Ben Zahn – The Annointed One

The Senond in our series of Kenner Mayoral Candidate Profiles.

                      

When I think of Ben Zahn, I always chuckle as a I remember a grade school gag that was pulled on me once, and that I pulled many times on others.  For my Louisiana friends, I have revamped ir, Instead if a  Boudreaux/Thibodaux joke, it’s now a Boudreaux/Zahn joke.

Boudreaux: Thibodaux, how tall are you?

Zahn: 5’4”. Why?

Boudreaux: I didn’t know that they piled dung that high.

Now, I know what you’re thinking --- I was being generous with the 5’4” height on Ben Zahn.

Just trying to be nice.

Don’t worry though…it won’t become a habit.

But really, that’s what Ben Zahn is – a walking, talking, lying pile of dung.

Zahn will do anything, say anything and screw over anyone, except his BFF Mike “Kevin” Yenni, as long as he gets what he wants.

Let’s Make a Deal

While I have written about this before, it seems as good a time as any to discuss it again.

When I ran for office and when I helped friends like Col. Rob Maness (early in his first bid for US Senate) and Allen Leone (during his 2011 JP Accessor race), I was offered everything under the sun to get out of the elections or turn my back on my friends and support others.

But tgat;s not me,

I didn’t run for office to personally gain.

Since he is the favorite, many unlikely folks are supporting Zahn so they can get their 30 pieces of silver. People who in the past claimed that they wouldn’t walk into the same room as Zahn, are supporting his candidacy. Not because he has the best vision for Kenner or he’s a reformer (or even a real Republican). No, these folks cut deals for future gains for themselves.

Just drive around and see the signs in front of houses and businesses. If you go, “Hmmm”, chances are a deal was cut.

Watch who runs for office in 2018. If Zahn and Yenni are supporting them, chances are, they cut a deal.

It saddens me that people who I thought had integrity have now cast their lots with Zahn. They didn’t need to.

If you need to cut a deal with scumbags like Zahn and Yenni to get yourself elected or get a contract, you should reexamine your life choices.

In “Scarface”, Al Pacino said, “I only got two things in this world – my balls and my word. And I don’t break them for nobody.”

When you sell out and trade your integrity, you can’t get that back.

No one that sells their soul to the devil ever gets in to Heaven.

“

“The Annointed One”

Since his election to the Parish Council in 2011, plans have been in the works for his return to Kenner as Mayor. In fact, many speculated that he and Yenni would just swap seats at the appropriate time. Unfortunately for Jefferson Parish residents, John Young’s ill-fated attempt at Lt. Governor accelerated Yenni’s move and elevation.

Now, the Puppetmaster, Greg Buisson, is using the same Yenni tactics with Zahn.

Zahn is saying all the right things – “I want to reach out to everyone and work with everyone.”

Of course, it’s no surprise that he’s not saying that, or anything, to me.

Zahn also put out a campaign booklet, similar to Yenni’s, produced by the propaganda firm of Greg Buisson and Associates.

It’s a great gig for Buisson. Take money from candidates. Bill them more for production of broadcast commercials and direct mail pieces. Get a commission from radio and tv stations, print shops and mail houses and, if your candidate wins, get a win bonus for spending other people’s money.

Trust me – there is no bigger whore in Metro New Orleans than Greg Buisson.

By the way, I particaularly liked the two page photo of Zahn walking and holding a cell phone to his ear. I guess they were trying to prove that Zahn really can multitask.

Note to Ben: My 82-year-old mother has mastered the art of holding a cell phone to her ear. Unlike you, however, she has not mastered acting pompous and pretentious.

And, that’s a good thing.

Questions without Answers

As I’ve written extensively about Zahn, his lies and poor ethics, I’m not going to rehash everything again. If you’re curious, just go to the search box and enter Zahn. It will keep you busy for some time.

If you are a Zahn supporter, ask yourself these questions. If you come across a Zahn supporter trying to convert you (or offering you a deal), ask them these questions.

1). In 5 years on the JP Council, what has been Zahn ever done for Kenner? I can tell you what he’s done for Metairie – LaFreniere Park is improved; there is decorative lighting on West Esplanade, etc. But, what has he done for Kenner?

2). In 2011, one year after being reelected, Zahn quit his position to job hop to the JP Council. Now, one year after his reelection to the JP Council, he wants to job hop back to Kenner. How does quitting on your constituents twice qualify you for anything?

3). The criminal Aaron Broussard (a Democrat), gave Zahn (a Republican) over $50,000 from Broussard’s campaign account (other people’s money) for “Flowers”. Aside from being an unbelievable amount of flowers, why would a Democrat seek out an unlicensed Republican florist to do business with? Were Broussard and Zahn actually laundering campaign money? Why were many of the payments in even amounts ($50, $100, etc)? Was sales tax charged or did Broussard just round everything up?

4). Zahn, like Yenni, has spent tens of thousands of campaign dollars on meals, gifts, gift cards and other non-campaign related spending. If he is that callous and willing to spend other people’s money to enhance his own lifestyle, how can you trust you to spend YOUR tax dollars?

5). Considering that, the largest business Zahn has ever run has been a family-owned flower shop (and that he used his disabled, retired father’s floral license for years skirting the law), what exactly qualifies him to run a city with a $60 Million budget?

 

 6). Speaking of the flower shop, why, as a member of the Kenner City Council, did Zahn seek and receive Parish contracts? Why would the Parish give a contract to an unlicensed business?

 

7). We all know about Ben’s role in the Kenner Convention and Visitor’s Bureau mess, but there are still unresolved questions including, why did Ben lie to Nola.com regarding the use of the name of his father’s business on the KCVB web site (Ben said that the name on the web site wasn’t used since 1999. However, the KCVB didn’t have a web site until years later.); why did Ben vote to authorize city funding for an NGO that, not only was he a member of but he was on the Boardl why did Ben sue me in an attempt to get me to stop talking (and writing) about his role in the KCVB (he lost btw); and why, after he lost his attempt to sue me, did he offer to pay a monetary settlement (from his campaign account of course – gotta spend other people’s money) but only after I (and CFBK) signed a “Confidentiality Agreement”?

I could keep going but I think you get the point.

The bottom line is, Ben Zahn isn’t qualified to run a two-person flower shop, let alone a city.

But, none of that matters if he gets enough people to sell their souls.

Keith Reynaud – “The People’s Choice” (hahaha)

The first in a series of profiles of the Kenner Mayoral Candidates.

When I received the direct mail piece touting District 3 Councilman Keith Reynaud’s “Record of Achievement” and labeling himself “The People’s Choice”, I literally vomited in my mouth.

In fact, it’s probably a good thing that my vision only enabled me to read the large type or I would have projectile vomited.

Approximately 10 times the amount of people who have EVER voted for the self-annointed “People’s Choice” will read this blog post.

Of course, 5 times the number of people who purchase The Advocate in Kenner will read this blog post as well, but I digress.

At one point in time I actually considered Keith Reynaud to be a friend. Well, friendly might be a better description.

Reynaud advertised his A/C business on the first incarnation of ClickJefferson.com. Through his support of CJ, we became friendly.

I invited Keith to an early Citizens For a Better Kenner meeting. He, and his wife Dona, worked countless hours canvassing and putting up signs to help defeat Mike Yenni’s plan to double Kenner’s property taxes.

After that however, we have been less friendly.

In August 2011, I attended a fundraiser for the Driftwood Country Club. Since Keith and Dona and I were “friendly”, I assumed that they would support my campaign for JP Council.

At the fundraiser, Keith literally ignored me. Dona came up to me and said that Keith needed to speak with me but he was pretty busy cooking for fundraiser. She asked me if I could stick around a bit and I agreed.

I had no intention of asking Keith and Dona to formally support or endorse me. Frankly, I didn’t think I needed to.

As it got later, I sought Dona and Keith out.

Dona said, “Keith has something that he needs to tell you.”

Ok.

Keith stammered, “Well, uh, I, uh. Umm. I need to…”

Dona jumped back in.

“Keith is going to support Ben Zahn. If Ben wins, Ben is going to endorse Keith to replace him on the Kenner Council. Keith needs to do this. You understand. It’s not personal.”

Not personal?

And that was that. Have a good night.

Keith and Dona supported the unlicensed florist. However, when it came time for Ben to return the favor, Zahn, Mike Yenni, Greg Buisson and others cast their lots with Mary-Sharon Howland and snubbed Reynaud.

Reynaud eeked out a victory with the help of many members of CFBK (myself not included – I was in the hospital during the campaign and election).

“Apologize and Give Me The Credit”

After Reynaud joined the Council, he supported two Charter Changes that were filed to limit political influence of political appointees in City Government and to enable contracts valued at over $100,000 entered into by the Mayor to have a public hearing before the Council.  

I, along with CFBK, strongly supported both and pushed for them months before their introduction.

The Advocate wrote a story about the Charter Changes that appeared in a Sunday edition. The article quoted me and then-District 2 Councilman Joe Stagni (who actualy wrote the language for Charter Changes.

About 10:15am on Sunday morning, while I was at St. Clement of Rome Church attending mass, Keith called my cell phone and left me a voice mail.

“The newspaper shouldn’t have talked to you. I am responsible for those Charter Changes. I don’t want anything to do with Citizens For a Better Kenner or you until you publically apologize to me for taking my credit.”

I said that Keith called me. The reality probably was that Dona called me but, when my voice mail answered instead, she thought it was safe to had the phone over to Keith.

Needkess to say, I had no intention of apologizing for a newspaper reporter calling me and asking me questions about 2 issues that I strongly supported BEFORE Keith became a Councilman.

Later, when Yenni pushed his 2030 debt plan, despite his support of Yenni, Reynaud was against the plan, It was only after the projects were announced, and their was a project in District 3 (an overpriced bike path), that Reynaud publically supported Yenni’s plan to saddle Kenner with generations of debt.

When Yenni ran against me for reelection in 2014, despite stabbing him in the back multiple times and labeling Keith as “just an A/C Salesman”, Reynaud strongly supported Yenni, even appearing in a video.

I don’t know what Keith got for that but I hope it was something good.

I mention these instances to illustrate a point: Reynaud is out for himsef and has no political backbone. There is no central political philosophy that he believes. Does it make Keith Reynaud look good – he’s for it. It really is that simple.

Keith is all about Keith.

Don’t believe me? Watch a City Council meeting.

I can’t tell you how many times Reynaud has taken the mic and said, “Uh, Mr. Quigley. I, uh, already know the answer because, uh, we talked, uh, earlier. But, uh, could, you just, uh, tell those watching, uh, what we talked about.”

That’s Keith – always trying (and failing miserably) to prove that he is the smartest guy in the room.

In a battle of wits  to the death between Reynaud, District 4 Councilman Lenny Cline,  At-Large (and Mayoral candidate) Maria DeFrancesch and Ben Zahn, they would all commit suicide before they got a word out.

It is no surprise to me that he’s had his wife comment at recent Council meetings about the alleged poor treatment of Keith. Don’t get me wrong, I have enormous respect for Dona. Shr does a lot of volunteer work and, when there have been emergencies, she has stepped in and prepared litereally thousands of meals for folks. She has been very nice to me and, even when we’ve disagreed, we’ve been respectful.

And, it’s admirable that she wants to defend her husband. Dona is fiercely loyal.

Her husband could learn a thing or two from her.

Keith faces an uphill road with Zahn and DeFrancesch taking away the Republican vote and Zahn from Reynaud’s home base in District 3. In fact, I believe that, not only will Reynaud not be elected Mayor, he won’t even win District 3 and may not even win his neighborhood.

Despite 5 years on the City Council, Reynaud is relatively unknown citywide and of those who do know him, many have noticed the changes in his personality and his ever growing ego.

When you put your head in every newspaper ad and church bulletin for your A/C company, that tells you all you need to know about Reynaud’s ego.

The bottom line is, Keith is running for Mayor to feed his ego, not because he wants to change things or has a better vision for Kenner. Since it’s a Presidential election, his overall vote total may be higher than mine in 2014, but his percentage of the vote will probably be in the single digits or less than ½ of my percentage.

Perhaps that makes me “The Real People’s Choice’!

Nah. I’m just a lowly blogger according to Nola.com.

And that’s ok. For no

Mike Yenni’s Bad Decisions Continue To Plague Kenner

‘I’m not alone because the TV;s on

I’m not crazy because I take the right pills

Everyday”

-          “Bleed American”, Jimmy Eat World

First off, I owe many of you an explanation.

In April, I was diagnosed with two detached Retinas. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: he couldn’t just have one detached Retina he had to screw up both of them.

Hey, it’s not all my fault. Blame the Diabetes for some of it.

Due to scar tissue caued by Diabetes, the procedure to repair my retinas consisted of my Doctor inserting a silicon oil in my eyes for 3-4 months. I had the oil removed from my left eye a few weeks back and my vision is improving. There were some complications with my right eye and I will have the oil removed from it tomorrow (9/15).

Removing the oil leaves an air bubble in your eye which is replaced in a week or two by the body’s natural fluids. It takes a few weeks for the air bubble to recede,

In addition, I have cataracts in both eyes, however the process for their removal is much simpler and quicker than than the Retina surgeries that I have had. Or, at least, I am hopeful that they will be quicker.

At the moment, I can see large objects but cannot read small type. For example, I can see a car but I can’t read a license plate. It has been interesting being offline for the past 4 months and being unable to read a book, visit a web site, watch a movie, drive a car, read a menu, etc. Many of the things you (and I before my Retinas became detached) take  for granted.

I can watch, really listen to television. Thus the Jimmy Eat World reference above. Without the internet, newspapers or magazines, the radio and the television have been my only real sources of news and information.

My Doctors remain hopeful that, when completed, my vision will return but they don’t know to what degree yet. Time will tell.

I do appreciate those who called to check in on me even those who sounded surprised when I answered my cell phone. Evidently, given my lack of posts, presence at Kenner City Council meetings and other events, there was a rumor that I had died.

Sorry Mikey, no such luck. I will die one day but, unfortunately for some, that day is not today.

Also, thanks for the condolences on the death of my stepdad in June. It has been difficult on my mom but I have been spending a significant amount of time with her in Gonzales and helping her as much as possible, despite my lack of vision.

If you emailed or texted me, sorry that I haven’t responded but I can’t yet read.

But, enough about me. The bottom line is that I am alive, my leg is still attached and I’m doing much better than I deserve. I do, however, have much to say. So, through the magic of technology (and with some human assistance) we will return to our regularly scheduled programming. We have work to do.

==================================================================== 

Like the smell emanating from an outdated Kenner sewerage treatment plant or the sludge that backs up into many Kenner homes after a hard rain, the stench from former Mayor Mike “Don’t Call Me Kevin” Yenni’s poor decisions and unbridled political ambition continues to permeate through Kenner like a flatulent Phoenix that continues to rise over the abandoned corridor that is Rivertown or the nearly abandoned Esplanade Mall.

When Yenni quit on the people of Kenner after his reelection (and after saddling Kenner with Millions in debt), his untimely promotion to Jefferson Parish President set off a chain reaction that has sent Kenner City Government reeling.

The “Illegitimate, Unelected” Kenner City Council

With Yenni’s reelection, and the turnover of the City Council to Yenni’s “Consensus Team” (put in place to rubber stamp Yenni’s 2033 Plan), resulted in an inexperienced, illegitimate and unelected City Council that is not accountable to anyone, let alone the people of Kenner.

Yes, I said “illegitimate” in describing the City Council because that truly is what they are.

Let’s look at the facts:

In the 2014 election, of the 7 City Councilmen (5 District, 2 At-Large), only 2 (District 1 Councilman Gregory Carroll and District 5 Councilman Dominick Impastato) were actually elected by a majority of the voters in their District.

The remaining Councilmen, were appointed after their runoff opponents dropped out or they faced no opposition.

District 2 Councilman Mike Sigur and then-Councilman-At-Large (and former Yenni City Attorney) Keith Conley had their runoff opponents drop out, District 3 Councilman Keith Reynaud, new District 4 Councilman Lenny Cline and the other Council-At-Large, Maria DeFrancesch, ran unopposed.

Then, after Yenni tapped Conley for a position in JP Government, rather than seeking someone with institutional experience and service to the City like former Councilmen Michele Branigan, Kent Denapolis (who dropped out of the runoff election with Conley for the At-Large position), or Joe Stagni, the Council approved Brian Brennan.to replace Conley.

Brennan was destroyed in the 2010 election for the District 5 Council seat by Denapolis.

So, you have 3 of the 5 District Councilmen who were brand new to government and 2 At-Large Councilmen, DeFrancesch and now Brennan, who were never elected to citywide office. As mentioned, Brennan couldn’t win election to a District seat in 2010 and, for her part, DeFrancesch was barely relected in 2010 to her District 4 seat.

How can you claim to represent the public when only 2 of 7 Councilmen were actually elected by 50% + 1 vote of those they are supposed to represent?

The answer is…you can’t.

Even worse, rather than call for an election for a new Mayor after Yenni’s departure, the Council put it off for almost a year citing the cost of a special election. While I am adamantly opposed to politicians office hopping and leaving their current constituents in the lurch and believe that, if a politician is interested in another position before his term ends that he should have the deceny to quit his current position (since he has already quit in his mind), I also believe that, if a special election is required to fill a position due to a politician office hopping, that politican should be required to personally pay the cost of the special election called to fill his seat.

in Yenni’s absence, the Council appointed the ethically challenged Mike Sigur as “Acting Mayor”. The term was supposed to last 6 months with Impastato moving in to the “Acting Mayor” slot for the remaining months before the election of a new Mayor to fill the remaining term of Yenni.

Despite the City Charter calling for the Council President and Vice President to be elected for a single 6-month term, in an unorthodox move, the Council voted to rescind their previous deal and leave Sigur as “Acting Mayor” and Impastato as Council President for the entire time.

It is unclear why the Council took this step or why they appointed an inexperienced, morally chanllenged Sigur as Council President (which elevated him to “Acting Mayor” to fill the void) to begin with.

Perhaps Impastato, like Sheldon on “The Big Bang Theory”,  had his butt firmly implanted in the Council President’s seat and was just too comfortable to move.

For his part, aside from interrupting the public during their whopping 3 minutes they are given to address the Council at the end of meetings and his weak attempts at humor, Impastato has done a decent job moving the meetings along at a near record pace.

Sigur, on the other hand, has proven to be less worthy – adding yet another City Department, granting raises and proving to be good at three things: spending other people’s money, lying and isolating other Councilmen (especially those running for Mayor).

It was hysterical watching Sigur discuss how hard he worked to secure CarMax for the City. The fact is, I had several conversations years ago with then-District 2 Councilman Joe Stagni regarding CarMax’s interest in Kenner and land near The Esplanade. Sigur had little, if anything, to do with CarMax. It was just fortuitous timing on his part that CarMax was finally able to strike a deal on the property.

The good news is that Sigur’s reign will be over soon.

The bad news is that it even occurred.

Repay Debt? Why Would We Do That?

After Yenni saddled Kenner with generations of debt for a list of dubious projects that will only prove to benefit his political contributors, you would think that the Council would be hamstrung and unable to spend money.

Ahh, if only that were true.

As expected, and written about here, many of the projects that Yenni borrowed money to fund have received Federal, State and Reguional grants paying for all or a large portion of the projects. Instead of returning the borrowed money that was budgeted but not needed when the grants arrived, and repaying the bond debt early, the Council has rerouted that money to other projects not vetted by the people of Kenner.

Three years after the debt, there have been no public meetings, no discussion of project status or an accounting of the bond debt that was spent to date.

In addition, also noted here, the Council received a $6.5 Million settlement with BP over the Deep Water Horizon incident.

Did the Council use that windfall to repay the debt?

Of course not.

The Council couldn’t wait to spend it on more projects including funding the initial engineering study for a $1.5 Million “Taj Mahal of Sheds” to house outdoor generators.

That’s right, house outdoor generators.

While I have always been against the City of Kenner owning a Food Bank (that should be left to a non-profit or a faith-based group), the fact that the City will send double the cost of its new Food Bank building (with all the whistles and bells) for a shed to house outdoor generators blows my mind.

In addition, the Council has received over $3.5 Million (and counting) from fees for the expansion at Armstrong International Airport.

Has the Coundil put that money towards debt repayment?

Are you kidding?

Councilman TweedleDumber, aka unelected District 4 Councilman Lenny Cline, couldn’t wait to list the projects this windfall would fund and reiterate that there would be more money and, wait for it, more projects, to be announced soon.

$10 Million that could have gone towards digging Kenner out of Mike Yenni’s massive debt sinkhole spent on more projects.

Sure, Kenner has needs and I’m sure that some of these projects are worthwhile. But, at a time when our Police and Fire Department needs are going unmet, we are selling off assets and playgrounds, where are this Council’s priorities?

We are holding bake sales and fundraisers to purchase bullet-proof vests for the KPD and one of our firefighters feels compelled to attend a Council meeting, wait of his 3 minutes at the end of the meeting, and literally beg the Council for a working television at a fire station (Heaven forbid that the Council actually allocated the funding so Kenner could purchase a new fire truck or achieve the national standard of 4-men-on-a-truck), and we can afford a $1.5 Million Shed?

If it weren’t so laughable I would say that the 6 Republicans on the Council should be embarrassed to call themselves Republicans.

Unfortunatley, I’m certain that nothing embarrasses this Council, just as nothing embarrassed Yenni.

As long as political contributors are being taken care of multi-million dollar no-bid contracts, all is well if you’re an elected official in Kenner.

Sadly, that’s how politics works – as long as the campaign cash comes in and your reelection (and promotion) is assured, screw the folks you were supposed to represent.

Boy, am I getting cynical in my old age…

And I haven’t even gotten to the upcoming Mayoral election yet.

Oh well. I will write more soon, I promise. Gotta rest up now for surgery.