A few weeks back I was craving Chinese food, and one plate wouldn't satisfy my craving. So, I set off for my favorite Chinese buffet, Jumbo Buffet on Williams Blvd. in Kenner. Jumbo Buffet is really more than an average Chinese buffet - they truly have something for everyone. Whether you're craving sushi, hibachi, boiled seafood, or even roast beef, they have it along with a huge selection of Chinese food (My stomach favors the Black Pepper Shrimp and Honey Chicken - kind of a Yin/Yang thing).
Now, before you get the idea that we're now a food blog and not your favorite spot for opinions on Jefferson Parish and Kenner politics (we are, right?), let me get to the point.
At the end of the meal, the waitress brought the check along with the obligatory Fortune Cookies (which most of the time aren't really "Fortunes" at all).
At this gorging, my "fortune" said: "It is a silly fish that is caught twice with the same bait."
Which is a perfect segue to discuss the Kenner City Council.
At Thursday's Kenner City Council meeting, the Council voted unanimously to appoint Kelly Hand to fill out the remainder of District 5 Councilman Dominick Impastato's term.
This post isn't anti-Kelly Hand. On the contrary, I'm hopeful Mrs. Hand will do a fine job serving the residents of District 5.
But, the process surrounding her appointment is an abomination.
Let's take a step back in time to January 2016, when the Kenner City Council screwed up it's last Interim Council appointment.
After Jefferson Parish unwittingly voted for a Sexual Predator to become our Parish President, former Kenner City Attorney (and Mike Yenni Loyalist) and newly elected Kenner Councilman-At-Large Keith Conley jumped to JP Government to become Yenni's CAO.
In its haste, the Kenner City Council rubber-stamped Conley's choice and another Yenni Loyalist, Brian Brennan, as the Interim Councilman-At-Large representing the entire city. This despite the fact that when Brennan ran for the District 5 seat in 2010, he was trounced 59-41% by Kent Denapolis.
The people of Kenner had no clue who Brian Brennan was, what he stood for, or what qualified him to serve as a Councilman at all.
In addition, the Council approved Brennan before Conley had officially resigned. A citizen, Richard Brown, complained about the process and the Council had to take a second vote to approve Brennan.
But, again, the people of Kenner weren't given the opportunity to question Brennan, learn about him or have any say in his appointment.
Contrast the Kenner process with the this year's selection of Jack Rizzuto as Interim Jefferson Parish Councilman.
While I didn't like the drama surrounding the selection, in JP, three candidates were nominated by Councilmen. The public knew the names of the candidates and the candidates appeared at a council meeting to discuss their qualifications, answer questions and at least be partially vetted.
None of that happened with the Brennan selection and none of that happened this time with selection of Mrs. Hand either.
And, that lack of transparency is the problem.
Councilman Impastato added the resolution appointing Mrs. Hand to the council agenda with a blank space where the name should appear. Members of the public had no notice of Mrs. Hand's appointment. In fact, several members of the Council themselves weren't aware of the appointment until right before the meeting began.
Why the secrecy?
Now I know that members of the Kenner City Council and Mayor Zahn think they are smarter than the public and they don't owe us any explanations for the actions that they take. Often, when members of the public attend a council meeting and speak at the end of the meeting about an issue or to ask questions or give their opinion, they are greeted with contempt by the same officials that were elected to allegedly represent them.
This council meeting was no different.
When District 5 resident Greg Tefft asked whether Mrs. Hand would be seeking election to the council after her appointment expired, Impastato lashed out at Mr. Tefft.
No citizen, let alone someone as mild-mannered as Mr. Tefft, deserves the smug contempt and condescension strewn upon him by Impastato.
And, why the rush?
Councilman Impastato hasn't resigned from the Kenner City Council yet and that should have been the first step. It also makes zero sense that Impastato was allowed to vote on his replacement. It remains to be seen if any citizen will contest this appointment and if the council will be required to redo it as they did in 2016.
Again, this isn't an indictment of Mrs. Hand. When I ran for Jefferson Parish Council in 2011, I got to know Mrs. Hand since her husband, former Judge and State legislator Skip Hand, was one of my opponents. Mrs. Hand seemed like a very nice person and she has been involved in her civic association. Is that enough to be appointed to the City Council? Hey, we have folks on their now with even less qualifications.
But the people of Kenner should be given the opportunity to know much more about someone appointed to a council seat and the Kenner City Council should operate with much more transparency.
And, they certainly should learn from their past mistakes.
Hopefully, this Spring the people of Kenner WILL learn from our past mistakes.
Hopefully, the people of Kenner are not silly fish.
At a 2014 Kenner Mayoral candidate forum, Mike Yenni compared me to a crab in a pot of boiling water that kept climbing to the top of the pot and wouldn't die.
Well, it's better to be a crab than a silly fish.
Now, there's a fortune for you.
