Someone Give Him A Cookie: Mayor Yenni Reduces Auto Allowances For Political Appointees

The most interesting thing about Monday’s City of Kenner budget hearings was Mayor Mike Yenni’s proposal to reduce the overly-generous auto allowances he gives to his political appointees and move that money to pay for a program to recycle.

It was just last year that Yenni was challenged by the City Council to put up an ordinance to end years of illegal auto and cell phone payments.

After the omnipotent City Attorney claimed they were “reimbursements” and didn’t need Council approval,  the Yenni Administration reversed course, called them undocumented allowances and then talked the City Council into calling them what they really were, extra compensation.

Several Council members publicly gushed about how hard the Directors in Kenner worked and how they were always on call, in a vain attempt to justify to the public the $400 per month auto allowances and $150 per month cell phone payments.

If you are reading this and you have a $150 a month cell phone plan, please call me. I have some slightly used toll booths from the Crescent City Connection to sell you.

Now, after fighting vigorously and defending the needs of his political appointees, Mayor Yenni has now deemed the high auto allowances are really not as necessary as he claimed just one year ago.

How will the highly paid City of Kenner Directors make it financially without receiving all of their little monthly bonuses? Will they need to file for Bankruptcy as at least one City Department Head has or will they need to moonlight like our previously mentioned omnipotent City Attorney?

Now, before the good folks at 1801 Williams Blvd. jump up and down and claim that I’m bashing Mayor Yenni let me state for the record that I’m a fan of recycling. Always have been. I applaud Mayor Yenni for expanding the recycling program.

But, what I’m not a fan of is the way Mayor Yenni does things.

First, the auto and cell phone allowances (now deemed compensation) should never have been given. Forgive me if I believe that, if you earn $60,000  - 100,000 per year or more, you should be able to afford $5 a month in gas to drive to and from work. Kenner is 11 square miles. We’re not talking about commuting to Baton Rouge daily.

Second, since they are compensation, and these same Political Appointees also received a 3% raise last year, these allowances just compounded that raise.

Third, again, since they are compensation, why weren’t they added to the recipient’s salary on the budget? Could it be that Mayor Yenni doesn’t really want you to know that the Finance Director earns over $101,000 per year PLUS an additional $4,800 as an auto allowance AND $1,800 as a cell phone allowance? While it doesn’t look good that the Finance Director for a city the size of Kenner earns $101,000+, it looks a whole lot worse if it showed that the Finance Director earned $107,949 plus benefits.

And what about our omnipotent, moon-lighting City Attorney? He earns $88,326 according to the budget. Of course, adding in the $4,800 auto allowance and $1,800 cell phone allowance bumps that up to $94,926 a year. Sounds like a full-time job to me. He must have boundless energy to take on personal injury cases and rustle up business for his other employer, Mayor Yenni’s friend and political contributor.

Is it any wonder that they can’t afford a tank of gas to drive from their house to their offices on Williams Blvd. on the paltry wages that the City of Kenner pays?

There’s also the question of whether it is even legal for Mayor Yenni to reduce the auto allowances. I’m sure though that Yenni wouldn’t make a move without consulting the omnipotent City Attorney. However, since the allowances were spelled out by a council ordinance, it would seem logical that they could only be reduced by a council ordinance, right?

But, let’s get back to recycling.

In December of 2011, Mayor Yenni unilaterally extended the city’s contract with Ramelli for garbage pickup for another five years. The Mayor didn’t put the contract out for bid, didn’t seek input from the council or the public, he just did it.

Not only did he extend the contract without council input, he didn’t even bother to tell the council until he was asked about it 6 months later when the contract was due to expire.

Had Mayor Yenni been a little proactive and put some thought into the contract renewal and the negotiations, perhaps he could have had Ramelli include recycling in their bid. After all, the more recycling that is done, the less Ramelli will need to pick up from people’s homes, right? That should reduce Ramelli’s costs and allow them to provide the recycling service for free or a significantly reduced cost.

According to Councilman Joe Stagni, the City of Slidell receives garbage pickup and recycling for a lower rate than the City of Kenner. Slidell’s lower rate and better service might be because they put their contract out for bid and sought competition.  

In an article on Nola.com, Mayor Yenni said, “It’s an additional service, and we’re not going to the taxpayers and asking them to pay for it.”

So, I guess that means that, since Ramelli will be picking up a lot less garbage due to recycling, our trash bills in Kenner will be reduced accordingly.

I’m sure that’s wishful thinking on my part. Of course, I’m still waiting for my new Ramelli trash can that was promised to all Kenner residents when Ramelli signed the original contract 6 years ago.

Until that day comes, my trusty old Waste Management trash bin, in use since before I heard the words "Hurricane Katrina",  will have to do.

Of course, when your friend is the Mayor, it doesn't matter what contracts say or what you promised to get that contract. As long as you're a FOM (Friend of Mike), you're set in YenniVille.

And, only in YenniVille can you claim that something is so vital to employee retention and morale one day and then reduce it later without a council ordinance because you want to use the money for something else.

But I guess when you’re the Mayor of YenniVille, you can make stuff up as you go along and hope that nobody notices. Or that the Council doesn’t put it up for a voter referendum.

Can’t have the Mayor of YenniVille continue coming out on the losing end of voter referendums, now can we?

Knucklehead Thugs In NOLA; Confusion on the State Budget and More

Yesterday, I was a guest on "The Ken & Bernie Show" with Ken Romero and Bernadette Lee on KPEL 96.5fm in Lafayette. We spoke about the New Orleans Mother's Day shooting, the state budget compromise and the legislature. If you missed it, or if you're a masochist and want to listen to it again, here's a link.

2nd Republican Enters Race For Landrieu’s Seat

Another Republican contender has announced that he is seeking the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Mary Landrieu.

Rob Maness, a Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, has thrown his hat in the ring against Landrieu, who is seeking re-election, and the already announced Congressman Bill Cassidy (R-Baton Rouge).

Maness is a Constitutional Conservative and was an Operations Officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon during 9/11. For his military service, he was awarded the Bronze Star and Air Medal.

Maness is stressing several issues which he feels differentiate himself from Cassidy and Landrieu including:

-          Protecting and Defending Individual Liberty and Constitutional Rights

-          Protecting 2^nd Amendment Rights

-          Immigration Reform and Border Security

-          Energy Independence

-          Education Reform and eliminating Common Core standards

-          Repealing the Obama/Landrieu Government Healthcare Takeover

Maness and his wife Candy are residents of Madisonville.

To find out more about Rob Maness, please visit http://www.robmaness.com

Kenner Fire Chief Hellmers Loses Appeal; Must Repay City

Last May, I wrote about Kenner Fire Chief John Hellmers receiving Supplemental Educational Compensation from the City of Kenner while not possessing the required certifications.

The City of Kenner undertook an Internal Investigation and agreed that Hellmers was improperly receiving extra money that he wasn’t entitled to.

On September 26^th, Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni sent Hellmers a letter stating that he needed to repay the City $2,950 and that Hellmers was suspended for 3 days without pay.

Hellmers’ appealed the decision to the Civil Service Board claiming that the investigation into this transgression took longer than 60-days, thus voiding any punishment.

The Civil Service Board dropped the suspension but reiterated the City’s claim on repayment.

Rather than pay the restitution gracefully, Hellmers, who earns over $102,000 in base salary alone, decided to appeal to the 24^th JDC.

24^th JDC Division A Judge Ray Steib agreed with the Civil Service Board and told Hellmers to pay up.

Judge Steib also dismissed Hellmers’ claim to dismiss the proceedings entirely due to his claim of negligence on Mayor Yenni’s part for not imposing punishment within the 60-day window.

Unfortunately for Kenner residents, the Attorney representing the City didn’t seek repayment of his costs from Hellmers, leaving taxpayers on the dole for thousands more in legal fees from Hellmers’ appeals.

So, not only did the Kenner Fire Chief get an interest-free loan from taxpayers that he didn’t deserve, we’re also on the hook for more money in legal fees.

Only in YenniVille.

Tension, Finger Pointing, Not A Lot Of Answers At JP Council Meeting

There was an old TV ad for Clairol women’s hair coloring that showed a beautiful woman and, referring to her hair color, asked the provocative question: “Does she or doesn’t she?” While they were asking if the woman artificially colored her hair, the question still made you wonder.

Leading up to yesterday’s “Emergency” Jefferson Parish Council meeting regarding the failure of two property taxes last week, the question in Jefferson Parish was: Will they or won’t they?

Would the Council vote to put the taxes back on the ballot in time for the next round of tax bills at the old rate or the new rolled-back rate or would they just hold off until next year and make Parish President John Young figure out how to fill a $19 Million hole?

I guess it couldn’t have been too much of an “Emergency” because we’re still waiting for an answer.

But, we do know what an “Emergency” is.

In fact, we may be hearing that word more in the very near future.

But, the two hours of finger pointing, ganging up on President Young or “fact finding” as Councilman Chris Roberts called it, was interesting to say the least.

If you don’t have time to watch the Council replay and want a blow-by-blow of the meeting, Nola.com’s Manuel Torres did a great job providing the Reader’s Digest version with live updates from the meeting.

Councilman Roberts, a frequent critic of President Young and an ardent supporter of the CCC toll extension, questioned if the Young Administration had made any presentations to civic associations to get their support for the taxes.

"The feedback I'm getting from the business community and civic associations is that they were in the dark," Roberts said.

Of course, Roberts failed to mention that, since he supported the CCC toll, he was a virtual ghost in the months leading up to the May 4^th vote. While I am not intimately involved with Councilman Roberts’ schedule, I don’t recall hearing him do any radio or TV interviews or speaking to groups telling voters to approve the taxes and of their importance to JP operations.

Roberts also voted to put the “expired” taxes on the ballot, along with the rest of the Council.

So, for him to question why the Young Administration put them on the ballot late or how much effort they spent selling the taxes to voters is a pretty dubious argument.

They say that if you say something often enough, even if it’s not true, you start to believe it and you get others to believe it too.

That was the takeaway from this Council meeting. Keep saying that the Young Administration, and only the Young Administration, botched this and keep deflecting blame and not accepting responsibility.

Appearing for the Prosecution: Councilman Roberts, Assessor Tom Capella and Sheriff Newell Normand, aka “The Usual Suspects”.

Now, to be sure, if the taxes expired in December 2012, clearly they should have been on the ballot last year despite JP’s tradition of renewing property taxes after they technically expired but before the next tax cycle.

"There's somebody in parish government that ought to know when these things are coming up for renewal," Councilman Roberts said.

And he’s right. Of course he also failed to mention that the Council (which voted to put these taxes on the ballot), Assessor Capella and Sheriff Normand also should know when taxes are up for renewal.  If you’re assessing property taxes as Capella does, and collecting them, as Normand does, it might be a good idea if you knew what you were assessing and collecting too.

Just as clearly, the taxes should have been put on the ballot at their current rate and not at their original, higher rate.

But for Roberts, Capella and Normand, along with the rest of the Council, to put all of the blame on the Young Administration and not accept any responsibility for their roles in this tax debacle stretches the bounds of credibility.

While some Council members grumbled about the negative feelings towards the CCC toll revote impacting voters on these tax propositions, I suspect that Assessor Capella’s last minute letter to homeowners might have had a larger role in the sinking of these taxes than anything.

While it is traditional for most government agencies except the JPSO and Sheriff Newell “I never met a tax that I rolled-back – I need more money for Public Safety” Normand, Capella’s letter rightly pointed out that the property taxes were being renewed at the old rate of 5 mills instead of the rolled-back rate of 3.58 and 3.54 mills.

Theoretically, if the Council didn’t roll-back the taxes as they have always done (and Capella did when he was on the JP Council), this could have resulted in a tax increase for property owners.

Could that have been made clearer in the “selling” of the taxes? Sure and the language on the ballot could have also been clearer.

But, the Parish Council still approved these taxes. They hired the bond attorney and approved his language for the ballot (on the recommendation of President Young).

I’m also relatively certain that, before it came before the Council, Assessor Capella and Sheriff Normand, the Chief Tax Collector in Jefferson Parish, also reviewed the language and approved it.

Look, for many reasons, the property taxes failed. Rather than continue to play the blame game, why don’t our elected officials provide a solution? There’s clearly enough blame to go around and no JP elected official is covered in enough Teflon to deflect it.

At the moment, there are two viable solutions, as well as a third option proposed by Councilman Roberts. The problem is, the Council is divided and there's no clear-cut support for any of them. In fact, Councilwoman Cynthia Sheng said she needs more time to consider the options.

District 2 Councilman Paul Johnston will seek the Council’s approval to put the taxes back on the ballot at the current rate.

District 3 Councilman Mark Spears will call for an emergency declaration and change the wording to read “up to 5 mills” while promising to keep the rates at 3.58 and 3.54 mills.

Both would put the taxes on the October 19^th ballot in time for the next round of property tax bills.

According to the T-P, Councilman Roberts favors punting on the taxes until 2014 and forcing the Young Administration to cut capital projects for water and sewerage. This would also result in Jefferson Parish possibly losing a $35 Million low-interest state loan for sewerage repairs.  

While I always favor cutting government, Councilman Roberts’ proposal is punitive. Hurting the Parish just to hurt President Young won’t help.  

In this era when citizens have a huge mistrust of government, especially in Jefferson Parish, I think Councilman Johnston’s plan makes the most sense and has the greatest possibility of success.

But hey, what do I know? I thought 4^th grade finger-pointing went out of style long ago.  

 

Orleans Councilwoman Clarkson’s Shift On CCC Toll Puzzling

The truth is, there really aren’t many politicians that I like and even fewer that I respect. I’ve interviewed them on the radio, written about them, had them try to be friends (as long as I was writing or speaking favorably about them of course). But, I see through them. They are politicians, and that’s not going to change.

I had a very good friend that I knew before he became a politician. Right before my very eyes he changed. He became a politician. In fact, the last time he called me, he screamed at me through the phone and hung up on me. We’re not friends anymore. Perhaps we never really were. 

I’ve always had a soft spot for Orleans Parish Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson.

I don’t know if it’s her maternal ways; if it’s because she could dress me down and smile while she was doing it; or a combination of reasons but I always liked and respected Jackie Clarkson.

Now, we certainly didn’t agree on every issue but Councilwoman Clarkson could give as good as she got. Trust me. Even through a phone line, I have been on the receiving end of Councilwoman Clarkson’s smiling indignation too many times to count.

But, unlike most politicians, Clarkson never ducked. I returned a call from her one day while she was in an Orleans Parish Council meeting. She took the call and said, “Could I please call you back in about a ½ hour?”

And she did call me back.

Several years ago, I was working at a Talk Radio station here in New Orleans filling in for one of their regular hosts. I told the station’s General Manager that I had booked Councilwoman Clarkson for an interview.

“Good luck with that,” the GM said. “She NEVER comes on this station.”

But she did and I interviewed her many times. Sometimes things got a little testy (I mean c’mon. If you’re reading this you already know that things can get testy with me and almost anyone, not just those people who happen to change their name to Yenni). But Councilwoman Clarkson was always courteous and never wouldn’t come on when she said she was scheduled.

In fact, when she was elected as Councilwoman-At-Large in November 2007 in a special election to replace the indicted Oliver Thomas, I was the first radio interview Councilwoman Clarkson did. Not WWL – WALT.

That’s why I’m so surprised by Councilwoman Clarkson’s recent statements about the CCC toll revote.

On Sunday, after the toll extension was crushed by voters in three parishes, Councilwoman Clarkson was on TV looking sad and gloomy like someone had stolen her favorite puppy.

On Fox 8, Councilwoman Clarkson said, “Structural maintenance is my biggest fear.”

"I want the voters to hold the people that represented the no tolls responsible. I want them to hold those political leaders responsible for making sure that bridge is maintained, lighted and policed," Clarkson said.

What?

Not even 12 hours after the polls closed and Clarkson is already talking about bridge maintenance, lighting, and holding political leaders accountable?

Wait, isn’t Jackie Clarkson a “political leader”? Why isn’t she holding herself accountable for decades of mismanagement, waste and abuse?

I sat on my couch watching this piece on TV literally shaking my head.

“Did Jackie Clarkson really say that?” I asked myself.

I needed to go online to watch it again to make sure that I heard her correctly.

But I did.

Back when she was a State Representative serving the people of Algiers, Clarkson had an entirely different take on the CCC toll. In fact, she co-authored a bill that would have stopped the CCC toll in 1999.

That’s right: 1999.

In the 1998 Legislative Session, Clarkson and fellow West Bank State Rep. Steve Windhorst from Terrytown, co-authored House Bill 314 which called for the removal of the CCC toll no later than June 30, 1999.

In a New Orleans Times-Picayune article printed on May 10, 1998, Clarkson was livid at the waste and abuse that DOTD had perpetrated on the West Bank for years.

“I want to be severe. We have tried everything,” Clarkson said. “We collect $20 Million a year in tolls and $14 Million of that goes to fund bureaucracy (at the Department of Transportation and Development) and $6 Million goes to finance roads that should be financed by DOTD’s own money. Why take $20 Million from chronic bridge users from Algiers and Gretna and Terrytown for road projects for DOTD’s feeding frenzy?”

That was 1998. Since then, 24 years have passed with bridge users faithfully passing along $20 Million each year to the slush funds of DOTD and local elected officials for their pet projects.

I’m not a Math expert, but I can use a calculator. That’s $480 Million dollars out of your pockets that now-Councilwoman Clarkson wanted to stop in 1998.

If Councilwoman Clarkson thought it was a good idea to end the toll in 1998, how can it not be an even better idea now? The bridge is paid off. The State Police are providing protection (as they should have been all along) and we’ve had decades of more waste and abuse.

What happened? Why the change from State Rep serving the West Bank to Orleans Parish Politician raining down gloom and doom now that the toll extension was defeated?

Sounds like someone has some explaining to do…

Councilwoman Clarkson – you have the floor. The people of the West Bank are waiting and deserve an answer.

JP Officials Point Fingers Over Failed Tax "Renewals"

The Jefferson Parish Council has called an emergency meeting for Thursday at 10am to discuss the future of two property taxes that were defeated by voters on Saturday.

The taxes would have renewed revenue for another 10 years to fund Water and Sewerage operations and projects.

As is usually the case in Jefferson Parish when there is a controversy in government it’s another case of “He Said/He Said”. Only this time it’s “He Said/They Said”.

Jefferson Parish President John Young contends that, even though the renewals were listed on the ballot at the pre-roll back rates of 5 mills, the taxes would have actually renewed at 3.54 mills for water and 3.58 mills for sewerage.

JP Council Chairman Chris Roberts, Sheriff Newell Normand and Assessor Tom Capella all say that the taxes would have increased to 5 mills generating more revenue for the parish.

They also contend that the taxes also expired on December 31^st, 2012.

Other JP officials have complained that the Young Administration did not do enough to educate the public on the taxes.

Despite the fact that the taxes and their language was submitted to the state months ago for placement on the May 4^th ballot, Assessor Capella mailed a letter to homeowners last week saying that the renewals would actually be tax increases.

And that may be, if the Parish Council doesn’t roll the tax back as they have done traditionally.

On Tuesday, three days after the taxes failed, Capella also disclosed that the taxes had already expired.

Sheriff Normand was even more critical of the Young Administration.

In The Advocate, Sheriff Normand said:

“I don’t know if there’s any basis in law to declare ‘I’m incompetent and I messed up the tax issue, so give me another bite at the apple.’ In my 36 years of government work, this is the first time I’m aware of that a tax renewal was done after the tax expired.”

But, the question remains, where were Roberts, Normand and Capella when the JP Council voted to put these taxes on the ballot? Didn’t they know that the taxes had expired or that the public could perceive these “renewals” as “renewals at the old rate”?

If they expired last year, why didn’t Roberts, Normand and Capella get the taxes on the ballot a year ago? They were all in their same roles last year, right?

Is it plausible to believe that Sheriff Normand, the chief Tax Collector for Jefferson Parish, Assessor Capella and Councilman Roberts were all unaware that these taxes expired or did the Young Administration just botch the tax “renewals”? How could no Jefferson Parish elected official speak up in the months leading up to the vote and say that there were issues? Were these even “renewals” at all?

Regardless of whether you believe Him (Young) or Them (Roberts, Normand, Capella), there is enough blame on this to spread around.

For the moment though, it’s just typical Jefferson Parish politics where our elected officials point fingers at each other.

Finger pointing wasn’t productive in 4^th Grade and it’s not very productive now.

Somebody should tell our elected officials that.