The Old River Road

When good isn't good enough

2009-11-08T20:18:40-06:00

While the New Orleans Saints storybook season has made them the hottest ticket in town, it also has driven up demand for the governor's private suite in the Superdome....
And while the tickets to the governor's box are free -- as opposed to the scalped variety that are going for as much as $2,500 on StubHub -- one recent attendee said it's not always as glamorous as cracked up to be.
...[Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan] Levine said, the governor's box doesn't come with the same amenities as the neighboring suites. "You walk by the other boxes and you see shrimp and you see oysters and you see alcohol, and you walk into the governor's box and there (are) literally just plastic cups next to the sink."

Come on, no glassware? And no hors d'oeuvres? Jesus Bobby what kind of shoddy operation are you running up in that private Superdome suite?

I think it's only appropriate we take up collections to fully stock the governor's box, so that the next time Secretary Levine is subjected to a free Saints game he'll have the complete "suite" experience.

The unstimulating stimulus, part III

2009-11-06T09:19:55-06:00

Justifying their help in rushing through Barack Obama's pork-filled $789 billion stimulus, Charlie Melancon told us:

With our economy in freefall and millions of Americans losing their jobs, doing nothing is not an option. We must act now to turn our economy around, or we will slip even deeper into recession.

Mary Landrieu promised:

The bill will create and sustain millions of private sector jobs, strengthen national infrastructure and reduce taxes for families and businesses.

Unemployment is now in the double digits -- 10.2 percent. When you count those poor souls who've simply given up looking, the number is 17.5 percent. Amazingly, October was the 22nd month that the economy lost jobs -- the longest streak in over 70 years. And economists think we could hit 10.5 percent next year.

Hmm, now probably isn't a good time to saddle our existing businesses with half a billion dollars in new taxes. You think?

Another faux endorsement for the cameras

2009-11-04T11:20:11-06:00

From The Advocate:

Mayor-President Kip Holden picked up support Tuesday for his proposed $901 million capital improvements bond package from U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, two state representatives and several Baker officials....
Two Democratic legislators in Baton Rouge, state Rep. Avon Honey and state Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, announced support for the package.

As I mentioned once before, Kip has made a habit of touting support for the bond from groups and organizations closely tied to him or the City-Parish. It's not particularly newsworthy even though it has been treated as such.

But announcing that Sharon Weston Broome supports the bond issue is bad even by Kip's standards. After all, she's listed as the Co-Chairperson of Kip's Bond PAC, the Committee for the Future of East Baton Rouge Parish. A group that has, as of October 25, spent $325,000 in support of the bond.

Nothing to see here, just business as usual

2009-11-04T10:18:18-06:00

When Bobby Jindal addressed the inaugural meeting of the Streamlining Commission he told them, "everything is on the table." He continued, "...it would be irresponsible as state leaders to simply continue spending like business-as-usual in Baton Rouge and pass the bill on to our people. We must root out every opportunity for savings....” They apparently need another pep talk:

A government cost-cutting panel has rejected a bid by state Treasurer John Kennedy to cut all legislative earmarks for nonprofits and other nongovernment agencies from the budget.
The Commission on Streamlining Government, which is looking at ways to shrink state spending, voted 8-2 against Kennedy's idea.

Instead the Commission adopted an amendment by Rep. Brett Geymann "that would require non-profit groups seeking state aid to be accredited by a national organization or the Louisiana Association of Non-Profit Organizations to assure their legitimacy."

Just because a group is "legitimate" doesn't mean funding them is a good use of tax dollars. Worthy organizations who can provide a needed service should go through the appropriate state agency for funding via a competitive bid process. They shouldn't have an appropriation written into law specifically for them just because they know the right person.

Destroying our businesses to save them

2009-11-02T09:46:00-06:00

Kip Holden says we need ALIVE to keep the Baton Rouge economy strong. But funding ALIVE entirely with tax dollars necessitates a 9.9-mill property tax that will burden local businesses with millions of dollars in new, yearly taxes.

As reported in the Sunday Advocate, the 9.9-mill property tax accounts for 38 percent of the $901 million bond issue, or about $342.4 million. Of this total, business and industry account for 51 percent, or $174.6 million -- 78 percent of the cost of ALIVE.

And based on figures filed with the Bond Commission, businesses in our parish can expect to see a yearly property tax increase of $15.8 million. At a minimum -- assuming their assessments never increase -- that's $474.3 million over the 30-year life of the bond. Those are real dollars that might otherwise be invested in expanding local businesses and creating jobs in East Baton Rouge. At the very least, it is a cost that will most assuredly be passed along to taxpayers in the form of higher priced goods and services.

Wouldn't it make more sense to fund ALIVE with private dollars, thus keeping the need for new taxes to a minimum? This would ensure a minimum new tax burden on citizens and local businesses alike. After all, no city has ever taxed its way to prosperity.

What a real public-private partnership looks like

2009-10-28T12:58:52-05:00

In selling his $2.175 billion tax, Kip Holden has pointed to the Tennessee Aquarium as proof that ALIVE will work. Many believe Chattanooga's investment in the aquarium to be the catalyst that sparked the redevelopment of their entire riverfront.

But Kip has conveniently left out a crucial detail (he sure is good at that, ain't he?). Not one cent of tax dollars was used to build the Tennessee Aquarium. Rather, the entire $45 million cost was paid by private investors.

Chattanooga's downtown and riverfront was revitalized through a real public-private partnership. From The Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 24, 1992:

Ten multimillion-dollar projects will be completed in 1992, including a $ 14.5 million courts building today....
The private sector is picking up about half of the $ 122 million price tag of the 10 projects, including the entire bill for the $ 45 million Tennessee Aquarium opening in May, a $ 6.5 million tourism and visitor center with retail shops and a downtown housing complex.
Public and private sources are splitting the expenses for the refurbishing of the historical Walnut Street Bridge and the Bessie Smith Preservation Hall. Taxpayers will pay for the courts building, a park around the aquarium, a large parking complex and major downtown highway improvements.

Amazing things can happen when governments partner with the private sector and get them invested in revitalization efforts. Unfortunately, the only private dollars invested in this bond are the contributions to Kip's PAC. What we need is a real public-private partnership. Let private dollars build the attractions and local government build the infrastructure. It will be a win-win for everyone -- especially the taxpayers.

EBR spending $425,000 to change 'perception'

2009-10-27T12:37:50-05:00

If this wasn't so sad and pathetic it would be funny. There's no question that East Baton Rouge Parish schools rank among the state's worst. Unfortunately, our School Board decided it would be easier to change the public's perception of our schools rather than the schools themselves.

And they're spending $425,000 this year to do it.

So let's call this for what it is -- a group of elected officials who are spending almost half a million of our tax dollars to convince us they're doing a better job than they actually are. Who cares if our kids are trapped in crappy schools so long as the public thinks they're good?

Transparency starts at the top

2009-10-27T11:49:58-05:00

Gov. Bobby Jindal spent last night in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida raising money for his re-election campaign. In response to questions about the organization sponsoring the event, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said:

"That info will be available on the campaign finance reports" when they are filed next year.

Last night Bobby Jindal took time away from his job as Governor to raise money and was no doubt accompanied by Louisiana State Troopers paid for with our tax dollars. I think that entitles us to a little more candor from the Governor's staff and a little less of the bunker mentality.

Real transparency means not hiding behind the technicalities of campaign finance law.

Will a special ALIVE tax be needed?

2009-10-25T11:52:47-05:00

In selling ALIVE and its ability to generate revenue, Mike Futrell said, "Alive will use the same model that Audubon uses in New Orleans at the zoo and the aquarium." Here's an interesting tidbit about that model buried in today's Advocate article about Audubon's deficit:

[Audubon spokeswoman Sarah] Burnette said admissions and souvenir sales alone do not pay operating expenses for the New Orleans facilities....
The organization relies on a 2-mill tax on Orleans Parish property, which pays 10 percent of its operational costs, Burnette said.

If the Audubon Aquarium and Zoo -- located in a city that 7.6 million people visited last year -- have to rely on a 2-mill property tax just to break even, how is ALIVE supposed to not only be self-sufficient but also generate enough new jobs, development and tax revenue to help us pay off the bonds 12 years early?

Leges jet off to Chicago for extra help

2009-10-25T08:53:37-05:00

Earlier this month members of the House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees -- those tasked with redistricting -- met in Alexandria to learn from state and national experts about the procedures, court cases and laws related to reapportionment. Seven of them forgot to take notes:

Some Louisiana lawmakers have been getting more schooling in the “ins and outs” of redrawing legislative and congressional district lines based on 2010 census data.
Six members of the Louisiana House and one state senator traveled to Chicago last week to attend a special seminar in Chicago sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures....
The cost per person approaches $2,000, counting conference registration, airfare, hotel expenses and per diem, according to figures provided by the Legislature.

I'm sure this was a good use of $14,000 of our tax dollars and that this meeting was all business. It's not like they passed a loophole to the $50 cap on lobbyists funded meals specifically for meetings like this.

'The Kip Holden Variety Show'

2009-10-23T12:20:27-05:00

The worst run campaign in the history of politics just got worse:

Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden...and others will provide information on the proposed parishwide proposition in a half-hour television program entitled, “Our Future. Our Vision.” on Wednesday, October 28th at 6:30 p.m. on WAFB-TV....
After the program airs on Wednesday, it will replay once daily at various times on [Channel 9] until the November 14th election.

Worst. Campaign. Ever.

Nagin lauds efficiency of communist dictatorship

2009-10-21T13:00:41-05:00

Ray Nagin and a host of New Orleans area officials have been on a fact finding mission in Cuba since Friday. After getting a closer look at Cuba's disaster-response system, Nagin liked what he saw:

"...one of the biggest weaknesses we had during Hurricane Katrina is it wasn't clear who was the top authority.
The president and the governor were going back and forth. . . . In Cuba you don't have that problem. The government says, 'This is what we're doing, these are the resources we are going to deploy, ' and it pretty much happens."

Who says totalitarianism doesn't have its usefulness? He continued:

"I think they do a much better job than we do on knowing their citizens at a very, very detailed level, block by block."

I think this usually comes with the the whole communism shtick. My sympathy goes out to the taxpayers of New Orleans who have to watch this buffoon use their tax dollars to laud the "efficiency" of a communist dictatorship.

There you go again

2009-10-20T12:21:55-05:00

Despite a new state law aimed at reigning in the ATC, Herr Painter and his brownshirts are at it again. You'll remember Painter began targeting restaurants that had cover charges, live entertainment and drink specials, specifically Chelsea's. The Legislature responded to his aggressive new tactics with a law that permits those things so long as food sales account for more than 50 percent of a restaurant's revenue.

Looks like it's going to take more than a law to put an end to Murphy Painter's madness. The last few weeks, Painter's jackboots have performed spot inspections of Uptown restaurants and bars demanding their financial records. His agents went so far as to warn the Balcony that because it has a restaurant license, it could not have large groups of people there who were only drinking. When asked about this Painter showed he just doesn't get it:

A restaurant is a place where people are eating. You can do other stuff along with that based on the new legislation. But it doesn’t change the fact that a restaurant is a place to eat and if no one is eating, then in all probability it doesn’t qualify as a restaurant. That was probably what was told to them.

I have no problem with Painter enforcing the laws as written. But this is not enforcing the law -- it's a crusade against alcohol. And he needs to go.

Should ALIVE fail to meet those lofty projections

2009-10-19T21:08:55-05:00

Speaking at the Press Club, Kip Holden shrugged off concerns that the City-Parish would have to cover the estimated $1 to $3 million annual deficit should the ALIVE attendance figures not hold up saying:

We do not see that happening because there are naming rights and a lot of other things out there we are looking at bringing in to fill any anticipated deficit or any deficit we see looming on the horizon.

That's right, because companies are just itchin' to slap their names on something that isn't drawing enough visitors to cover its overhead. Maybe they'll buy the Superdome naming rights too. They've only been on the market for 10 years.

The black widow

2009-10-17T23:55:14-05:00

Bobby Jindal is compiling quite the endorsement record. His latest victim, Jimmy Faircloth, managed to lose 53-47 despite being up 13 points in a SMOR poll two weeks ago and despite running against a guy who was suspended for 30 days without pay by the Supreme Court for habitual tardiness in his judicial rulings.

John Kennedy, Woody Jenkins, Lee Domingue, Brent Callais and now Jimmy Faircloth. It's obvious the Governor has a special talent for sucking the life out of any campaign of his choosing. So I would humbly ask the Governor to do the right thing and wade into the U.S. Senate race -- on behalf of Charlie Melancon.

The Jindal kiss of death is so bad, this might be the first time we have a candidate willing to buy an endorsement for his opponent.

Someone who gets it

2009-10-16T12:27:00-05:00

State Rep. Hunter Greene on the lack of private investors for ALIVE:

“Is there anybody at risk other than the taxpayers with this project?” asked Greene, R-Baton Rouge.
The city-parish taxpayers should not be taking all the risk should the project’s economic forecasts not pan out, Greene said. He said other parties, such as the Audubon Nature Institute, should have exposure as well....

This is no slight to Dr. Jim Richardson -- a very able and highly respected economist -- but economic assessments can be wrong.

Remember Jazzland? Marc Morial called it "the single most important economic development project in New Orleans East in a generation, or two, or three" (Times-Pic, 7/9/98). It was supposed to draw 1.4 million visitors its first year (Ibid.) And Timothy Ryan, the dean of the UNO College of Business Administration, conducted an economic assessment and concluded the park would create 500 permanent jobs and generate almost $20 million in new tax collections. It survived two years.

Here's a bonus for doing your job

2009-10-16T11:16:28-05:00

Only in government are bureaucrats rewarded with bonuses for just doing their job. Last night the EBR School Board -- without discussion -- approved an $8,369 bonus for recently retired Superintendent Charlotte Placide.

And what did Ms. Placide do to deserve her bonus? According to The Advocate the "biggest factor" was that under her watch the East Baton Rouge school system as a whole earned accreditation. Silly me, I thought that would have been one of her most basic responsibilities as Superintendent.

And how's this for rewarding mediocrity. According to the District Performance Scores, last year East Baton Rouge scored a 74.1 ranking us 56th in the state. The previous year we scored 72.3, an increase of only 1.8.

No surprises in Bond PAC funding

2009-10-15T18:36:14-05:00

The Bond PAC's 30P is up. Read it here. Some highlights:

$354,250 was raised from 67 entities (as of October 5th)
$154,741 on hand at the close of the reporting period.
57 percent of donations were $5,000 or more.
Shaw Environmental donated the most -- $50,000.
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber donated a total of $35,000 -- $30,000 from their PAC and $5,000 from the Chamber itself.
Over $8,000 of expenditures were made on behalf of Progress Is....

As expected, the bulk of the donations came from businesses and individuals who stand to benefit if the bond is approved -- mostly architects, contractors and engineers. And by and large the same folks who donated last year are donating this year -- only earlier. This time last year only $20,000 had been raised.

Too bad all that money can't buy a decent PR strategy.

An observation from today's Metro Council vote

2009-10-12T18:37:34-05:00

There's no need for me to rehash my arguments for delaying the bond issue, but I would like to offer an observation in the wake of the Council's 6-6 tie. Back when we first learned that Kip Holden had withheld from the Council information about the unresolved funding issue for ALIVE and the dispute over the land liability, I asked the question:

I wonder how many Council members would have supported splitting the bond up had they known about these multiple unresolved issues?

Now we know -- six. Which means Kip Holden effectively subverted the process. He wanted the bond issue to be an all-or-nothing package, and he needed seven votes to get it on the ballot. But Kip knew that was unlikely if Council members were aware of a $40 million hole in the funding and no movement on resolving the land dispute, so he kept them in the dark resulting in a 9-3 affirmative vote on September 2. And remember a 6-6 tie won't put the bond on the ballot, but it will keep the bond on the ballot as it did tonight.

-Charlie Buras

MORE: Kudos to the six Council members who voted to delay: Joel Boé, Smokey Bourgeois, Alison Cascio, Chandler Loupe, Trae Welch and Scott Wilson. The only thing to do now is vote against the bond on November 14 and urge your family and friends to do the same.

Has anyone done their homework?

2009-10-09T16:54:35-05:00

In response to questions about how the state would chip in $40 million for the ALIVE project despite a $1 billion budget shortfall, Walter Monsour explained the state had already committed $36 million for renovations to the River Center. Since the bond issue would cover those renovations, the Holden administration assumed (they sure do a lot of assuming, don't they?) the money would be shifted to the ALIVE project. Therefore only $4 to $6 million of new money would be needed.

Turns out no one bothered to check with the man who drafts the capital outlay budget, Ways & Means Chairman and Baton Rouge representative Hunter Greene. According to Rep. Greene, the $36 million Kip Holden was counting on isn't even in the budget and the $40 million needed to make the ALIVE land usable would need to be in the form of a new project request.

Kip's lack of due diligence is shocking and inexcusable. The only responsible course of action is for the Metro Council to pull this off the ballot and demand that Kip come back when he's taken the time to get his ducks in a row. The voters deserve nothing less. Take a moment and click here to e-mail the Metro Council and demand that they respect the right of the voters to have all of the facts before being asked to vote on a $901 million bond issue.

-Charlie Buras

Recent endorsements like using mom as a reference

2009-10-09T14:29:14-05:00

Reading this Advocate article, you might have been impressed with the number of groups throwing their support behind Kip Holden and his bond -- the Downtown Development District, the Convention & Visitor's Bureau, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Progress Is, etc. However, what you probably don't know is how closely these groups are tied to Kip and the City-Parish.

The Downtown Development District is practically a department of City-Parish government and is funded with tax dollars. Touting the fact that they endorsed the bond is tantamount to announcing that the City-Parish Finance Department has thrown its support behind the bond.

The Convention & Visitor's Bureau has also received tax dollars and many of their projects require investments from the City-Parish (i.e. think Country Superfest). The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has a contract with the City-Parish for $500,000 to handle economic development -- that would be a helluva gravy train to lose. And Progress Is... gets its funding from Kip's bond PAC -- effectively making them rent-a-cheerleaders.

It's too bad Kip's afraid to talk to anybody who hasn't already drank the bond kool aid. Otherwise him and his nifty PowerPoint presentation might score a newsworthy endorsement.

-Charlie Buras

Progress Is... delusion

2009-10-08T12:59:16-05:00

Regarding a morning press conference with pro-bond organizations, Progress Is... organizer Todd Teepell channeled Baghdad Bob:

"We wanted to make sure people knew the voices against the bond or to delay the bond are not the community sentiment. That's a minority that happens to be very loud."

Teepell's ignorance is indicative of Baton Rouge's version of the Beltway syndrome. Groups like the Downtown Development District, BRAC, the CVB, Progress Is... and others are made up of like-minded individuals who run in the same circles.

Someone like Teepell, arrogant as his statement may be, might really believe that bond opponents are in the minority because everyone he knows supports it. But we know that's false. If the bond's opponents were in the minority, it would have passed last fall.

Council members would be wise not to get trapped in this downtown echo chamber.

-Charlie Buras

Vote like a Blue Dog, part IV

2009-10-07T20:16:13-05:00

Charlie Melancon was forced to choose between party loyalty and doing what's right -- he chose party loyalty. He joined with Nancy Pelosi and other democrats to let tax cheat Charlie Rangel keep his job as Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee. So for the foreseeable future, a man who has flagrantly snubbed our nation's tax laws will chair the chief tax-writing committee of the U.S. Congress.

Rangel's behavior includes: he failed to report $75,000 worth of income; he allegedly accepted an interest-free loan on a Dominican Republic villa; he allegedly used congressional letterhead to solicit private funds "for a City College of New York Center created by an earmark and named for him" and allegedly "helped retain a tax break for a donor to the center"; he failed to report to Congress over $1.3 million in income and $3 million in business deals between 2002 and 2006; he failed to pay taxes on property owned in New Jersey (which he also failed to disclose); and he recently revised his personal financial disclosure form to reflect $600,000 in previously undisclosed income -- essentially he was twice as rich as he "thought" he was.

At least there were two Democrats (Mississippi's Travis Childers and Gene Taylor) who had the guts to stand up to their party and vote to remove Rangel as chairman. Maybe they can let Melancon borrow some of their backbone?

-Charlie Buras

Melancon 'hostile' to taxpayers

2009-10-07T16:11:49-05:00

Citizens Against Government Waste has released its 2008 Congressional Rankings showing which Members of Congress are friends of the taxpayers and which are enemies. Charlie Melancon -- that "fiscally conservative Blue Dog democrat" -- scored a 6 percent. No, I didn't forget a zero, he got six.

If you're keeping score at home, that's one percentage point lower than Dollar Bill Jefferson and four points lower than the Blue Dog average. That's right -- Bill Jefferson, a man convicted of multiple counts of "conspiracy to solicit bribes by a public official and deprive citizens of honest services," was more responsible with your tax dollars than Charlie Melancon.

-Charlie Buras

MORE: Kudos to Rep. Steve Scalise who led the delegation with 90 percent.

Just an observation

2009-10-07T11:00:53-05:00

Yesterday while speaking about the ALIVE land dispute issue, Mike Futrell referenced an agreement that had almost been worked out between the railroad company and Mike Foster's administration, saying:

It is extraordinarily simple to pull that agreement off the shelf and keep going.... The railroad’s always said they’d be willing to work with us. It’s a very easy issue.

If it's "extraordinarily simple" to pick up where the two sides left off, and if it's a "very easy issue," why wasn't an agreement worked out before presenting this to the voters? Moreover, if it's as simple as Futrell says, then surely an agreement can be hammered out in the 39 days left before the election.

Walter Monsour telling us that they'll start working on an agreement the day after the election is a slap in the face to every voter and our right to make an informed decision. A bank would never loan you $225 million without every loose end tied up -- you shouldn't expect any less from the voters.

-Charlie Buras