Louisiana transparency headlines
This article is a list of transparency related news from Louisiana.
Nagin dining on taxpayer money 2010-11-24 12:33:04
In a six month period, total city credit card debt reached nearly $180,000. Of this total, about two-thirds can be attributed to Nagin and two of his aides, Ceeon Quiett and Kenya Smith.
With criticism rising, the administration released documentation for the charges - except for Nagin, Quiett, and Smith. The documents released, however, still fail to paint a complete picture of just where exactly taxpayer money is going. Records vary greatly, from Finance Director Reggie Zeno, who itemized everyone at meals and what they ordered, to former executive council Becca O'Brien who only once listed a meal as having a business purpose, and never documented who attended.
Nagin and Quiett have not responded about documentation of their charges, while Smith continues to defend his charges as legitimate business expenses, but still has not provided proof of that.
Louisiana government corruption 2010-11-24 10:54:35
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Louisiana voter drive corruption 2010-11-24 09:45:12
New York Times Artilce on the matterTemplate:2.default
Thousands of unfiltered New Orleans City Council emails given to activist lawyer 2010-11-24 09:18:47
On December 3, 2008, Washington sent a public records request for council emails to the city's Management Information Systems Office, instead of the city attorney's office, who usually handles such requests. A letter from City Attorney Penya Moses-Field said that Veronica White then asked staff of the Mayor's Office of Technology to provide her with the emails, which she then gave to Washington.[1]
Moses-Fields said, "This is very unusual and outside of the normal process which includes review by the city attorney." The original records request sought e-mails dating back to July 1, 2006, from council members Jackie Clarkson, Arnie Fielkow, Stacy Head and Shelley Midura, along with their staff. Washington also requested records from Jeff Thomas, special assistant to Recovery Director Ed Blakely.[2]
Attorney for the council reiterated Moses-Field's statement, "In 30 years of practicing law, I don't know that I've seen a procedure whereby a nonattorney -- in this case the director of sanitation -- would produce documents of the City Council that are subject to privilege without some oversight and without somebody just saying to the City Council: 'We got this document request. How do you want to handle it?'"[2]
Taxpayers unknowingly funded a nonprofit tied to a lawmaker 2009-08-17 16:30:37
The non-profit Riz Up! Louisiana received at least 2 contracts through the state Department of Social Services to aid their mission of teen pregnancy prevention. It also received earmarked money in the state budget, according to state documents obtained in response to a public-records act request that the The Pelican Institute submitted.
Problems within the department led the state to drop its contract with the non-profit earlier this year. Gov. Bobby Jindal has strict guidelines for financing such organizations, thus he vetoed $335,000 in budget earmarks for the current budget year and the preceding year.
"Non-profits provide a range of valuable services," said Pelican Institute president Kevin Kane. "But if they receive taxpayer support we should expect transparency and accountability. This is particularly important when the organization has ties to a legislator. We commend the Jindal Administration for increasing reporting requirements and vetoing more earmarks."
In 2007, the amount of state money flowing to the group jumped in 2007. The non-profit's former executive director, Regina Barrow, settled in to her position as state representative for District 29 in north Baton Rouge at this time. Barrow was elected in mid-2005 to fill the remainder of a term for the state and she was chosen to lead the Legislative Black Caucus in July of 2008. For several years, the agency had been getting about $110,000 a year, but in 2007, the figure rose to nearly $300,000. This was after Barrow's first full year in office.[3]
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Winn Tax Assessor accused of Punishing Political Enemies 2009-08-04 13:47:12
In 2004 the Louisiana Attorney General's Office brought charges of official malfeasance against Mr. Little. The charges claimed Little gave two homestead exemptions to himself, along with one to a business. [4]
Little denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations were just part of the political campaign, referring to it as a "political vendetta." The arrest never came and the case was more or less allowed to fade away after District Attorney, and Little ally, Terry Reeves killed himself in 2005.
Two more leaving Nagin Administration 2009-08-04 13:40:42
In addition to the two top staff members who have already left the Nagin Administration, the Mayor will soon be able to count two more.
Before the end of June, both Kenya Smith, the intergovernmental relations director, and Col. Terry Ebbert, the city's homeland security director, will be leaving. Currently it is unclear who will fill these positions.
Smith came to his position in August 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina hit. While there are rumors that he plans to run for Congress, all Smith has said is that he wants to continue to work for New Orleans.
In a statement, Mayor Nagin praised Smith, saying "Kenya has been a critical part of our work to recover and to build an even better city for the future. His passion and strategic vision have been invaluable."[5] Recently, Smith has been under great criticism for charging tens of thousands of dollars on his city issued credit card.
Ebbert, 65, plans on retiring from City Hall, but said he will continue to lobby to increase local governments ability to deal with disasters. While leading New Orleans' response after Katrina, he had been one of the most vocal critics of the Federal Government's attempts to deal with the catastrophe. [6]
Already having left the Administration this year was Mike Centineo, director of safety and permits, and Becca O'Brien, who served as Nagin's executive council.
Top staffer leaves Nagin Administration 2009-08-04 13:39:28
Troy Body, a senior policy analyst in the office of recovery and development administration, will be temporarily be taking over for Robinson. While Blakely confirmed that Robinson left her post, he would not say if she had resigned or fired.
Last April a reorganization of the recovery office led to Robinson overseeing 11 employees dealing with programs such as the Job 1 program and international relations.
State audit reveals need for transparency 2009-08-04 13:32:38
The state audit was instigated by the scandal-plagued Christmas toy fund led by Police Chief Tom Buell, which saw Price receive Wal-Mart gift cards from the fund. The audit would reveal more than anyone anticipated. Among its findings:
- Price accepted golf and hunting vacations from city contractors.
- Price charged almost $9,000 in personal expenses on his city credit card, including a Mexican cruise. He reimbursed the city $3,600.
- Over five years, Price and Financial Director Milton Stiebing charged over $5,500 in food and alcohol to city credit cards, most without proper documentation.
- Price, along with Planning Director Louisette Kidd and City Attorney David Cressy, charged hundreds on city fuel cards for city vehicles, while on out-of-state vacations.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ WWL-TV, Sanitation director gave council e-mails to lawyer; council files restraining order, March 4, 2009
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNOLA - ↑ RitzUp Pelican Institute
- ↑ The Town Talk, Winn assessor escaped Prosecution in 2004, May 18, 2008
- ↑ WSDU, Top Nagin Aide to Step Down, June 9, 2008
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, Homeland security chief to retire, June 11, 2008
- ↑ The Times-Picayune, Scandals prompt reform proposals in Mandeville, August 22, 2008
| |||||||
|
State of Louisiana Baton Rouge (capital) |
|---|---|
| Transparency |
Public Records Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations | |
| Divisions |
State |
List of Parishes |
List of Cities |
List of School Board Districts | |
| Government |
Louisiana State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate | |
| Judiciary |
Louisiana Supreme Court | Court Election (2008) | Circuit Court of Appeals | District Courts | Judicial Nominating Commission | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations | |
| Ballot Measures |
Ballot measures | Recall campaigns | School bond issues | Amending the constitution | History of direct democracy | Recall process | |
