics | 6 Comments »

‘Independent entity’ LSTA uses state employee, state email to send out invitations for retiree BBQ—to ousted member

September 18, 2017 by tomaswell

The Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) and its legal counsel, Floyd Falcon, went to great lengths last year to inform the general public and the media that LSTA was not a public entity and had no official affiliation with Louisiana State Police (LSP).

The issue of separation was invoked on several occasions not only by LSTA and Falcon but by Natchitoches attorney Taylor Townsend, retained by the Louisiana State Police Commission LSPC to investigate illegal campaign contributions by LSTA.

That position was taken in an effort to thwart an investigation by Townsend of the contributions. It worked. Townsend, in his report back to LSPC recommended that “no action be taken.”

LSTA, LSPC, Falcon and Townsend repeatedly said LSPC had no jurisdiction to investigate LSTA, a private, non-profit organization, because it was not affiliated with LSP and that there was no connection between state police and the association other than association members were active and retired State Troopers.

But when four retired troopers appeared before LSPC (the state police equivalent of the State Civil Service Board) to complain about the political contributions (including $10,000 each to Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards in their respective campaigns for governor), they were promptly drummed out of the association on the recommendation of the Troop A (Baton Rouge headquarters) affiliate chapter of LSTA.

But wait.

At least two of the retirees (Leon “Bucky” Millet of Lake Arthur, one of the original four retirees to complain of the contributions and another retiree we shall call Lawrence because he prefers that his name not be revealed because he is still an LSTA member, last week received an invitation to attend a “Retiree BBQ” on Oct. 12 at the LSTA offices at 8120 Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge.

The invitation asked that invitees “Please RSVP to Karen Schexnayder.” Schexnayder is an administrative Assistant for the Office of Motor Vehicles which like LSP, is part of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

But here’s the real kicker:

Included at the bottom of the invitation so as to make it easier to RSVP was a state email address for Schexnayder.

Here is the LSTA invitation, forwarded to LouisianaVoice by Lawrence:

(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

So if LSTA, LSPC, LSP, Floyd Falcon, and Taylor Townsend all insist that LSTA is a separate entity from LSP (LSTA officers receive a stipend from LSTA for their service on the board), how is it that Schexnayder, clearly a Department of Public Safety (DPS) employee, is performing clerical work for a private organization that insists there is no connection between it and LSP?

The same question occurred to our friend Lawrence a couple of years ago when he requested the email addresses of LSTA board members. That email list was provided to Lawrence on Nov. 15, 2015, by LSTA employee Hillary Moses via the following email:

From: Hillary H. Moses

Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2015 10:35 PM

To:

Subject: Re:

Hello Mr.:

Below, I have listed the information you requested. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Exec. Director David.T.Young@la.gov

President Stephen.Lafargue@la.gov

HQ Rodney.Hyatt@la.gov

A Derek.Sentino@la.gov

B Chris.P.Brown@la.gov 

C Larry.Badeaux@la.gov

D Chance.Thomas@la.gov

E Christopher.Wright@la.gov

F Edwin.Knowles@la.gov (Kirk)

G Hackley.Willis@la.gov

I Dale.Latham@la.gov

L James.O’Quinn@la.gov 

Retiree Doussan.Rando@la.gov

Young, the LSTA Executive Director, is not a state employee nor is he a retired state trooper, so it’s puzzling why he would have a state email address. (But then, all those campaign contributions were laundered through Young’s personal checking account and he simply submitted expense receipts for reimbursement, so with so much chicanery taking place at LSTA, why the hell not give him a state email account?)

Lawrence, upon receiving his retiree barbecue invitation, decided to see if LSTA board members were still listing their state email addresses as their contact emails—a practice that is against state ethics laws. So, at 12:46 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 18) he sent the following email below to Moses:

From:
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 12:46 PM
To: Hillary H. Moses
Subject:

“Hillary, thanks for your email. I have this email from you from 2015 which lists all the board of directors then.  If you notice, all the email addresses are government email address.   Are you telling me now that you and the LSTA are now in charge of government email address?  Has this information been a policy change?  

It didn’t take long for a response. Nine minutes later, at 12:55 p.m., Moses assured Lawrence that state email addresses are no longer used for LSTA correspondence:

From: Hillary Moses

Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 12:55 PM

To:

Subject:

The Association no longer uses state government e-mail addresses for the purpose of LSTA correspondence.

Hillary H. Moses

Louisiana State Troopers Association

(225)928-2000

www.LATroopers.org

At 2:14 p.m., Lawrence emailed LouisianaVoice his take on Moses’s response:

From:
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 2:14 PM
To: Tom Aswell
Subject:

I beg to differ as spelled out on the retiree invitation.

Millet was not content with merely voicing his disgust to LouisianaVoice. He responded directly to the Troop A Affiliate President who just happens to be the one who made the motion to revoke the memberships of the four retirees:

From: Bucky Millet <teammoonlite@yahoo.com>
Date: September 14, 2017 at 5:00:01 PM CDT
To: “karen.schexnayder@la.gov” <karen.schexnayder@la.gov>
Cc: Kevin Reeves <kevin.reeves@la.gov>
Subject: Retiree BBQ

Troop A Affiliate President Derek Sentino: 

I would like to respectfully decline your invitation to the retiree BBQ. As documented in the LSTA minutes, you apparently, on behalf of the Troop A affiliate, made the original motion to remove me and three other members, two of whom were Lifetime vested (47 years), and two others who were long-term members. 

All four were in good standing until they were so bold as to shed light on unethical and illegal actions taken by the LSTA.  As you are quite aware the LSTA has signed a consent agreement admitting to some of the violations and a fine was required.  

The four members honorably served their country—three in Vietnam and one in Iraq in addition to serving the people of the State of Louisiana. 

I would wonder if the money to be spent for the BBQ could be used to better serve the 20-plus retired members who were flooded. Apparently the LSTA found money to provide $1,000 to the active members who flooded. 

They also find money for gifts and entertainment for the legislators and Governor.

The remaining retired members need to realize that they are apparently considered as has-beens.

Apparently to be part of “THE BLUE BROTHERHOOD,” 

1.You must be an active member.

2.You must be able to violate the oath that you have taken and overlook unethical and illegal behavior.

Leon “Bucky” Millet

So, the bottom line is this: Someone must address the question in clear and convincing terms of whether or not LSTA is actually an independent organization as it claims or does it have the tacit approval to co-mingle its activities and correspondence through LSP by calling on the services of state employees and state email?

From where we sit, the lines are hopelessly blurred.

 

Posted in Politics | 8 Comments »

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