In JP Stench Scandal, All Fingers Point To Yenni and Conley

Like his Sexting Scandal, in the JP Stench Scandal, JP's Sexual Predator-In-Chief Mike Yenni just seems to get himself in deeper and deeper (no pun intended) with every word from his mouth, every Council meeting and Press Conference. 

Several weeks back, Yenni called a Press Conference to address the persistent complaints in recent months from residents of Harahan and River Ridge regarding the stench that seemed to be coming across the river from the JP-owned landfill in Waggaman. 

At the Press Conference, Yenni, always trying to act like he's in control and doing his job, pointed fingers at everyone from the JP Engineer charged with monitoring the landfill to former Parish President John Young and a "phantom" letter written in 2012 allowing the landfill operator, IESI to cut corners at the landfill, to IESI itself and their alleged incompetence. 

Well, weeks have passed and John Young unequivocally denied any relaxation of the landfill rules under his Administration, we have yet to see the "phantom" letter that Yenni used to blame Young, and we have now learned that before Yenni's Press Conference, IESI, the landfill operator, sent a letter to Yenni stating that they would repair and maintain the parish-owned gas trapping equipment at NO COST TO TAXPAYERS. 

Now, a report from an Engineering Consultant (paid for with our tax dollars) has zeroed in on the real  reason why the odor has only begun in the past 6-9 months and the blame points directly at Yenni and his CAO Keith Conley. 

Last year, without public debate or the approval of the Jefferson Parish Council, Conley (acting on Yenni's behalf) asked the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) for permission to start accepting liquid industrial waste at the landfill. 

During a Special Council Meeting Friday, when asked about the acceptance of liquid industrial waste, Yenni sat silent but Conley claimed to not know anything about the change. 

Until, an audience member disclosed the letter written and signed by Conley to the LDEQ seeking the permission to accept the liquid industrial waste. 

And, you know as well as I do that Conley wouldn't even consider writing that letter without Yenni's approval. 

Who are you going to blame now, Mikey?

Conley, for those who don't know or who haven't heard about him, is a former JPSO Deputy who resigned after his implication in the coverup of a JPSO altercation with a Mardi Gras parade goer on Veterans Blvd. While Conley wasn't accused to the physical altercation, he was implicated in the coverup and the victim filed a Civil law suit seeking (and receiving) monetary damages from Conley. 

After leaving the JPSO, Conley became an Attorney, having his own practice until filing for bankruptcy. He then went to work in the law firm of Yenni's BFF Michael Brandner. the personal injury attorney. Conley, who contributed to Yenni's 2010 Kenner Mayoral campaign, despite his bankruptcy filing, also served as Kenner's City Attorney during Yenni's first term as Kenner Mayor. 

For Yenni's 2nd term as Kenner Mayor, Conley was elected Councilman-At-Large so he could help push through Yenni's agenda. 

When Yenni became Parish President, Conley quit as Councilman-At-Large and followed Yenni to the Parish, becoming Yenni's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) despite having ZERO experience in a role that vast. 

Of course, having ZERO relevant experience hasn't stopped Yenni from loading up the Parish payroll with other high paying execs, each earning over $100k in salary plus more in benefits, including: 

- Former Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway, one of Yenni's Chief Administrative Assistants despite the fact that the Parish President has ZERO input into the JPSO and Caraway has spent his career in law enforcement. 

- Former JP Public School Superintendent Dianne Roussel, another of Yenni's Chief Administrative Officers with oversight over departments including Human Resources and the Animal Shelter. REALLY? We need a Chief Administrative Officer overseeing the Animal Shelter? Roussel, for those of you following along at home, was at least partially responsible for running JP's Public School System into the ground, taking on mountains of debt, and a continued decline of test scores. Years after Roussel's retirement after an 8-year stint where, according to her anyway, she "left the school system better than I found it", the JP Public School System is still struggling to recover. 

- Deputy Chief Operating Officer (under Conley) Natalie Newton, who also came over from Kenner where she was first an uncertified City Auditor (a position created for her by Yenni) and later Kenner's Deputy CAO. Newton's background before meeting Mike Yenni: she was a secretary for a Texas company. 

- Valerie Waguespack Brolin, currently the head of the JP Housing Authority. Her background: before joining the Parish, she was the IT Director for Kenner (another position created by Yenni), despite not knowing any computer programming. Before she became the IT Director, she was a secretary for former Mayor Ed Muniz and before that she was a legal secretary. 

Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a secretary, but running a city and a parish, or even a department of government, requires certain skills, background and experience.

Similarly, there's nothing wrong with working your way up or growing into a job if you have a passion for it.

But, for $100k + annually in tax payer dollars as a salary, plus benefits, these shouldn't be On-The-Job Training positions. In my opinion, unless your position requires extensive education and experience, like an Engineer, no one in Parish or City government should earn anything close to $100k per year, yet alone more than that, including the Parish President or the Mayor of a City the size of Kenner (or smaller). 

My point in this is to show repeated instances of Yenni's vanity in surrounding himself with people who aren't even on his low level intellectually. Yenni is a narcissist that needs to think he is the smartest guy in the room and loathes anyone that has the experience or expertise to challenge him. 

SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to Yenni and Conley, there is no doubt that Yenni defenders will rally around him to attempt to deflect blame. 

JP District 3 Councilman Mark Spears and District 4 Councilman Dominick Impastato, have already begun trying to cast aspersions everywhere - everywhere that is, that is away from Yenni. 

There are calls to close the JP-owned landfill and use one of the River Birch landfills on the West
Bank. Kenner, due to Yenni's intervention, already uses a River Birch landfill for disposal of its waste instead of the Parish-owned landfill, which may have provided a less expensive option to River Birch. 

And, I don't need to rehash all of the past River Birch political scandals. 

River Birch has contributed Tens of Thousands to the political campaigns of many elected officials including Yenni, Spears and current Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn. 

But, the answer isn't to close the Parish-owned landfill. The answer is to stop the practice of accepting liquid industrial waste, which the Yenni Administration did stop last month, but only after hundreds of folks got sick. 

And, since the acceptance of the liquid industrial waste was initiated by the Yenni Administration, and authorized by Keith Conley, why haven't he and Yenni resigned? 

Yenni and Conly are responsible for the unsafe practices at the Parish-owned landfill - not John Young, not IESI, not a poorly maintained gas trapping system and certainly not an Engineer that was just doing his job and following Conley's (and Yenni's) orders.. 

YENNI and CONLEY MUST RESIGN. PERIOD. 

Closing the Parish-owned landfill won't fix the stench in Jefferson Parish when it's actually coming from the Parish President's Office.