Over the last three years, Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni has done
his best to try to demonize me, personally attack me, and, in the media and at
public meetings, call me almost every name and adjective in the book. From “vengeful”
and “sinister” to “bitter” and “a self-proclaimed vigilante” with a personal
vendetta against him. Mayor Yenni seems to take pleasure in coming up with new
and entertaining ways to describe me, a citizen he allegedly represents.
And, let’s not forget “constant complainer” and puppet whose
strings are being pulled by “sinister forces”.
Two year ago, when a Civic Association wanted to hold a
debate between Mayor Yenni and myself regarding the Mayor’s plan to double
property taxes in Kenner, Mayor Yenni told me that “I wasn’t on his level”
because I wasn’t an elected official and he was.
Despite his name-calling, all the while I’ve called Mayor
Yenni one thing: Mayor Yenni.
I don’t even call him “Mike”. We’re not at that level in our relationship,
nor will we ever be.
On the John Osterlind Show Tuesday afternoon, John (yes, I
can call him “John” – he told me it was OK), asked me if I had a personal issue
with Mayor Yenni.
And that’s what the Mayor of Kenner, a city of 66,000
residents, wants you to think. Mayor Yenni wants you to believe, and he’s made
it his mission to keep saying it in the hope that the people of Kenner will
believe it, that I have a problem with him personally and that everything that
I do and with every waking breath, I am plotting against him.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
I don’t know Mayor Yenni well enough to determine whether I
like him or not as a person. And, again, our relationship will never be at that
level and that’s ok.
But, the fact is, when Mayor Yenni took office, I was
encouraged, hopeful even. Yes, I know that was wishful thinking on my part
since Mayor Yenni was promoted from sitting at the right-hand of Ed Muniz and
owed his allegiance (as well as his employment for several years) to Aaron
Broussard.
Unfortunately, my hope and optimism died a fairly quick
death.
From Mayor Yenni’s justification for expanding and continued
defense of the Executive Pay Plan, which cost Kenner residents Millions, even
after I and many others told him it was illegal, to all of the other actions
that he’s taken as Mayor that I disagree with: attempting to double property
taxes; attempting to close playgrounds and limit recreational opportunities for
our youth and families instead of consolidating departments and eliminating
political appointees; “legalizing” raises for his political appointees in the
form of fake auto and cell phone allowances; the Mayor’s opposition to two good
government charter changes that were approved by Kenner voters by 70-30%
margins; and now, trying to borrow $47 Million without a public referendum, I’ve
tried to discuss and debate the issues without it getting personal, despite
Mayor Yenni’s persistent attacks on me and his name-calling.
I can deal with Mayor Yenni’s personal attacks and his
name-calling. In fact, I welcome them. You see, the more time he spends
thinking about me, the less he can screw up our city.
But, when Mayor Yenni blatantly continues to lie, that goes
beyond mere name-calling.
I shouldn’t be surprised though. Even the Times-Picayune called then-Candidate Yenni a “fibber” and, coming from a newspaper that
endorsed him, those are almost fighting words.
Why Should I Answer
Questions? I’m The Mayor – Call My “Official Press Release Writer”
After Tuesday’s dismissal of my lawsuit against the city to
invalidate the bond sale until there was a voter referendum, a reporter from
The Advocate was waiting in court and asked me for a statement. I gave him a
statement and we discussed the case.
The court case ended just before 10am and I drove back to
Kenner. At about 12:30, I emailed a press release to several members of the
media and I was called by a reporter from the Times-Picayune. She asked me some
questions and I discussed the case with her. At 1:27pm, she posted a story.
Here’s a link.
You will note that it says “Updated July 09, 2013 at 6:56pm”.
It was also updated earlier at 2pm and 6pm. (NOTE TO SELF: Get Nola.com a new
photo)
The original story, and the 2pm update, did not include any comments from the
attorney employed by the city (and why exactly did they not use the City
Attorney when he was there lurking in the Courthouse hallway?) or from Mayor
Yenni.
I didn’t ask the City Attorney why he was there in the
hallway of our court. Perhaps he had a personal injury trial or a bankruptcy case that he needed to attend to.
The City also issued a press release several hours after the
original story appeared, thus the updates at 6pm and 6:56pm. I don’t know why
Mayor Yenni couldn’t simply answer the reporter’s questions when she called, as
I did. Perhaps the Mayor, his Political Consultant or his “Official Press
Release Writer” were detained. I don’t know that answer. I do think it’s funny
though, that Mayor Yenni chooses to respond to the media primarily in the form
of written statements instead of just talking to them and needs to wait for
hours to release a statement when he has a several city employees and political
consultants at his beck and call when I wrote our press release in about 15
minutes and was more than willing to talk to the newspaper reporters and live on the radio with John Osterlind without a script or a teleprompter.
They’re Not Lies – They’re
Just A Series Of “Untruths”
But, let’s get back to the City’s press release.
A portion of the original headline of the press release
said: “Citizen’s Group Told to Pay City’s Legal Fees”.
This headline is completely untrue and misleading and Mayor
Yenni knows it. But, he still sent it out.
How do I know that Mayor Yenni knows it was a lie? Because
when the city was called on it and told that it was untrue, the city issued a
revised press release with a new headline. This one states: “Citizen’s Group
Told to Pay Court Costs.”
As anyone who has ever sued or been sued knows, there’s a
significant difference between “Legal Fees” and “Court Costs”.
Trust me, no one who doesn’t have the resources of the tax
payers of Kenner, wants to pay the city’s “Legal Fees” particularly when the
city already employs several allegedly competent attorneys already on our dime, but in this case, hired outside attorneys.
But, while the city corrected the headline and issued a revised Press Release, that’s not the only untruth the release contains.
The city’s Press Release says, “Judge Mentz ruled from the
bench that the lawsuit filed by Bennetti and his organization, Citizens For a
Better Kenner, was filed in violation of state law and district court rules.”
Untrue.
In fact, Judge Mentz never said or wrote anything close to
that in his order granting the dismissal.
Judge Mentz did say that my responses to the city’s
exceptions to the lawsuit were not filed timely. But, he never mentioned any
violation of state law or district court rules. We were not fined and there were no penalties involved.
Here is the actual wording of the body of Judge Mentz’s
order verbatim:
“It is ordered, adjudged and
decreed that Defendant’s Exception of Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction and
Exceptions of No Cause of Action and Peremption are hereby granted.
It is further ordered,
adjudged and decreed that any and all costs associated with said Motions are
assessed against Plaintiffs, Citizens for A Better Kenner, Inc. and Walter
Bennetti.
It is further ordered,
adjudged and decreed that this Court’s Judgment in favor of defendant, the City
of Kenner, Mayor Mike Yenni and Kenner City Council, is hereby designated as a
final and appealable judgment after an express determination that there is no
just reason for delay pursuant to Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article
1915.”
Did anyone read “violation of state law and district court
rules”? Me neither.
Not content with simply lying, in typical Yenni fashion, the
Mayor has to give his own spin on things:
“This frivolous and politically-charged lawsuit delayed the
bond refinancing by six weeks and cost the city millions of dollars.”
Again, untrue.
Judge Mentz did not say that our lawsuit was “frivolous” or “politically-charged”.
Those are Mayor Yenni’s words and, while he claims to have been employed by
Jefferson Parish as a “Paralegal”, I don’t think he’s qualified to deem our
lawsuit as “frivolous” and it’s certainly not “politically-charged” and there's no conclusive evidence that the lawsuit cost the city anything other than the amount that their attorneys charge them. Since the attorneys employed by the city to contest this lawsuit also stand to get a cut of the $600,000 in bond fees that will be assessed (about 10x the normal amount of similar bond issues by the way), I'm sure they can give the city a discount.
Also, in the release, Mayor Yenni continues to defend his
bogus statement that his 2030 Plan will not cost taxpayers more money.
Again, untrue.
While it may not increase the yearly amount of our debt
payments and it will not cost new taxes, how can anyone possibly think that
this “will not cost any additional taxpayer dollars” when Mayor Yenni’s plan
calls for 15 more years of debt service? Are these payments not tax dollars?
The $3.2 Million dollars that Kenner will pay on this debt
could be used for other projects that might be more relevant to Kenner like
infrastructure, streets, drainage, police and fire protection, etc. if the debt
were not extended and increased. Instead, every year the city will need to allocate
$3.2 Million dollars to pay for Mayor Yenni’s pet projects which still have not been approved by the City Council or even had a traffic or engineering study initiated.
What’s Next On Mayor
Yenni’s Agenda – Tripling Property Taxes? A Kenner Mini-Mt. Rushmore?
So, to whoever is reading this to Mayor Yenni, please let
him know to keep up the personal attacks and keep trying to demonize myself and
group of citizens who are trying to protect the rights of Kenner residents.
As I said, the more time he spends thinking about me and
CFBK, the less time he has to work on his next brainchild. Perhaps if he’s
re-elected, Mayor Yenni will unveil his plan to triple property taxes; build a Kenner
mini-Mt. Rushmore monument with the busts of Ed Muniz, Aaron Broussard and Greg
Buisson; or add more departments and political appointees to city hall.
I guess we’ll know in the spring if Mayor Yenni is
re-elected or needs to get his first ever job in the private sector. I’m sure
Mr. Buisson can find him a job making coffee or as a “clerk/typist” or, perhaps Mayor Yenni can finally be "Director of Communications with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office". After all, that's what he tried to make us believe that he was years ago.
