[StBernard] Boasso Morning Briefing, 9-12-07

[Westley Annis]

Boasso Morning Briefing

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

 

 


CAMPAIGN NEWS

 

Bobby Jindal

Jindal, Boasso face finance ethics challenges

Campaign Notebook

Lafayette Daily Advertiser

 

Gubernatorial candidates Bobby Jindal and Walter Boasso are amending
campaign finance reports in the wake of ethics challenges filed against
them.

 

Jindal will amend his campaign finance report after an ethics complaint
claimed he failed to report more than $118,000 worth of direct mail sent on
his behalf by the state Republican Party.

 

The expenses were included on the party's campaign report and should have
been listed as an "in-kind" contribution to Jindal's campaign, the complaint
says.

 

Boasso was then accused by the Republican Party of improperly reporting
expenditures for television ads. A party official said Boasso should have
spelled out how he invested $869,000 and not just listed it as "media buys."

 

Boasso's campaign said it would file an adjusted report.

 

Jindal also has federal campaign worries

Campaign Notebook

Lafayette Daily Advertiser

 

Bobby Jindal has a problem with his congressional campaign finance report.

 

The congressman was notified Aug. 28 that he has until Sept. 28 to file an
amended report for the April 1-June 30 period or face an audit.

 

His report showed zero receipts for the primary election but the Federal
Election Commission letter says this and previous reports indicate that was
a "discrepancy."

 

Jindal agrees to participate in third debate

By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON

Advocate Capitol News Bureau

Published: Sep 12, 2007 - Page: 4A

 

U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, added another debate to his schedule
Tuesday after drawing criticism for only agreeing to participate in a few
forums in the governor’s race.

 

Jindal’s press secretary, Melissa Sellers, said Jindal added the Oct. 4
forum at Louisiana State University in Shreveport for geographical reasons.

 

“We now have a debate in south Louisiana, north Louisiana and a statewide
debate,” she said.

 

But Louisiana Republican Party spokesman Michael DiResto said in a prepared
statement that Jindal’s acceptance would put an end to claims that the
frontrunner “is ‘ducking’ debates.”

 

DiResto said Jindal has now agreed to “a sufficient number of mass media
forums.”

 

Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish, who also is
running for governor, said he had accepted more than dozen invitations to
discuss issues at public forums. He noted that Jindal is going only to a
select few.

 

The debate will be televised throughout northwest Louisiana by KTBS-TV.

 

Voters now will have the opportunity to hear Jindal and at least three other
leading candidates debate issues three times before the Oct. 20 primary
election. The forums are:

 

    * A statewide televised forum on Sept. 27 in Baton Rouge. The forum will
air live from the Old State Capitol at 7 p.m. on Louisiana Public
Broadcasting.

    * The Oct. 4 debate at 7 p.m. at Louisiana State University in
Shreveport. The forum is sponsored by a number of organizations including
the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, the Tuesday Morning Breakfast
Group, Southern University at Shreveport and Red River Radio.

    * An Oct. 18 debate sponsored by WAFB-TV and WWL-TV.

 

Campbell, a Democrat; New Orleans businessman John Georges, who has no party
affiliation; and state Sen. Walter Boasso, D-Arabi, also plan to participate
in the three debates.

 

There was confusion this week about the Oct. 18 debate.

 

Jindal’s campaign had the debate down for Oct. 17, which would conflict with
a forum sponsored by the New Orleans League of Women Voters.

 

Campbell, Georges and Boasso all had the WAFB-WWL forum on their calendars
for Oct. 18. The three also accepted an invitation to the League of Women
Voters’ forum on Oct. 17.

 

Jindal’s campaign held firm at first to the Oct. 17 date.

 

Georges’ and Campbell’s campaigns objected to any change in the date, saying
they were not told about it earlier this week.

 

Georges’ press secretary, James Hartman, said he heard about the possible
date change Monday and contacted WWL.

 

He said his understanding was that WWL moved the forum to Oct. 17 to
accommodate Jindal’s schedule.

 

“The original schedule was acceptable to John Georges and to the other
candidates who have been participating in public forums. It would be unfair
to the people of Louisiana and to all involved in organizing these events to
reschedule for the convenience of one candidate,” Hartman said.

 

Sellers said Jindal did not ask for the forum to be moved.

 

WWL’s special projects director, Dominic Massa, said the date of Oct. 17 was
considered because of programming concerns and the Jindal campaign ran with
it. “It was never to placate him,” he said.

 

Massa said the forum will be held on Oct. 18.

 

Sellers said Jindal will participate.

 

WAFB-TV news director Vicki Zimmerman did not return a call for comment
after she said planned to meet with WWL officials to work out the dates.

 

Front-runner Jindal agrees to Oct. 4 Shreveport debate

BRIEFING BOOK

Times-Picayune

News and notes from Louisiana politics

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

ON THE TRAIL

 

Jindal to debate

 

U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, who has come under fire from rivals in the
gubernatorial race for not agreeing to more debates, announced Tuesday that
he will participate in an Oct. 4 event in Shreveport. The Northwest
Louisiana Gubernatorial Forum is the third candidate forum that Jindal has
agreed to take part in. The other two are a Sept. 27 event on Louisiana
Public Broadcasting and an Oct. 17 debate co-sponsored by WWL-TV in New
Orleans and WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge. The Shreveport event is being held at
Louisiana State University-Shreveport and is being co-sponsored by several
regional chambers of commerce, KTBS-TV, Red River Radio and Southern
University-Shreveport. With Jindal, R-Kenner, holding a sizable lead in
recent polls, the other major contenders have been looking for a
face-to-face confrontation in an effort to boost their standing. Jindal has
responded by challenging the other major candidates -- Democrats Walter
Boasso and Foster Campbell and businessman John Georges, who is running
without party affiliation -- to produce detailed policy proposals. 

 

Under attack, Jindal agrees to televised debate in Shreveport

AP (KATC-TV Channel 3, Lafayette)

 

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Governor's candidate Bobby Jindal has agreed to a
televised debate in north Louisiana next month, after getting criticism from
editorialists and other candidates that he was avoiding such appearances.

 

Jindal's campaign said Tuesday that the Kenner Republican would participate
in the Oct. 4 "candidates forum" at LSU-Shreveport. The debate will be
televised throughout northwest Louisiana by KTBS-TV.

 

Jindal, who has a wide lead in the polls, was attacked by The Advocate of
Baton Rouge's editorial page recently for failing so far to appear at
similar forums.

 

Jindal's three major opponents have also committed to the Shreveport debate:
Democrat Walter Boasso, a state senator from St. Bernard Parish; Democrat
Foster Campbell, a north Louisiana member of the Public Service Commission;
and independent John Georges, a New Orleans businessman.

 

All four candidates have also agreed to two other televised debates: on
Sept. 27 in Baton Rouge and Oct. 17 in New Orleans.

 

Other sponsors of the Shreveport debate include regional chambers of
commerce, the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Group, Southern University at
Shreveport and Red River Radio.

 

 

Foster Campbell

 

LWC gets final round of citations from EPA

The News-Star

By Elizabeth Fitch

efitch at thenewsstar.com

 

The EPA has issued a final round of administrative orders against West
Monroe water system operator LWC following a July inspection.

 

The notices released Tuesday are for violations of the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act at McClendon Community Water Well in Ouachita Parish and Mer Rouge
Water System/Rankin Subdivision in Morehouse Parish.

 

The Mer Rouge system, which LWC owner Jeff Pruett operated for the village,
was previously cited by the EPA. According to spokesman Dave Bary, Pruett
has since turned the system back over to the village, so the new order was
issued to Mayor John McAdams.

Among the citations noted on the orders are non-operational wells and
improper chlorine storage at McClendon. The EPA ordered LWC to plug two
wells within 120 days and improve storage and pressure tanks on the system.

 

The most recent group of administrative orders follow 15 issued in recent
months after the EPA site inspections.

 

Bary said a meeting with Pruett on the numerous findings is in the works.

 

"As of right now, we have yet to meet with Mr. Pruett or his counsel," Bary
said. "We do have a letter from Mr. Pruett's attorney asking to set up a
meeting so we can sit down and discuss these administrative

 

LWC owns water and sewer systems throughout northeastern Louisiana.

 

Pruett previously told The News-Star he plans to cooperate with the EPA.

 

The Safe Drinking Water Act is the main federal law used to ensure drinking
water quality.

 

The Louisiana Public Service Commission also has opened an investigation
into LWC's operations following numerous citizen complaints. Pruett has
donated more than $44,000 since 1999 to the campaign fund of Commissioner
Foster Campbell, who is a gubernatorial candidate.

 

 

Energy industry value to La. cited

By GARY PERILLOUX

Advocate business writer

Published: Sep 12, 2007 - Page: 1D

 

The energy industry, a bellwether of Louisiana’s economy for decades,
maintains a $70 billion annual impact in the state and supports 320,000
jobs, according to a comprehensive industry study updated for the first time
in five years.

 

The study, released this week by the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas
Association, shows the job figure down 6 percent from 2002, but annual
household earnings up 4 percent to $12.7 billion.

 

“The Energy Sector: Still a Giant Engine for the Louisiana Economy” was
authored by economist Loren Scott for the oil and gas association, which
represents 120 member companies.

 

“It shows the overall impact of the industry,” said Mid-Continent spokesman
Larry Wall. “And the impact goes beyond severance taxes and royalties. It
goes way into the economy, many layers down.”

 

The purpose of the study is measuring the deep impact of the energy
industry, Wall said, and its domino effect on the entire Louisiana economy.

 

Some of the deeper layers show the energy sector’s resurgence. In the late
1990s, oil prices hovered near $10 a barrel and natural gas prices near $2
per thousand cubic feet.

 

That helped send energy-related property taxes to local governments down
from $160 million in 1996 to $99 million in 2002. In the 2007 report, those
taxes rebounded to $173 million in what Scott called a conservative estimate
using 2005 data.

 

In all, the industry paid $1.45 billion in state taxes, royalties and fees —
or 14.4 percent of all the money collected by Louisiana in those categories.

 

Louisiana ranks first in crude oil production, with 26 percent of the
nation’s capacity. That’s 1 percent more than Texas and 10 percent more than
Alaska.

 

For natural gas production, Louisiana is second, with 18 percent of the
nation’s output, 14 percent below Texas’.

 

Wall said the study provides an important snapshot of the industry for the
incoming 2008 legislators, more than half of whom may be new due to term
limits.

 

Though not conducted directly to address a controversial plank of Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Foster Campbell — the assessment of $5.5 billion in
new oil and gas processing taxes — the study lays out what’s at stake, Wall
said.

 

In lieu of current severance taxes, Campbell wants to call an immediate
special session, if elected, to levy processing taxes on offshore and
foreign oil and gas as it gets refined, manufactured and marketed. As an
offset, Campbell estimates he can repeal $3.7 billion in state and corporate
income taxes and current severance taxes.

 

Mid-Continent differs from Campbell’s analysis of how much legally can be
passed onto taxpayers in other states. The association believes Louisiana
consumers would bear the brunt of the processing tax, causing gasoline
prices to go up as much as $1.25 a gallon.

 

Refineries and petrochemical plants would quickly shelve expansions and
build in other states, potentially draining billions in capital investment
from the state, Wall said.

 

“It would be significant but it would not be overnight,” he said of industry
disinvestment. “And that’s the issue Campbell argues: They’re not going to
move the refineries and they’re not going to move the people. And he’s
right, they don’t move the refineries overnight. But as units age and need
major repairs and renovations, companies will decide to put those dollars
elsewhere in other states.”

 

The 2002 Mid-Continent study had estimated an annual economic impact for the
energy industry of $92.6 billion in Louisiana. In the new study, Scott says
a modeling error caused the impact to be overestimated in 2002.

 

But the $70 billion impact is still higher than in 1996, when the energy
industry’s impact was in the $60 billion range, Wall said.

 

Mid-Continent generally updates the industry study once every five years.

 

Scott said his analysis shows Louisiana’s oil and gas tax structure is on a
fairly level playing field now with Texas, its top production rival. Citing
an LSU Center for Energy Studies finding, Scott said higher sales and
corporate taxes in Louisiana are offset by higher property taxes in Texas,
resulting in nearly equivalent taxes.

 

A second fairness measure cited by Scott is the energy industry’s share of
state taxes versus its share of earnings created.

 

The industry produces 14.4 percent of state taxes while paying 6.4 percent
of total state wages and salaries, or $4.2 billion. That shows the industry
is paying significantly more than its fair share of taxes, Scott said.

 

 

Foster Campbell Betting Campaign On Energy Tax Idea

BOSSIER CITY, LA - Sept. 11

KSLA-12 Shreveport

 

In his run to become Louisiana's next governor, Foster Campbell is gambling.

 

The Bossier Parish Democrat has pegged his entire campaign to a single idea,
a plan that he says will solve the state's education, coastal erosion and
highway problems. He has a chance to be governor only if voters respond to
that message - one that Campbell has been touting, unsuccessfully, for over
a decade.

Campbell calls it "the greatest thing we could do for the state of
Louisiana."

 

In essence, Campbell wants to overhaul the state's tax system: eliminate
corporate and income taxes and replace them with a new tax on energy
companies that refine their petroleum in Louisiana.

 

The idea has long-standing critics on several fronts. Some warn that
Campbell's plan would drive energy businesses - and their jobs - to other
states. Some say the idea has been tried and been ruled unconstitutional.
Others say it simply won't work, and voters will reject it.

 

"Most people believe that Louisiana has a lot of problems and there's no
silver bullet that's going to solve all of them. This oversimplified
solution to fix all the problems - most people won't buy into it," said John
Sutherlin, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

 

Campbell has no patience for such critics. He dismisses them, saying voters
will relish the idea of transforming Louisiana into a state without income
taxes, a state that taps the oil industry's profits for highway projects,
improved public education and the fight against coastal erosion.

 

"We're going to give that money back to you - the people," he tells a
roomful of Lake Charles supporters. "We're going to fix our roads and repair
our coast."

 

References to "the people" play a prominent role in Campbell's campaign
speeches; it's a habit he's developed over three decades in elected office.
His brand of populism, his attacks on profit-hungry corporate America, have
been compared to Huey Long's, and it's a comparison he doesn't entirely
reject.

 

"I think all politicians ought to be populists," he says. "'Populist' means
you represent the people."

 

Campbell, 60, started his political career by winning a state Senate seat in
1976, where he remained for 27 years. Fellow senators remember him as
clever, brash, hotheaded and relentless, known for his podium-pounding,
red-faced oratory.

 

"He was like a bulldog, coming straight at you," says state Sen. Tom
Schedler, R-Mandeville. "But as dynamic as he was as a legislator, he
alienated many people, and consequently that caused him some political
problems."

 

Campbell's long political career might have turned out differently, if not
for an auto accident in 1988.

He ran a strong campaign that year for Congress, against Jim McCrery, who
was then a little-known Republican lawyer and former congressional staffer.
A month before their runoff election, Campbell crashed while driving
illegally on an unfinished stretch of Interstate 49. Campbell lost an eye in
the wreck, then lost the election by 1 percentage point.

 

Campbell resumed his work in the state Senate until he was elected in 2002
to his current position, representing north Louisiana on the Public Service
Commission, the state's utility regulatory body.

At PSC meetings, he often takes the microphone to complain about the high
profits of electric and telephone companies. He is a frequent "No" vote when
utilities ask permission to raise their rates.

 

As a candidate for governor, he's focused on the oil tax plan that he's been
touting since the 1990s. Others have pitched similar plans, with no success,
including former Govs. Edwin Edwards and Dave Treen, a Democrat and a
Republican.

 

Campbell says eliminating the state's income tax would be something like
giving all Louisiana taxpayers a raise - $3.1 billion in all, a cash boom
that would boost consumer spending and the state's economy.

He says creating a new, 6 percent processing tax on foreign and offshore oil
would produce a net gain of $1.7 billion for the state annually. Campbell
would use $1 billion on projects to prevent erosion of the coastline, the
rest on highway projects and education.

 

When he pushed the oil tax in the '90s, those bills won little support -
failures that Campbell says stem from the overwhelming power of oil company
lobbyists in the halls of the state Capitol. He says the main criticism of
his plan, that energy companies will bolt to other states, is groundless.

 

"They're not going anywhere," he says. "We're the only state that wants
them. They can't go to California, because California doesn't want them."

 

According to the polls, Campbell's idea hasn't attracted much voter support
so far. A Southern Media & Opinion Research poll last month showed U.S. Rep.
Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, had over 60 percent support, far ahead of the other
three major candidates. Campbell polled third, with over 4 percent.

 

Also running far behind Jindal in the polls are Democrat Walter Boasso, a
state senator from St. Bernard Parish, and John Georges, an independent from
New Orleans. Both Boasso and Georges are wealthy businessmen spending
millions of their own money on statewide television and radio ads.

 

Campbell, a cattleman and owner of insurance firms, doesn't have millions
and has been lagging Jindal significantly in his fund-raising efforts. But
he recently launched statewide TV ads that show him riding a horse, as a
narrator explains the basics of his oil tax plan.

 

Some political observers have speculated that Jindal might be able to win
the election outright in October, without a November runoff. Jindal,
however, lowered those expectations this week when he told supporters he's
expecting to be in a runoff.

 

Campbell tells supporters that his goal now is to be Jindal's opponent in
November.

 

"My job," Campbell says, "is to get in there with Bobby Jindal in the
runoff."

 

Oil’s well, sort of

 

FOSTERING A PLAN: Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, a
Democrat-cloaked populist from the piney woods of Bossier Parish, has made
the oil and gas processing fee his central campaign issue in his bid for
governor.

 

By Jeremy Alford 

Baton Rouge Business Report

Monday, September 10, 2007

 

A common saying around the Louisiana Legislature, and other state houses for
that matter, especially during fiscal years, is, “Don’t tax you, don’t tax
me, tax that guy behind the tree.” Aside from rhyming, the maxim has no real
value and is habitually used to break the ice during public meetings where
someone or something is about to get taxed. It’s the official state truism,
having been repeated so many times as to become almost trite.

 

But it takes on a humorous tint when the history of the Louisiana oil and
gas processing fee is reviewed. The idea of taxing Big Oil dates to the
1920s at the birth of the Long dynasty and matured under various Louisiana
officials during the 1980s and 1990s. All the time, though, oil and gas has
remained partly veiled and yet highly visible, like an overgrown elephant
hiding behind a crape myrtle.

 

These days, the plan to implement a processing fee on oil and gas lives on
through one man, Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, a
Democrat-cloaked populist from the piney woods of Bossier Parish. He has
made the fee his central campaign issue in his bid for governor. As a
trade-off, Campbell also proposes eliminating state individual and corporate
income taxes—that would be a hit to state coffers to the tune of about $3.7
billion annually.

 

It’s a sweetener, a perk to a plan that Campbell has been trying to get
approved for more than 15 years. And every step of the way, oil and gas
lobbyists and hitmen have been there to warn a weary public of impending
doom, kind of like Chicken Little with charts. The challenge has always been
to weigh the merits of the proposal against its negatives, which is hard
enough to do in the political world of spinmasters.

 

Here’s how the plan would work: Currently, Louisiana producers pay a
12.5%-of-value oil severance tax and a 6.2%-of-value natural gas severance
tax. Resources moved through Louisiana from foreign countries and federal
offshore waters are not taxed at all. Campbell’s plan would repeal the
current percentages and replace them with a 6%-of-value processing fee on
all oil and gas, meaning a tax decrease for Louisiana producers. The same
would apply to foreign and out-of-state resources as well, which move
tax-free through the state today, amounting to a tax increase for those
parties.

 

Based on an oil price of $57 per barrel and a natural gas price of $6 per
million cubic feet (MCF), Campbell’s plan would generate $5.51 billion each
year, which is the figure that has been widely reported by the mainstream
media. The elimination of the severance taxes, however, would tally up as a
$693 million dent. In addition to the money lost through income taxes—about
$3.7 billion—the state’s new net revenue under the Campbell plan would be
$1.1 billion. He wants to use that annual stream to improve roads, build
coastal improvements, expand health care, progress education and whatever
else stands in the way. It’s his entire campaign plan.

 

Dan Juneau, president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry,
says there are several problems with the plan, chief among them actually
collecting the tax. He says Venezuela and Libya aren’t going to get a tax
due notice from the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Only those who consume
the oil and gas after it is processed to some extent in Louisiana would have
to pay the tax. “If the tax ever would pass, it would ensure higher energy
prices for Louisiana consumers and businesses, and higher feedstock prices
for our manufacturers—not at all what our devastated economy needs for
recovery,” he says.

 

The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, which represents about
120 energy-based companies, argues that gas at the tank will actually cost
consumers $1.25 more per gallon if the tax is approved. It’s an assumption
rejected by Jonathan Haughton, a professor of economics at Suffolk
University in Boston and senior economist at the Beacon Hill Institute for
Public Policy. He has written several research papers on the impact taxes
and fees can have on oil and gas, and he doesn’t think the sky would fall.
“I don’t believe that for one minute,” Haughton says. “That doesn’t add up.
That side of the debate has always presented larger numbers. Even if all of
the 6% were passed on to consumers all at the same time, we’re talking
possibly 18 cents or more.”

 

In a 2006 study entitled “The Incidence of State Taxes on Oil and Gas,”
Haughton’s team paints a rosy image of a state like Louisiana in the
immediate years after a processing tax is applied. There would be a huge
boost in revenue, as detailed by Campbell’s numbers, and in the short run,
Campbell would certainly position himself as a true rainmaker and
problem-solver, thanks to all the new cash. But eventually, offshore oil
would be diverted to Texas or Mississippi, and the Louisiana Offshore Oil
Port, a deepwater fixture in the Mexican Gulf, would lose business and
possibly be relocated somewhere else. “Our take is it would eventually
strangle the refining industry, or at least part of it, and it may
eventually redefine itself elsewhere,” Haughton says.

 

Indeed, Don Briggs of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association has warned for
years that the industry would collapse if a processing fee were passed.
Unarguably, Louisiana would lose business, but the real question is how
much.

 

Could the entire industry disappear? It’s unlikely; Louisiana should be able
to maintain something, experts just don’t know how much. An estimated 434
million barrels of crude oil currently coming into Louisiana is assumed to
be diverted because of the plan, if you believe Big Oil. That’s enough crude
oil to fill up to capacity every refinery in the entire eastern half of the
United States, according to Campbell, keeping in mind there’s a 96%
sustainable refinery utilization rate. Anything beyond that range would
surely be unfeasible. As for natural gas, even if 837 billion cubic feet of
natural gas is diverted, it’s equivalent only to about 16% of all the gas
entering Louisiana, he adds.

 

The U.S. is already short of processing capacity, Campbell continues, and
the construction of new processing capacity in other states is severely
limited and would be a decades-long process. Still, studies by the LSU
Center for Energy Studies show that the tax burden on Louisiana production
and refinery operations is currently “competitive” with other states. A
process fee could be a large hurdle to overcome, but Louisiana does have
stellar incentives for the industry on the books, or at least that has been
the perception portrayed by oil interests under the oil-friendly tenure of
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat from Acadiana.

 

In the end, who does Campbell’s plan—trading income taxes for a processing
fee—impact and empower? Haughton says such a swap would likely place a
burden on low-income families that drive regularly, but pay little in state
taxes. The biggest beneficiaries would be the higher-income brackets who
would get a break on tax forms and likely not notice the pump prices and
other aftereffects. “I’m not so sure that’s what Mr. Campbell had in mind,”
Haughton says.

 

In all the years that Campbell and others have pursued a processing tax, it
has never made headway. The Legislature routinely rejects the plan and
newspapers ranging from The Daily Town Talk in Alexandria to The
Times-Picayune in New Orleans have editorialized against it. If Campbell
wants to even remotely stir his plan beyond the traditional he said-she said
debate known well to generations of Louisianans, it’ll likely come down to
one word the wily populist won’t like and Big Oil won’t recognize:
Compromise.

 

 

 

John Georges

Georges endorses Blueprint La. plan

By  <http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/mailto:jblum@theadvocate.com> JORDAN
BLUM
Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: Sep 12, 2007 - Page: 1A 

NEW ORLEANS – Now that he is the best-funded “independent” candidate in the
governor’s race, John Georges also is touting himself as the only major
candidate to endorse the Blueprint Louisiana agenda.

The Jefferson Parish businessman discussed the five-point Blueprint
Louisiana contract and other plans Tuesday with about 25 people attending
the Young Leadership Council meeting at the New Orleans Museum of Art Café.

“I’m the only candidate of the top four who signed Blueprint Louisiana,”
said Georges, 46. “That’s an outrage.

“It’s principled. It’s transparent. It’s easy. It’s not a hard thing to
commit to,” he said.

The Blueprint Louisiana agenda pushes for state policy changes and is led by
a nonprofit committee with $1 million in funding from business executives
and lawyers.

Goals of the five-point agenda include passage of the toughest ethics law in
the nation, spending an additional $570 million per year on roads and
bridges and public school classes for all 4-year-olds in the state.

The other well-funded candidates, U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, state
Sen. Walter Boasso, D-Arabi, and Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell
of Bossier Parish, all said last week they would not sign off on the agenda.

Campbell and Boasso said they could not sign because of concerns that
Blueprint Louisiana wants to shut down the state’s charity hospital system.

Blueprint Louisiana contends, “Responsibility for providing care to the
uninsured should be shared by the private and public sectors, with an
emphasis on local governance, allowing LSU to focus on world-class medical
education and research.”

Georges said he is not ready to take hospital control away from LSU, but
that he is open to creating more private hospital partnerships with LSU.

As an “independent” governor, Georges said he would be better equipped to
make the right decision on the hospitals without political influence.

Deciding he had a better chance against Republican front-runner Jindal by
moving outside of the Republican party, Georges qualified for the governor’s
race Thursday with “no party.”

Although still conservative, Georges describes himself as a centrist who can
work better with both parties.

Georges is spending about $5 million of his own money on the campaign. He
said either he or Boasso will get into a runoff with Jindal.

Georges said he is still about 4 percentage points behind Boasso in the
polls, but believes he is gaining and will soon pass the Arabi state
senator.

The primary election is Oct. 20.

Young Leadership Council member Ronald Carrere, 28, of New Orleans said he
was impressed with Georges’ ideas. But Carrere said he would have preferred
if Georges switched to Democrat.

“I don’t know if he can do it as an independent,” Carrere said. “Has
Louisiana ever had an independent governor?”

Georges, who is Greek Orthodox, runs his nearly $500 million family
business, Imperial Trading, which focuses primarily on food distribution.

Georges also has interests in real estate, shipping and, until last week,
video gaming.

Although it was one of his most successful companies, Georges said he
decided to sell his last gaming company because of the governor’s race and
give up his state-regulated gaming license.

Georges noted the negative connotations of gambling, but added that the
business was honest and legal.

Georges said next week he will release a 30-page plan he described as
“random thoughts.”

Among his ideas, Georges said he wants to hire a director just for hurricane
recovery.

He touted the need for the state to take control of Louis Armstrong New
Orleans International Airport and make it a more regional facility.

He also said he is committed to negotiating to ensure the New Orleans Saints
remain in Louisiana.

Several weeks ago, Georges finished a campaign tour around the state. He is
planning more traveling in a couple weeks.

Georges, whose closest political experience was as a member of the Louisiana
Board of Regents higher education governing body, said people should want a
successful businessman and problem solver as governor rather than career
politicians.

General – Governor’s Race

 

Following the Money

The Independent Weekly

How the major gubernatorial contenders spend their money reveals who the
candidates are bedded down with, why their campaigns are so expensive, and
how they plan to win.

By Jeremy Alford | 9/12/2007

 

The four major candidates for governor spent nearly $8 million collectively
on their campaigns during the second quarter of this year. From April to
July, more money was spent trying to capture the state’s highest office than
was allocated by the Legislature for barrier island maintenance during the
recent session. We’re talking about serious money here, the kind that
transcends normal retail politics and door-to-door walks. Expenditure
reports on file with the Louisiana Board of Ethics show a large portion of
the jingle going to out-of-state vendors, but it also reveals small insights
into the candidates and how they choose to spend their hard-earned
contributions or personal wealth.

 

During the most recent reporting period, state Sen. Walter Boasso, a
Democrat from Chalmette, spent almost $1.6 million; Public Service
Commissioner Foster Campbell, the race’s other Democrat from Bossier Parish,
shelled out a meager $466,000; Metairie businessman John Georges, the
Republican-turned-independent, ponied up a staggered $4.8 million; and GOP
Congressman Bobby Jindal of Kenner spent about $1 million.

 

If you want to know what separates Jindal, the clear frontrunner, from the
rest of the pack — despite his relatively low spending total — just consider
where more than a quarter of his money went. Jindal’s expenditure report
reads like a breakdown of the old-time Democratic Get Out the Vote machines,
with dozens of names of volunteers being paid everything from $50 to $1,000
for work. There are also a slew of salaried campaign workers. In all, Jindal
cut 339 individual checks from April to July totaling more than $270,500 to
staff and volunteers, far more than any other candidate in the race.

 

In addition to ways to win, spending also sheds a light on behind-the-scenes
maneuvering. Boasso caused a massive political tsunami to take form earlier
this year when he dropped the GOP banner to run for governor as a Democrat —
a no-brainer considering state Republicans were already married to Jindal.
Just weeks after switching, Boasso’s report shows he offered an olive branch
to the Legislative Black Caucus Foundation in the form of a $1,000 donation
paid for with campaign contributions, or his own cash, which is largely
fueling the campaign. He also purchased $2,000 worth of tickets for a
Democratic Party fundraiser.

 

Noticeably absent from Boasso’s expenditures following the turncoat, though,
are payments to James Hartman of Covington for “consulting services.” That’s
because Hartman jumped ship and is now showing up on Georges’ reports as
press secretary — making about $5,000 monthly, or roughly $500 less than
what Boasso was paying.

 

The people and firms candidates surround themselves with are normally
scrutinized for any potential conflict, as evidenced by Jindal, who has
unarguably been running for governor for four years. He spent about $108,000
with OnMessage of Virginia, a firm that oversaw the national party’s $20
million spending plan to elect President Bush in 2004. The Alexandria-based
company is known for its snappy ads that build upon a Republican brand,
which is a perfect fit for Jindal. He has likewise paid out $10,600 to GCR
in New Orleans, an election-consulting firm that ironically helped Gov.
Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, top Jindal in 2003.

 

Boasso, meanwhile, has placed $14,000 on the usually-stoic advice of New
York’s own Arthur J. Finkelstein, a secretive op who has advised
uber-conservatives like late President Richard Nixon and former U.S. Sen.
Jesse Helms. Hildebrand Tewes, the Democratic firm behind the rapid rise to
fame of presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, is also on the
Boasso train, although carrying a bit more luggage (a top exec was recently
canned for embezzling $100,000).

 

Georges decided to keep it local for at least one of his PR consultants, and
it’s a name most in New Orleans will likely know. Danae Columbus and
Associates was paid $3,000 by the Georges campaign during the reporting
period. Before Columbus joined up, she lost her communications contract with
the New Orleans City Council in December after publicly using a racially
offensive term when referring to a set of light fixtures in the council
chambers, according to coverage by The Times-Picayune.

 

No matter who is hired, campaigns are costly, or at least as costly as the
candidates make them. Campbell, for instance, spent $10,600 on those pesky,
wire-framed yard signs alone. Boasso paid $14,700 for “campaign t-shirts”
from the South Carolina-based Lisella Public Affairs, a highly-regarded GOP
outfit. Campbell, however, probably had the most fun spending his campaign
contributions — $198 on LSU football season tickets and $320 on individual
tickets.

 

Of course, all of these expenditures just scratch the surface; they
certainly don’t add up to $8 million. But the sweetest of all expenditures
are referred to as in-kind, meaning contributions of goods or services at no
charge or less than fair market value. In short, free stuff. No other
candidate is more skilled at this perk than Jindal. He was comped $9,000
worth of rental charges for his different headquarters around the state,
including Lake Charles, Shreveport, New Iberia, Metairie and Mandeville. He
has also benefited from more than $4,100 worth of free hotel rooms, from
Holiday Inns to Courtyard Marriotts, proving that voters aren’t only
bolstering Jindal early in the polls, but they’re also willing to leave the
light on for him.

 

On a collision course

 

By John Maginnis

 

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

 

For all the twists and turns of the last year and still to come, what’s not
changed about the governor’s race is it’s still Bobby Jindal’s to lose. It’s
been that way since shortly after the levees broke. With other Republican
hopefuls having changed parties or about to and with more well-known
Democrats getting out than getting in, Jindal’s unrivaled political strength
has been constant and so far nearly unchallenged.

 

All that could change, even rapidly, now that the field is set and voters
begin to pay attention. But as it stands, Jindal is probably a stronger
favorite than any past candidate who was not the incumbent or a former
governor since Huey Long in 1928.

 

Jindal is no Huey Long—for his personal safety he should avoid such
comparisons. Yet, in this critical election, the Republican congressman
offers a sweeping promise, couched in his thousand points of policy, to
fundamentally shift the direction of government that Long set it on 80 years
ago and that recent conservative governors have only interrupted. His
critics would say he is trying to give back to the moneyed interests what
Huey wrestled from them.

 

The real question, which even many of his supporters aren’t sure about, is
does Jindal have the will, strength and wisdom to overcome, even win over,
those in the Legislature and bureaucracy who don’t share his vision.

 

That brings us to the anyone-but-Bobby contingent on the ballot, who will
remain so named until one of them rises above the rest and offers a
compelling alternative to Jindal.

 

It has taken some jockeying for them to find their paths to the starting
post. Walter Boasso bailed out of the Republican Party earlier this year to
try to occupy the void John Breaux declined to fill for the Democrats.

 

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who evidently hasn’t enough to do in his day
job, had a grand time leaving everyone—probably himself included—guessing if
he would run. The potential danger of being a Democrat “trainwrecked by
Nagin” made Republican businessman John Georges switch to independent when
he qualified last week.

 

The most consistent of them has been Foster Campbell, who embraces the
historic values of the Democratic Party, but he has the least resources and
is only now introducing himself and his plan in TV ads.

 

While those campaigns were taking shape, Jindal was building and fine-tuning
a statewide organization with broader and deeper support than he enjoyed
four years ago. Unlike last time, he is the known quantity, the only
candidate to have run statewide.

 

The challenge for his opponents, who start roughly from the same position,
is to introduce themselves to voters and favorably distinguish themselves
from Jindal in the next few weeks. Then one has to separate from the pack
with enough momentum to energize more Democrats and independents to go to
the polls and force a runoff, at which point it’s a whole new game.

 

Jindal’s opponents already have begun to draw distinctions based more on
character and leadership skills than on issues, which is a most interesting,
even historic, aspect of this election. Not just Jindal, but all the major
candidates promise a sharp, even radical, departure from the status quo,
whether to the right or the left. Not even the Democrats are suggesting
building on the strengths of the Blanco administration, though there are
some.

 

Like Jindal, Boasso and Georges claim government is broken and promise to
remake it from the ground up.

 

Democrat Foster Campbell puts forward the biggest idea of the campaign—and
goes Long one better—by calling for replacing the income tax with one on
imported oil and having a couple of billion dollars a year left over for
health care and education.

 

What makes them all the same is they stand for so much change.

 

No matter who wins, we could wake up the morning after the election with the
feeling that we’re not in Louisiana any more, or at least that some big
changes are on the way.

 

Strong candidates reject reform program

Editorial

Daily Advertiser

 

Three strong gubernatorial candidates - Bobby Jindal, Walter Boasso and
Foster Campbell - have refused to sign on to the Blueprint Louisiana agenda.
We appreciate their frank attitude but feel their decision is bad one.

 

The Advertiser has endorsed all elements of the five-part plan, which was
assembled after a year of planning, public input, interviews with more than
50 experts and more than 400 reports on a wide range of topics.

            

If implemented, the plan will mend many of the glaring ills of our state.
Legislative financial disclosure laws would be strengthened, lobbyist
regulations enhanced and transparency created in state funding of local
projects. The goal is adoption of the nation's best ethics laws.

In the field of education, the plan calls for significant expansion of
Louisiana's Pre-K program, already recognized as a national model.

 

Overcoming the state's shortage of skilled workers is a major goal.
Coordination with industry leaders would be improved and "rapid response
capabilities" developed.

 

The plan would address health care needs. Responsibility for providing care
to uninsured patients would be shared by the public and private sector.

 

Finally, the plan calls for building a superior transportation system in
which mega-projects could be funded with toll revenues, thus expediting
large-scale needs.

 

The reform is asking those seeking office in the fall election to endorse
all the proposals.

 

So far, 153 candidates for various offices have signed pledges of support.

 

While Campbell and Boasso objected to specific elements of the plan, a
spokeswoman for Jindal said that he is focused on releasing his own detailed
policy plans and is not signing onto the plans of any other groups.

 

Campbell opposes the health care program outlined in the plan and the
proposal to move vehicle-related revenue, now used for a wide range of state
services, into a fund for highway and bridge improvements only.

 

Boasso's refusal to sign on to the program is based primarily on the health
care provision.

 

A new approach is needed in both health care and highway improvement. Our
roads are the worst in the nation. The number of bad bridges is above the
national average. We spend more on automobile maintenance than residents of
most other states because of the battered roadways. There is a correlation
between Louisiana's bad roads and its high automobile accident rate.

 

The most recent rankings by the United Health Foundation designate Louisiana
as the unhealthiest state in the nation. The health system is oppressively
expensive, and grossly inadequate. Louisiana spends more than nine other
Southern states, yet still ranks last in health outcomes.

 

Blueprint Louisiana offers ways to address the state's most pressing needs.
A healthy budget exists to let the public know which candidates signed on to
the reform measures. It is unfortunate that the names of Boasso, Campbell
and Jindal will not be among those supporting the plan.

 

 

Louisiana Elections: Boasso Slams Jindal And Ethics, Alliance Schedule, Vote
Registration

Written by: Stephen Sabludowsky

 

Jindal and Ethics

 

You know things are getting nasty.  In an email blast on Monday, candidate
for Governor, Walter Boasso has criticized his opponent, Bobby Jindal, on an
area which Jindal is emphasizing in his campaign—ethics.

 

According to Boasso in an email:

 

“Bobby is having a busy September when it comes to ethics--His ethics.

 

While Jindal faces a hearing by the Secretary of State Ethics Division on
September 13 over his failure to disclose nearly $120,000 in campaign
contributions, the Federal Elections Commission is threatening to audit
Jindal over his failure to disclose campaign contributions on his
Congressional campaign report.

 

Jindal, who is currently operating both an account for his gubernatorial bid
and one for his Congressional re-election campaign, was notified by the
Federal Elections Commission by letter on August 28th that if he does not
respond to the discrepancies in his Congressional reports by September 28,
he faces an audit of his Congressional Campaign committee (see attached
letter).

 

"It's time for Bobby to drop his talk about ethics," State Senator Walter
Boasso (D-Arabi) Democratic candidate for Governor said. "It's obvious that
he doesn't believe a word of what he is saying."

 

Bayoubuzz has not contacted the Jindal campaign for a response since it has
sent over a dozen requests for position papers and responses and has made
numerous phone calls to that campaign which have not been returned.  The
lack of response by Jindal appears to have begun and to correlate to
Bayoubuzz’s criticism of Bobby Jindal’s lack of debating.  However, in
fairness to the Jindal campaign, a very high GOP official has said to
Bayoubuzz that the Jindal campaign is overwhelmed with various requests.
The Jindal campaign is welcome to provide a complete direct response or
forward a generic response to the Boasso charge and Bayoubuzz will publish
it in its entirety.  Bayoubuzz also does not in any way support Boasso’s
claim but is republishing comments from the Jindal campaign and others as
they engage in a non-live debate turf battle to be Governor and has
published numerous claims by the Jindal campaign and the GOP and other
candidates and political parties and  in the past and will do so in the
future. 

 

Jindal Voter Registration:

 

The Bobby Jindal camp is asking its supporters and others to vote for the
October 20 primary election.  In an email by Campaign Manager, Timmy
Teepell, the email said:

 

”Today is exactly 40 days until the October 20th Primary Election for
Governor. The last day to register to vote is September 19th - only NINE
days away.”

 

Teepell asked its audience:

 

”Just ask them three simple questions:

 

Are you ready to clean up all the government corruption that has held our
state back for too long? Then register to vote.

 

Are you ready to put an end to the out-of-control state spending that has
wasted too many tax dollars? Then register to vote.

 

Are you ready to crack down on the crime that terrorizes too many of our
Louisiana neighborhoods and threatens the safety of our children? Then
register to vote.

 

Bobby Jindal has declared war on the out-of-control state spending,
government corruption and incompetence that has kept Louisiana at the bottom
of all those national "good" lists.”

 

Teepell then supplied a link to voter registration.

 

 

GOP Criticizes Political Analyst

 

This in from Michael DiResto is an official with the Louisiana Republican
Party:

 

Journalists covering the governor's race, please repeat after me: "Elliott
Stonecipher is the brother of Foster Campbell's gubernatorial campaign
manager."   Why the man wouldn't recuse himself from commenting on the
governor's race is a question I leave to others.  But it seems to me a
question of journalistic credibility to at least use that
disclaimer/disclosure line any time he's asked to comment on the race, and
especially in a column that ultimately takes another candidate, in this case
Bobby Jindal, most to task....

 

DiResto in a blog quoted a TheAdvocate story:

 

“What you’re running into is part of an emerging trend that I think is the
real story of this election,” said Elliott Stonecipher, a Shreveport
demographer and political pollster. “And we don’t know the end of that story
yet.”

 

Stonecipher said the question remains how “a very real voters’ disconnect”
will manifest itself in the Oct. 20 primary election for governor.

 

Alliance for Good Government

 

The Alliance for Good Government is starting its forums and its endorsement
process tomorrow and will last until September 25.  However, due to the lack
of forum opportunities in the Governor’s race, Bayoubuzz was told that the
Alliance will not take a position on the Governor’s Race.  To date, Bobby
Jindal has not made any forums or debates but has promised two debates in
the future.  The Alliance, a well-recognized and respected organization in
the New Orleans region will be having forums and endorsements in the other
statewide elections.   Here is the link to the schedule of forums

http://www.Bayoubuzz.com/UserFIles/9C11C2007B10A36A42BAMForumSchedule.pdf

 

Campaign News

Shreveport Times

September 12, 2007

 

Bossier Police Jury race down to two candidates

 

The pool of hopefuls to be the District 5 Bossier police juror just got
smaller. Carl Richard announced Monday that he voluntarily withdrew his bid.

 

In a news release, he says his decision was "supported by the Police Jury
policy stating that no family member, whether related by blood or marriage,
may seek or be appointed to an office of the Police Jury where another
family member and/or relative is currently employed."

 

Richard doesn't detail the family member or their position with the parish
that would create the situation he considers unethical.

 

His departure leaves Republican Barry Butler challenging incumbent Police
Juror Henry Mitchell, a Democrat, for the position.

 

Withdrawing from this race doesn't mean Richard will give up on becoming a
public servant, he said.

 

"I do not regret my decision. I hope in the future I will be given an
opportunity to serve and support the citizens of Bossier Parish."

 

Forum to feature four gubernatorial hopefuls

 

Walter Boasso, Foster Campbell, John Georges and Bobby Jindal will square
off during a gubernatorial forum Oct. 4 in Shreveport.

 

The one-hour forum at LSUS' University Center Theater will feature questions
focusing on northwest Louisiana issues, such as completion of Interstate 49
to Arkansas.

 

The free event is open to the public.

 

Forum sponsors include the Committee of 100 (Northwest Louisiana),
LSU-Shreveport, Southern University-Shreveport, the Bossier Economic
Development Foundation, the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Group and the Greater
Shreveport, African American, Bossier and Minden-South Webster chambers of
commerce.

 

Red River Radio will carry the forum live on 89.9 FM and KTBS-TV will
televise it on either KTBS or the KTBS 24 Hour News Channel and will reair
it on KTBS or KPXJ/CW21 at a later date.

 

Candidates who had at least 5 percent support in the most recent Southern
Media Research poll in August or who had at least $500,000 in campaign funds
were invited to participate in the forum.

 

"The candidates will be facing each other for only three debates and we are
one of them," said Harold Turner, chairman of the forum sponsor committee.

 

Teachers' federation to announce gubernatorial endorsement today

 

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers will announce its endorsement in the
gubernatorial race at 2 p.m. today on the steps of the state Capitol in
Baton Rouge.

 

Federation President Steve Monaghan and several members of the group's
executive board will join the endorsed candidate at the press conference.
The federation represents more than 18,000 teachers and school employees.

 

 


STATE AND LOCAL NEWS

 

N.O. keeps narrow black majority

            

By JOHN MORENO GONZALES

Associated Press writer

Published: Sep 12, 2007 - UPDATED: 8:45 a.m.

 

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- New Orleans is narrowly retaining a black majority after
Hurricane Katrina, according to a study released Wednesday by The Brookings
Institution.

 

The study determined that while blacks left the city at a much faster rate
than whites, New Orleans was still 58 percent black during 2006. Before
Katrina, which hit Aug. 29, 2005, the city was 67 percent black, according
to the U.S. census.

 

"It's certainly still a predominantly African-American city," said William
Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at Washington, D.C.-based Brookings.
"Speculation that there was not going to be a black majority in the city is
not true, according to these estimates."

 

While several studies have examined utility hookups and postal deliveries to
estimate the population that has returned to New Orleans since Katrina, The
Brookings Institution study is the first comprehensive look at the shifting
demographics since the storm.

 

Through a special arrangement with the U.S. Census Bureau, Brookings gleaned
statistics from new census data also released Wednesday that the institution
called a "fuller picture on who moved out and who is coming back."

 

The Census Bureau estimated that New Orleans had about 455,000 residents a
month before Katrina hit and was down to about 223,400 in July 2006. Other
studies have shown that the city has regained approximately 60 percent of
its population.

 

Allison Plyer, deputy director of the Greater New Orleans Community Data
Center, a nonprofit that has looked at population return to the city, said:
"It's very important to remember these numbers are from last year and
there's been significant change in the population since."

 

Plyer said an estimated 80,000 people have returned to New Orleans from 2006
through today. But like the experts at Brookings, she believed that the
city's majority black population would not be supplanted.

 

"It's probably still true that the city has fewer African-American residents
than it did pre-Katrina, but it probably has more African-Americans than it
did last year," Plyer said, noting increased public school enrollment and
other factors.

 

The Brookings study also found that metropolitan New Orleans had become
"more well-educated, less poor and had a higher percentage of homeowners"
since the storm.

 

For instance, 21 percent of the people who left the city after Katrina had
less than a high school education, while 32 percent who have moved to the
city after the storm are college graduates.

 

Groups rally for ‘Jena Six’ suspects

By JORDAN BLUM

Advocate Capitol News Bureau

Published: Sep 11, 2007

 

More than one year after three nooses were first hung outside Jena High
School, area college students and activists are planning events to support
the “Jena Six.”

 

Southern University students hosted an awareness program and forum Monday
with guest speakers and more than 120 in attendance. The forum raised money
for six black teenagers charged in the small, racially divided central
Louisiana town.

 

Addie Mills, a family friend of Mychal Bell, 17, who faces up to 15 years in
prison after being convicted for helping attack a white student, said his
Sept. 20 sentencing date is the next critical step.

 

Mills said it is a grave injustice that white students are given a three-day
suspension for committing a hate crime by threatening blacks with nooses,
while the black students face nearly two decades locked away.

 

“You’re dealing with an explosive situation already,” said Mills, who
emphasized the need to rally peacefully and to donate to the Jena Six Legal
Defense Fund.

 

Mills said, if he’s cleared, the others also will be cleared.

 

The case has drawn media attention from London and beyond. The Revs. Jesse
Jackson and Al Sharpton plan to join thousands to rally Sept. 20.

 

Sharpton said he will take the fight to the governor, if necessary, and that
he is seeking an investigation into the prosecution of the Jena Six.

 

Southern junior Dawnielle Broussard of Beaumont, Texas, said she plans on
traveling to Jena with classmates to help.

 

“It’s a little place, but it can happen anywhere,” Broussard said. “I was
shocked.

 

“I don’t feel like they have equal rights.”

 

In December, six black students were arrested for beating up a white
student, who attended a high school function that same night after being
treated at a local hospital.

 

Four months prior, tensions were ignited after a black student sat under a
tree outside the high school where white students normally congregated. The
nooses were hung the next day on that tree.

 

“I graduated in 1973, and we didn’t sit under that tree then,” Mills said.
“It’s been going on for years.”

 

The fight in December occurred shortly after a fire at the school. Mills
said the white student was knocked down after taunting black students about
starting the unsolved fire.

 

Five of the black students, including Bell, were charged as adults with
attempted second-degree murder. Charges against three of them have since
been reduced to aggravated second-degree battery. The sixth student faces
charges in juvenile court.

 

Bell is the only one to have gone through a trial thus far, when he was
convicted by an all-white jury. Bell was denied bail because of past battery
and criminal damage to property offenses.

 

Forum participant Albert Samuels, a political science professor at Southern
University, said Jena is a metaphor for the underlying racial problems in
the country.

 

“Jim Crow didn’t die,” he said. “He got smarter.”

 

Samuels cited topics such as school vouchers, parental choice and the
Central School District as euphemized versions of modern segregation.

 

Southern Student Government Association President Carey Ash said: “Every so
often, we get a litmus test to see how far we’ve progressed. This shows we
have a ways to go.”

 

State Democratic Party makes changes at the top

BRIEFING BOOK

Times-Picayune

News and notes from Louisiana politics

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

 

Interim Demo leader

 

Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Chris Whittington will double as the
party's executive director on an interim basis while Danny Ford is on a
leave of absence after his third arrest on drunken-driving charges, the
party announced Tuesday. Ford, 31, was booked on charges of third-offense
DWI, reckless driving, driving on a median, and failing to signal for a turn
shortly after leaving a Baton Rouge restaurant the evening of Sept. 5.
Whittington, a Baton Rouge attorney, has been chairman of the state party
since January 2006 and previously served as the party's parliamentarian. The
party also announced that it has hired political consultant Ben Jeffers, of
Baton Rouge to help the party during the current election cycle. Jeffers
will concentrate on the governor's race. 

 

Disabled students still lack access in parish, city schools

The News Star

By Barbara Leader

bleader at thenewsstar.com

 

Jamie Travis, a special education student at Madison James Foster
Elementary, loves to go outside, but once she's outside, all she can do is
watch the other children play.

 

There is no equipment on the playground she can access. Most of the time,
she watches from her wheelchair and laughs as the other students swing and
climb on the equipment.

            

No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Act dictate that
all students have equal access to education, including access to classrooms,
cafeterias and playgrounds.

While school systems around the state are working toward including those
with disabilities into the general education classrooms, many of the
physical accessibility issues at schools are falling behind.

 

Early Childhood Special Education teacher Sharon Frith's class consists of
four students in wheelchairs and three students on walkers.

 

It is one of the few schools in the district that has a designated class of
students with profound disabilities. Students whose needs cannot be met in
their zoned schools may be served in this classroom.

 

Frith and three paraprofessionals usually spend recess pushing the students
around the sidewalk and "racing" their wheelchairs. Occasionally, the
teachers disconnect a swing on the playground and reconnect the one special
swing that the class has and the students take turns in the swing.

 

Even that swing is not wheelchair accessible. The teachers must lift the
students into the swing.

 

Frith said that the lack of equipment has not always been the case at the
school. "We used to have a wheelchair swing, but now, most everything is
broken," Frith said. "They are in the process of taking all of that down,
and then we'll have nothing."

 

"Schools don't have as much money for equipment now," Frith said. "They are
putting more money toward efforts to include special students in the regular
classrooms." Funding for playgrounds is often left up to parent
organizations.

 

Frith also pointed out that the school's cafeteria tables as well as others
around the area are not accessible. They have seats attached to the tables
that prevent access by a wheelchair.

 

Students in wheelchairs eat at other tables in the cafeteria and do not get
the chance to interact with children who are not in special education.

 

These problems are not limited to Madison James Foster. Schools around both
the Monroe city and Ouachita Parish systems as well as other systems in
northeastern Louisiana have made attempts at accessibility, but Families
Helping Families Executive Director Alescia Banks said the problem is that
the efforts are often not well thought out.

 

Playgrounds often include ramps leading into a play area, but once students
are in the area, none of the equipment is accessible from a wheelchair.

 

Many ramps lead to jungle gym type play areas. "The ramp to nowhere!" Banks
said.

 

Pre-kindergarten teachers at Sally Humble Elementary pointed to their
wheelchair ramps leading to the play areas but could not say what students
would do after they got there.

 

"That I don't know," pre-k teacher Mary Ann Hales said. "That's a good
question." The only piece of equipment that a wheelchair-bound student could
actually play with was a steering wheel with a handle beside it.

 

Playgrounds in the Ouachita Parish School System suffered from the same
inadequacies. Most offer no ramps or accessible playground equipment.

 

Schools often have one cut curb that allows wheelchair access from the
parking lot to the sidewalk. Teachers and parents may have to go completely
around the school to find another cut out to get off the sidewalk.

 

Louisiana's schools are making progress toward including special education
students in the regular classroom, but even that has its limits. "Inclusion
is strictly educational," Laura Nettles of Families Helping Families said.
"It's been forced, mandated, almost to a point that it has hurt some kids."

 

Nettles says that with the pressures that classroom teachers are already
under to comply with the comprehensive curriculum, there is no opportunity
for them to spend additional time with those special education students who
may be in their classes.

 

"I think on a scale of 1 to 10, we're right about a 4," Quentina Timoll of
the state department said. "We have a lot of theory and knowledge. We know
what should be done, and some schools are doing it."

 

Banks said one solution to the accessibility problem would be for those
decision-makers to look at the world from a wheelchair for one day.

 

In an effort to highlight the progress toward accessibility as well as the
steps that are yet to be made, Louisiana Department of Education in
conjunction with the governor's office has declared this week accessibility
awareness week.

 

Monroe City School Board voted in its last meeting to partner with the state
in recognizing accessibility.

 

Woman recounts Vitter visits

Ex-prostitute describes 'pure sexual relationship'

 

By GERARD SHIELDS

Advocate Washington bureau

Published: Sep 12, 2007 - Page: 1A

 

WASHINGTON — A former New Orleans prostitute said Tuesday she had sex with
U.S. Sen. David Vitter “two to three times a week” over a five-month period
when he served in the state Legislature.

 

Wendy Yow Ellis, who worked for the New Orleans Escort Service under the
names “Wendy Cortez” and “Leah,” said the liaisons occurred in a French
Quarter apartment between July and November 1999, just before the Louisiana
Republican was elected to Congress.

 

“It was a pure sexual relationship,” Ellis said in a teleconference from Los
Angeles. “He would come in and do his business two to three times a week.”

 

Ellis, 34, said her contact with Vitter ended abruptly when she suggested
they further their relationship beyond the business exchange.

 

Tuesday’s teleconference was organized by Hustler magazine publisher Larry
Flynt. Only reporters attending the event in person were allowed to ask
questions, not those reporters, including The Advocate, listening via
telephone.

 

Ellis decided to come forward, she said, after Vitter contended in July that
“those New Orleans stories” were untrue.

 

Ellis, who acknowledged being a former drug addict who worked in an
“entertainment” club where the two would meet, perceived the Vitter remark
as calling her a liar, she said.

 

“I’m here to set the record straight,” Ellis said. “I am telling the truth.”

 

Ellis passed a polygraph test administered by the former president of the
American Polygraph Association, Flynt said.

 

Though acknowledging the lie detector test is not admissible in court, Flynt
said he has been assured that they are “95 percent accurate.”

 

On July 9, Vitter acknowledged that his phone number appeared on the list of
a Washington escort service operated by a woman dubbed the “D.C. madam.”
Deborah Jeane Palfrey is accused by federal prosecutors of running a
prostitution ring. Palfrey denies the allegations.

 

Vitter’s statement was prompted by a call from a Hustler investigator who
alerted Vitter that he had found his number on the Washington escort service
list. A check of the records indicated Vitter had contacted the Washington
service five times between 1999 and 2001 when he served in the U.S. House of
Representatives.

 

Flynt had offered a $1 million reward for anyone who could provide
information about Congress members living double lives. Vitter catapulted to
political ranks on a family values platform.

 

Vitter apologized in July for committing what he called a “serious sin.” On
July 16, Vitter appeared with his wife, Wendy, who said she had forgiven her
husband and that the couple had dealt with the matter through marriage
counseling. Vitter bowed out of a 2003 run for governor, citing marital
difficulties.

 

Vitter has declined to further comment on the escort matter, issuing a
statement through a spokesman earlier this week that he and his wife had
dealt with the issue “very directly.”

 

He did not return two messages from The Advocate to his office Tuesday for
comment about Ellis’ allegations.

 

Ellis, meanwhile, would not comment on how much money she will receive from
Flynt, calling it a personal matter. But Ellis and Flynt said she will
appear in a pictorial in the January issue of the magazine.

 

“She looks pretty good for her age,” Flynt said.

 

Ellis challenged Vitter to also take a lie detector test.

 

“I would’ve loved for him to be sitting right next to me when I took mine,”
she said. “This is not about money to me, this is about being honest.”

 

Ellis stopped using drugs in May 2004 and tried to put her days as a
prostitute behind her, she said.

 

“I chose that day to live my life the right way,” she said. “That’s why this
is so important to me.”

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