Louisiana government corruption
From Sunshine Review
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Taxpayers unknowingly funded a nonprofit tied to a lawmaker
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.[1]
GOP chief seeks records of Jindal critic
"A battle over open records laws expanded beyond the Legislature with the state Republican Party chairman requesting numerous records from a Democratic lawmaker critical of Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The Republican governor's administration on Wednesday helped squelch laws that backers said would make the workings of the governor's office more transparent. One would have made many public officials, including the governor, gather and include in a single report information on people they appointed to government positions who also gave them campaign contributions; the other was designed to make governor's office records subject to the same scrutiny as those of other public officials."
Jindal administration scuttles one public records bill, says it backs another
"With the backing of Gov. Bobby Jindal, a House committee killed a bill that would have opened nearly all records of the governor's executive office to public inspection, a move that the legislative sponsor said would bring real transparency to a state that touts the concept."
View from elsewhere: On governor's records
"State Rep. Wayne Waddell is again trying to pass legislation to get a look at Gov. Bobby Jindal's records.
Similar legislation by Waddell failed to gain enough support for passage. The Republican from Shreveport pre-filed House Bill 169 that he describes as allowing the public to 'peek behind the curtain' and 'see what the governor is hiding.'"
Judge blocks release of council e-mail
"In the latest twist in a bizarre City Hall drama, a judge has blocked the release of New Orleans City Council e-mail messages from the past three years that were sought under several public records requests received by Mayor Ray Nagin's administration.
At the request of attorneys for the City Council, Civil District Judge Kern Reese signed a temporary restraining order Monday that prohibits City Attorney Penya Moses-Fields from distributing the e-mail until an April 29 hearing is held on the matter."
Our Views: We support records bill
"Gov. Bobby Jindal likes to brag about passing legislation that advances a gold standard for ethics in state government. Jindal also likes to promote himself as a standard-bearer of government transparency.
Advancing a high standard of ethics in government and promoting strong transparency should go hand in hand. When people can see more clearly what government officials are doing, that openness helps encourage officials to do the right thing."
Pineville loses latest round in public records case
"A trial court decision regarding a retired policeman's public records requests to the city of Pineville has been overturned.
Louisiana's 3rd Court of Appeal found Pineville did not fulfill its duties under the Louisiana Constitution or Louisiana's Public Records Law after it received a pair of requests from Kenneth Johnson in October 2007, according to the 3rd Circuit's ruling."
Judge says state agencies are deliberately indifferent
Louisiana judge Janice Clark ruled that two Louisiana state agencies displayed "deliberate indifference" and "ineptitude" in responding to requests for records under the Louisiana Public Records Act.
Claudet seeks to update public-records system
"Terrebonne Parish government officials want to create a new way for the public to view records by using a computer rather than traditional paper files.
Parish law requires studies, letters and memos sent to and from officials to be kept in a publicly accessible “reading file,” available on demand since 1983.
Parish President Michel Claudet proposes keeping the records in a computer available for public use at downtown Government Tower instead of filing the hundreds of papers in a cabinet at the same place."
Public’s rights are the focus
"Sunshine Week, which began Sunday, is an annual effort to shed light on the ongoing fight for transparency at every level of government.
Often, when newspapers write about trying to gain access to public records or public meetings, we focus on what we are trying to see.
As a result, there may be a misconception that this is a fight that belongs to the news media. In reality, though, the fight is for the public, any member of which should be able to gain access to records and meetings that are public."
State law hides from view many of governor's records
"While Gov. Bobby Jindal campaigned on and regularly promotes transparency in government at all levels, the same standards do not apply to his office.
Getting what one would think should be public records from the governor's office is virtually impossible under state law — a law that earns Louisiana a national survey's ranking of worst in the nation for access to the governor's records."
Activist lawyer says City Council e-mail dispute is about transparency
"It didn't happen in 2008, when Tracie Washington sued the state in the hope of getting Charity Hospital reopened.
Or in 2006, when she sued the Housing Authority of New Orleans to keep the city from demolishing four public housing complexes.
But it happened last week. Washington, a civil rights attorney drawn to the causes of the underdog, became, if not the issue, then a central part of it, when it emerged that she had obtained thousands of e-mails sent and received by four City Council members and one employee of the Office of Recovery Management."
Judge rules in favor of WWL-TV in public records case against Nagin administration
"The city of New Orleans owes thousands of dollars in penalties to WWL-TV as a result of Mayor Ray Nagin's and City Attorney Penya Moses-Fields' "unreasonable and arbitrary refusal to respond" to the station's recent public-records requests, Civil District Court Judge Rose Ledet has ruled.
In a partial victory for the television station, Ledet also ordered the Nagin administration to provide WWL with an unredacted copy of the mayor's 2008 appointments calendar."
City Council Meets About Release Of E-Mails
"The City Council is meeting in executive session today to discuss what it claims is the improper release of thousands of its e-mails to a local activist attorney.
Council members learned this week that attorney Tracie Washington obtained the e-mails from Sanitation Director Veronica White, and they say that White's delivery of the documents violated city procedures.
The council was granted a temporary injunction Wednesday that blocks Washington from publishing those e-mails. A hearing is scheduled for March 12."
City school system releases public records
"The Monroe City School System released receipts today that show a superintendent who dines out frequently with district employees — paying for meals as well as magazines, valet parking and room service while travelling on business — with his district credit card.
One week and one day after The News-Star requested details of expenditures by Superintendent James Dupree for travel and entertainment, the district released 207 pages of credit card slips, receipts and explanations."
City Council gets order temporarily blocking publication of e-mails
"Civil District Court Judge Lloyd Medley Jr. today issued a temporary restraining order preventing lawyer Tracie Washington from "distributing, discussing, or transferring to any other person or legal entity" thousands of e-mails written by, or sent to, four City Council members and their staffers during the past three years.
Washington was given the e-mails by Sanitation Director Veronica White in response to a public records request without any involvement of the city attorney or knowledge of the council. The council's attorney, Steven Lane, requested the injunction, saying the council believes the e-mails contain private information."
Complaint filed against Dupree
"The News-Star reporter Barbara Leader has filed a criminal complaint against Monroe City Schools Superintendent James Dupree.
The complaint alleges Dupree, as custodian of records for the Monroe City School System, over the course of five months, has repeatedly violated Louisiana public records law by denying the public timely access to public records."
Monroe City School System stalls on responding to public records request
"Monroe City Schools is once again saying it will delay fulfilling an information request from The News-Star within the time frame specified in the public records law.
On Tuesday, The News-Star asked for expense detail of travel and entertainment charges on Superintendent James Dupree’s 2008 VISA statements.
The request came as a result of a review of Dupree’s credit card statements obtained through a public records request earlier this month, prompted by an auditor’s report of the district’s finances."
City Council may try again to override Nagin's veto
"Several New Orleans City Council members have not given up their effort to overturn Mayor Ray Nagin's veto of an ordinance requiring committees that evaluate applicants for some city contracts to meet in public.
Supporters of the ordinance failed Thursday to muster the five votes needed to override Nagin's veto, but they are hopeful that Councilman James Carter, who was absent for that vote, will join their side.
The override attempt failed when Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell refused to vote either way, leaving the vote 4-0. Much of the discussion centered on racial issues, with supporters of the veto saying the effort to open the selection meetings to the public was racially motivated." .
TV station wants contempt ruling over missing Nagin calendar
"A legal battle between City Hall and WWL-TV heated up Thursday after the station filed a contempt of court complaint against Mayor Ray Nagin and his administration alleging failure to comply with the state public records law.
The contempt motion filed by WWL attorneys contends that the administration ignored an order issued this week by Civil Court Judge Rose Ledet to provide a copy of Nagin's 2008 appointments calendar that news anchor Lee Zurik requested in January.
Although the administration produced some records late Wednesday, the court filing says much of the information had been redacted, or blacked out, without the explanation that the station's attorneys say is required by law."
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