People across the country have been in an uproar over the
past several months with the reports of the Federal Government using the NSA to
spy on American’s emails and telephone calls. Imagine, the Federal Government
spying on its citizens.
In the City of Kenner, Mayor Mike Yenni has his own version
of the NSA: the City’s Legal Department, led by former JPSO Deputy and current
City Attorney Keith Conley.
A few months back, after I filed the lawsuit to attempt to
stop Mayor Yenni from selling the $42 Million in bonds to finance Yenni’s
“vision”, I needed to pick up some papers at my attorney’s office. She joked
and asked if I had parked in the back of the building. Since I didn’t
understand the joke, she explained that she was told by a city employee that
people within the City of Kenner Government knew when I went to her office.
Since her office is just down the street from City Hall, I
thought that it could just be a coincidence – some city employee drove past and
saw my car there and made a comment.
Later, I received an interesting phone call from a city
employee. To avoid detection, the employee called me from her home.
She asked me how I enjoyed my lunch a couple of days before
at a Kenner restaurant. I told her that it was good but I didn’t see her there
otherwise I would have said “Hello”. She told me that she wasn’t there. Then
she asked me how my dinner after the Kenner Council meeting was. I told her
that I stopped at Sonic on my way home. She replied, “I know”, and then told me
every other stop that I made during that day. She knew what convenience stores I went to, when I went to the Post Office, and when I went to
the Doctor’s office for physical therapy for my leg. She basically recanted the last several days of my life.
It seemed that someone was keeping track of my whereabouts.
Now, 25 years ago, this sort of tracking would have probably
led to some explaining by me but, since now I live a pretty nondescript life as I've grown older,
there’s isn’t much that people could learn by tailing me.
To be honest, I found it amusing that anyone, let alone
someone within the City of Kenner, would care how I spent my time. However,
when reports started appearing on the Nola.com Kenner Forum and they contained
personal information about my comings and goings, I started to take things a little more seriously.
Now, I don’t know why someone would bother with noting the
times that I would frequent the Circle K/On The Run convenience stores on Loyola and on
Williams, or why someone would care that I picked up dinner from Kenner Seafood
on a Friday night (I don’t eat meat on Fridays and Kenner Seafood makes really
good Fried Catfish), but someone wanted to know.
Since I’ve spent most of this year walking with a cane, a walker or crutches and a
cast or splint on my leg, and since I’ve driven the same car for years and
don’t have access to Mayor Yenni’s fleet of vehicles, it’s not like I can hide
from anyone even if I wanted to. Strangers stop me everywhere and ask what happened to my leg and, if restaurant servers and convenience store clerks don't already know my name, they certainly would recognize and be able to pick me out of a police lineup.
It’s anyone’s guess why, or even if, someone within the City
of Kenner was keeping track of me. It could have been an eerie set of
coincidences. Of course, since I’m still holding out hope that there really is
an Easter Bunny, the coincidence part could be wishful thinking on my part.
Perhaps I should file a Public Records Request to see if
surveillance on me was approved by the Mayor. I’m sure that someone would point
at my frequenting convenience stores to prove that I have a “drinking problem”.
Since I often converse with Kenner Police officers at the Circle K stores,
I’m sure that they will attest that my “drinking problem” involves copious amounts
of Diet Mt. Dew from the fountain machine. $.79 for 52 ounces of soda is the
best bargain in town!
Let’s Just Cover Things Up
Given what I just described, obviously, I was not surprised
when I learned Thursday that the City of Kenner had hired a private investigator
to follow and report on a city employee, nor was it surprising that the order
came from City Attorney Conley.
As I mentioned, Conley was a JPSO Deputy prior to becoming
an attorney. He was also involved in the cover-up of an incident involving a
woman who was pushed to the ground by a reserve JPSO Deputy at a Metairie
Mardi Gras parade. The woman sustained injuries so severe that she required back fusion
surgery and she was awarded $332,500 by a jury.
For his actions in the cover-up of the incident, the woman
was awarded judgments against the JPSO and against Conley personally, as well
as the others involved in the cover-up.
In a Times-Picayune article about the incident, the woman’s
attorney said, “You have three officers who for 11 months covered up this
thing, intentionally lied.”
Three years after the incident when the case was finally
settled, the JPSO had still not officially disciplined Conley or the other
officers.
Subsequently, Conley left the JPSO.
That incident should tell you all you need to know about
Kenner City Attorney Keith Conley’s character.
It also speaks volumes about Mayor Yenni’s personnel
decisions.
A Pattern Of Threats, Retribution and
Intimidation
Mayor Yenni, himself, has a long pattern of afflicting
retribution on those who oppose him.
Almost every person who had a significant role in the battle
to defeat Mayor Yenni’s plan to double property taxes has faced some sort of
vengeance from the Mayor, myself included.
When I ran for Jefferson Parish Council in the Fall of 2011, against then-Kenner City Councilman Ben Zahn (who was supported by Mayor Yenni)
on several occasions I had manila envelopes containing documents left on my car
at public meetings (including the Alliance for Good Government endorsement meeting) or taped to my front door. Notes were included with the
documents or written on the envelopes to the effect of “If you don’t drop out,
we’ll give this to the media and bury you” or “Get out or we’ll ruin you.”
One envelope contained old business information from over 20 years ago, another contained information showing that I attended high school in Pennsylvania (I still don't know what that was supposed to prove - I've never denied being born or spending the first 18 years of my life in Erie, Pennsylvania), and other assorted newspaper articles, public documents and other items with the expressed intent to intimidate me and get me to withdraw from the race clearing the path for Zahn's coronation.
Since, not even the flesh-eating virus could "bury me", obviously, those scare tactics didn’t work.
Even the Kenner City Councilmembers who assisted the
anti-tax movement have faced Mayor Yenni’s wrath and intimidation tactics.
Recently, 1st District Councilman Gregory Carroll,
who supported the anti-tax movement and also voted against Mayor Yenni’s debt
plan, was essentially called a “criminal” and had his ethics questioned by
Mayor Yenni and City Attorney Conley over Councilman Carroll’s use of a city
vehicle. It’s ironic that it would be the two of them questioning anyone’s
ethics and character.
Back To The Present
In a letter dated Wednesday, September 18th and
sent to City employee Joey Metzler, Code Enforcement Director Tamithia Shaw
notified Metzler of a surveillance investigation involving him, what the
investigators learned and advised Metzler of a disciplinary hearing the next
day, Thursday, September 19th.
Ironically, Ms. Shaw’s last day as Code Enforcement Director
was the very next day, Friday, September 20th.
In the letter, Ms. Shaw describes a several alleged
violations of city policy. While I’m not condoning the actions of Mr. Metzler
or judging his responses to the allegations, some of the violations are
certainly a stretch.
The letter details a handful of instances over the course of
the 5-day surveillance where Mr. Metzler is alleged by investigators of not
exiting his vehicle to conduct inspections, of reading the newspaper inside his
vehicle, of driving “in a careless manner” and of smoking a cigarette inside a
city vehicle.
Among the violations of city policy Ms. Shaw cites are the
following:
6.1 Personal Conduct – “Employees shall conduct themselves
at all times, both on and off the job, in a manner which will not cause adverse
public criticism of the City Administration.”
6.2 Moral Conduct – “Employees shall maintain a level of
high moral conduct that is in keeping with the highest standards of the
community, and in accordance with the State and Federal laws.
6.6 Truthfulness – “Employees shall be truthful in his conduct
towards all people.”
REALLY?
Those three points alone should be enough to get the Mayor, his City Attorney Henchman, and others kicked out of the state.
Where do I sign up to testify at THOSE disciplinary hearings?
So, Why Was Mr. Metzler Investigated?
There was no disciplinary action taken against the employee.
In fact, City Attorney Conley called her “one
of the city’s best employees”.
Mayor Yenni also noted that, “She knows the ins and outs of the city.”
Robert Miles, the uncle of Mr. Metzler, believes that his
nephew was followed because he acted as a whistleblower and brought attention
to the missing money in the Code Department. Miles attended the Thursday
disciplinary hearing and also spoke out at the Kenner City Council meeting.
“The timing is
suspect,” Miles noted, since the surveillance began 11 days after media
reports of the missing money.
Lots Of Questions And No Answers
With multiple issues in the Code Enforcement Department, why did the
city chose to investigate Mr. Metzler instead of all Code Enforcement
employees? Since the investigation was not precipitated by complaints from
residents, and Metzler was the only employee under surveillance, the
investigation appears to be retribution for Metzler’s whistleblowing.
There were many complaints about another Code Enforcement
Inspector including allegations that the Inspector released the confidential
identities of residents who filed complaints against their neighbors. Why was
there no surveillance or investigation into his actions? Since the man is
political supporter of Mayor Yenni, no disciplinary action has ever been taken
against him.
Why, a month after the investigation was concluded, does the
City not know how much it spent for the surveillance? District 2 Councilman Joe
Stagni questioned the Yenni Administration about how much the city had spent on
surveillance since Stagni was unaware of the City having a contract for private
investigation services.
“I really don’t know
at this point,” CAO Mike Quigley replied.
Quigley did confirm that the City has a contract with a
Private Investigation company but stated that he was unaware of the contract’s
financial cap.
The report from the Private Investigation Company,
Foresight, LLC., states: “Foresight received this assignment from The City of
Kenner and specifically Mr. Keith Conley.”
The Times-Picayune reported that Conley “said the investigator was hired under guidelines for professional
services, which he said do not require council approval unless the cost of
those services is more than $100,000.”
But, Conley fails to note that Mayor Yenni, and not City
Attorney Conley, is the only person who can initiate a professional services
contract. So, it is safe to assume that Mayor Yenni was aware of this
surveillance and a pretty safe bet that Quigley knew as well and, since all
three are aware of the contract’s existence, it stands to reason that they are
also aware of the costs and the value of the contract.
So, why not just tell the truth?
The Fox Is Now Guarding The Hen House
Now that the Code Director has resigned, who did Mayor Yenni
appoint as the Interim Code Enforcement Director? That’s right, City Attorney
Keith Conley.
Aside from the fact that Conley has no experience in Code
Enforcement, what message does this send to other City or Code Department
employees who may want to discuss inappropriate actions in City government when
Conley has the discretion to hire Private Investigators and have employees
followed? If they speak out, will they face the same fate as Joey Metzler? Will
they be surreptitiously followed and have someone report on every visit they
make to a Kenner convenience store?
Where does it end?
What’s next?
Wiretaps? Cameras on street corners to monitor movement? Has paranoia so clouded
the judgment of Mayor Yenni that he feels the need for retribution or is he
simply a bully who attacks everyone who disagrees with him? Obviously, the City
employee who called me from her home phone instead of a city line to ask me
about my dining habits was concerned about either possibility.
Author Hunter S. Thompson said, “This is the Nineties, Bubba, and there is no such thing as Paranoia.
It’s all true.”
Actually, it’s 2013 and Hunter is dead. Of course,
anything’s possible in YenniVille and it’s all true. I’m not creative enough to
make this stuff up.
