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?