I don’t often laugh out loud and I don’t know that I’ve ever
laughed out loud while watching the annual Kenner Budget Meeting, but this year
I laughed out loud on several occasions.
The fact that I watched the Budget Meeting on a replay on KTV at 3am, is proof of my insomnia. This year, unlike in years past, I was forced to watch the meeting on TV since Kenner's Public Information Officer (a former T/P reporter) does such a great job of informing the public of "Public Information".
No pun intended but "Information" is in the middle of your job title although the truth is, I've always believed that Kenner having a "Public Information Officer" was a complete waste of tax dollars. But hey, it's better than him being the Deputy Clerk of Courts, right? Oh, that's right - he WAS the Deputy Clerk of Courts in the Yenni Administration.
Normally, the budget meeting is a pretty dry affair –
nothing overly contentious and nothing earth shattering. The Department
Directors parade up to the microphone and give out terse details about their
departments and where our money is being spent. Typically, each Department
Director is at the mic for a few minutes and, almost always, they parrot the
same lines: “It’s a pretty much standstill budget with only increases for
insurance and pensions.”
Some larger departments, like Recreation, receive more time
than others.
During the Muniz years, Mayor Edmund barely spoke. Since his
back was to the audience, and since I knew Muniz, I often believed that his
silence was because he was nodding off. Truth be told, I’ve nodded off at a few
budget meetings myself and I’m probably 20 years younger than Ed.
During Jefferson Parish’s Sexual Predator-In-Chief’s tenure
as Kenner Mayor, Mike Yenni also barely spoke differing to then-CAO Mike
Quigley or then-Finance Director Duke McConnell. I cannot confirm that Yenni’s
silence was due to him sexting underage boys or daydreaming about stalking them in public
restrooms (although that certainly is a possibility).
This year’s budget meeting was a little different affair
with Lyin’ Ben Zahn, in his first swing at the budget (and, with any luck, his
last).
While new CAO Deborah Foshee did the bulk of the heavy
lifting (just as in real life where Lyin’ Ben can’t carry his own weight), Zahn
did speak more than Muniz and Yenni combined.
Not sure if that is a good thing or not, but it certainly
did make me laugh.
When Lyin’ Ben defeated me in 2011 for the Jefferson Parish
District 4 Council seat, I made an issue of the over funding that Kenner sent
to Jefferson Parish. I highlighted 3 areas that Kenner was drastically over
funding JP and not receiving the proper amount of services for our tax dollars:
1). The RTA. Kenner tax payers were spending several hundred
thousand dollars (at the time, I think it was about $800k) along with more from
the City’s General Fund, for poor bus service.
2). The JP 911 Service. Kenner tax payers were also spending
about $500k more to fund JP’s 911 call center despite the fact that Kenner had
its own 911 call center and doesn’t use JP’s.
3). The Lafreniere Park tax. On every water bill, Kenner
residents pay a tax to support Lafreniere Park. In 2011, the tax generated
about $400k for Lafreniere Park. There was a time when this may have made sense
but, Kenner has its own parks now and that funding could better be utilized by
Kenner for Kenner recreation.
None of the three were original ideas by me. I merely tried
to cast more light on them and, if I were elected, I would have made it a
priority to get Kenner its fair share.
While I doubted that I would be able to secure the almost $2
Million annually in over payments sent to JP annually, it was clear that even
if ½ came back to Kenner, the City could use that money for infrastructure,
recreation and public safety.
On the campaign trail, on the few times where Lyin’ Ben
would debate me or meet me at a community forum, Zahn scoffed at getting this
funding back from JP.
To be fair, after some citizen pressure and with Mike Yenni
taking credit for it, Zahn was able to secure about $250k in rebates from the
RTA. At the time, it was supposed to be a one-time deal but at the budget
meeting it appears that Kenner is receiving slightly more than the $250k Zahn
secured but nowhere near the $900k in annual tax dollars or the $500k city
subsidy that the RTA currently receives for the Kenner loop.
During his time on the JP Council, Zahn never addressed the
911 fee or the Lafreniere Park tax.
Now, it appears, that Zahn has changed his tune and wants
more money back from the RTA or better service (or both).
While this is certainly a step in the right direction, Lyin’
Ben suggested that the Kenner City Council write a letter to the JP Council
seeking the RTA rebate.
What?
You were on the JP Council representing Kenner for 5+ years
and now a letter from the City Council is all it will take to get more money?
If you’re like me (and God help you if you are), you laughed
heartily at that.
One of my other “laugh-out-loud” moments came when Lyin’ Ben
discussed JEDCO.
For years, I’ve advocated against Kenner paying $75k annually
to JEDCO. After all, Kenner is part of JP and JEDCO should be working for us
anyway.
When Yenni contracted with JEDCO, he said that the costs
involved in having an in-house Economic Development Department in Kenner would
far outweigh the $75k sent to JEDCO.
Now, Lyin’ Ben wants to hire a Mayoral Assistant in charge
of Economic Development and pay him/her $50k, saving Kenner $25k, although the
bulk of that savings will go to benefit costs.
This is a good thing for Kenner, assuming that Lyin’ Ben can
find a quality Economic Development person for $50k and, there was no money
allocated in the budget for travel and other expenses which would be crucial
for visiting potential companies that might consider Kenner.
So, for the moment, pending an announcement on who will be
Kenner’s new Economic Development Guru (since clearly, no one wants Lyin’ Ben
the unlicensed Florist in charge of Economic Development), I guess we should be
giving Zahn props yet.
Even Lyin’ Ben isn’t giving himself props.
“Let’s try it for a year or two and, if it doesn’t work, we
can always go back to JEDCO.”
Since the JEDCO experiment didn’t work, why don’t we just
drive down Williams Blvd and throw 75,000 $1 bills out the window.
Now, if Lyin’ Ben were truly bold, he would also stop the
JCVB money grab that robs Kenner of its Hotel/Motel tax dollars with no
accountability.
In the years since Yenni dissolved the Kenner Convention
& Visitors’ Bureau (KCVB), Kenner has funneled our tax dollars to the JCVB,
which is controlled by Yenni and Zahn’s campaign manager, Greg Buisson. If you
want to read about Lyin’ Ben’s part in the KCVB issue, click here.
The JCVB has provided no accounting of where Kenner’s tax
dollars have been spent and there has been no benchmarks set regarding hotel
occupancy or conventions attracted to the Pontchartrain Center, etc.
Where has the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually sent to the JCVB (and the “Marketing Fund” promised by SMG for Yenni’s covert renewal of the Pontchartrain Center management) gone?
Aside from Greg Buisson’s greedy pockets, your guess is as
good as mine.
So, while Lyin’ Ben is starting to see the light and taking
steps with the RTA and in-house Economic Development, these are only baby
steps. He hasn’t done anything yet regarding the RTA and hasn’t hired the
Economic Development person, so, for now anyway, they are only baby steps.
And no, I’m not taking a shot at Lyin’ Ben’s small stature.
Although I just made myself laugh out loud again.
Thanks Ben.
