With apologies to The Coasters’ classic “Charlie Brown”
“Byron Lee,
Byron Lee
He’s a
clown, that Byron Lee
He’s gonna
get caught
Just you
wait and see
(Why is
everybody always pickin’ on me?)”
After the
Legislative Auditor released yet another report critical of former Jefferson
Parish Councilman Byron Lee, it took all of about 5 seconds for Lee to do what
he always does: blame everyone else.
"Since
the inception of an African American-majority council district in Jefferson
Parish 21 years ago, the legislative auditor's office has been a tool used to
distort citizens' views and demonize the accomplishments of those who have
served,'' Lee said. " It started with my predecessor, and now my
successor. ''
Lee had to
have issued a written statement because there is no way that even a scumbag
like Lee could say those words without laughing out loud.
Lee’s
predecessor on the JP Council, Donald Jones, had many accomplishments chief of
which was diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the people of
Waggaman to whomever Jones deemed worthy.
Lee himself
continued that tradition and funneled even more money to scam non-profit groups
run by his family and friends, even his campaign Treasurer.
Three years
ago, almost to the day, the Legislative Auditor released another report
critical of Lee. I detailed those charges here.
In those
allegations involving Lee and another scam non-profit, The Jefferson Sports and
Scholastic Foundation, the Legislative Auditor also implicated former State Rep.
Girod Jackson.
“The Auditor’s Report also questions over
$120,000 paid to a company owned by State Representative Girod Jackson
(D-Harvey) without any documentation for the work performed. The funds were for
teachers in a computer tutorial program and meals at a summer camp.
Representative Jackson’s company,
Diversified Ventures, could not provide the Legislative Auditor with copies of
checks paid to teachers, sign-in sheets for the students, and could not provide
any documentation for the amount of meals that were served, where the meals
were served and how many children were served.
In addition, the Auditor’s Report alleges
that Diversified Ventures billed the Foundation for buses and meals when the
camp wasn’t in session and overcharged the Foundation by incorrectly
calculating invoices.
Representative Jackson did not respond to a
written request from the Legislative Auditor asking for a response to the
charges. ”
In August,Jackson was charged with tax evasion and failing to file tax returns, in part,
due to income derived from Diversified Ventures.
In 2006, I discussed the “Triumvirate of Corruption” on the
West Bank – Jefferson Parish School Board member Alvin Boudreaux, State Senator
Derrick Shepherd, and Lee.
The new report includes information about the deceased Boudreaux,
and the indicted Shepherd, who served time and is now on house release.
From Fox 8:
“The audit also says that former Sen. Derrick Shepherd and his stepmother got $56,000 from the non-profit after Shepherd helped the non-profit get state grants.
"In addition to that, $6,000 went to individuals who did campaign work for Derrick Shepherd," (auditor Brent) McDonald said.”
The report also implicates Lee’s successor on the council,
Mark Spears, for potential violations of state ethics laws prior to Spears
election to the council.
So, in a nutshell:
Alvin Boudreaux – Deceased
Derrick Shepherd – Indicted
Girod Jackson – Charged
Byron Lee - NEXT
I don’t think that “serving time” was one of the accomplishments
that Lee had in mind when he talked about the “accomplishments of those who
have served”.
