T-P Weighs In On Mayor Yenni’s $2.1 Million No-Bid Contract; Raises More Questions

Following up on our Wednesday post about Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni’s selection of a campaign contributor for a $2.1 Million no-bid contract for “Program Management” of his 2030 Plan, instead of selecting in-house staff to oversee the project and save the people of Kenner some money, Adriane Quinlan from the Times-Picayune brings some different angles to the party.

Also of note is the photo chosen to accompany the article. It’s a photo of Mayor Yenni speaking about the projects with Henry Shane, another Yenni campaign contributor and head of Yenni’s hand-picked Economic Development Committee, peering ominously in the background.

2030 Plan Budget Now Up To $37 Million

In the ordinance approving the $2.1 Million no-bid contract it was disclosed that, due to the inclusion of Federal and State grants, the budget for Mayor Yenni’s 2030 Plan has now increased by over $10 Million from $26.6 Million to $37 Million.

In July, ClickJefferson.com wrote about a press release issued by Mayor Yenni that included some very telling lines and led to several more questions. Questions that are still unanswered.

1). Why didn’t Mayor Yenni apply for these Federal and State Grants and THEN borrow the money to fulfill his “Vision” of what Kenner should become? Wouldn’t that have been prudent and saved the people of Kenner years of repayment and tax dollars that could be better used on other projects like KPD and KFD equipment and personnel?

2). What new projects will this additional $10 Million be used to fund? The people of Kenner had no input on Mayor Yenni’s original package of improvements including beautification and public art projects. Will the public’s ideas and opinions also be shut out of these additional projects? Why does Mayor Yenni think that Kenner residents aren’t smart enough to have a say in the future of their city or how their money is spent?

Program Manager To “Shape Kenner’s Future”

The T-P article includes an interesting line:

“The program manager has the potential to shape Kenner's future, as well as the futures of the firms it oversees. According to a draft of an agreement for the position, the role of program manager will consist of overseeing the design and planning guidelines for every aspect of the engineering work related to the Kenner 2030 plan's infrastructure and enhancement projects.”

This statement alone should send shivers up the spines of Kenner residents.

Why would a non-elected “Program Manager” have the “potential to shape Kenner’s future”? Isn’t that why we elect a Mayor and City Council – to represent our best interests and move our city forward?

Sorry, I forgot for a moment that we’re discussing Kenner.

If a “Program Manager” is vital to shaping Kenner’s future, perhaps we should replace a Mayor who has never held a non-government job  and whose previous “Program Management” experience was devising a parade calendar for Jefferson Parish Mardi Gras Parades.

A Giant No-Bid Slush Fund?

The power given to a vendor is substantial. They, and not the city, will have the power to select subcontractors. Will this mean that the entire $37 Million 2030 Plan will become one giant slush fund of no-bid contracts? The Program Manager will also have authority over change orders, which could raise or lower the price of contracts.

If that is the case, why would Mayor Yenni not want to put all of the vendors through a city-imposed bid process to ensure that every penny of Kenner’s tax money is spent in an efficient, open and transparent manner?

“Program Manager” Or Political Cover?

As is typically the case, the primary reason that Mayor Yenni is giving a vendor this much power is simple: political cover.

If the 2030 Plan works, the Mayor gets the credit. If it fails, he can cast the blame on the vendor and, since the Program Manager has a 6-year contract, the problems will fall on the next mayor even if Kenner residents re-elect Mayor Yenni in the Spring.

This is a continued pattern for Mayor Yenni.

After the defeat at the polls of Yenni’s plan to double property taxes, the Mayor convened a “Streamlining Budget Committee”. That committee was tasked with slashing Kenner’s budget.

The reality of it was, the Committee was hand-picked by Mayor Yenni and its report was written by Mayor Yenni’s Political Consultant, Greg Buisson. Before it was released to the public, some members (including the only non-political appointee) hadn’t even seen a draft copy of the report – the Committee’s findings and report were written for them.

This deception was intentionally designed to provide Mayor Yenni with political cover. After he could gauge which areas were controversial and which struck a nerve with the public, Yenni could backtrack and claim that it was the committee’s suggestion and not his own.

We saw this firsthand when the Committee suggested closing 6 playgrounds. After community outrage, Yenni came back with a proposal to close 3 playgrounds. After still more outrage as more Kenner residents became aware of Yenni’s plans, he scrapped the playground closure plan entirely.

The same thing occurred with the Economic Development Committee and their input on Mayor Yenni’s 2030 Plan.

Initially, Mayor Yenni put forth a list of projects including rehabbing Kenner’s old high school and turning it into more city offices.

After there was pushback to that and other projects like extending Napoleon Avenue to the Airport access road, Mayor Yenni came back with a list of new projects, again without any public input.

Again, this was designed to shield Mayor Yenni from any negative pushback from the community. The Mayor could simply claim, “These were the recommendations of the committee”.

Sadly, some Kenner residents still believe Mayor Yenni on those rare occasions when he does speak and not use a “written statement” generated by his Political Consultant.

From the latest T-P article regarding the Program Manager selection:

"From a technical perspective, this is the city's next step to undertake this major program," Yenni said in a written statement.

May 22, 2013

It is interesting to note that, the City of Kenner’s request for a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) for vendors interested in becoming the “Program Manager” for the 2030 Plan was distributed on May 22^nd, 2013, two days BEFORE the time period to challenge the proposed bond sale expired and months before the City Council actually gave their final approval for the bond debt sale.

This was also well in advance of any “Community Listening Sessions” that Mayor Yenni held to seek public input.

How can you select a “Program Manager” when

1). You haven’t sought any public input about the projects?

2). You haven’t finalized the projects that the “Program Manager” will oversee?

3). You don’t have the money or even an idea of how much money the projects will cost?

4). You haven’t received approval for any Federal or State Grants, a process that should have been the first step prior to asking Kenner residents to enter into 20 years of debt?

Obviously, despite his protestations to the contrary and all the fuss and misinformation Mayor Yenni threw out there regarding my lawsuit to challenge the bond sale, Mayor Yenni was already moving forward his “Vision” regardless of the lawsuit or even final Council approval, which didn’t occur until July 18th.

Was The Program Manager Selected The Top Choice – Or the 13^th Choice?

Since as the T-P noted, “The program manager has the potential to shape Kenner's future”, shouldn’t the Council and the people of Kenner know exactly how many companies were interested in this project and how their qualifications were scored by the Evaluation Committee (as well as know who is on the Evaluation Committee and what their qualifications are for choosing a vendor)?

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to the Council or the people of Kenner, or take a public records request form the Times-Picayune, to ensure that Mayor Yenni is choosing a qualified contractor.

A public records request seeking information on what firms applied for the work, and how they were scored by the committee, was not immediately available. Check back with NOLA.com for updates.

How can the Council, which now, due to the Charter Change approved by Kenner voters last year, is tasked with the additional oversight of these contracts, make a decision if they don’t have all of the facts in front of them?

This is a fundamental flaw in the process and another avoidance of openness and transparency by Mayor Yenni.

As noted by Kenner resident Jack Zewe, and echoed by District 2 Councilman Joe Stagni, Hunter Linfield & Junius is highly qualified.

That isn’t the issue.

The issue is, are they the most qualified?

Once again, at last night’s meeting, District 4 Councilwoman Maria DeFranchesch cited the Brooks Act, which mandates how certain professional services contracts are given. As noted, this contract does not fall under the Brooks Act or any other act.

However, Councilwoman DeFranchesch again outlined the procedure as picking the Top 3 candidates.

Sadly, until the public records request is reported by the Times-Picayune, Kenner residents won’t know if the company tasked with shaping Kenner’s future is the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd or, as is the case with other no-bid contracts from Mayor Yenni to political contributors, the 9^th or 13^th highest ranked firm.

Hopefully, the city will produce the public records request in a timely fashion and we can get that answer.

I’m still waiting on the results of a public records request that I made on September 23^rd. I think the 5-day period prescribed by state law is long overdue but, in Kenner anyway, Mayor Yenni makes his own rules.

Now Kenner Mayor Yenni Wants To Give a $2.1 Million No-Bid Contract To Another Campaign Contributor

Not content with divvying up over $600,000 in no-bid contracts to the 9th and 13th ranked firms, who just happen to be significant campaign contributors to Mayor Yenni and every member of the Kenner City Council, now Yenni is trying to push through a $2.1 Million no-bid contract to another large campaign contributor.

On tomorrow’s Kenner City Council agenda, tucked in at Item number 16-B and up for First Reading, is “An ordinance approving an agreement with Linfield Hunter & Junius, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $2,150,000 for program management professional services associated with the Kenner 2030 Plan for the Department of Public Works.”

At the last Kenner Council meeting, District 4 Councilwoman Maria DeFranchesch vehemently defended Mayor Yenni’s right to give out no-bid contracts, going so far as to cite state law (along with a bogus Federal law that has no impact on localities) that states that price cannot be a consideration in certain professional services contracts.

“Price is a secondary factor – it is negotiated after a vendor is selected,” DeFrancesch said.

                                                   

“If you cannot come to an agreement that is fair with the first company (selected), you go to the second. Then, you can go to number three. You can pick up to three that is (sic) reasonable”.

Of course, Councilwoman DeFranchesch, in her haste to curry favor with Mayor Yenni and defend him from criticism, failed to mention that, at least in America, the counting process is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13 and not 9-13.

As a former school teacher who never fails to remind us that fact ad nauseum, DeFranchesch should know how to count.

After all, Common Core hasn’t been implemented yet and DeFranchesch, while first claiming to be “retired” before it was disclosed that she actually was on disability from the Jefferson Parish Public School System, hasn’t been involved in education for years.

DeFranchesch also failed to mention that, next to Mayor Yenni himself, she was the biggest pig at the campaign contribution trough raking in almost $5,000 from the two companies that received the no-bid contracts.

And, while Councilwoman DeFranchesch, in defending Mayor Yenni, claimed that design work was not subject to the state’s bid laws, this particular contract with Linfield Hunter & Junius is a completely different animal.

This contract calls for $1,725,000 for “basic services for program management” and $425,000 for “professional supplementary services.”

Those “professional supplementary services” are further broken down as $350,000 for “Coordination and Management of Resident Inspection Services to be performed by Consultants” and $75,000 for “Preparation of specifications for a maintenance plan for all landscape related work. Work includes assisting OWNER with bid process (as need be)”.

There is some design work involved in the contract, but it is minimal. Instead, the contract lists Personnel as including “Accountant/Business Manager”, “Abstractor/Appraiser”, “Archaeologist”, “Biologist/Wetland Ecologist”, Survey Crews, “Clerical/Administrative”, “Computer Analyst”, “Economist”, “Historian”, and other various personnel.

The original proposal from GCR disclosed the need for a Program Manager. However, I don’t think a $2.15 Million no-bid contract was what GCR had in mind.

Rafe Rabalais, a consultant from GCR & Associates who presented the document to the committee, recommended Kenner hire a staff member to specifically focus on the making sure the all goals are accomplished.

"We need somebody to mind the store," he said.

So, how exactly did it go from a “staff member” to a $2.15 Million no-bid contract?

Oh, I think you already know the answer to that one.

That’s right – contributions to Mayor Yenni’s campaign account.

Linfield Hunter & Junius, and their principals, have contributed $8,248 to Mayor Yenni’s campaign. And, I’m sure more will be on the way for his 2014 campaign.

In a required affidavit, Linfield Hunter & Junius also disclosed that they gave $500 to District 3 Councilman Keith Reynaud, $250 to District 1 Councilman Gregory Carroll and, you guessed it, $500 to Councilwoman DeFranchesch.

Oink. Oink. 

Not listed in the affidavit is a $2,500 contribution to District 2 Councilman Joe Stagni.

When contacted, Councilman Stagni confirmed the contribution but said that, while it was received in 2009, it was for an earlier 1998 campaign. This fact was confirmed by the Louisiana Ethics Board.

The affidavit states that it lists all contributions for current and past terms, so the contribution for a 1998 campaign was not required to be listed by Linfield Hunter & Junius.

In 2012, the voters of Kenner approved a Charter Change to require Council approval and include public comment of all no-bid professional services contracts with a value of $100,000 and above sought by the Mayor.

When Mayor Yenni gave out the $600,000+ in no-bid contracts to his contributors, bypassing many other more qualified firms, except for a question from Councilman Stagni, there was not another peep from any other council member.

No debate. No disclosure of their receipt of contributions. And it goes without saying that Mayor Yenni didn’t disclose the $12,500 that he personally received.

$12,500 is a lot of Mardi Gras Beads, frames and gifts.  

Certainly not the kind of oversight that I believe the people of Kenner were seeking when they approved the Charter Change by a 70-30% margin (over the vehement protestations of Mayor Yenni).

It will be interesting to see if there is any debate or discussion at all regarding this contract which represents a significant portion of the debt that Mayor Yenni rammed down Kenner residents throats gutlessly without giving them the opportunity to approve or disapprove of his “vision” at the ballot box.

It will also be interesting to see if Councilwoman DeFranchesch again grabs the microphone to defend this continued shameful practice by Mayor Yenni.

Kenner residents already know that Mayor Yenni can’t fight his own battles.

Until the last council meeting we didn’t know that he needed to hide behind the skirt of retired, disabled school teacher.

Did I mention that Mayor Yenni is hosting a "Campaign Kickoff Fundraiser" for Councilwoman DeFranchesch's impending bid to be promoted to Councilman-At-Large?

Yenni has been very busy hosting fundraisers for members of the Council lately including one this week for District 5 Councilman Kent Denapolis' impending bid to also be promoted to Councilman-At-Large and recently for Councilman Reynaud.

Yeah, when it comes to spending other people's money and leaning on city contractors for political contributions, Mayor Yenni is in a league of his own. 

Oh, and did I mention that the price tag for Mayor Yenni’s 2030 Plan has now ballooned from $29 Million to $37 Million?

Did someone hear an "Oink"?

We’ll talk more about that later.

Group Launches Common Core Web Site – Claims It’s For “Information Purposes Only”

A Baton Rouge non-profit group has built a web site in an attempt to dispense unbiased information about Common Core. The only problem is, the group isn’t unbiased nor are the Corporate Partners funding the effort.

Education’s Next Horizon claims that it’s mission is to “help frame the public debate on PreK-12 education”.

In an article in the Baton Rouge Advocate promoting the launch of LouisianaCommonCore.org, John Warner Smith, the group’s CEO, said, “We wanted it to also be very informative and resourceful for individuals who perhaps have not taken a side on Common Core.”

But, Education’s Next Horizon is an unabashed supporter of Common Core as evidenced by the banner ad at the top of the web site which screams “Education’s Next Horizon is For Common Core.”

While including some information and links to articles that are negative about Common Core, the web site is hardly unbiased.

When you click on the tab “Positions Across Louisiana”, the web site is loaded with every group imaginable that supports Common Core including Education’s Next Horizon’s “Corporate Partners” like ExxonMobil.

Other companies listed as “Corporate Partners” for Education’s Next Horizon include companies who are also promoting Common Core like CapitalOne Bank, AT&T, Entergy, and Blue Cross Blue Shield. These companies are not listed on the LouisianaCommonCore.org web site.

In fact, there are 63 listings of companies, organizations and elected officials who support Common Core according to the web site. In addition, many of the groups and organizations listed aren’t from Louisiana.

One of the major financial backers of the Pro Common Core movement is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Microsoft Billionaire’s Foundation has pumped millions of dollars into the local school districts in the form of grants, provided millions more to community organizers, and millions more to state departments of education, including several million to the Louisiana DOE.

As part of the Common Core initiative, local school districts will need to spend millions to purchase computers and special testing software to coordinate data throughout the states. In Jefferson Parish alone,the School Board has approved $35 Million in bond debt to purchase computers and software specifically for Common Core.

Several groups listed as supporting Common Core have also received grants from the Gates Foundation including New Schools for New Orleans which has received over $3 Million in 2012 and 2013 alone and Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools which received $650,000 in 2011 and 2012.

Here’s a link to search grants from the Gates Foundation to Louisiana organizations and another link to see their spending to support Pro Common Core groups.

Clear evidence that the LouiaianCommonCore.org web site is biased, there are only 5 listings for those who are against Common Core.

The group Stop Common Core in Louisiana is one such group listed. The web site links to the group’s Facebook page which has over 7,200 “Likes”, myself included.

“We think educational decisions should be made by parents, teachers and Louisiana Citizens and not influenced by outside groups,” said Terri Timmcke of Stop Common Core in Louisiana.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) will vote on a revised plan by School Superintendent John White to delay mplementation of some parts of Common Core until Governor Jindal is almost out of office.

You Know It's An Election Year When Mary Landrieu Is Complaining

I realize that I'm an "Idealist" but I despise political posturing and political posing. In Louisiana, we see it on a daily basis and, in Jefferson Parish, we know it all too well. Whether it's JP Councilman-At-Large Chris Roberts jousting with Parish President John Young, or the antics of Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni and his Krewe, it's downright laughable. In fact, if it weren't for the electronic news media's fixation with Orleans Parish, they would have a field day with the continued shenanigans in JP.

And, while you expect a certain amount of posturing and posing from Washington, sooner or later they need to stop posing and actually get some work done that helps their constituents. Yeah, it's great that Senator Landrieu authored a bill banning the slaughter of horses and I am against horse slaughtering but, does horse slaughtering really impact Louisiana more than Billions to fix our coast line?

Obviously, Senator Mary Landrieu doen't agree with me.

Unlike other states, Louisiana has never received its fair share of offshore oil and gas royalties from the Federal Government.

During the Truman Administration (You do remember Harry Truman, right?), Louisiana was offered control of the first 3 miles offshore and the oil and gas royalties that accompanied it and a percentage of the take after 3 miles. Pushing for more, and overplaying his hand, Plaquemines Parish political boss Leander Perez turned down the deal.

In 1953, during the Eisenhower Administration, Louisiana was again offered a 50% share of offshore oil and gas royalties and, again, Perez declined.

During this time, without this revenue source, Louisiana's coast line has deteriorated and eroded. 

43 years later, in 1996, Mary Landrieu was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Ten years later, in 2006, prompted by the devastation from the levee failures and Katrina's winds, Landrieu finally offered legislation to correct this issue. Were it not for Katrina and the Army Corps, we would still be waiting for Senator Landrieu to attempt to fix this issue that is vital to Louisiana's survivability.

Oh, that's right. Despite the 2006 law, we're still waiting.

Landrieu's bill raises Louisiana's revenue share to 37.5% - still not the 50% that we could have received for the last 50+ years were it not for Leander Perez's arrogance.

Unfortunately, Landrieu's bill, while passed in 2006, doesn't take effect until 2017. At the time, Senator Landrieu said the Federal Government needed time to sort through the accounting.

Since it's an election year, Landrieu is complaining about what other states have received and the fact that Louisiana continues to get the short end of the stick.

But, Landrieu doesn't claim any responsibility for her own ineptitude in waiting 10 years to draft a bill and then getting a bill passed that won't send Louisiana any money until 2017, and then, the amount that Louisiana would receive is capped at $500 Million.

Last week, the Department of Interior distributed $14.2 Billion in royalty payments for land-based production on Federal lands and a paltry $300,000 for offshore royalties.

"The current system does nothing to mitigate against the impacts of energy production for the coastal communities that serve as a strong host for the nation's offshore energy production," Landrieu said.

HELLO! Where have you been for the past 17 years Senator Landrieu? Where was John Breaux, your predecessor? What about Hale Boggs?

Why weren't these Democratic power brokers interested in fighting for Louisiana for the past 60 years?

Now, because you're in a tough election battle after you've sold us out for the last 17 years (and counting, until 2017), you want to send out a Press Release discussing your "outrage" over a system that you ignored, and then failed to immediately address?

Enough with the posturing. Enough with the posing. Enough of Mary Landrieu's excuses and fake outrage.

Louisiana can't afford the next year with Mary Landrieu as our "Elected Representative" - let alone another 6 years after that.

Kenner Councilwoman DeFranchesch Defends Mayor Yenni’s No-Bid Contracts

At the last Kenner City Council meeting, the Council approved over $600,000 in non-emergency, no-bid  professional services contracts at the request of Mayor Mike Yenni.

The two companies that received the contracts, Digital Imaging & Engineering and Harman Engineering, both contributed the maximum amount allowed by law to Mayor Yenni’s campaign, and also contributed to each of the 7 Kenner City Councilmen including almost $5,000 to Councilwoman DeFranchesch’s campaign account.

Last year, the Kenner City Council unanimously approved allowing Kenner voters to vote on a charter change which would allow council oversight and public comment on all no-bid professional services contracts valued at over $100,000. The vote was approved by a 70%-30% margin.

The contributions to Mayor Yenni and the council were not disclosed at the council meeting and none of the councilmen in attendance (Councilman Kent Denapolis was not present at the meeting and Councilwoman Jeannie Black walked out of the council chambers during one of the votes) abstained from votes that directly benefited the companies that contributed money to their campaigns.

And, despite the charter change, except for a couple of questions from District 2 Councilman Joe Stagni regarding the selection process, there was no discussion from the council regarding the qualifications of the winning bidders, the price involved in the contracts, or the fact that both contracts were given to two different companies for work at the same location.

Adriane Quinlan from the Times-Picayune covered the no-bid contracts and ClickJefferson.com wrote about them as well.

In addition, Fox 8 and Nola.com have done an excellent job discussing issues with Jefferson Parish contractors who contribute Millions of dollars to the campaigns of Parish councilmen and, in return, receive lucrative no-bid professional services contract.

In fact, just this morning, Nola.com published another editorial condemning the Jefferson Parish contracting issue.

In May of 2012, the Bureau of Governmental Research issued a scathing report regarding Jefferson Parish’s contract selection process.

Until the Fall of 2011, price was considered in the Parish’s contract evaluation process. However, District councilmen were still given wide latitude to select any vendor they wished regardless of the score given to the contractor by the Evaluation Committee.

While agreeing that price should not be the only consideration, BGR stated that price should be a factor.

“Price is not necessarily the most important factor for selecting services that depend on technical or specialized skills. But the inclusion of non-price considerations results in a more subjective process – and the potential for favoritism, waste and abuse.”  

Jefferson Parish President John Young agreed.

In a Nola.com article, Young said:

“I asked the Parish Attorney to draft an ordinance placing price back in the equation. Though price shouldn’t be the sole determining factor, it should be a factor to be considered.”

Young also said that, when the Parish was recommending a vendor that was not the lowest-priced vendor, his staff would include a letter stating why the lowest-bidder was not selected.

“I requested my people to put that in writing in the resolution (to explain) why we didn’t go with the low-bid process.”

The Nola.com Editorial Board also called for reforms in Jefferson Parish and endorsed BGR’s recommendations.

“In public bids, the contract must be given to the lowest responsible bidder. But when hiring professionals, like engineers and attorneys, the council can select anybody regardless of price or the rankings by evaluating committees.”

The Editorial Board also endorsed another recommendation from BGR: including price as a factor in the selection process.

“The parish also should include cost as part of its evaluation process, and cost should also be an important factor in selecting the firms. As of now, price is not required to be a factor at all, meaning taxpayers are often paying more than they should for services. Indeed, almost every professional contract that local governments have recently opened for competition has led to savings.”

At last night’s Kenner City Council meeting, Councilwoman DeFranchesch took to the microphone to defend Mayor Yenni and the council’s decision to award the two non-emergency, no-bid professional services contracts.

Citing state law and the Federal Brooks Act, DeFranchesch, reading from a prepared statement despite the fact that it was on the council agenda as a “discussion” item, said that she wanted to clear up “confusion regarding whether these contracts should be put out for bid.”

Despite it being a "discussion" item, there was no discussion from any council member expect for DeFranchesch. 

The state law, which has been amended several times since its introduction in 2006 (most recently in 2012 to allow the Port of New Orleans to include price in their professional service contract evaluations), states:

“It is the policy of the state of Louisiana, its political subdivisions, and agencies to select providers of design professional services on the basis of competence and qualifications for a fair and reasonable price. Neither the state nor any of its political subdivisions or agencies may select providers of design services wherein price or price-related information is a factor in the selection.”

And that makes perfect sense.

You don’t always want the lowest-priced vendor. However, you do want the most qualified vendor that you can afford and who will provide the best value for your constituents.

The Brooks Act cited by Councilwoman DeFranchesch, is a law specifically related to Federal contracts and has no applicability to local bodies like the City of Kenner.

The Brooks Act does describe a process whereby firms should be selected.

That process was parroted several times by Councilwoman DeFranchesch.

“Price is a secondary factor – it is negotiated after a vendor is selected,” DeFrancesch said.

“If you cannot come to an agreement that is fair with the first company (selected), you go to the second. Then, you can go to number three. You can pick up to three that is (sic) reasonable”.

What Councilwoman DeFranchesch failed to disclose, but was exposed by Ben Myers at Nola.com, was that Digital Imaging and Hartman Engineering were the 9th and 13th ranked firms, according to the evaluation committee.

So, now we’ve gone from the Top Three (which is reasonable) to the Top 13?

According to Councilwoman DeFranchesch, if the process is that you select the top rated, most qualified company and negotiate price with them, it would appear that the Top 8 companies were negotiated with and all declined to come close to the city’s estimated price.

With all of that negotiating, it’s a wonder that anything gets done in Kenner.

The reality is, there was never any negotiation between any of the companies other than Mayor Yenni telling his two campaign contributors, “I’ll give you this contract and I’ll give you this other one that’s for a little less money. Next time, I’ll make it up it to you.”

While Councilwoman DeFranchesch can continue defending the indefensible and carrying Mayor Yenni’s water, since the Mayor didn’t comment at the council meeting or to Nola.com and walked out of the Council meeting when I got up to address the council the council about Councilwoman DeFranchesch’s comments, the fact is that these contracts don’t pass the smell test.

There is no possible way that Mayor Yenni or Councilwoman DeFranchesch can claim that these contracts are in the best interests of the people of Kenner. They were payback for political contributions – nothing more, nothing less.

Are we to believe that contracts are dispensed to the most competent vendors regardless of political contributions and influence, when the 9^th and 13^th highest rated vendors are selected and Councilwoman DeFranchesch wants to look into the camera and say in essence, “Our hands were tied. We talked to the first 8 companies and we couldn’t agree on a price”?

The Kenner City Council is the steward of Kenner tax dollars. How can Kenner taxpayers trust that the Council is seeking out the best value and using our tax dollars wisely?

With all of the debate and scrutiny over Jefferson Parish contracts, it would appear that the antics of Mayor Yenni and members of the Kenner City Council deserve some further scrutiny too.

Perhaps the next editorial in Nola.com should be to demand reform in Kenner and rebuke Mayor Yenni.

I can dream, can’t I?