CCC Toll Crushed

It’s a beautiful Spring Sunday in Jefferson Parish. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the People have spoken – AGAIN.

Baseball Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra said, “It’s déjà vu all over again” and that’s how I felt last night watching the election returns come in.

Two Springs ago, a ragtag group of 12 Kenner residents beat back the political machine and defeated Mayor Mike Yenni’s plan to double property taxes. 6 taxes were defeated, many by a margin of 70 – 30%. This vote saved Kenner residents and business owners about $12 Million per year in added property taxes.

Yesterday, another group of citizens led by Mike Teachworth and Patrick Hand, one-upped the vote in Kenner and defeated the plan to extend the toll on the Crescent City Connection Bridge for another 20 years.

In November, the original vote to extend the toll won by 36 votes with almost 309,000 votes cast. Yesterday, with an energized West Bank, the toll was defeated 77.45% to 22.55%.

Unlike November however, when Jefferson and Plaquemines Parishes voted against the toll but Orleans Parish voted for it, this time Orleans Parish voters came along for the ride too.

In fact, only two precincts in the three parish voting area voted FOR the continuation of the toll, and they were in Orleans Parish.

Plaquemines Parish, led by early No Toll supporter President Billy Nungesser, voted 86.5% to 13.5% against the toll. Jefferson Parish, also led by a Parish President in John Young that was also an early No Toll supporter, voted 81.3% to 18.7% also crushing the toll. In Orleans Parish, where Mayor Mitch Landrieu and his Pro Toll supporters like Jackie Clarkson saw the writing on the wall and kept quiet this vote, sent the toll to defeat by a 69% to 31% margin.

While it was expected that the West Bank of Jefferson would get out the vote to end the toll, the shift on the East Bank was significant.

In Harahan, November’s vote was Against the toll by a slim 51 – 49% margin. This time, Harahan voters defeated the toll again but by a 74.4 – 25.6% margin. While turnout was lower, the margin grew from 84 votes Against to 900 votes Against.

In November, Kenner voters approved the extension by a 50.6 – 49.4% margin. Yesterday, Kenner voters defeated the toll by a 76.4 – 23.6% margin. Again, with lower turnout, the vote still swung significantly. The vote margin in Kenner flipped from 227 For the toll extension to 2,023 Against the toll.

In Kenner, 5 Kenner City Councilman (Michele Branigan, Gregory Carroll, Kent Denapolis, Keith Reynaud and Joe Stagni) publicly came out in support of ending this unfair and unnecessary tax.  Citizens For a Better Kenner (of which I am President), also strongly advocated for the NO Vote.

Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni, Police Chief Steve Caraway and Jefferson Parish District 4 Councilman Ben Zahn all supported the toll extension and, like their counterparts in Orleans Parish, read the tea leaves and knew they were going to lose this vote, so rather than “man up” and stick to their convictions, they sat this one out.

In fact, all of the elected officials in JP who spun their gloom and doom tales about the CCC and the need for the toll to be extended for another 20 years all sat silently like their brothers in Kenner and Orleans.

Perhaps ace Political Consultant Greg Buisson determined that not enough money could be raised to make it worth his while to fight the toll extension this time.

Buisson, who worked extensively with Bridging Progress, the Pro-Toll PAC funded by several prominent Jefferson Parish business owners, business groups and elected officials, was the longtime Political Consultant of disgraced former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, former JP Councilman Byron Lee and current disgraced St. Tammany Parish Coroner Peter Galvan. Lee and Galvan aren’t  in jail – yet.

Buisson’s clients also include Jefferson Parish Assessor Tom Capella, JP Councilmen Paul Johnston, Chris Roberts, Ricky Templet and Ben Zahn, Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni, Kenner Police Chief Steve Caraway and Kenner Councilwoman Maria DeFranchesch along with former Kenner Mayors Ed Muniz and Louis Congemi, and Kenner Police Chief Nick Congemi.

When I think of Buisson, I’m reminded of an old joke.

A man is sitting in a bar and he says to a woman, “Would you sleep with me for $100?”

The woman says, “$100? Of course not.”

The man says, “Well, would you sleep with me for $1,000?”

The woman replies, “No.”

The man again asks, “Would you sleep with me for $1 Million dollars?”

The woman says, “Ok.”

The man says, “Well, to be honest, I only have $60 bucks on me. Will you take it?”

The woman says, “No, what do you think, I am a common street corner prostitute?”

The man says, “We’ve already determined what you are. Now, we’re just negotiating the price.”

If you’re an elected official or aspiring politician, and you’ve got money, Greg Buisson will sleep with you. Buisson was also the Media Mastermind behind Hilary Landry's defeat last night in the 24th JDC Division D race to Scott Schlegal.

Of course, when you lie down with dogs, you’re bound to catch some fleas.

But, I digress.

This post is about a group of citizens who, despite the odds, fought for a revote and then mobilized to ensure success. It truly was Democracy in action. They are truly to be commended.

From the volunteers who phone banked and made thousands of calls to likely voters, to the sign wavers on corners, to the people behind the scenes who did the heavy lifting and kept everyone organized, to the people who squeezed donated nickels into quarters for signs and literature, to the contributors who donated, Thank You!

Thank You to the hundreds of volunteers who gave of their time so they could help beat this unfair tax.

Thank You for ending 20 more years of wasted spending.

Thank You to the voters who came out and voted on a Saturday when there really wasn’t much else to vote on.  

Thank You for your part in defeating this unfair tax and allowing us all to keep more of our money in our pockets and not in the pockets of the politicians.

It is our money. Thanks for reminding the politicians of that fact.

Despite Rushed AG Opinion, Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni’s Administration Is “The Gang That Couldn’t Bid Straight”

Two years ago, when Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni proposed doubling Kenner’s property taxes instead of cutting City Government, I advocated for the consolidation of several City Departments. One of them was the Purchasing Department.

Per the City Charter, that was approved by the voters of Kenner in November 2007 (certainly not Ancient History), the functions of Purchasing fall under the Finance Department.

In fact, on Page 33 of the Charter it lists the duties of the Finance Director including “procure all real and personal property, materials, supplies, and services required by the City.”

When I met to discuss this with Mayor Yenni and Finance Director Duke McConnell (who earns in excess of $100,000 plus benefits as the Finance Director), Yenni and McConnell swatted me away like a fly on a hot, summer day.

“Purchasing is too specialized,” Mr. McConnell said. “I don’t have the time to supervise that.”

But, what about the Charter?

“The Charter says that the Mayor has the right to add Departments at will,” Mayor Yenni said.

So, really, what’s the point of having a City Charter if a Mayor can do whatever he wants despite what the Charter says, and what the people voted on?

Since then, Mayor Yenni has repeatedly stated how the size of the City Payroll is smaller and there are less City employees. And, while that is true, it’s been painfully obvious over the past three years that Yenni has fired workers and replaced them with more highly paid Directors and Assistant Directors and added Departments.

This is certainly not the only time Mayor Yenni has stretched the truth. But, we’ve got time to get into that can of worms later. For now, let’s talk about Purchasing.

In February and March, I wrote extensively (as did the Times-Picayune and The Advocate for those who say I’m the only one criticizing Mayor Yenni) about the flawed generator maintenance contract that was given to a Mississippi company over a Kenner company because the Kenner company was outbid by $87.00 on a $100,000 contract.

$87.00!


If you want to read more, click here, here, here or here. That’s right: 4 articles on a generator maintenance contract.
 

Forget the response time difference. Forget “Shopping Kenner First”. Forget that the winning bidder did not have the proper licenses to even bid on the contract.

None of those reasons were enough for Mayor Yenni or his Purchasing Director to toss the bid as unresponsive or give the Kenner company preference.

This despite the fact that Mayor Yenni had already negotiated a generator maintenance contract with this same Mississippi company that was to stay in effect until a new contract was signed.

Of course, Mayor Yenni didn’t tell anyone that. He wanted the people of Kenner to believe that Kenner needed a generator maintenance contract in place because hurricane season was upon us.

 Is “omission” considered “stretching the truth”?

The generator contract was a “Sealed Bid” so there’s no possible way that the winning bidder could have known what the 2^nd lowest bidder (the Kenner company) bid, right?

Right?

At every Kenner City Council meeting there is an agenda item #10 that calls for “Opening Of Bids” and it is predictable that the Council Clerk will say, “We have none”.

So, why isn’t this the time to open Sealed Bids and publicly disclose them?

Wouldn’t that be “Open and Transparent”?

Not in Kenner.

Louisiana Revised Statute 38:2214A regarding the Opening of Bids says “Sealed bids must be publicly opened and read aloud.” It also says that “bids are public records and are subject to inspection and copying”.

I guess in Kenner “publicly opened and read aloud” means the Purchasing Director sitting at her desk with her office door open.

In fact, unlike many municipalities, in Kenner the “Sealed Bids” are opened without a member of the Governing Authority (the Council) present. Kenner, conveniently, doesn’t have an ordinance that requires the Council (that approves the bids) to be present when the bids are opened.

In addition, some vendors have complained (although none will go on record for fear of never getting another government contract) that their bids were not accepted despite attempting to turn the bids in prior to the deadline.

One vendor described how he arrived at Kenner’s Purchasing Department 15 minutes before the bid deadline but the Purchasing Director was not in the office. The vendor was told that they could not submit their bid without the Purchasing Director present. It seems that the Purchasing Department staff in Kenner cannot be trusted with the task of taking an envelope and putting a date/time stamp on it. The Purchasing Director arrived back in the office 5 minutes after the deadline passed and told the vendor that their bid was past the deadline.

As I said, this incident was relayed to me by a vendor so there is no way that I can independently verify it. But, if true, it is indicative of a very real issue.

Now, Kenner has yet another issue with a bid.

After being deferred twice, at the last Kenner City Council meeting, the Council approved a bid for PVC pipe. While the City has never spent more than $8,000 in one year on PVC pipe, even after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the two-year contract had a cap of $100,000.

After it was approved, it was disclosed that the winning bidder had put in a clause that would allow them to increase the price by 3.5% in the 2^nd year. Rather than ask the winning bidder to delete that clause, since, if you’ve ever read the bid specs that the City of Kenner sends out there are many ambiguous statements.

Ambiguous statements. Vendors complaining about the bid process. “Sealed Bids” not publicly opened or supervised by the Governing Authority. The Attorney General’s Office and State Contractor’s Board getting involved in local minor contract issues.

Sure sounds “Open and Transparent” to me.

With the deferrals and the vote, that’s a full 6 weeks that the Yenni Administration could have stopped this; could have tossed the bids; could have done something.

Now, 3.5% of $8,000 is $280.

Still Mayor Yenni held steadfast.

“There is no contract too small to circumvent the public bid law,” Yenni told the Times-Picayune.

Yenni, who vetoed the Council’s ordinance approving the contract, went to the State Attorney General’s Office to get an opinion on his veto.

If you remember, it took the State Attorney General over 8 months to return an opinion on Kenner’s Executive Pay Plan which Mayor Yenni and his mentor Mayor Muniz expanded to include everyone from Secretaries to Assistant Directors.

8 months the people of Kenner waited and squandered more tax dollars to learn what we already suspected: the Executive Pay Plan was illegal.

The AG told Mayor Yenni what he had been told for years by many, the Executive Pay Plan was illegal. Yet, Mayor Yenni took no action to recover the over $1 Million that was squandered by the Plan’s expansion by Mayor Muniz and himself.

I guess because it wasn’t a “public bid”, $1 Million tax payer dollars wasted wasn’t enough for Mayor Yenni to try to collect from his friends.

In a lightening quick opinion, the Assistant Attorney General said Mayor Yenni was correct in vetoing the ordinance.

I’m sure Mayor Yenni is glad that it didn’t take them 8 months like the Executive Pay Plan.

The veto was only the second time that Yenni had used his veto power in 3 years. The last time was when the Kenner City Council first attempted to ban Yenni’s political appointees from engaging in politics. That measure was ultimately decided by the voters who approved the ban by a 70-30% vote.

At Thursday night’s Kenner City Council meeting, there were two motions to Reconsider the ordinance and override Mayor Yenni’s veto. The Council also met in Executive Session, away from public earshot, to discuss the ordinance and the veto.

In an attempt to allow Mayor Yenni to save face, the Council voted to not override the Mayor’s veto but cancel the bids and the contract award and start from scratch.

Can’t make the Mayor of YenniVille look bad.

If the City of Kenner’s Purchasing Department has this much trouble with a Generator Maintenance Contract valued at less than $50,000 and a PVC pipe contract valued at $6,000 - 8,000 per year, Heaven help us when they start letting the contracts for Mayor Yenni’s $28 Million Bond Deal.

I can’t wait for that.

Just another day in YenniVille.

 

NO Mayor Vetoes Food Truck Expansion; JP Councilwoman Sheng Wants More Food Trucks For Fat City

In what could be described as “A Tale of Two Cities”, or, more accurately, “A Tale of Two Parishes”, Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are on opposite ends of another issue: Food Trucks.

Just hours after New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu vetoed a bill that would have allowed for more Food Trucks in Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish District 5 Councilwoman Cynthia Sheng got Council approval for another Food Truck Rally in Fat City.

The second Food Truck Rally will take place on May 13^th from 5pm – 10pm in a strip center parking lot owned by Drago’s restaurant owner Tommy Cvitanovich.

Food Trucks were banned in Jefferson Parish after the parish was inundated with them during the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Sheng, who along with Sheriff Newell Normand, championed the Fat City Rezoning Ordinance which has caused dozens of businesses to close and the unemployment of hundreds of workers, is trying to revitalize Fat City with little success.

Sheng claims that the first Fat City Food Truck Rally, held on April 15^th, was an overwhelming success. But, is it a long-term cure to Fat City’s ills?

Salvatore’s Ristorante, a long-time Fat City fixture, has been shuttered for over a year but may soon reopen as an Oriental restaurant under new ownership. A coffee shop took over the space of another former restaurant. However, dozens of other storefronts and buildings are shuttered and the rezoning ordinance did not address the issue of the high density of apartments in the Fat City area.

Two and a half years into the controversial rezoning, Fat City should have more to hang it’s hat on than a replacement restaurant, a coffee shop and Food Trucks which do little to stimulate the economy or create real jobs in Fat City.

No, You Can’t Buy An “I’m A Communist” License Plate In Louisiana - Yet

The House Transportation Committee defeated a bill by Houma State Rep. Lenar Whitney (R) that would have created new vanity license plates proclaiming that you are a member of the Republican or Democratic Parties.

“It’s just political support for your political party,” Whitney said.

Several committee members disagreed.

“You realize if you do this then the Socialists have a right to come here and ask for that? If we approve this then they can have the same standing. So could the Communist Party and the Islamic Party. That’s the problem that this thing can open, do you realize that?” Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) said.

“I don’t know that this bill would open, ‘I’m a Communist’,” Whitney said. “I’m not asking for that license plate.”

The bill failed by a 7-8 vote.

The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles says the state already has 214 vanity license plates in circulation

Senator Landrieu Says She's "Indispensable"; Congressman Boustany Blasts IRS Over Budget Increase; and More

This morning I was a guest on "The Ken & Bernie Show" with Ken Romero and Bernadette Lee on KPEL 96.5fm in Acadiana. We discussed Mary Landrieu being "indispensable"; Congressman Boustany taking the IRS to task over ObamaCare; and some Louisiana Budget Bill. You can listen to the interview here.

Just Say “NO” To The CCC Toll

You could probably count on NO hands, the number of times that I have agreed with anything written by the Times-Picayune Editorial Board.

I’m not sure what that says about me or the T-P’s Editorial Board, but it does say something.

In fact, I think the probability of lightning striking me or my winning the Powerball are better than the T-P Editorial Board and I agreeing on anything.

Allow me to digress for a moment (since it’s my blog, you really don’t have a choice so just patronize me).

Let me take you back to the Fall of 2011 when I sat before the Times-Picayune Editorial Board.  I was summoned there and granted 10 minutes to extoll the virtues of my possibly representing District 4 on the Jefferson Parish Council to a group of people who were largely from Orleans Parish (and had no idea what the issues in District 4 were nor did they care) and who really didn’t like me because I owned an online media company (something they obviously aspired to be).

I sat in a chair facing about 10 people who peppered me with questions about things that had nothing to do with my platform, my experience, or why I wanted to run for public office and serve the people. Since I was, at one time, a media consultant, the then-Publisher of the T-P wanted to know what newspapers I had worked with. Don’t know if he was trying to use that to network for his next job or call them and see if they would act as a reference for me.

Sitting in that chair, I thought “Why am I here? Do I really even want the endorsement of these people?”

As I walked to my car I said to myself, “Well, that went ok but there is no way in Hell that they are ever going to endorse me.”

Of course, I was right. The T-P endorsed one of my opponents (the “anointed” candidate).

In light of those facts, I have been stunned by the T-P’s support of the elimination of the CCC toll.

Jim Varney (one of my favorite T-P columnists) has opined several times this week about the need to eliminate the toll. In fact, he says that “Voting ‘No’ on CCC Tolls is a Public Service.”

If you missed any of Mr. Varney’s writings on the CCC toll issue, click here or here or here.

Today, while it is cloudy in Kenner and there was some lightning, none struck me (I didn’t win the Powerball last night either).

But, the T-P’s Editorial Board actually decreed that the CCC toll should be gone.

No, Hell hasn’t frozen over (at least not to my knowledge).

The case against the continuation of the CCC toll is so overwhelming that it is somewhat surprising that it took this long for the T-P to come out against it.

Consider these facts:

-          Decades of mismanagement and fiscal mismanagement

-          Money spent on phony insurance policies that served only to line the pockets of politically ingrained Insurance agents

-          Only $.19 out of every dollar spent on the toll actually goes to bridge maintenance

-          Drivers already pay $.20 per gallon in gasoline taxes for road and bridge maintenance in Louisiana

-          The CCC is the only toll bridge that crosses the Mississippi River in the entire country. In fact, there are 10 bridges in Louisiana alone that cross the mighty river and don’t charge a toll.

-          The CCC bridge has been paid off for years

-          It costs more to collect the toll than is spent on bridge maintenance and operations

-          About $20 Million each year is sapped out of our local economy and much of that is spent on projects across the state including the LA 1 bridge and other road projects

 
I could keep going but you get the drift. I'm glad that the T-P's Editorial Board got the drift too (or, at least, read Jim Varney's columns).

As I told a friend this weekend when we were discussing a local Talk Radio Host, “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.”

Whatever the reason, I say "BRAVO!" to the Times-Picayune Editorial Board. Now if everyone will vote NO to the toll on May 4^th, we will all win.

Now that I don’t need to hoard my One Dollar bills for every trip to the West Bank, I should be able to find 2 to buy myself the winning Powerball ticket on Wednesday.

Who knows? Stranger things have happened.  

 

Sen. Landrieu’s Gun Vote Shouldn’t Hurt Much; Ties To Obama Could

Many pundits have criticized Senator Mary Landrieu’s recent vote to expand background checks and called it a “kiss of death” in The Sportsman’s Paradise.

The Senate voted 54-46 in favor of expanding background checks to internet and gun show sales but they needed 60 votes for passage.

Landrieu called the bill a “hard-fought, but balanced approach that would reduce gun violence and make it much harder for criminals and mentally ill individuals to access guns.’’

“Currently, guns can be purchased online and at gun shows without any background check whatsoever, leaving a gaping hole in our gun protection system,’’ she said.

While many Americans support expanding background checks, Louisiana voters are overwhelmingly against any new Federal gun control measures and there has been no data to support Senator Landrieu’s assertion that criminals buy guns on the internet or at gun shows and would thus be thwarted by a background check.

The concept of a criminal producing a valid id to make a gun purchase is completely unrealistic to most people, except our Senator Mary.

Even so, I really don’t think this vote will hurt Senator Landrieu.

There are two things that will minimize the politics of Senator Landrieu’s votes and its impact on her 2014 re-election campaign: her base and time.

Democrats in Louisiana will almost assuredly vote for Landrieu. There is little doubt that Landrieu will carry Orleans Parish by a wide margin regardless of who Republicans, Libertarians or any other party put up against her.

Senator Landrieu needs to hope that she can get out the inner city vote in New Orleans and Baton Rouge (and, in the process, make a significant dent in Congressman Bill Cassidy’s BR base), and split or not lose Acadiana and North Louisiana by too much, and her re-election is assured.

The other factor weighing in Senator Landrieu’s favor is time. By next Fall, this gun control vote will be long gone in the minds of most voters.

In addition, by voting for President Obama’s failed gun control measure, Senator Landrieu further solidified her relationship with the President. I’m sure that she thinks that is a good thing but her closeness to the President could also be Senator Landrieu’s undoing.

Senator Landrieu has voted with President Obama and the Democratic Party a staggering 97% of the time. That’s hardly bi-partisan and can hardly be called representative of Louisiana.

The 2014 elections are mid-term elections and could be a referendum on President Obama. The political party of the President in power has generally lost ground in mid-term elections.

In the 2010 mid-term election, Democrats lost 63 House seats and 6 Senate seats. Similarly, in 2006, the Republican Party lost 30 House seats and 6 Senate seats.

In fact, in every mid-term election since 1938, the party in power has lost House seats except for 2 elections: 2002 when Republicans gained 8 seats and 1998 when Democrats garnered 5 additional seats.

The losses in the Senate, while less dramatic, are also real.

In 2002, Republicans gained 2 Senate seats; in 1970, Republicans gained 1 Senate seat and in 1962, Democrats gained 2 Senate seats. In 1998 and 1982 there were no gains or losses in the Senate.  Every other mid-term election resulted in Senate losses for the party holding the White House.

Recently, in the 2010 mid-term election, Democrats lost 6 Senate seats as Republicans did in 2006.

In 1994, under Bill Clinton’s leadership, Democrats lost 54 House seats and 8 Senate seats. Only the 2010 mid-term election in President Obama’s first term had larger combined losses.

So, while playing to her base and strengthening her ties to a lame duck President who is unpopular in Louisiana, Senator Landrieu could also be unknowingly playing into Republican’s hands.

And, while the gun control vote may well be forgotten, Senator Landrieu’s “Louisiana Purchase” vote on ObamaCare will play a large role in the campaign as will her record as being a largely ineffective Senator.

While no one can deny that Senator Landrieu has recently fought for Louisiana’s coast and our share of offshore oil and gas royalties, Landrieu only recently attempted to make those royalties effective now instead of 2017.

But the question remains: why 2017?

When Senator Landrieu took office in 1997, the issue of Louisiana not receiving our share of royalties had been an issue for years. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the cry got louder for Louisiana to receive more money to repair our fragile, neglected coastline.

Senator Landrieu sits on the Senate Appropriations and the Energy and Natural Resources Committees. Clearly, if she is an effective Senator, it would not take her 15 years to get a bill passed to get Louisiana’s share of energy royalties years from now.

Senator Landrieu takes much pride at her 2005 legislation that had the Senate apologize for the Senate’s failure in the early 19^th Century to ban lynching. Why wasn’t Senator Landrieu as proactive regarding Louisiana’s coast as she was about trying to rewrite history?

Just this week, Senator Landrieu told Bruce Alpert of the Times-Picayune that “I’m indispensable”.   

“Indispensable”?

Senator Landrieu has voted for over $1 Trillion in Tax hikes. I don’t know about you but, to me, that is hardly “indispensable”.

If Senator Landrieu was truly “indispensable” to Louisiana she would have fixed Louisiana’s royalty issue in 1997 instead of 2017. If she had done that then, perhaps Katrina and Rita would not have devastated Louisiana like they did.

But, I’m not a US Senator so I can’t rewrite history.