When you’re running for public office, groups come out of
the woodwork to conduct candidate forums – some to educate their members on you
and the issues and some to endorse one candidate over another.
In this past election, Mike Yenni garnered every
endorsement. This was not a surprise to me, as I honestly didn’t expect any
group to endorse an upstart over an incumbent.
However, what was interesting was the makeup of many of
these groups and their obvious biases. Without sounding bitter, I thought it
might be interesting to take a look at these groups and their endorsement
processes.
The Alliance For Good
Government – The Alliance is a group of folks from varied backgrounds that
comes out for every election and then disappears. They have no role in
day-to-day government or acting as watchdogs for “good government”. I mean
really, how much credibility can a “good government” group have that gave
Kenner Councilwoman Maria DeFranchesch its “Legislator of the Year Award”? In 8
years on the Kenner City Council, I can’t tell you one meaningful piece of
legislation that has been authored by DeFranchesch let alone one that could be
considered “good government”.
The fact of the matter is, The Alliance is more of a
marketing organization than an actual “good government” group. The primary
focus of The Alliance is, does the candidate have the necessary funding to pay
The Alliance the Thousands of Dollars necessary for The Alliance’s co-op
advertising (that is run through a member’s company so that the member can
receive the commission).
When I went to The Alliance’s endorsement meeting, I thought
“The best that I can hope for is that The Alliance doesn’t endorse anyone.” I
knew The Alliance would never endorse an underfunded candidate like me but, how
could a “good government” group even consider endorsing someone who tried to
double property taxes and opposed good government charter changes that were
approved by the voters of Kenner by 70-30% voting margins?
So, considering that a city employee is a member of The
Alliance and was allowed to participate in the endorsement vote, and that I was underfunded, it was not a
huge surprise that The Alliance endorsed Yenni.
The Jefferson Chamber
PAC – The Jefferson Chamber PAC did invite me to speak however I was not
available during the times they had available. That being said, even if I would
have been available, I wouldn’t have gone. The Chamber PAC consisted of several
members of Yenni’s Economic Development Committee and campaign contributors. I
knew that speaking to them would be a waste of time and, I learned afterward,
that several other candidates in Kenner elections also didn’t think that
speaking to the Chamber PAC would be a good use of their time.
HISPAC – The Hispanic
Political Action Committee is another ghost group that only comes out at
elections. They represent no one and are simply a money machine to funnel
advertising to Hispanic media and attempt to act important. They are led by a
member of Yenni’s Economic Development Committee who appeared in one of Yenni’s
campaign videos.
After agreeing to meet on one date, the group’s head, Dr.
Vinicio Madrigal, changed the date to the night of March 5th, the day
that he knew I was having surgery and would be unavailable. I asked Dr.
Madrigal to provide me with a list of their Board Members so I could at least
email them some information about why I was the better candidate to represent
all of Kenner, and Dr. Madrigal ignored my request. That’s funny considering
that he’s always quick to jump on Facebook to defend Yenni or criticize me.
What’s ironic is that, while the Yenni Administration has
over 40 political appointees, only 1 is Hispanic (you will see those numbers
again later). Since Kenner’s Hispanic population is almost 30%, a 40/1 ratio is
hardly representative of Kenner’s Hispanic community. In addition, Yenni tried
to close a playground that is used heavily by Hispanics, which I opposed.
But, HISPAC got their 30 pieces of Silver from Yenni and
endorsed him anyway.
GAMBIT – I wasn’t
surprised when Clancy DuBos and Gambit endorsed Yenni. I was surprised that
they didn’t even call me to discuss the election. At least when I ran in 2011,
they tried to hit me up for some advertising money.
Louisiana Weekly –
This one was truly puzzling to me. As with Hispanics, the Yenni Administration
has 1 African-American political appointee, despite Kenner’s 25%
African-American population. In addition, Yenni tried to close Lincoln Manor
Playground, which is in a heavily African-American area, and I fought against the
closing. Also, South Kenner has been crying out for years for a library and I
offered a plan to convert the old Kenner High School to a library and computer
resource center while Yenni wants to remodel the High School and turn it into
city offices.
But, the Louisiana Weekly Editorial Board never called me to discuss my
campaign, my ideas or my pledge to represent ALL of Kenner.Christopher Tidmore did write a nice article about the campaign though.
GNOR – Greater
New Orleans Republicans scheduled their endorsement meeting at the same time as
a forum at the MLK Resource Center in Lincoln Manor. After looking at the
makeup of their board, I decided it would be better to listen to the concerns
of District 1 residents than talk to a minor group of Republicans stacked with
Yenni loyalists and operatives.
NOMAR – The New
Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors never called me to discuss the
campaign which is surprising considering that Yenni’s plan to double property
taxes would have had an adverse impact on property sales.
NOLA.com/The
Times-Picayune – My favorite endorsement meeting was with Nola.com/The T-P.
There, surrounded by people who I’m certain loathe people like me (bloggers!),
it was a great joust. After discussing my leg injury, the first question was, “Considering
all of your health issues with your leg, why are you running for Mayor?” Off to
a great start with that one…
I gave the Editorial Board a packet of articles and
editorials where they (the Editorial Board) had criticized Yenni and his
Administration and where one of their Editors actually called Yenni “a fibber”,
but they barely glanced it.
The Editorial Board seemed more focused on my snarky (their
word) comments to the Candidate Questionnaire that they send out to candidates
seeking information.
Some sample questions and my answers:
Q: “What schools do your children attend? For each school
note if it is a public or private school.”
A: “If I had children, I would never answer such a
ridiculous, intrusive question.”
Q: “Have you ever been convicted of, pleaded no contest to
or placed in a diversion program for a crime other than parking and minor
traffic offenses? (Driving while intoxicated is NOT considered a minor
offense.).”
A: “No. But I was made to stand in a corner once for
attempting a bloodless coup against my Pre-K teacher. I wanted less nap time.”
Q: “Have you ever bought or sold illegal drugs?”
A: “And I’ve never exceeded the speed limit or rolled
through a stop sign either.”
Q: “Have you ever lost a lawsuit?”
A: “No. But Ben Zahn lost 2 lawsuits to me. Make sure that
you remember that when he runs for re-election.”
Finally, after 4 pages of such questions, they finally
asked:
Q: “What are the five most important planks in your
platform?”
Now, we’re finally getting somewhere…
In retrospect, were my responses “snarky”? Yeah, of course
they were. They were meant to be tongue-in-cheek. They were absurd questions
that had nothing to do with running for Mayor of Kenner. Who cares what schools
anyone’s children attend unless they are running for school board and who would
answer such a personal question? Do you think I would want the newspaper
publishing where my children go to school or take a chance on that information
being leaked to the wrong people? Mike Yenni’s minions leave manila envelopes
taped to my door with “threatening” information. Do you actually think I would
want them harassing my children at school?
The Editorial Board didn’t see the humor in my responses and
didn’t see the obvious hypocrisy of them endorsing a candidate that they
frequently criticized.
But, it was a fun 15 minutes in the hot seat. That alone was
worth the $450 “qualifying” fee.
Jefferson Parish Republican Executive Committee – I wrote yesterday
about the Republican endorsement so, I won’t belabor the point here. But I will
say that, as long as elected officials have a vote in the Parish endorsement,
upstart candidates will never have a chance unless they are connected to Greg
Buisson. And that is sad when you know that, regardless of your ideas, your
platform or your background, you will never have an opportunity.
The Bottom Line –
Most endorsements are worthless. However, their compound effect does sway some
voters who see the momentum of one candidate and want to jump on the winning
train.
Most of these groups are infiltrated with political
operatives, supporters and contributors who’ve made up their minds before a
candidate even opens his/her mouth. They, and the groups that they “represent”,
already have an agenda. Whether it’s money or power or the mistaken belief that
they have influence, they all have an agenda.
Did I lose the election because of endorsements? Absolutely
not. But, are the endorsements “objective”? Again, absolutely not.
It’s up to individuals to cut through the clutter and make
up their own minds and everyone should hold whomever wins accountable.
Everyone should be involved in their government. Not just
the 20% or so that voted.
