Please indulge me as I show you that these statements are
lies and misinformation perpetuated by Mayor Yenni and have no basis in fact.
My Lawsuit is
Costing the City ”as much as $2 Million in Financing Costs”
Prior to Thursday’s council meeting, Council President
Jeannie Black approached me and made that claim. She said that she had heard
that “from several people” but she would not disclose who those people were or
how they arrived at that number. She asked me to stop the lawsuit and ask Mayor
Yenni, during the televised meeting, to elaborate on what I was costing the
city.
Obviously, I declined to do both which frustrated
Councilwoman Black.
In the first case, myself, individually and as President of
Citizens For a Better Kenner (CFBK) entered into the lawsuit. The CFBK Officers
voted to pursue the litigation because they believed, as I do, that Kenner
residents should have the right to vote on an important matter like this which will
tie up $3.2 Million in sales tax revenue for the next 20 years.
While I could remove myself as a Plaintiff (which I wouldn’t
because I believe that the residents of Kenner should have the right to vote),
I couldn’t eliminate CFBK from the lawsuit unilaterally and without the
approval of the other Officers.
Second, the litigation is ongoing, so I’m not going to make
any public statements regarding it. In fact, my only statements here will be to
refute these false allegations.
Since I refused to engage Mayor Yenni during the council
meeting as Councilwoman Black requested, another council member, District 4 Councilwoman Maria DeFrancesch,
did.
During the discussion regarding the second reading of an
ordinance to officially approve the sale of the bonds, Councilwoman DeFrancesch
asked Finance Director Duke McConnell to discuss what the delay in selling the
bonds due to my lawsuit had cost the city. Mr. McConnell estimated that it
would cost the city an additional $1.5 – 2 Million in financing costs if the
bonds were sold now versus what the city could have spent had it sold the bonds
a month ago when I filed the lawsuit.
What neither noted was that the sale of the bonds involves a
process, a process which is still not complete.
Thursday’s council meeting would have been the final piece
in the process as the council would have voted to approve the sale of the
bonds. Prior to the council passing this final hurdle, the bonds could not have
been sold.
Yes, due to the lawsuit, the council deferred voting on the
matter for 1 meeting. However, since the bonds couldn’t have been sold a month
ago, without the council passing this ordinance and giving its approval for the
actual sale of the bonds, any discussion regarding the interest rate, the
financing costs, etc. are purely speculation.
Hypothetically, if I had not filed the lawsuit and the
council had delayed giving the bonds their final approval, would Mayor Yenni be
blaming the council for increasing these “phantom” costs?
Let me put this another way. Your boss tells you that, next
month, you’re going to get a raise. Can you spend that money now or do you need
to wait until the raise is actually in your paycheck and your bank account?
These bonds aren’t close to being in Kenner’s bank account
yet and, without council approval, they wouldn’t be – with or without my
lawsuit.
Yes it’s true that interest rates could rise before the
bonds are sold. It’s also true that they could decline.
So, if the bonds haven’t been priced to determine their
interest rate and if they haven’t been sold because the council hasn’t given them
the final approval to be sold, how can anyone estimate what the lawsuit has
cost the city when there are other variables to include?
Just as Mr. McConnell pulled a figure out of the air, I
could also blame Mayor Yenni for costing the city Millions since he didn’t try
to sell bonds a year ago when interest rates were even lower.
But, you won’t see an article about that in the
Times-Picayune.
“V for Vendetta or
is it Vigilante?”
Since he has been mayor, Yenni has engaged in attempting to
discredit anyone who opposes his ideas. He has even resorted to childish antics
like name-calling.
It is no surprise that I am a lightning rod for the Mayor’s
disapproval, or his name-calling.
In 2011, in Mayor Yenni’s column in the Kenner Star, Yenni
criticized citizens who attend the council meetings and speak at the end of the
meeting to address the council.
Yenni called these citizens, “a dozen or so well-practiced
but familiar mouths that appear from meeting to meeting” and said, “we are
hearing from a core group of constant complainers who seem choreographed to
create chaos”. He even claimed that some council members were using these
citizens as puppets.
Of course, when I asked Mayor Yenni who he was referring to,
he denied that he was talking about me or any members of CFBK. However, at many
council meetings, myself and other CFBK members are the majority of those, and
sometimes the only citizens, who speak.
In addition, Mayor Yenni has labeled my group, Citizens For
a Better Kenner, as “Bitter” and “Sinister”. He even said that CFBK should be
called “CAVE – Citizens Against Virtually Everything”.
Thursday’s article on Nola.com was posted at 8:25pm on 6/20
(Thursday). It was updated on Friday, June 21st at 11:16am to
include the following paragraph:
‘In
a statement, Yenni said, "It is disturbing that one man with a personal
agenda can single-handedly act on his own behalf and claim that it is in the
name of all people. Bennetti has cost Kenner millions of dollars. He is a
self-proclaimed vigilante, but he's nothing more than vengeful and
selfish." ‘
I don’t know if the time lag in updating the article was so
Mayor Yenni could call his Political Consultant Greg Buisson and write a
statement or why Mayor Yenni couldn’t simply answer the Times-Picayune reporter’s
questions at the council meeting as I did.
But, in any event, it seems that I have now progressed up
the food chain from “Bitter” and “Sinister” to “Vengeful and Selfish” along
with being “A self-proclaimed vigilante”.
Glad to know that Mayor Yenni is getting his money’s worth
from his Political Consultant and that they are now using multi-syllable words
and even hyphens.
Could someone please explain how advocating for a voter
referendum makes me “selfish”? I’m not receiving Millions in government
contracts for this work. I’m not receiving anything – in fact, this lawsuit is
costing time and money. How is it “selfish” if you have nothing to gain except
the right to vote on the future of your city?
Now, to be fair, I have been critical of Mayor Yenni on the
radio, on TV, in print and, of course, online. But, I’m critical of a lot of
people who I think are inept or corrupt and I’ve never personally attacked
Mayor Yenni although I frequently attack his “ideas”.
Regarding inept politicians, I was critical of former
Governor Kathleen Blanco who I believed was extremely inept. I was critical of
former Kenner Mayor Ed Muniz who I believed not only was also inept but scored
the Daily Double by also surrounding himself with people (like former CAO and
current Mayor Yenni) who were even more inept than he was. Now that, is the mark of a true leader!
Speaking of Mayor Yenni’s background, prior to his
appointment as CAO for then Mayor Muniz, Yenni’s claim to fame was being in
charge of Jefferson Parish’s Mardi Gras Parades. I know that many of you will
enjoy the irony in that bit of information.
And, I’ve also been critical of elected officials who I believe
are both inept AND corrupt including former Parish President Aaron Broussard, former Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee and former State Senator Derrick Shephard.
Long before two of the three (Broussard, Shephard) were indicted, I was
critical of them.
And, there have been many others. But, they are not whining about me in the media.
So, my criticism is not limited exclusively to the Mayor
Mike Yenni. If it were, that would constitute a “vendetta”.
But, it’s not personal. I simply disagree with Mayor Yenni
on many issues and basic philosopy.
Truthfully, I would disagree with any Mayor, whether they
were named Yenni, Muniz, Capitano, Congemi, or any name, if that Mayor
- Expanded the illegal Executive Pay Plan even
after myself and many others told him it was illegal and was costing Kenner
over $250,000 a year. Finally, the Attorney General said it was illegal and
Mayor Yenni had to eliminate it.
-
Tried to Double property taxes.
- Tried to balance the city budget by closing
playgrounds and limiting recreational opportunities for our youth instead of consolidating
departments and eliminating costly perks for his political appointees.
- Fought against good government Charter Changes
that were approved by a 70-30% voter margin.
- Shifted Kenner’s Hotel/Motel tax to a group controlled by his Political Consultant instead
of forming or finding a Kenner group to exclusively promote Kenner.
- Endorsed extending the Crescent City Connection
tolls for an additional 20 years despite the bridge, and the toll money the
bridge generating, having absolutely nothing to do with Kenner.
- And is now trying to do an end run around city
of Kenner residents by significantly increasing the city’s debt without a vote
of the people.
So, while I am sorry if, disagreeing with Mayor Yenni when
he claims to be a “Fiscally Conservative Republican” while attempting to double
property taxes and mortgage Kenner’s future for some beautification projects
that include public art in medians and bike paths to nowhere, makes me “Bitter”,
“Sinister”, “Vengeful”, “Selfish” and, my personal favorite, “A self-proclaimed
vigilante” (maybe that should be the slogan for my next political campaign
should I ever run for office again), so be it.
The fact is, Mayor Yenni, members of his Administration, City
Council members and his Political Consultant can call me all the names they
want. They just can’t say that I’m wrong.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to debating the issues and leave
the name-calling, the lies and the misinformation to the Mayor.
He does it much better than I ever could. 