Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Victim of post-Katrina Road Home program comes to Baton Rouge seeking justice; departs defeated, disillusioned, angry

October 3, 2016 by tomaswell

Tony Pelicano won a skirmish but may have lost the war in his years-long battle with the Louisiana Office of Community Development (OCD) over poor workmanship and claims of fraud in connection with the reconstruction of a rent house in Metairie destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Because inferior materials were used in the work, Pelicano, himself a contractor, refused to accept the work and he filed suit against the contractor and the state filed suit against him to foreclose on the property.

The trial for his suit against Woodrow Wilson Contractors of Baton Rouge is scheduled for trial in January. The state’s foreclosure suit was scheduled for jury trial on Monday but the state threw a curve ball at Pelicano who apparently had not suffered quite enough in the eyes of OCD and the Division of Administration (DOA).

To make matters worse, the state’s attorney, Lesia Batiste, laughed at an emotional Pelicano after court adjourned.

Pelicano, represented by Baton Rouge attorney Jill Craft, entered Monday’s proceedings in 19th Judicial District Court fighting the state’s motion to deny Pelicano a jury trial but less than two hours before jury selection was slated to begin, Batiste filed a motion to dismiss its case without prejudice, meaning the state would be free to renew its foreclosure efforts at any time in the future.

Craft argued vehemently in favor of dismissal with prejudice, meaning the case would be over and done.

In September 2009, Pelicano was personally solicited by the State of Louisiana through OCD to submit an application to become the first test applicant for the Small Rental Program through the agency. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/09/23/state-ocd-figure-partnered-with-firm-that-blocked-repairs-to-road-home-project-shelter-at-home-follows-same-formula/

Specifications called for pressure treated lumber for the house but upon inspecting the work, Pelicano discovered pressure treated lumber was not used, leading almost immediately to termite infestation. Moreover, leaks in the roof resulted in rust of the top of the hot water heater and kitchen stove and the hot water heater was located in the wrong place, resulting in workers having to cut a hole in the door in order to close it. Joints and window sills have separated since the work was done, all of which have left the house uninhabitable despite Batiste’s contention that “I would live in the house.”

An independent engineer was retained by Pelicano to inspect the house. His photos-and-report are included here in order that you, the reader, can determine if you would pay rent to live in the house.

“I don’t file a suit and then come in here on the day of jury selection and say, ‘Hey, just kidding. They don’t get a do-over,” she said.

“The home owner (Pelicano) must approve a contractor’s punch list. All corrections in construction must be made before the contractor can be paid. These people (Pelicano and his wife) have gone through enough,” Craft said. “Dismissing without prejudice means the state may want to sue them again.”

She said the Pelicanos and the state “reached a settlement in 2013 and the state backed out. That cost my clients an extra $10,000 and now the state wants to allow itself another bite.”

Batiste argued that she did not believe a dismissal without prejudice would create any hardship on the Pelicanos.

District Judge Tim Kelley ruled that the Pelicanos were entitled to a jury trial but then upheld the state’s motion for dismissal without prejudice.

After Kelley adjourned court and exited the courtroom, Pelicano shouted to Batiste, “Take the house! Just take it! I’ve had it! I’m Through!”

Batiste, watching Pelicano’s emotional outburst, laughed.

“It’s not funny,” Craft said to Batiste.

LouisianaVoice asked Batiste why the state would not dismiss with prejudice and her answer left no doubt that the state still has the Pelicanos in its crosshairs.

“They’re under foreclosure,” she said. Not were, but are. Left unsaid was the unmistakable intent that the state would be back for more retribution against the Pelicanos at some future date.

“Have you seen that house?” we asked.

“Yes, I’ve been in it. There’s nothing wrong with it. I would live in it.”

No, she would not. Not without raising holy hell over the condition of the structure.

And neither would you. The mold and mildew in the house, fostered by what Pelicano says was the use of substandard materials,  presents a clear health hazard.

And now the state is asking August flood victims to trust its Shelter at Home program, the illegitimate child of its precursor, the Road Home program.

Pelicano came to Baton Rouge Monday hoping for some measure of justice but the state lived down to its customary expectations of disillusionment and disappointment which in turn only nurtures a climate of manipulation and corruption.

He deserves better.

Posted in Contract, Contracts, Corruption, Courts, DOA, Ethics, Fraud, Judges, Lawsuits | 4 Comments »

New David Duke joke: He thinks because Trump’s running strong for President, he is destined to win U.S. Senate race

October 2, 2016 by tomaswell

David Duke is delusional.

David Duke is an idiot.

A couple of other facts about David Duke:

He is no longer considered dangerous.

He’s a loser.

He’s not a has-been; he’s a never-was and a never-will-be.

In a Washington Post story, he is quoted as saying “The fact that Donald Trump’s doing so well, it proves that I’m winning. I am winning.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/with-white-supremacists-drawn-into-political-mainstream-david-duke-declares-victory/ar-BBwNn7p?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

Not so fast, Sparky. It ain’t happening.

I also personally remain convinced that Trump will not win (and before you say it, let me be clear that I’m nowhere close to being a Hillary fan, either).

The latest revelations that Trump may not have paid ANY income taxes for 18 years after claiming a loss of almost $1 billion in 1995 should cripple him with those of us who do not have the financial resources to employ an army of tax lawyers and accountants to enable him to evade taxes. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-campaign-reels-after-disclosure-of-1995-tax-returns/ar-BBwUGBY?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

(No wonder he has not made his tax returns public.)

The fact that the Trump campaign responded to The New York Times report by saying Trump was a “genius” (and by his saying in last week’s debate that he was “smart” to avoid taxes) should be taken as an insult to the rest of us who are obviously too damned stupid and dumb to avoid paying our own fair share.

Duke, however, thinks because Trump is doing well in the polls, he will win in the ongoing lottery to succeed David Vitter in the U.S. Senate.

But even if Trump wins every single electoral vote out there, David Duke is NOT going to be Louisiana’s next U.S. Senator.

I am already on record with several friends as predicting no more than 7 percent for Duke. But after realizing there are 24 candidates in the crowded field and that there is already a Duke semi-clone (U.S. Rep. John Fleming) in the race, I am downscaling Duke’s support to 3 percent maximum. He will be competing with Troy Hebert, the erstwhile Director of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, for the 24th position in the polling.

And that anemic support is precisely why I don’t consider Duke dangerous anymore. He is simply a non-factor, no any longer even a mild curiosity.

That’s not to say the white supremacist movement is dead. Far from it. Trump’s support base is clear evidence of that sad fact. But for Duke to believe he can ride that sad tide into the U.S. Senate is pure fantasy. (As my disclaimer, I understand fully that not all of Trump’s supporters are racists. A large measure of his support consists of Americans who are disillusioned with government in general and both major political parties in particular.)

And they’re frustrated with a U.S. Congress that is bought and packaged by big money paid by big oil, big pharma, big banks and big business so that they may avoid and evade taxes, pass legislation that enriches them at the expense of the environment, healthcare, the economy and the American people.

But David Duke is apparently oblivious to the fact that his agenda is not attached to any of those issues.

He peaked when he ran for governor against Edwin Edwards in 1991. Remember that race? All the pollsters called it a tossup. I told co-workers at the Office of Risk Management that when voters entered that voting booth and closed the curtains, there would be no way they would pull the leaver for Duke. I said then Edwards would get 60 percent of the vote.

He got 61 percent.

Duke for U.S. Senate in 2016?

3 percent max.

Posted in Elections, Governor's Office, Politicians, Senate | 27 Comments »

Stories, photos of statewide flooding still needed for book

October 2, 2016 by tomaswell

The floods that have hit Louisiana during 2016 have been devastating. And while the most recent floods in August were concentrated in the East Baton Rouge-Livingston-Ascension areas, others earlier in the year struck other parts of the state.

One family learned on Facebook of their home in Baton Rouge not only flooding, but burning when water got into the home’s electrical system—while they were vacationing in Texas.

I plan to publish a book about the widespread destruction inflicted on thousands of homeowners and businesses in Louisiana. Included in our book will be accounts of the difficulties of overcoming the burdensome red tape of the FEMA bureaucracy, local and state building codes, slow-paying insurance companies, and any other problems encountered with the floods and their aftermaths.

We want stories and photos about rescues (humans and pets), property losses, and any other events associated with the flooding.

Those whose stories and/or photos are used will receive complimentary signed copies of the book.

One-half of all net profits will be given to flood relief.

Please email your stories and/or photos to:

tom.aswell@yahoo.com

or mail to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, LA. 70727

Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »

Comparison of pay grids illustrates stark contrast between DPS and LSP salaries: both are under Edmonson’s command

October 2, 2016 by tomaswell

The simmering resentment between the Blue Shirts and the Gray Shirts isn’t going away anytime soon—at least as State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson continues to push for higher and higher pay for Louisiana State Police (LSP) while ignoring Department of Public Safety (DPS) police http://www.lsp.org/dps_police.html. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/09/16/two-year-old-edmonson-email-to-dps-seemed-to-promise-salary-increases-and-he-delivered-for-all-but-dps-officers/

DPS police may have a lower profile, a less public face than LSP officers. After all, DPS doesn’t detail officers to serve as bodyguards for the state’s college football coaches. That, by the way, is precisely the total qualifications of Edmonson to be Superintendent of State Police; he served as Nick Saban’s personal escort when he was LSU’s head coach.

Carrying that thought a bit further, it has always escaped me why a coach with upwards of 100 beefy, muscular jocks in protective pads and helmets surrounding him would need a bodyguard. Does anyone out there agree with me that this seems like a colossal waste of manpower, money and resources invested in training these men as law enforcement officers?

Before nabbing that plum assignment, Edmonson was the LSP Public Information Officer with precious little experience as a road trooper and zero experience in a supervisory capacity.

His appointment, for those who don’t remember, was made by Bobby Jindal soon after he became governor in 2008.

Besides the title of Superintendent of State Police, he also carries the title as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Public Safety. http://www.dps.louisiana.gov/deputy.html

With the latter title, Edmonson is also responsible for the well-being of the DPS officers and that would include working for better pay for them as well as for State Troopers.

Instead, we learn that instead of going to bat for DPS, he is going after DPS with a bat. We have been told there was an intensive effort to ferret out the identities of those in DPS who spoke to us about pay issues for DPS officers. The only reason to seek those identities, of course, would be for reprisals.

In an earlier post about the recent pay increase for Edmonson and his inner circle, we said the raises were approved in House Bill 1 in the 2016 legislative session.

Not so. It turns out the salary for Edmonson is set by the governor at his discretion and Edmonson took it upon himself to the increase certain subordinates’ salaries to levels that exceed the State Police pay grid.

We recently obtained a copy of the DPS pay grid and we offer both for your comparison.

Posted in Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, LSU, State Police | 1 Comment »

Native of Puerto Rico, resident of New Orleans, former hedge fund manager now taking on Scalise, political establishment

September 29, 2016 by tomaswell

He’s a walkin’ contradiction, partly truth, partly fiction
Takin’ ev’ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home

(The Pilgrim—Kris Kristofferson)

It was the noon hour in Walk On’s on Poydras Street in New Orleans and a noisy lunch crowd was packed in as one of the flat screen televisions was demanding my attention with a re-play of the Boston Red Sox players celebrating their American League East Championship after two straight years of finishing dead last in the division.

I watched because the Red Sox have been my favorite team since Ted Williams won an American League batting championship with a .388 average in 1957 at age 38. I was 14 at the time. He retired in 1960, hitting a home run in his last at-bat. (My second favorite team is the Chicago Cubs: Dare I hope for a dream World Series between the two? Hey, it could happen.)

He walked into the Restaurant a few minutes late (after I had called to say I would be two hours late). Seeing him looking around for someone he’d never met, I signaled to him to let him know I was his lunch appointment. “Sorry I’m late. I made some money today,” he said as he slid into the booth.

Danil Ezekiel Faust is a candidate for Congress from Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District and he doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell because he has no money and he’s running against an incumbent (Steve Scalise) who has millions.

And that is precisely why he’s running.

The money he made was as an online trader

A Puerto Rican Irish Jew, Faust, a Democrat, is what Kris Kristofferson calls a walking contradiction: He is a former manager of an Arizona hedge fund who continues to play the market but who at the same time despises Wall Street and everything it stands for.

His hero also happens to be is favorite American President: Andrew Jackson. “They can take down those statues of Confederate soldiers, but not Andrew Jackson. The man took a bullet in the chest defending his wife’s honor. He was opposed to a National Bank…and he was right. He is a real American hero,” overlooking the fact that Jackson also signed into law the Indian Removal Act that stained America’s history with the Trail of Tears.

And like so many others, he insists there is entirely too much money in politics.

He also is a strong proponent of wind energy, a sure way to gin up substantial opposition (read: campaign contributions for his opponent) from the fossil fuel industry. He is pro-choice and an unabashed supporter of gay rights and equal pay for women.

And he keeps right on a-changin’ for the better or the worse
Searchin’ for a shrine he’s never found
Never knowin’ if believin’ is a blessin’ or a curse
Or if the goin’ up was worth the comin’ down

 “If I had the money to play on a level playing field, there’s no doubt I could win,” he said between bites of his heart-attack inducing bacon cheeseburger.

But he has no official organization. His campaign headquarters are in his former residence upstairs over the Three-Legged Dog at 400 Burgundy in the French Quarter. His business cards are from a computer program.

Most of all, though, he has no financial backing. Scalise, on the other hand, earlier tied by blogger Lamar White to a Ku Klux Klan event at which David Duke was the main speaker, has the Koch brothers and their Americans for Prosperity (AFP) pouring money into his re-election campaign through various Super PACs which, unfortunately drowns out the message of any underfunded opponent.

“AFP, I believe, held a big social event on the same night at Acme Oyster House right next door to Scalise’s headquarters,” he said.

No one can be heard over the roar of cash being poured into the campaign of an entrenched—and bought—incumbent. And there is no greater concentration of bought politicians than in the U.S. Congress.

Never mind that Scalise voted against federal funding to assist Super Storm Sandy victims in New Jersey but now is demanding federal funds for Louisiana’s flood victims. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-louisiana-floods-20160822-snap-story.html

Faust, a native of Puerto Rico (take note, birthers: he can never be President), stopped temporarily in New Orleans en route to his intended destination—New York, where he planned to take a job with another hedge fund. But while in New Orleans, he fell in love. With New Orleans and its diverse culture “and its laid-back way of life.”

He took a job as a doorman at a French Quarter strip club. It was while working at that job that he began watching and listening. He learned some unforgettable lessons about the realities of life and the local power structure. In short, he knows where a lot of political skeletons are buried. “It was nothing for politicians and powerful businessmen to come into the club and drop $10,000,” he said.

He said the much-ballyhooed Operation Trick or Treat conducted a year ago by the Louisiana State Police (LSP) and the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) was a sham. The clubs that played ball and made the right political contributions were never investigated, he said.

He also said the LSP and ATC sweep in Operation Trick or Treat and a campaign to limit the number of strip clubs in the French Quarter was the idea of established strip clubs friendly with ATC’s then-director Troy Hebert “to keep down competition.”

So what made Danil Faust run?

“I kept hearing that David Duke was going to run,” he said. “But in the end, he got in the U.S. Senate race instead. I even heard Troy Hebert was running.”

Hebert, who also opted to join the crowded (24 candidates) Senate race, does not reside in the First Congressional District but in Louisiana, residency is not a requirement. (The First Congressional District, by the way, was used by Bobby Jindal as a springboard to the governor’s office.)

“Other than Scalise, no one is running for the office,” he said. Actually, there are seven candidates on the ballot, but like Faust, none of the other five challengers is given a chance in this election.

But that’s what happens when big money like the Kochs, George Soros, Donald Sussman, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Stephens, Hank Greenburg, and the Devos family, to name but a few, overpowers and corrupts the electoral process. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/superpac-donors-2016/

And no matter if his passion is Andrew Jackson, or if he works as a hedge fund manager, an advocate of wind power, a strip club doorman or a political candidate, Danil Ezekiel Faust remains his own man.

But if this world keeps right on turnin’ for the better or the worse
And all he ever gets is older and around
From the rockin’ of the cradle to the rollin’ of the hearse
The goin’ up was worth the comin’ down

Posted in ATC, Campaign Contributions, Elections, Finances, House, Senate, PACs, Politicians, Senate, State Police | 9 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »