Recall Mike Yenni and Kick Dennis DeMarco Off The Island Too

If you are like most people, you have a well defined morning routine. For me, it’s wake up, thank God for giving me another day and the hope that I will be able to do something during the course of the day to allow Her to give me another day tomorrow too. Then I turn the TV on CNBC (since Cox no longer carries Bloomberg) and I get caught up on the overnight news.

 NEVER wake up and say, “I think I will write about JP Registrar of Voters Dennis DeMarco today” and I certainly NEVER thought that I would write about  DeMarco in two successive posts.

Try as I might to avoid wasting time on an appointed official like DeMarco, I need to write about him again.

DeMarco has long been a mentor and FOM (Friend Of Mike). He is on the Board of Directors of the Yenni Cabal. The fact that he has lasted in government as long as he has is as much a testament to Louisiana’s arcane laws (who appoints someone that is not a Supreme Court Judge to a lifelong position?) as it is to DeMarco doing just enough to keep from getting his proverbial torch put out and getting kicked off the island.

In my last post, I mentioned that there were “internet” issues at JP early voting stations that resulted in long lines and, I’m certain, many people just leaving rather than spend a chunk of their day waiting in line to cast their ballot for 2 Presidential candidates that the bulk of the population can’t stand.

I also stated that DeMarco long ago outlived his usefulness to anyone not named Mike Yenni.

Now, DeMarco is back in the news for two additional issues.

Wednesday, Recall Mike Yenni volunteers were stationed in the parking lot of the Yenni Building, an early voting station.

Despite being more than 600 feet from the polling entrance, DeMarco took issue with those gathering signatures (now over 15,000 btw).

“Who do you think you are helping?”, DeMarco asked the volunteers.

How about the People of Jefferson Parish who are trying to wash away the stench of our Sexual Predator-In-Chief Mike Yenni?

The Recall volunteers were well within the law. They were stationed in a PUBLIC PARKING lot and not obstructing traffic.

But DeMarco felt the need to harass the citizens attempting to collect signatures to Recall Yenni.

What a joke.

As the TV hucksters say,

“But wait – there’s more…”

Thursday, DeMarco was again in the news. WWL-TV reported that DeMarco had a “Private” voting machine in his conference room.

Louisiana law states that ALL voting machines must be in PUBLIC view.

DeMarco claimed that he was within his rights to have a voting machine separate from the others so that “Police, Firemen, and VIPs could cut to the front of the line.”

Allowing Police, Fire, Military-in-Uniform, the elderly and disabled to the front of the line is fine. Allowing some of them to vote in a private conference room isn’t, despite DeMarco’s claims.

Besides, what “VIPs” are he referring to?

Perhaps Mike Yenni and his latest sexual conquest?

Nah, Yenni prefers those who haven’t yet reached the voting age. Besides, why hide behind a voting curtain when you kiss someone in a public restroom?

DeMarco has been Registrar of Voters long enough to know the rules and, like Yenni, was caught this time. The voters of JP have no idea how long this illegal practice has gone on.

The Louisiana Secretary of State confiscated the illegal voting machine along with the list of those who signed in to use it.

Can’t wait to see whose names are on that list.

I can guarantee you though that the number of Police and Firemen will be small and the list of JP “VIPs” (according to DeMarco anyway), will vastly outnumber the First Responders.

If DeMarco were elected I’d say, set up a table next to the Recall Yenni tables to Recall DeMarco.

Sadly though, we won’t have that opportunity.

But, after this election is over, if kicking DeMarco off the island isn’t on the Parish Council’s agenda, you can bet that it will still

The Choice For Kenner Mayor Is Clear

Early voting began yesterday in Kenner and there were glitches at Jefferson Parish polling stations. Far be it from me to toss out conspiracy theories but, the JP Registrar of Voters, Dennis DeMarco, is a Democrat and a Yenni Acolyte (which means he is also a Zahn supporter). I’m relatively certain that, if he could do anything to help Lil Ben, including suppressing Democratic votes that might help Greg Carroll, DeMarco would.do it in a heartbeat

It’s a good thing I’m not into the conspiracy theory game, right?

The fact is, DeMarco should have retired (or been forced to) years ago. But that would require him to get his snout out of the public trough. And, we know folks like DeMarco won’t do that without a fight.

Since this is also a Presidential Election, more people will be voting for Kenner Mayor than ever before. Many will be voting for Kenner Mayor for the first time. While I never tell anyone who to vote for, since the Kenner Mayoral election is particularly important,  I am going to tell you who I will be voting for.

In my opinion (and, if you’re reading this you either appreciate my opinions or you think I’m full of crap – like Ben Zahn, who you are most likely supporting), even with 5 candidates and the most crowded Mayoral election in over 10 years, the choice for Kenner Mayor is clear.

After almost a year of “Acting Mayor” Mike Sigur - - - sorry but I still can’t say that without laughing out loud; 5 years of the professional (and now personal) disgrace that is Jefferson Parish’s Sexual Predator-In-Chief Mike Yenni; and 4 years of Yenni as Kenner CAO (primarily to poke Ed Muniz whenever Ed nodded off), the next Mayor of Kenner will serve for about a year and a half before we start this process all over again.

Even though it’s just for a year and a half, your vote for Kenner Mayor is important. Whether you support Trump or Clinton; Kennedy, Boustany, Fleming, Campbell, Fayard. Maness or another U.S. Senatorial candidate NOT named Duke; please consider carefully who you believe has the most integrity (something that has been sorely lacking in Kenner politics) and who will do the best job. I have and my choice is listed below.

If you didn’t have an opportunity to read my profiles of the 5 Mayoral candidates, here’s the “Reader’s Digest” version.

Ben Zahn – Ben Zahn is a pathological liar who will do anything and say anything to get elected. He has lied to the media on multiple occasions (and the media has never called him on it), lied to the people of Kenner on multiple occasions, and sued me twice (he lost both times) to stop me from telling the truth. He has been planning his coronation to Mayor for years. He was reelected to the Kenner City Council in 2010, and quit on his constituents to job hop to the JP Council in 2011. He ran without opposition in 2015, and now wants to quit that job (again) to job hop back to Kenner. Zahn has no experience running an entity even remotely close to size of the City of Kenner and it’s $50 Million + budget.

Zahn is a disciple of Aaron Broussard, and took over $50,000 from Broussard’s campaign account for “flowers”, despite Broussard being a Democrat and Zahn being an unlicensed florist.

Zahn is a Yenni Acolyte. He supported Yenni’s plan to double property taxes and he was a 110% Yenni voter on the Council. His top JP Council Aide is Mike Yenni’s former Driver (I wonder how many times he drove Yenni to a school playground so Yenni could drool over young boys or how many times he drove Yenni for a sexual liason).

Zahn has been a close confidant of Yenni’s for over 10 years. Among the many things the two share are campaign contributors and their campaign manager, the PuppetMaster himself, Greg Buisson.

The bottom line is, when Yenni is recalled, all of Yenni’s political appointees in JP will be looking for a new space at the public trough and they will readily find one in a Zahn Administration.

Zahn has been on the Kenner or JP Council for the past 10 years. Before you vote For Ben Zahn, ask yourself: what has Ben Zahn done for Kenner?

Yeah, I don’t know either.

A vote FOR Ben Zahn is a defacto vote FOR Mike Yenni. That’s what happens when you spend 10 years in Mike Yenni’s filthy pocket.

Maria DeFrancesch – As I wrote previously, I’ve tried really hard to like Maria DeFrancesch. Sadly, she has become like a peeping Tom – she’s always there, lurking, but she never really does anything.

Like Zahn, DeFrancesch has been on the Kenner City Council for the past 10 years. She ran unopposed for Council-At-Large in 2014 after she was term limited in District 4.

She was a member of Yenni’s Economic Development Committee (remember them? They approved the largest debt in Kenner’s history for some pretty medians and public art and didn’t recruit one business to Kenner or create one job). She was also a member of Economic Development Committee’s subcommittee on The Esplanade Mall, which resides in her former Council District. She has sat back and watched The Esplanade wither while tossing out the delusional promises of large retailers coming to Kenner right before each election.

Maria won’t try that this time because the people of Kenner are on to her game.

DeFrancesch supported, and campaigned for, Yenni’s plan to double property taxes (as did Zahn), but, when Yenni realized the plan would falter, he, DeFrancesch and Zahn pivoted proclaiming that they “were just giving the people of Kenner the opportunity to vote on the plan”.

Sadly, they didn’t give US an opportunity to vote on taking on the largest debt in Kenner’s history, which DeFrancesch also approved.

In fact, also like Zahn, I’m hard pressed to come up with anything Maria has done in 10 years for Kenner.

In the height of irony, DeFrancesch proclaimed that she “Was Not Part of the Political Machine” in Kenner. Not now perhaps, since they squeezed you for every vote they could and now have spit you out  like a bad piece of food.

Before Zahn entered the race, and she was kicked off the island, DeFrancesch was a charter member of the Yenni Cabal. In fact, I can’t think of one time that Maria EVER voted against Yenni. Even for something small.

Continuing the irony. DeFrancesch committed mail fraud last week when she sent out a direct mail piece claiming that she would put an end to “No-Bid Contracts”.

If you’ve paid attention to Kenner politics, I have long railed against No-Bid Contracts and have spoken out against them here on this blog, in the media and at Kenner City Council meetings. At every Council meeting where I would discuss my disdain for No-Bid Contracts and seek for the Council to not approve them, the chief defender of No-Bid Contracts was – wait for it – Maria DeFrancesch.

During one such exchange at a council meeting, DeFrancesch even held up pieces of paper claiming that State and Federal law banned Kenner from putting out certain contracts for bid. She wasn’t aware however, that I had the same pieces of paper that showed the Federal law didn’t apply to Cities and the State law only applied to a limited amount of contracts.

In other words, like her promise that Kohl’s (and, later, Belk’s) would soon be in Kenner, Maria was trying to get over on the people of Kenner.

She’s still trying to get over on us.

DeFrancesch was endorsed by The Alliance for “Good Government” and actually was The Alliance’s Legislator of the Year once.

The Alliance’s blessing alone is a reason to disqualify her.

Keith Reynaud – “The People’s Choice” coming in at a projected 7% of the vote, District 3 Councilman Keith Reynaud is also running for Mayor although, since I think he’s seen the writing on the wall, is not spending anywhere close to the amounts spent by other candidates (with the exception of Al Morella whose largest, and probably only, campaign expense was his qualifying fee).

I have no idea why Reynaud is running other than to feed his massive ego.

It’s that massive ego that won’t let Reynaud quit.

Perhaps he will see the light on November 9^th.

While he worked stridently to defeat Yenni’s plan to double Kenner’s property taxes, Reynaud soon turned after he was elected to the Council and became a loyal Yenni vote. Like DeFrancesch, Reynaud supported Yenni’s 2030 Plan, saddling Kenner with Millions in debt.

But, at least Reynaud’s district got a new intersection and a bike path.

Not exactly 30 pieces of silver but, when you sell your soul (and vote) to the Devil, every man’s price is different.

Al Morella – As I’ve mentioned in the past, I think Al Morella is a great guy. He’s passionate. He cares about Kenner. The problem is that he’s not qualified to run an entity as big as Kenner.

Kenner, Jefferson Parish, and everywhere else needs more folks like Al Morella. Just not as Mayor.

Gregory Carroll – Like DeFrancesch and Reynaud, Carroll is currently a Kenner City Councilman. Unlike those two (and you can throw Zahn into the pool too), Carroll has consistently stood up for what is in the best interest of Kenner and the people of District 1.

Even when we have disagreed, Councilman Carroll has listened to opposing points of view.

Carroll fought against Yenni’s plan to double property taxes; fought Yenni’s plan to close playgrounds; stood up to stop Yenni from selling streets to the Levee Authority which would have limited access to historic cemetaries; and stood up for his constituents regarding the rezoning and return to commerce of Airport buyout property.

Carroll constantly holds community meetings when issues arise to ensure that the people of his District are heard and that they learn and are aware of issues and their impact.

Carroll is the only Democrat in the Mayoral race.

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The bottomline is, in the race to become Kenner’s next Mayor, the candidate with the most integrity; the candidate that has consistently represented and advocated for his constituents and the people of Kenner; the candidate that is the most fiscally Conservative and not beholden to the special interests that have dragged Kenner into the muck; and the candidate that I believe is best positioned to lead our city forward is the same person.

So, for the first time in my life I will be casting my vote for a Democrat in a major election and I’m proud to say that man is Greg Carroll.

Dominick Impastato Wants Everyone To Be “Fair”

In 2010, when Mike Yenni was elected Mayor of Kenner, I was hopeful, even optimistic.

Sure, I heard the rumors about Yenni’s homosexual antics, but I didn’t care about that. What two consenting adults do sexually is not my business.

Even Yenni’s relationship to Aaron Broussard, 4 years “working” as Kenner CAO under Ed Muniz, and the fact that he changed his name for political purposes, while all were troubling, were put aside.

Kenner had a new Mayor with some (hopefully) new ideas that would change Kenner for the better.

At least that’s what I hoped.

But, as I’ve often said since his 2010 election, nothing about Mike Yenni is ever what it seems.

As you know it wasn’t long before Yenni came up with his scheme to double property taxes in Kenner, grow government and cut services.

The Yenni Administration became nothing more than a giant cash cow for campaign contributors.

Once Yenni maxed out Kenner’s credit line and bled Kenner dry, he conveniently split for JP.

In 2014, when Dominick Impastato won the District 5 Kenner City Council seat against former Mayor Phil Capitano, I had a similar hopefulness.

While I didn’t support Impastato (how could I with Yenni making him part of the “Consensus Team” and Impastato’s relationship with Greg Buisson), I still thought, “Here’s a young guy that might bring some new ideas and vision to Kenner.”

Yeah, I know. I was wrong again.

I should have realized that, since Impastato owed his political career to Yenni that he would amount to nothing more than another of Yenni’s Acolytes.

As I wrote the other day, Impastato is now so delusional that he actually claimed to owe Yenni “nothing”.

Yes Dominick, you campaigned hard but you would not be sitting in that Council seat were it not for Yenni and Buisson.

By the way, did you notice that the Kenner City Council just spent over $7,000 for new Council chairs?  I guess that they gotta make sure they are comfortable for the 1-2 hours twice a month that they sit there approving no-bid contracts.

At the last Council meeting, in addition to Impastato “If the shoe fits” back and forth with Al Morella, Impastato made another curious statement.

While discussing the resolution requesting that Yenni resign, Impastato said that he wanted to make sure that future Councils were fair in passing judgement because past Council’s had not been fair in chastising elected officials in similar circumstances.

Excuse me?

There has never been a “similar” situation like Mike Yenni’s sextingcapade.

But, in the interest of “fairness”, because, after all, I am all about “fairness”, I wanted to make the following solemn pledge to Impastato, residents of Kenner and Jefferson Parish, and readers everywhere.

Whenever there is a Kenner Mayor, a Jefferson Parish President, or any elected official who:

-          Trolls high schools seeking introductions to teenagers for the purposes of having a sexual relationship with them;

-          Sexts a teenager;

-          Meets a teenager in a mall and kisses them in a public restroom;

-          Suggests to s minot a threesome with two teenagers;

-          Suggests driving a minor across stateliness to have sex;

-          And suggests that he could arrange for a government job for his teenage sex partner so the two could be in close proximity without drawing suspicion

I solemnly pledge that I will call for that elected official to resign.

Now, does that make you happy Dominick?

Henry Shane and The Advocate Want To Crown Ben Zahn Kenner’s Next Mayor. Here’s Why YOU Shouldn’t Let Them

Jefferson Parish’s largest apartment owner, Henry Shane, is at it again trying to force his anointed candidate, Ben Zahn, down the throats of Kenner voters.

Shane, an ardent supporter of former Kenner Mayor and current Jefferson Parish Sexual Predator-In-Chief Mike Yenni, has leaked another fake political poll to The Advocate days before early voting begins in an attempt to diminish support for the four Kenner Mayoral candidates not named “Ben Zahn”.

This is the second poll that has been commissioned by Shane and leaked to the media. Both showed Zahn significantly ahead of any challengers.

In the first poll, Shane had the poll ask about Yenni’s approval rating. Curiously, he left that question out of this poll.

But, I think we all know the answer to that one.

As was the case in the first leaked poll, despite Shane’s public support of Zahn, Lil Ben claimed to not have any prior knowledge of the poll.

I believe that as much as I believe that Mike Yenni only sexted one teenage boy.

The fact is, Henry Shane wants Ben Zahn to be Kenner’s next Mayor – not because it is what is best for Kenner, but because it is best for Henry Shane and Shane will do whatever it takes (including leaking a poll or putting out a fake poll) if it helps Henry Shane.

Condiser Shane’s participation in Yenni’s vaunted Economic Development Committee.

Did Shane use his influence to recruit businesses to Kenner? No.

Did Shane work to provide new, high-paying jobs for Kenner? No.

Well, what DID Shane and the Committee do? Come up with a list of dubious projects that created massive debt for Kenner.

And, oh yeah, Shane donated a bunch of art strewn across Kenner’s medians.

And, why would Shane clean out his garage and “donate” art to Kenner? Because Shane received huge tax breaks for the inflated value placed on the art.

Did the people of Kenner commission any of the artwork that now adorns our roadways? No.

Did the people of Kenner have any say in the artwork or where it was placed? Again, no.

Kenner got Henry Shane’s castoffs and, according to Shane, the people of Kenner should be thankful that they did.

In addition to being “grateful”, Kenner taxpayers also are stuck with bills for maintaining and insuring the artwork and maintaining the grounds around the artwork.

Mike Yenni sure did a great job negotiating that deal, didn’t he?

So, why is Henry Shane pushing Ben Zahn?

Because Ben Zahn is “Mike Yenni Lite”.

Before the past few weeks, Lil Ben probably would have thought that was a compliment.

There’s an old story about a runner who is so far behind that he can’t see any of the other runners. The fact is that he’s so far behind he actually thinks he’s ahead.

That’s Ben Zahn.

As I mentioned, this is the 2^nd poll that Shane has commissioned, and leaked to the press, that supported Zahn.

Since the two polls (if legitimate) would have cost several thousand dollars, didn’t Shane violate Louisiana campaign finance restrictions of $2,500 per election cycle for Mayor?

Hmmm.

Now why wouldn’t The Advocate query Shane on that?

Shoddy Journalism and Poor Judgement

For it’s part, I’m incredibly disappointed at The Advocate. Why would they possibly print an article about a poll that was paid for by a private individual?

If The Advocate secured a reputable Polling Firm and paid for the company to survey Kenner, great, run an article. But to print and quote a poll that done by an individual where The Advocate has not independently verified the validity of the poll is mindboggling.

And. to publish the results of a non-independent poll just 2 days before early voting begins shows very poor judgement.

The Case AGAINST Ben Zahn

If you’ve read this blog before, you undoubtedly know that I’m not Ben Zahn’s biggest fan. In fact, I’m no fan at all.

But, rather than discuss personal feelings, let’s discuss facts.

When I called on the Louisiana Attorney General and the State Ethics Board to investigate Zahn in 2011 regarding Zahn’s involvement in the Kenner Convention & Visitor’s Bureau scandal, Zahn sued me twice (and lost). Zahn wanted to stop me from exposing his involvement. He didn’t sue me to stop me from slandering him, because what I wrote was the truth.

No, Zahn wanted to silence me because he didn’t want YOU to know the truth about his dirty dealing and his own lies.

As a member of the Kenner City Council, and the Council’s appointee to the KCVB Board, Zahn advertised and received material benefits from the KCVB. In addition, Zahn voted to appropriate tax dollars to the KCVB, a clear conflict of interst.

Later, when I ran against Zahn for JP Council, Zahn found a new career as a professional liar.

Zahn did whatever he could in an attempt to ruin my reputation. Zahn also enlisted other members of the JP Political Machine including former Kenner Mayor and JP Councilman Louis Congemi and former Assessor Lawrence Chehardy, to repeat those lies in multiple robocalls to Kenner voters.

Look, I knew when I decided to run for office that Zahn (and Mike Yenni) would take their shots at me.

But, there is no reason to fabricate lies.

If you want to say that I’m a bad person, fine. If you want to say that I’m too opinionated, that’s ok too. In fact, if you want to say almost anything that is your opinion, I have no problem. I spout my opinions much more than many folks would like me to.

You are entitled to your opinion. Even if your name is Ben Zahn.

You aren’t however, entitled to pass off lies as facts, and enlist others in your dirty schemes.

The Choice For Kenner Mayor

If you truly believe that an unlicensed florist who lived off his diabled father’s floral license; who has lied to the public, the media and several government entities; and who has never run any business or even a department of government with 1/50^th the budget of the City of Kenner; who supported Mike Yenni’s plan to DOUBLE your property taxes while closing playgrounds in minority neighborhoods in an act of political retribution  is the best and most qualified candidate for Kenner Mayor, great – vote for Ben Zahn.

But, before you do, ask yourself this:

What has Ben Zahn done for Kenner?

In 2011, when I campaigned against Zahn, I highlighted three areas where I thought Kenner was being unjustly charged by Jefferson Parish: the LaFreniere Park tax, the 911 tax and the disproportionate amount Kenner paid for bus service.

I said that, if elected, I would work to get Kenner it’s fair share of these fees.

While I knew Jefferson Parish wouldn’t willingly give up Millions of Dollars in revenue, I said that I would push for Kenner to receive a 50% share to start and gradually increase from there.

At the time, Kenner residents paid about $750,000 annually in 911 taxes on their cell phone bills to Jefferson Parish, despite the fact that Kenner has its own 911 call center and doesn’t’ use JP’s.

Also, Kenner significantly overpaid for bus service.

In addition, Kenner residents still pay a monthly fee on their water bill dedicated to LaFreniere Park, despite Kenner having its own parks and recreation. This fee continues to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for JP that Kenner could use to maintain our own parks and fund recreation programs (rather than close or sell playgrounds as Yenni proposed, and Zahn supported).

Combined, even if only 50% of these fees/taxes were returned to Kenner, the City would receive between $1-2 Million annually to fund public safety, infrastructure or quality of life items.

After I lost, I continued to press the JP Council and then-President John Young for Kenner to receive it’s fair share.

In almost 5 years on the Parish Council, Zahn secured a one time increase in to defray a small portion of Kenner’s bus service cost.

Would I have been successful in getting Kenner’s fair share? Who knows?

But, I would have fought for Kenner/

Ben Zahn has proven time and again that he cares about two things:

Ben Zahn and his campaign contributors.

Ben Zahn, like Mike Yenni and Henry Shane, doesn’t care about you.

They don’t even care about Kenner.

The City of Kenner is a means to an end for them. They reap financial benefits and increase their power and influence on the backs of Kenner residents.

Don’t believe the fancy mail pieces or the rhetoric written and produced by Greg Buisson, the campaign manager of Ben Zahn (and Mike Yenni)..

Before you cast your vote for Mayor, ask yourself – what has this person actually done for Kenner?

If you answer truthfully, you can’t possibly vote for Ben Zahn.

Unless your name is Henry Shane. 

I should probably stop now before Ben tries to sue me again for telling the truth.