Charlotte Randolph Must Go
Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph must resign or be removed from office by means of an elector suit as provided for in the Parish Charter.

Ms. Randolph has shown she does not possess qualities we critically need in a Parish President at this point in the history of Lafourche Parish. She has displayed poor judgement time and time again and a tendency to crack under pressure. Additionally, she has appointed Department heads who have questionable character, competence and management skills and has relied on alot of bad advice. One of the hallmarks of Ms. Randolph's Administration is its poor communications - with Parish employees, the Council and the Public.

The first revelation of these weaknesses came with her use of the Parish credit card entrusted to her as her personal credit card. She charged plane tickets, meals and alcohol for her husband, George Randolph, on our card. Even though she later reimbursed such charges, in a May 26, 2006 letter, the auditor advised that this state of affairs amounted to a loan of public funds, which is a violation of the Louisiana State Law.

Next, Ms. Randolph permitted her husband to drive a Parish vehicle. On August 24, 2005, Mr. Randolph caused an accident while driving the Parish's Emergency Preparedness vehicle. Mr. Randolph did not have authority from the Parish Council to drive the vehicle. Due to the accident, the vehicle was out of service in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. To add insult to injury, the Parish Council approved the payment of the damages to the other vehicle amounting to over $15,000. This authorization was also likely a violation of State Law.

Ms. Randolph authorized payments of 2 1/2 times of the amount salaried employees normally earned during the emergency after Hurricane Katrina. Lafourche Parish District Attorney Camille Morvant issued an opinion stating those payments were illegal without Council approval. The payments were ordered repaid to the Parish.

Ms. Randolph's Administration signed numerous one-time right-of-ways and performed hundreds of thousands of dollars of outfall canal digging without Council approval. This practice continued until a DA's opinion in late 2005 stating Council approval was required. Furthermore, none of the agreements have been recorded in the Clerk of Court's office, as is common practice with most transactions involving real estate.

Ms. Randolph's appointee for Public Works Director, Ray Cheramie, lent public generators to his family after Hurricane Katrina and used a Parish employee and equipment to perform work on his private property. The latter is a criminal offense. After allegedly being reprimanded by Ms. Randolph on the generator issue, Mr. Cheramie stated he would do the same thing in the future.

As if all this poor decisionmaking were not bad enough, it was revealed within the last three weeks that Ms. Randolph's Administration incurred a debt of $5.3 million renting inflatable flood control devices for a thirty day period after Hurricane Rita. This fact did not come to the attention of the Council for 10 months. Obviously, Ms. Randolph did not seek any input from the Council for a debt which equalled 9% of the 2005 Budget. The Administration has released information on this transaction grudgingly. It asserts that FEMA has agreed to reimburse the Parish for the entire expense, which remains to be substantiated.

Additionally, a survey of Parish employees conducted by Ms. Randolph's Administration earlier this year reveals a demoralized workforce. Several of the employees revealed poor communications within the Adminstration and abuse by supervisors.

After the survey, the Randolph Administration decided to change its employee paycheck policy. The new policy resulted in the June 30 paycheck containing pay for only one week, although two weeks pay had been earned. The policy change was poorly communicated to affected employees and ruined many of their July 4 holidays.

At the July 25 Council meeting, Ms. Randolph's Finance Director Shannon Chiasson retained her position by the vote of one Councilman, with 6 others voting for her termination. The main complaint of the Council was that they were not being sufficiently informed of Parish government's fiscal condition.

When the Randolph Administration became annoyed with public records requests for Ms. Randolph's expenses earlier this year, its response was to illegally censor the requested material and to attempt to hike copy costs, with the latter being rejected by the Council when it lowered the cost to 25 cents per copy from 50 cents.

With each revelation of Randolph Administration gaff, blunder, poor judgement, wrongdoing and scandal, the Public's confidence has steadily eroded to the point where any trust which may have existed is gone.

Ms. Randolph, its time to go.

One Reader Is A Budding Songwriter
The following little ditty was left by a commenter alot more creative than me.

I MET A NUT WHO CRIED THE BLUES
HE HAD A "BLOG" WITH CRAZY NEWS
HE SCREAMED AND WOULDN'T GO AWAY
SO
I WENT TO THE D. A.'S DOOR
WHERE HE PROMISED JUSTICE YEARS BEFORE
BUT THE D.A. SAID HE COULD NOT SAY

AND IN THE STREETS THE PEOPLE SCREAMED
THE COWBOYS LAUGHED THE COUNCIL DREAMED
BUT NOT A WORD WAS SPOKEN!!!!
THE PUBLIC TRUST WAS BROKEN
AND
THE THREE PERSPIRING MOST
CHARLOTTE RAY AND CULLEN'S GHOST
MAY GO TO JAIL ALONG THE COAST
THE DAY IT'S PROVED THEY LIED
..WITH PEOPLE SINGING..

BYE BYE MISS AMERICAN PIE
DROVE MY CHEVY TO THE LEVEE
BUT THE LEVEE WAS DRY
THEM GOOD OLE BOYS PAYING 175
SAYING.....

TELL THEM IT'S THE DAY LOCKPORT
DIES
THAT'S THE WAY THE DEAL FLIES

This guy/gal is brilliant! Maybe we could team up and write "Charlotte - The Musical!" Broadway awaits! I see that song as the last one of the show. We need "Credit Card", "Truck Wreck", "Overtime", "Cameron Parish Generators" needs to be made to rhyme, "Paycheck", "Public Record", "Excavator", "I'm Above The Law" ("I'm above the law, Haw, Haw, Haw." Could be like a ZZ Top boogie thing.), "Money", "Screw the Public", "For Cows, No Expense Is Too Much", "Demoralized", "Communications Breakdown", "Lafourche" to the tune of Randy Newman's "Louisiana"(Lafourche, their trying to bankrupt us, their trying to bankrupt us). Hell, there are so many scandals and screw-ups, this may have to be a 2 cd set.

Random Comments
Anonymous said...

Lafourche parish chat room. http://www.chatzy.com/464809727129

3:39 PM

Anonymous said...

Somebody phoned and said go to Facts And Opinions for the La. FAIRY TALE. HOLY CRAP! HOLY COW CRAP!!!

5:44 PM

Anonymous said...

GOOD MOOO$$$OOORNING !Several people read the FAIRY TALE last night.Not a good bedtime story!

7:05 AM

Discussion From Comet Forum
I snatched the thread below from the Comet News Forum. The topic was "THE PUBLICS RIGHT TO KNOW?". I like the idea of a rep. from FEMA and U.S. Flood Control coming down to explain the portable levee deal and lots of people attending the Council meeting.

The idea of me as Parish President is frightening and laughable to many people, including myself. Remember Newt Gingrich? One thing I will agree with Charlotte on, its easier being a critic than actually trying to run Parish government. However, that does not make my research or opinion invalid. I think we are all better off with me doing watch dog work.

And, furthermore, thanks for the Mr. Chauvin, but my name is Carl. I know it's because ya'll Momma raised ya'll right.

"John The Beef Posted 28 July 2006 07:07 AM
Do you think Mr. Chauvin is helping the public by getting this information out there? Would you (the Public) prefer not to know the things that are going on in our parish? Why was there such a dismal turnout at the polls this last election? did you even know there was an election? If you know what things are going on and know them to be true what are you going to do about it? are you waiting for the next election to vote in yet another new parish president? If Mr. Chauvin would run for parish president would you vote for him?

Posts: 10 | Registered: 25 July 2006

Jamiro Posted 28 July 2006 10:20 AM
Yes Mr Chauvin is done a great job with the information. Its not his imagination that he is stating its the FACTS that we the public would not know without the help of Mr Chauvin. Its each of us to determine from the facts what is right and wrong, should our money be spent for the Upperty Up or the people of the parish. Chauvin for Parish President!!!!

Posts: 1 | Location: Lafourche Parish | Registered: 28 July 2006

John The Beef Posted 28 July 2006 11:30 AM
that last part was just a joke, but , you know someone that has invested that much time finding all these things out for us should know alot about the job of parish president and have some ideas of running our parish better.

Posts: 10 | Registered: 25 July 2006

Carl A. Chauvin Posted 28 July 2006 02:04 PM
Thanks for the complimentary remarks, but even if ya'll weren't kidding, I would not have that job - it would eat up people with alot more ability than Charlotte Randolph. I never said the job of Parish President was easy.

Posts: 16 | Registered: 24 July 2006

Truman Posted 29 July 2006 09:07 AM
I believe Carl is providing an important service to the citizens of Lafourche Parish. I also believe that the Council should invite the owner of the flood control devices and a knowledgeable FEMA representative, to help shed light on the situation.

Posts: 1 | Registered: 26 July 2006

John The Beef Posted 29 July 2006 09:47 AM
If the DA is doing nothing in this matter what would we the public be able to do? Get some sort of petition out there to bring to the council? Maybe get about 50 to 100 members of the public to attend the next council meeting? If that many public citizens arrived that the barrios center the council would probably have a heart attack."

Shout Out!
I want to give a Shout Out to the professors - Prof. U.D. up there in New Albany and Prof. A.D. up at Nicholls. Thanks Prof. A.D. for your constructive criticism. It is all well-taken and greatly appreciated, but I will continue some of the errors for stylistic purposes. Where are Gilligan and Mary Ann?

I think it is about time I also give a rousing Shout Out to the 0.82% of my readership from the Great White North of Canada. Thank ya'll for Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Jim Carrey, Guglielmo Marconi, Alexander Graham Bell, Bruce Cockburn, Rush, The New Pornographers, Arcade Fire and Paul Vickers, the guy who rented Lafourche Parish $5.3 million of portable levees! Those things saved alot of cows from getting their hooves damp!

Flooding After A 2005 Rain, East 88th St., Cut Off

Here are examples of life and property actually at risk. Why weren't Charlotte and Ray's $5.3 million portable levees used to protect these citizens? Or, why hasn't a small fraction of that amount been spent to remedy these folks' drainage problem?

The contributor wrote: "Those pictures were from just a regular summer rainstorm. for the hurricane the water came right to the edges of the homes down there but we were in Texas at my sisters...For sure 3 of our neighbors plus us have been asking for them to come clean out the ditches in the neighborhood but no luck. Mr. _ _ _ _ _ you can see the water almost up to his home in one of the pictures has been on a list, what kind of list I don't know for about three months."


"Mommy, Why Are Cows More Important Than People In Lafourche Parish?"



Kid On Tric Braving Flood Waters!
Dog Wishing He Had Been Born A Cow!

Cow Pasture Protected By $5.3 Million Portable Levees

Wanted: Digital Pictures Of Flooding
Please email me any digital pictures you have of flooding in your neighborhood. Please also give me a date the picture was taken, what neighborhood it represents and a few details concerning your flooding problems, what communications you've had with the Parish and their response, etc.

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink of Greatness - FOR COWS!

You Mean I Can't Use Parish Property For My Personal Purposes?!?!
Here's an article in the Times-Picayune Wednesday entitled "Audit says state property misused". You may find some parallels between that story and what you have learned on this blog about the goings-on in Lafourche Parish.

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink of Greatness - FOR COWS!

Charorge's Neglect of 10th Ward Drainage Problems

Let's say drainage, and not coastal restoration, is in fact the biggest problem facing Lafourche Parish. Then, why have major drainage problems in the 10th Ward been ignored by Charorge's Administration? Populated neighborhoods on West 123rd Street in Galliano, behind Cut Off Elementary and behind Larose Cut Off Middle School flood for most rain events, not just storms. These problems have been known to this Administration since the beginning of its term. The problem behind LCO can be resolved with the expenditure of $30,000. Why has it taken so long to assist these families, when Charlotte spends $5.3 million to protect cow pastures without batting an eye?

Feel free to let me know about any other neighborhoods that flood regularly. Better still, attend the next Council meeting and let Charlotte know about your flooding problem and ask her why your neighborhood is not as important as Edna Plantation, where she squandered $5.3 million to protect that area for 30 days in case of flooding.

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink of Greatness - FOR COWS!

Definitions for New Readers
Charorge - a mash-up of Charlotte and George, the President's ever-present, stage husband. It's like Benifer, a mash-up of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.

Our $5.3 Million Tubes At Work
Here's a second Sept. 26, 2005 picture. This time, the tubes are fully deployed. Do these waters look threatening to you? Although it seems slightly elevated, it looks mighty placid and calm to me - and receding.

Note the beautiful green cow pasture in the background and not one house in site.

Ask your Councilman, even if we needed these tubes for 2, 3, 4 days after Rita, why we needed to maintain them for an entire month at $175,000.00 per day? Why were their presence not made known for 10 months? Like Mike Matherne said, it just smells fishy. To me, it smells more like steak on the grill.

Economies of Scale
Charlotte believes she can spend whatever it takes in an emergency. She has said as much at the July 11 Council meeting and on KLRZ today. Well where does it stop, as Capt. Kirk asked? Do we spend $30 million to protect $5 million worth of homes? Ain't there a cost/benefit analysis we should do along the way? Not according to Charlotte. She apparently never learned about the economies of scale. You have to determine whether it is reasonable to spend a given amount of money to avoid a given risk.

If it turns out she derives her authority in an emergency from the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act, which the jury is still out on, she has authority to "utilize all available resources of the local government as reasonably necessary to cope with the local disaster or emergency." The expense has to be reasonably necessary. Reasonableness is determined on case by case basis. Therefore, some sort of analysis must be done. As I wrote before, she does not have authority to hysterically spend our money.

So, if, in fact, we have a Parish President with no sense of proportionality when it comes to expending Public money, what or who is a bigger risk to Parish finances, a natural disaster or Charlotte Randolph? She could bankrupt us.

Who's Going To Pull The Trigger?

Article III.9.D. of the Lafourche Parish Charter states "[a]n elected official of the Parish shall forfeit his/her office if he/she violates the provisions of Article VI, Section 2, Paragraph B 1."

Article VI, Section 2, Paragraph B. provides for the PROCEDURE FOR MAKING EXPENDITURES OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.

Subparagraph 1 reads as follows:
No payment shall be made or obligation incurred against any appropriation except in accordance with the approved operating budget or capital budget, or amendment thereto,unless the President, or the President’s designee, first certifies that there is a sufficient unencumbered balance in the appropriation and that sufficient funds therefrom are or will be available to cover the claim or meet the obligation when it becomes due and payable. However, this provision shall not limit the authority of the Parish to borrow funds in anticipation of revenues as provided in the general laws of the State. Any authorization of payment or incurring of obligation in violation of the provisions of this Charter shall be void and any payment so made absolutely null and of no legal effect; such action shall be just cause for removal of any official, officer or employee who knowingly authorized or made such payment or incurred such obligation or who caused such payment to be authorized or made or obligation to be incurred. Such person also shall be liable to the Parish for any amount so paid or obligated.

In such a suit for removal, any elector of the Parish shall have a right and cause of action and standing to bring the suit. Article III.9.E. of the Lafourche Parish Charter

$5.3 Million - It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma!
Get Joe Pesci down here! He'll get some questions answered!

Charorge's Misadministration ain't going to give a straight answer to any question concerning the $5.3 million worth of portable levees. When asked by Tommy Lasseigne why the Council was not informed in 10 months about the expense, Finance Director Shannon Chaisson gave an answer to another question. What question that was, I don't know. But it certainly was not in response to Lasseigne's question. I guess in their pre-Council Meeting strategy sessions, Charorge and their gang agree upon giving certain set responses no matter what questions are asked.

Charorge, it's the cover-up that sunk Nixon, not the crimes! You may have heard that at some cocktail party or bar. The continual obfuscation and evasiveness being followed by ya'll and ya'll gang will only make things worse, especially if the Feds start asking questions. Its a criminal offense to lie to a Fed.

These are the questions the Public has a right to have a straight answer to:
1. Why did we keep the tubes in place for 4 weeks?
2. Why was the Council not informed within a reasonable time of the existence of the transaction?
3. Where were the tubes placed?
4. How was the location of the placement of the tubes decided upon?
5. If, as you said at the July 11 meeting, we would have been better off buying them, but then FEMA wouldn't have reimburse a purchase but only a rental, why did we not buy them? (Purchase = $600K, Rental after FEMA reimbursement = $1.325 million)
6. What was the involvement of the North Lafourche Levee District in securing the allegedly threatened levee in Valentine?
7. Why, for God's sake, was there no written contract for a transaction involving $5.3 million?
8. If the expenditure was a great achievement of your term, why keep it secret for so long?
9. What does 2 + 2 equal?

Forum Poll
In an extremely unscientific poll at the Comet News Forum, responding to the question "Do you think that Lafourche Parish is on the right track with this administrations?" the results thus far are 13% yes, 88% no. To be fair to its sponsor, only 8 people have voted thus far, one saying yes, seven saying no.

Update: 7-26-06, 12:55 PM - The poll has been removed. The final vote before removal was 1 yes, 9 no.

Council Expresses Displeasure Over Parish's Finances
In a rare display of courage and independence, the Lafourche Parish Council voted 6-3 to remove Parish Finance Director Shannon Chaisson at tonight's meeting, one short of the 7 required by the Charter to remove a department head. Voting for the measure were Mark Atzenhoffer and Brent Callais, the sponsors, and Daniel Lorraine, Tommy Lasseigne, Tyrone Williams and Lindel Toups.

In another set back for Charorge, the Council also voted by a 6-3 majority to over ride its veto of an ordinance requiring the Parish to continue to install culverts at a nominal fee. Voting for were Lorraine, Lasseigne, Toups, Callais, Williams and Delatte.

The Council also voted by an 8-1 margin, with Mike Matherne voting no, to ask DA Cam Morvant whether Charlotte had authority to enter into the $5.3 million portable levee deal.

Poll On Direction of Lafourche Parish
Someone has placed a poll in the Comet news forum. If you vote, vote only once. No cheating!

You want forum, I got forum
I'm tired of doing all the writing around here, me. Yes, ya'll been leaving alot more comments. But, I'm still doing all the work!

Google has not made the creation of forums a part of this blog system. However, I got a solution, me. We can commandeer the Daily Comet's news forum. It ain't being used. Here's the link. I'll start it off with some blah, blah. Then it's ya'll turn. Make up some creative usernames, please.

Here's a link to my first post.

Courier/Comet Does Portable Levee Story
The Courier/Comet carried an article on "temporary flood-protection devices" in today's edition.

"Lafourche administration officials authorized the deployment of inflatable dams along a mile-and-a-half stretch of Bayou l’Eau Bleu near the Valentine Bridge", according to the article. $5.3 million to protect one and a half miles of Lafourche Parish? Must be a pretty important 1 1/2 mile!

If you drive on La. 1 past the Valentine Bridge, you know the bridge bisects about a one mile stretch with no houses, but only cattle pastures. If you keep going North on La. 1, there are a number of high priced homes built not far off the road on the natural ridge along the bayou. One of the homes happens to be owned by a scion of an extremely prominent family in the immediate area. The elevation of this ridge is around 10 feet above sealevel. This area is one of the most sparsely populated areas of the Parish.

Councilman Phillip Gouaux is quoted as saying that after Rita water threatened his and other neighborhoods the way "it had during Hurricane Juan in 1985, when a levee breach flooded the area, including his home." What Mr. Gouaux failed to reveal is that since 1985 a levee has been built between his neighborhood and the Valentine Bridge perpendicular to the bayou and a number of powerful pumps, including the Tom Foret and Edgar Guidry pumps, have been placed in the service of the area.

Furthermore, it is questionable whether the area where the "temporary flood-protection devices" were placed was threatened by any flooding whatsoever.
This picture, dated September 26, 2005, shows a Lafourche Parish Sheriff's trustee deploying one of the tubes. Rita hit Cameron Parish on Sept. 24. There is no evidence the water you see on the right ever threatened this levee. There appears to be at least a two foot free board and the water was receding by this time.

In a May 30, 2006 memo to the auditors, Cullen Curole, Parish Administrator, writes the tubes were kept in place for three weeks after Rita "...out of caution by DPW due to the continuing existence of storms in the Caribbean and Gulf." In other words, Ray Cheramie, the de facto Parish President, intended to maintain the tubes in place for as long as he deemed storms were a threat to his and his fellow cattlemen's cows and the houses of a few big shots.

There's the real explanation. They were not placed to address a problem then existing. The tubes were placed as insurance against any FUTURE risks of flooding!

There are two big problems for Charlotte in this fiasco:

1. Did she have authority to unilaterally, without Council approval or knowledge, incur a $5.3 million debt, or a $1.325 million debt if FEMA agrees to covering 75% with the Parish being responsible for 25%?

2. Was the deal smart?

The Charter, which she so fondly points to when it is to limit Council authority, requires her to seek Council approval by ordinance for emergency expenditures. OOPS! Charlotte says that is too much trouble. So, she will point to a Louisiana state law. Parish presidents may exercise emergency powers provided under the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act, La. Rev. Stat. Title 29, §721, et seq. 29:727 provides specific powers to Parish Presidents in the event of an emergency.

The President may suspend the provisions of any regulatory ordinance; utilize available resources; transfer direction, personnel, or functions of local departments; commandeer private property; compel evacuation or control movement of population in stricken or threatened area; and regulate the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, and combustibles.

The President's authority to "utilize all available resources" does have limits. Any expenditure must be "reasonably necessary to cope with the local disaster or emergency". In other words, unlike Charlotte's belief that no expense could be spared when using her heart attack analogy in the article, the law she invokes as authority for her to act unilaterally requires a cost/benefit analysis, not hysterical spending.

So, we apparently have a conflict between the Charter on one hand, which places authority to spend in times of emergency with the Council, and the State statute which gives a Parish President authority to "utilize all available resources". The issue is which one controls. I believe Cam will say the Charter supercedes the statute and, therefore, Charlotte acted in violation of the Charter.

Let's say I am wrong in my prediction and Charlotte overcomes that hurdle. The next problem Charlotte will have is convencing the Public and, more importantly to her, her big shot patrons that the deal was the right thing to do. Remember, the State statute provides her with authority to "utilize all available resources of the local government as reasonably necessary to cope with the local disaster or emergency."

A May 18, 2005 U.S. Today article indicated that U.S. Storm Control Corp. sold their tubes for $1,200 each. We contracted for the use of 500. Had we bought the tubes, it would have cost us $600,000.00. Renting them at a rate of $175,000.00 per day for 30 days cost $5.3 million. If FEMA agrees to cover 75%, we will owe $1.325 million, or $725K more than buying would have cost.

Was the expenditure "reasonably necessary to cope with the local disaster or emergency?" We spent at least $1.325 million to protect one mile of cattle pastures and the houses of a few big shots.

Charlotte's big shot patrons got to where they are knowing how to transact business very well. They know this deal was a monumentaly bad deal to make. This is where Charlotte's story ends for those guys. They fire people for less stupidity.

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 8
Communications Breakdown! Following are comments by four different Parish employees.

"My supervisor did not pass along an important memo to me regarding the changes in payroll. Don't know what can be done to insure that all memos reach all affected employees?"

"We have a communication problem in finance. We also have lots of attitude. Each person in this department has their own set of rules. You never get a thanks or good job. This department is very hard to work in. The morale is not a very pleasant one."

"It would be beneficial for LDPW to take suggestions from employees who have done a specific job for years instead of doing something what they think is right when they don't have the knowledge or the understanding of a job."

"Supervisors need to value workers more, and they need to listen to the workers' opinions on jobs and other ideas about doing jobs, not just to do a job the way they want it all the time. The bosses have developed a my way or no way attitude and I think it is a sorry situation. A worker has to work twice as hard because a supervisor wants it his way."

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 7
Employees out of the loop, inequities in salaries. "It is very difficult to work in a job where you are not happy."

"There is a major lack of communication throughout the parish government. Decisions are made, and employees find out far too late; more often than not, the employees most affected are never included in the discussion. Information is horded by the different departments to the point that important information that SHOULD be shared, never gets dispersed to employees. Salaries are another major complaint of mine. The duties and responsibilities of employees do not match the pay scale. Increases were talked about, but never given. Select employees received "promotions" that were accompanied by pay increases with, to the best of my knowledge, no increase in duties. I see many people that go far beyond their prescribed duties that have gotten nothing. It is very difficult to work in a job where you are not happy."

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 6
"...there is only one brain in the parish and it is not mine."

"1. Communication is worse in this administration than it's ever been. Chain of Command, HA! He doesn't have a clue of what that means or how it is supposed to work. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. 2. It's very sad when the secretary has more say so than the boss and makes decisions about things she knows nothing about. Some gets things and some don't. 3. PO's RIDICULOUS! ! ! Especially when you have to wait a day or 2 to get them. People wait and nothing happens. 4. MORAL is Shot - People are tired getting pressured. We start 15 jobs and complete none, and making a decision or even a suggestion about something is out of the question, there is only one brain in the parish and it is not mine. 5. Computers were supposed to improve things, doesn't seem to be working! ! Worked a lot better before"

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 5
Read this and tell me this supervisor should not be summarily dismissed. Wonder who it is? Call your Councilman. Ask him about the way our employees are being treated.

Let me know when ya'll have had enough. Like Rod Bernard sang, "this could go on for ever". I have about 20 more I can put up. But, it reaches a point where the nausea sets in because you've seen one too many train wrecks and you know this thing can't end pretty.

"1. Do I know what is expected of me at work? YES, IT'S THE BOSS' WAY OR NO WAY AND I DON'T AGREE WITH THAT. 2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ARE 3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday? I DO MY BEST EVERYDAY IN EYERYTHING THAT I'M ASKED TO DO, BUT WITH THE THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO PUT UP WITH AND THAT GO ON AROUND YOU, IT'S NOT EASY... SOMETIMES IT MAKES YOU JUST WANT TO QUIT. 4. In the last 7 days, have I received recognition/praise for doing good work? RECOGNITION/PRAISE WHAT'S THAT? THE WORK IS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH NEVER SATISFIED. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? MY SUPERVISOR CERTAINLY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME AS A PERSON BUT I DO HAVE CO-WORKERS THAT SINCERELY CARE. 6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development? SUPERVISOR, NO, CO-WORKERS, YES EMPLOYEES TRY TO HELP ONE ANOTHER GET THROUGH THE DAY. 7. At work, do my opinions/suggestions seem to count? TO ME THEY COUNT, BUT NOT TO THE BOSS!! 8. Am I treated fairly/equitably at work on a routine basis? DO YOU CONSIDER "IN YOUR FACE" KIND OF THINGS FROM YOUR SUPERVISOR FAIR? 9. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important? WHAT MISSION WE HAVE A MISSION? ALL I KNOW IS I COME TO WORK AND TRY TO DO MY JOB WITHOUT ANY HASSLES. 10. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? YES, MOST EMPLOYEES CARE ABOUT THE PARISH AND TAKE PRIDE IN THEIR WORK. 11. Do I have a best friend at work? I HAVE FRIENDS, NOT A BEST FRIEND. 12. In the last 6 months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress? THE ONLY RESPONSE YOU EVER GET IS THAT IT'S NEVER ENOUGH WORK DONE IN A SHORT ENOUGH PERIOD OF TIME AND WHEN YOU DO COMPLETE THE TASK, IT'S NEVER GOOD ENOUGH, NEVER SATISFIED. 13. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow? YES, FROM WATCHING HOW MY SUPERVISOR ACTS, I'VE LEARNED HOW NOT TO BE IF EVER I BECOME A SUPERVISOR."

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 4
More about fairness. Generators make their appearance. The anguish that comes out of these comments brings me near to tears.

"I show up for work on time everyday on time. I don't leave until 4:30. That is what I get paid for. I feel I'm doing what is expected of me at work and then some. Yet you hear of the "big dogs" reaping the rewards. Some "Big Dogs" get pay increases of $10,000 per year. Some get use of free generators. We received a measly 3% only once in two and a half years Mrs. Randolph's been in office. Don't think word hasn't gotten around about the barns getting their little increase, or the people with the "title" changes getting their little increase. RAISES ARE GIVEN TO WHOM THEY CHOOSE! Why can't it be fair! We all work hard. We all make sacrifices on the job. The majority of the peons that work for Lafourche Parish like their jobs and all NEED their job. MOST DON'T FEEL APPRECIATED! I KNOW I DON'T"

Were We Bamboozled or Were We Blinded By The Boobs 'N' Beer?
"A puncture-resistant tube is filled with water, forming a flexible barrier that can be stacked on top of one another, said Paul Vickers, president of U.S. Flood Control Corp. in Calgary. Each tube is 50-feet long and 19 inches high, can be filled in 90 seconds and costs about $1,200."

That's a quotation from a May 18, 2005 U.S. Today article.

You mean we could have bought 500 tubes for $600,000.00, but instead rented them for $175,000.00 per day?!?! ($600K is 11% of $5.3 mil.) Need any more proof that Charlotte Randolph's Administration is in way over its head?

Is Paul Vickers of U.S. Flood Control the same Paul Vickers who owns strip clubs up in Canada and whose style has been characterized as "boobs 'n' beer" by the Toronto Globe and Mail, the newspaper of record in Canada?

Charlotte, I think early retirement is something you should give serious consideration to about now.

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 3
More lack of fairness, poor morale, employees being abused by supervisors, and poor communications. "Some things are top secret. I thought we are a public entity?" Yes, Parish government is a public entity and is supposed to be transparent. Nothing should be top secret, unless one has SOMETHING TO HIDE. Sounds familiar?

"1. Wage increase. We are told that at the end of the year there may be lay offs. Isn't our salary in the budget? Then why wasn't an increase put in for raises. The cost of living is rising, but no increase for us (most of us). New employees hired in this administration were hired making as much, if not more than existing employees. Is this fair? It's hard for a person to have to train a new employee knowing they are making more than you when you've been here for years and do your job with your best ability.
2. Moral! WHAT MORAL!!! That has been destroyed. How about this for being praised? Being told that we can't be fired but that we can be made miserable, and doing so. Then weeks later being told if you get up in the morning and don't feel like coming to work, it's time to look for another job. Or being told, if your thinking about butting heads with me, think again, cause you're not going to win. Or giving your all to someone you know if given a chance would fire you. Instead, they try to find a mistake we may have made, then told no matter how much you do, it's not enough. Even Memo's could be sent in a more civilized way, instead of, if you don't do this or that you will be reprimanded or terminated. We are civilized people who can understand command rather than somewhat of a threat.
3. Communication! We have meetings all the time, but no one really knows what's going on. If someone makes a decision or takes care of a project or something like that, no one is notified, if someone calls about a project that a co-worker is working on and he/she is on days off, the caller has to wait for the employee to return. Some things are top secret. I thought we are a public entity?"

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 2
This Parish employee had alot to say and said alot. Again the theme of fairness arises. He/she details the confusion reigning inside the Randolph Administration. Does the way he/she compares the atmosphere that existed at the beginning of the term to now, and sees a huge difference, sound familiar? This was the perfect Administration, after all! Doesn't sound that way to Parish employees. "...seems like it is the Department Heads/Parish President versus the employees." Sad, very sad!

"Having been working here at LPG for many years, I have seen many people and situations come and go. Here are a few things that I hear talked about among employees and the difference from previous administrations: 1. Raises are given unfairly, and if you think someone's title change in order to get an increase in pay doesn't get around, think again. It is extremely hard to digest that when the Parish Administrator announces in a staff meeting when discussing evaluations that there are no funds for raises in 2006. 2. COMMUNICATIONS - so many employees say the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing and I'll give you some examples of it when you have two people working on the same task because the Supervisor's don't involve who needs to be involved when they need to be involved; your name is on a "volunteer" list and you never volunteered and didn't find out you were on the list until another employee told you; when you are volunteered by your supervisor to take on additional tasks and everyone in a staff meeting knows about it before the actual employee does - shouldn't the supervisor discuss it with the employee first, the employee just might have a better simpler idea. 3. Every time it is near election time, you always hear the same thing, "the next Administration can't possibly get any worse than this one." Most of the time, it is the Administration versus the Council, no matter who is in office, but this term, it also seems like it is the Department Heads/Parish President versus the employees. Most employees don't even bother going the extra mile any more because they figure, what for, it's the boss's way or no way. I'll give you an example this survey the majority of the employees said, "why send it in, nothing is going to get done about it anyway." It seems like the employees, the "little people", are being forgotten and their ideas, efforts, and suggestions don't count. If the employees don't trust and respect their Department Heads or Parish President, you will never have a staff give you 100% team effort. 4. At the beginning of this term, staff meetings were held with all employees and the atmosphere presented at that time was good everyone talked, happy to be involved, was told put out family photos, etc everyone was excited. What happened? I say that if you are going to go through the trouble of asking for this survey, then listen to what your employees are telling you. Let them help this Administration be the best that it can be, not just the Department Heads. Listen and take seriously what all of the employees who responded are saying, because I have never seen employee morale so low!!"

Parish Employee Survey, Comment 1
Following is one of the comments from the survey. If you are like me, your heart will go out to this poor Parish employee. He/she wants to be treated fairly and to know what he/she says makes a difference. Is that too much to ask?

"Having been working here at the LPG for 20+ years, I have seen many changes, both good and bad. But out of those years have I not seen more employees dissatisfied and morale so low than it is now. Employees are not afraid of work and will agree that lots of work is getting done, they just don't like the way they are being treated, unfairly. There is no "I" in the word "team" and in order to get a great team effort, employees need to feel like they are part of the team and right now, they don't. Solution: Changes - use the results of this, survey, listen to your employees; don't ignore what they are telling you."

Comet Does Hack Job On Lorraine
The headline screams: Councilman might face battery charges. In a classic hack job fashion, the Comet reports that Charlotte's husband George Randolph, aka the Moocher, aka Freddy Freeloader, aka I Like Da Red Lights, has filed criminal charges against Councilman Daniel Lorraine for an incident which allegedly occurred after the meeting where Lorraine had passed a measure prohibiting the use of Parish equipment by non-employees. George alleges Daniel pushed him or some such nonsence.

Isn't it curious that these charges come nearly 8 months after that alleged occurrence? Doesn't do much for your credibility, George. It is a dream of mine that Daniel hires me, that this thing goes to trial and I get to subject George and Charlotte to some withering cross-examination. It would be so much fun! (Yes, I'm weird that way.) But alas, since the charges are baseless, the Sheriff will not likely submit it to the DA.

However, George has exposed himself, in the process, to a criminal charge of filing a false police report and a civil action by Daniel for defamation.

Normally, the Comet waits until charges are referred to the DA and a date is set for an arraignment before spattering a headline like this. In this case, they choose to write about what "might" happen. Hell, Daniel may develop a bad case of toe fungus, be charged with being a member of al Quida or become a porn star. Would that justify headlines? Has the Comet been subject to any pressure since the generator story? They have been running an awful lot of fluff on Parish government since then.

What about Ray Cheramie using Parish equipment on his property, Charlotte committing $5.3 million to rent portable levees without Council knowledge or consent and Parish employees getting their June 30 checks shorted? How are those stories not more newsworthy than what "might" happen to a Councilman?

Parish Employee Survey, Introduction
TPRTK has obtained the results from a survey conducted by the Randolph Administration, the purpose of which was "to provide better employee relations amongst our staff...", and was not intended for Public consumption. Informed sources tell us that the survey was conducted before the June 30 short-check debacle. The survey asked 13 questions which the employee could rank 1-5, from strongly disagree to strongly agree. One question was "Do I know what is expected of me at work?".

In addition to answering the questions by scoring them, employees were given a chance to "list any other suggestions/comments on what can be improved at the Lafourche Parish Government". Fifty-two employees took the opportunity to respond in this way, all but one anonymously. Generally, the responses revealed very low morale amongst Parish employees, with many citing poor communications within the Administration, unfair pay policies, a lack of pay raises and disrespectful supervisors as complaints.

On a positive note, the comments also reveal we have employees who want to do a good job, if they were permitted to do so, and who care about the quality of work they produce for us.

All told, the survey paints a bleak picture of life inside the Randolph Administration. How bleak will be revealed as we begin posting verbatim comments from some of these brave employees in the coming days. (Two comments reveal either the phone number or name of the employee. That information will not be posted here.)

Stay tuned!

You want pitchas, We got pitchas




Above are pictures of part of Charlotte and Ray's $5.3 million Condoms for Cows project after Hurricane Rita. Anybody ever found out where these went? Sure coulda used some down below the flood gates in Golden Meadow. Oh, I forgot, no cows live there, only people. Note the date on the last picture: 9-26-05, two days after Rita leveled Cameron Parish and swept away Ray's generators. Wasn't the water receding by then?

Who Will The Scapegoat Be?
Rumbling from the Council, beyond Lasseigne and Lorraine, is that a fall guy or gal must be named, a sacrifice must be made, in order for Charlotte to retain control of the Council. The fear is that certain Councilmen's careers will be at risk when Charlotte's ship goes down before the end of her term, due to the cumulative affect of scandal after scandal, unless it is made to appear that the Council is trying to curb the excesses of Charlotte's bumbling band of bozos.




International Clown Hall of Fame via AP

Stay tuned!

Taxes Pass Overwhelmingly
You can lead a horse to water....

I'm taking my game to court, the great equalizer. They will have to answer questions there.

Tax Election Results
Polls close at 8 PM. Here's the Secretary of State's link for the results.

Dey Took Da 5th
I called in to Charlotte and Cullen on KLRZ today. I asked them whether there were any maps showing where all drainage work has been done from the beginning of their term. The answer - No. Why not? Cullen stated they did not want to draw pictures "so that you can come back later and criticize us about it." (Sorry fellow members of the Public. It's all my fault you don't have an easier way of seeing where the work is being done. On the other hand, this lack of critical data-keeping by Charlotte's Misadministration is keeping with their policy of trying to keep you in the DARK.) Another question: Can the public go out and see the drainage work performed so far? Neither Cullen nor Charlotte would answer the question. I guess they were taking the 5th! You can't be compelled to incriminate yourself under the US Constitution.

I asked, if there has been no parish-wide drainage plan through this date, how was it determined what projects would be done. After some hemming and hawing by Cullen and Charlotte, I guess the answer was Ray Cheramie had total discretion.

There has been no criterian in this parish for the last 2 1/2 years to determine what drainage projects had merit and which didn't or which ones should have the highest priority. With what we know about the self-serving nature of this Administration, how can we trust that friends didn't come first when it came to drainage?

SATURDAY'S BALLOT
Here's a sample ballotfor Saturday's election at the Secretary of State's website.

Or, below is the version I hijacked and fixed for ya'll:

Ballot for Election Date: 7/15/06
Parish: Lafourche

Parishwide, Prop. #1 - 0.82 Mill - Par. Council - 10 Yr.
(PUBLIC HEALTH UNITS TAX RENEWAL)

NO

Parishwide, Prop. #2 - 1.65 Mill - Par. Council - 10 Yr.
(RECREATION TAX RENEWAL)

NO

Parishwide, Prop. #3 - 2.49 Mill - Par. Council - 10 Yr.
(PUBLIC BUILDINGS TAX RENEWAL)

NO

Parishwide, Prop. #4 - 3.34 Mill - Par. Council - 10 Yr.
(DRAINAGE TAX RENEWAL)

NO

Special Education Dist.#1, 4.98 Mill Tax Renewal - BOC - 10 Yr.

YES

Drainage District No. 1, .91 Mill Tax Renewal - BOC - 10 Yr.

YES

KLRZ Friday Appearance Cancelled,
Chauvin Too Dangerous For Radio?
I chose to cancel my planned appearance to talk about the tax election Friday on KLRZ. The powers-that-be there wanted me to self-censor, which I will not do. Whatever I represent here as fact, I stand ready to defend in court.

In any event, I continue to have undying respect for KLRZ for providing a forum where the public can speak and for what that station did for our community after Katrina and Jerry "Truck" Gisclair will always be one of my heroes.

We simply have differing philosophies. And that's OK.

VOTE NO on parish-wide tax renewals Sat., JULY 15
Need Some Reasons:

- $74,000 could have been saved by having the election in September.

- Public Employees, were your June 30 checks short a week's pay?

- The Council paid $15,000 for damages in a car wreck caused by Charlotte Randolph's husband, George.

- Charlotte spent $5.3 million protecting her and her family's houses with portable levees after Hurricane Rita.

- Ray Cheramie lent 3 generators to his family, left one on his truck and three at the Lockport barn after Hurricane Katrina, and said he'd do it again, after being reprimanded by Charlotte. Do you have any family members with health problems who could have used one?

- Ray Cheramie using parish personnel and equipment on his and his friend's properties.

- Charlotte paying for plane tickets and meals for her husband, George, on Parish credit cards.

- Can't get your phone calls returned?

- Resurfacing your street or doing local drainage taking a little too long?

Charlotte has shown us she can't be trusted with the tens of millions with which we have up to this point. Why would we entrust her with several million more?
---------------------------------------------------
Please, either print out this post ten times and give them to as many people or commit to calling ten people and explain why it's important to defeat parish-wide taxes.

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink Of Greatness - FOR COWS!

How Is It Criminal?
Somebody asked how the portable levee deal could be criminal.

Well, it starts with the quotes from Cullen's memo: "Pricing reflects the notion that use will be funded by FEMA as provided for in the Stafford Act. This FEMA- inflated pricing combined with counterproductive reimbursement provisions makes purchasing a tough intial investment." In other words, if the Guvment pays for it, it costs more. "FEMA-inflated pricing"? Its the vendor who inflates it, not FEMA. Google "Medicaid fraud" and see the parallels. You ain't supposed to rip-off the Guvment!

Check out this NY Times article and ask whether our portable levee scam could have fit into it.

Shout Out!
A shout out goes to my friends in the DA's office. Ya'll got ya'll check yet? Ya'll better not be reading this thing at work!

The Voice of Carl A. Chauvin
Your's truly is scheduled to be on KLRZ's Talk on the Bayou, 100.3 FM, and I think 1600 AM, Friday from 10 to 10:45 to talk about the tax election with Capt. Kirk. Charlotte is scheduled for 11 to 11:45. Somebody tape it in case my ipod clone don't git it. I had to promise to be on my best behavior and not make funny noises or to crier like a fou.

Announcing the First-Ever On What Date Charlotte Leaves Office Pool!
Whoever gets the closest date wins a choice of a fabulous FOR COWS! or I'm An Asshole, Too tee shirt! Entries by email only.

One entry per family. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Any disputes resolved according to whatever rules I make up. I can change the rules anytime I want.

Hate To See If We Had Taken A Direct Hit
Documents obtained from Charlotte Randolph's Administration reveal that it rented 1,100 water-filled dams at a cost of $175,000.00 per day in September and October, 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Rita. One set of 500 was used from Sept. 23 through Oct. 7, 2005 and an additional 600 from Sept. 23 through Oct. 14. Total rental cost, according to the invoices of the vendor, U.S. Flood Control Corporation of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was $6,497,200.00. According to U.S. Flood's web site, tubes are 50 feet in length when they are filled. The standard configuration is 3 tubes , 2 tubes on the bottom, one stacked on top.

In a memorandum by Parish Administrator Cullen Curole, dated May 30, 2006, he writes that "[t]he tubes were installed saving countless hours of labor and material to protect the Lockport Community." (Wasn't it more like Valentine and upper Larose?)

Mr. Curole also writes that FEMA informed him that "rental was reimbursable, at least, at 75/25 cost share", meaning Lafourche Parish would normally be liable for 25% of the cost. In this case, 25% would mean $1,624,250.00.

Mr. Curole's memo also explains why the two sets of dams were kept in place for two and three weeks, respectively, as follows: "The rental timeframe was extended out of caution by DPW due to the continuing existence of storms in the Caribbean and Gulf. When FEMA questioned the continued use of these tubes, they were ordered removed." In other words, Ray Cheramie intended to maintain the dams in place for as long as he deemed storms were a threat to his and his fellow cattlemen's cows.

Curole continues: "The major problem with this product is that its sole use is for protection in times of emergencies. Pricing reflects the notion that use will be funded by FEMA as provided for in the Stafford Act. This FEMA-inflated pricing combined with counterproductive reimbursement provisions makes purchasing a tough intial investment."

WHAT?

Come on Cullen! You ain't saying the product is priced differently depending on if FEMA is paying or not, are you? Perhaps, the FBI may want to look at this operation, cuz it certainly sounds like fraud to me.

Did everyone in Charlotte Randolph's Administration lose their friggen minds after Katrina - 2 1/2 overtime to salaried employees, generators for Ray's family or not used, $6,500,000 spent on renting giant condoms to protect cows, without batting an eye and without Council knowledge or approval!!! It's like the discretion expected of a 5 year old locked in a candy store overnight.

What would have happened had we taken a direct hit?

This gang certainly ain't ready for this level of responsibility.

And this one, my friends, is the big Kahuna, the other shoe falling, the final straw. Somebody is going to jail, most likely a federal one, for this.

Their Wild In Iberia Parish!
An article entitled "LANGLINAIS ON THE DEFENSIVE IN IBERIA PARISH", which appears in the The Independent Weekly published in Lafayette (AYE!), should sound familiar to ya'll. (Charter?! I don't need no stinking Charter! I'm President!)

"...sanctions that include repayment of expenditures and removal from office." OUCH!

You mean Charorge could be removed from office and have to pay back the $15,000 taxpayers paid for George's wreck? $5.3 million for the portable levees? Anybody know the value of all the drainage work that was done without Council authority? In the millions, no doubt.

A Commitment To Cows!
We in Lafourche must continue our sacred commitment to never see flooding like this affect one single, helpless, sweet cow.
We spent $5.3 million last September and October to rent portable levees, placed between Valentine and Larose on the West side, to assure this cow and others like it, especially those owned by Ray Cheramie, never have to endure the fate of this poor bovine.
Don't listen to that asshole Carl A. Chauvin.

Vote Yes for parish-wide drainage! Cows are worth it!

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink Of Greatness - FOR COWS!


(Who said we were one-sided here at TPRTK?!?!)

VOTE NO on parish-wide tax renewals JULY 15
Need Some Reasons:

- $74,000 could have been saved by having the election in September.

- Public Employees, were your June 30 checks short a week's pay?

- The Council paid $15,000 for damages in a car wreck caused by Charlotte Randolph's husband, George.

- Charlotte spent $5.3 million protecting her and her family's houses with portable levees after Hurricane Rita.

- Ray Cheramie lent 3 generators to his family, left one on his truck and three at the Lockport barn after Hurricane Katrina, and said he'd do it again, after being reprimanded by Charlotte. Do you have any family members with health problems who could have used one?

- Ray Cheramie using parish personnel and equipment on his and his friend's properties.

- Charlotte paying for plane tickets and meals for her husband, George, on Parish credit cards.

- Can't get your phone calls returned?

- Resurfacing your street or doing local drainage taking a little too long?

Charlotte has shown us she can't be trusted with the tens of millions with which we have up to this point. Why would we entrust her with several million more?
---------------------------------------------------
Please, either print out this post ten times and give them to as many people or commit to calling ten people and explain why it's important to defeat parish-wide taxes.

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink Of Greatness - FOR COWS!

What's Your Email Address, TPRTK?
If like me, you are too lazy to click on my profile to get my email address, here it is: cchauvin11@yahoo.com

I need more substantial comments. I appreciate the "good jobs", but I wish you would expound a bit more. You'll be anonymous, so don't worry, especially you parish employees. It's safer than the phone.

Yes, Charorge, you can email me too. Could I get an interview soon? I have a few questions.

Where's My Check?!?!
Parish pay roll checks due on June 30, 2006 contained one weeks pay instead of two weeks, the amount due. I have not been able to get a written explanation from Charorge's Misadministration, but a public records request is forthcoming. In addition to Parish employees, DA employees and Judge employees are also affected. From speaking with a number of these people yesterday, they are pretty steamed. Their understanding is that they will not receive that one week's pay until they leave their public job, either through resignation, termination or retirement. While employees working directly for the Parish received an email giving them a heads up on the pay policy change, those working for Judges and the DA didn't. The short checks affected some of their July 4 vacation plans. Since most have their checks electronically deposited, they access their money via debt card. Some have gotten NSFs and insufficient balance messages when trying to access their accounts because the money they thought would be in their accounts was not. It's another f_ _ _-up brought to you courtesy of Charorge. (What thought went into this bad crazyness?)

Is this evidence the Parish is experiencing cash flow problems due to Charorge's mismanagement, such as paying for George's wreck or plane tickets, meals and booze (didn't Duffy go to Federal prison for something similar to this?)or is that money going to pay for grass seed for Ray's cows?

Excellent morale booster two weeks before a tax renewal election, Charorge!

O.K. All you people who get your checks paid by the Parish and got shorted, its payback time! Vote against parish-wide taxes July 15, next Saturday.

LAFOURCHE PARISH
On The Brink Of Greatness - FOR COWS!

MAD(COW)NESS GRIPS CHARORGE MISADMINISTRATION!
Charorge, ya'll need to slow down with new scandals! This is just a hobby for me; not a full time job. I got to make a living. I ain't got the time for all this new insanity!

Grass liens being waived for a prominent Thibodaux attorney?!?! One week wages being unilaterally delayed for all parish employees, including Judges and the DA?!?!? Someone ripping off a Recreation District annually? $5,297,221.00 deficit in the Civil Defense fund balance?!?! (What happens if the Russians attack??!!!?? Will the cows help us?) Lafourche Parish Council Administration in full disintegration mode!!!

Dude! This is so rich, I couldn't make this s%&t up!!!! I want whatever drugs ya'll are doing!!! Meanwhile, I'll just crank up Nine Inch Nails while perusing the audit.

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!


"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" - Hunter S. Thompson

July 15 Election
This election will serve as a referendum on the Charorge Misadministration. We will spend $74,000 on an unnecessary election. With the money that will be wasted in one day, you could put a kid through college and professional school. Further, the election is in July because fewer people vote in those elections than in Fall elections. This is just a cynical ploy by Charorge to subvert democracy.

On the ballot will be renewals for parish-wide drainage, buildings, recreation and public health units. Also on the ballot will be two renewals for Drainage District No. 1 and Special Education District No. 1, two districts serving the 10th Ward.

Me, I'm voting against parish-wide taxes, but for the 10th Ward taxes.

Parish-wide drainage has come to mean drainage for where Charlotte and Ray live. If they want it, they should pay for it. Furthermore, I agree with Donald Vizier, the Levee Districts are in a better position than the Parish Council to determine how best to serve our drainage needs.

VOTE NO for unnecessary elections! VOTE NO to parish-wide tax renewals!

New Parish Motto
Have ya'll heard Charorge's Misadministration is considering changing the Parish's motto from feeding and fueling America to On The Brink of Greatness - FOR COWS?

The $5.2 Million Question!
What is that $5.2 million hole in the budget revealed by the audit and which Charlotte has tried to keep secret? Why is Charlotte not trumpetting how much good she did with an expenditure which amounts to 9% of the 2005 budget? Why was that expenditure not submitted to the Council for its prior approval, especially if it was an emergency expenditure, as required by the Charter? Is the evaperation of that expense for what Charlotte will use the $5 million federal loan she got the Council to approve earlier this year? Was that loan approved by the Council under false pretenses - without the Council having been provided all relevant information by the Charorge Misadministration?

What is the cattle to people ratio that money was obligated for?

Your job, humble readers, is to figure out what the money was spent on. It is easy enough. I have dropped multiple hints, or as the highbrows say foreshadowing, in the last several days.

Hamlet Standing At The Crossroad
We have a number of Parish public servants who have a monumental dilemna presently facing them - whether to continue accepting the politics of the brother-in-law deals as practiced by Charlotte Randolph's Administration, and which has historically been accepted, or make the hard choice of holding local government accountable and having government which is honest and decent and which works for the public's benefit. That is the question.

Either path is fraught with danger and uncertainty. But, one is wrong and one is right.

The present Council is under extreme pressure from various sources in addressing this dilemna.

First, there is the pressure being asserted by the insiders and beneficiaries of the old ways represented by Ray Cheramie and Charlotte Randolph. A case in point is the vote on Tommy Lasseigne's resolution to ask Charlotte to request Ray's resignation. The Council, other than Lasseigne and Lorraine, and Gouaux, who is getting everything he asks for because Charlotte and Ray live in his district, have allowed themselves to be bullied by the Administration. A number of Councilmen who voted against the resolution have told me personally Ray must go. Why do they say one thing in private and do another thing in public? Are they afraid that if their vote to can Ray fails, the Adminstration will retaliate by withholding work in their districts? One Councilman has told me Ray reminded him of "all the things" Ray had done for him. Another Councilman told me similarly that there are too many "favors" out there. DA Cam Morvant issued an opinion (unsolicited?) this past week concerning Councilmen interfering with Administration perogatives such as directing the work of engineers and parish employees. Was that a veiled threat that the Council needs to lay off the Administration?

Another source of pressure being felt by those Councilmen with future political asperations is the personal political cost of making the right decision. The big shots who put Charlotte and Ray in office, they will always be politically active. Whereas, the Public is notoriously fickle and uninvolved. They may be hot about stuff like George's wreck, misuse of the credit card, the generators, and Ray using parish equipment on his property, but the Public memory fades. These Councilmen are asking themselves "will the Public remember I did the righteous thing when I run for state representative?"

Then there is the pressure being currently asserted by the Public. The buzz on the street is deafening. The Public is scratching its collective head and asking what's going on. They, you, we demand accountability for how our tax dollars are spent. We want our money spent wisely, with that money providing the greatest good for the greatest number of people, without regard to whether we know somebody in power. We don't want projects done because they will curry the political favor of those considered to be politically influential. We don't want our public servants lining their and their friends and family's pockets. We don't want public property used to improve public servants' property. We don't want projects done that benefit public servants and their friends when the cost of the project outweighs the public benefit the project provides. We want those we place in the position of enforcing our laws to enforce those laws evenhandedly.

Another public servant facing the dilemna is DA Cam Morvant. He is aware of all the misdeeds of the Randolph Administration about which you have learned either through the tradtional press or through this blog. Many of you are asking where's Cam on all these scandals. Will Cam act or, as has been necessary in the past, will the Feds have to come in and cleanup our mess?

We find ourselves at a political crossroad in Lafourche Parish. Which way will our public servants take us?