[StBernard] Reforms to levee board system hit by sneak attack

[Westley Annis]

In February, we joined others around the state in praising the Legislature
for levee board reform. A bill was passed to replace the boards overseeing
each New Orleans area levee district with a single board covering an area of
the east bank and north shore and another single board over the West Bank.
It was a satisfactory solution to a serious problem. Satisfaction, however,
has now turned to apprehension. Opponents may be able to negate part of that
consolidation program. That will send a damaging message that good
government accomplishments in Louisiana can be extremely temporary, while
bad actions and programs have a way of springing back after being pushed
aside.
Levee board reform opponents are using a familiar tactic to strip away some
of the reform measures approved in the previous session. They are slipping
damaging amendments into unrelated bills. The objects of the sneak attack
appear to be the provisions for levee board overhaul championed by the
governor and state Sen. Walter Boasso, R-Arabi. Boasso's plan will not be
implemented unless voters approve it in a Sept. 30 referendum. Supporters
are urging Gov. Kathleen Blanco to block efforts to chip away at.
  
Boasso warns of the danger of reducing the impact of the levee management
reforms. "I'm just concerned about the message this sends to Washington when
we still have our hand out for money for levees," he said. 

Lessening the impact of any of the elements of levee management reform would
send a disturbing message. It would indicate that, despite passage of good
bills such as Boasso's, Louisiana is not dissatisfied with the good-old-boy
levee board operations in which cronyism prevails and corruption is common.
That dismal aspect of levee board operation has prevailed since the
political bodies were first formed. In his book Judge, author James Conaway
recounts how the late Leander Perez, absolute dictator of Plaquemines and
St. Bernard parishes for decades, built his political power base and sizable
personal fortune in large measure through control and manipulation of the
levee boards in the parishes.

While he never served on the Buras Levee Board, Conaway says, a call to the
listed number was answered in Perez's office.

Perez's manipulation of levee boards dated back at least to the 1930s. In
more recent examples, a former president of the New Orleans board was
removed from office after appropriating more than $90,000 in back pay for
himself.

Corruption always has been a dark shadow over levee board operations, and
the extensive use of the boards for political patronage has prevented many
of them from reaching any level of effectiveness. A levee board appointment
has long been a favored way of repaying a political debt, rather than a way
of putting in place knowledgeable, effective board members.

We realize that there are good boards and good board members. The ease with
which the boards can be subjected to corruption and cronyism, however, has
been demonstrated far too often.

We are pleased with Gov. Kathleen Blanco's pledge to closely examine the
amendments that opponents of reform are pushing.

Besides being bad legislation, the sneaky way in which the amendments are
being handled makes it clear that someone needs to stand guard.