Recommendations of the December 10, 2022 elections

It is the Christmas season.

Nevertheless, a competitive Public Service Commission race remains on the ballot, which could affect future electric costs, and several constitutional amendments have been presented for voter consideration, which would place important Senatorial oversight on the appointments of Louisiana’s Governor.

Those are reasons enough to cast a ballot, but as protests continue in China and missiles fly in Ukraine, this holiday season reminds Americans of the particular importance of visiting the voting booth, and exercising the sacred democratic trust granted to us by our ancestors.

PSC District 3:
Lambert C. Boissiere, III
 An advocate for Greater New Orleans, Boissiere has balanced a passion for incentivizing renewable power with the need to keep existing natural gas resources flowing to power plants. He has fought a lonely battle to bring the electrical grid up to date without placing the full cost upon overcharged ratepayers. A veteran of several post-Hurricane recovery efforts, the Commissioner knows the challenges of Louisiana’s aging grid, and what must be done to keep the lights on after a terrible storm. He is a walking encyclopedia of power knowledge, but most importantly, he stands sentinel against attempts by Entergy and Cleco to profiteer off of their monopoly statuses.

Constitutional Amendments
CA No. 1 (ACT 279, 2022 – HB 178) – Requires U.S. citizenship in order to register and vote in Louisiana: VOTE NO
This amendment stands as a pointless exercise in political grandstanding. Non-US Citizens cannot vote currently. Why place a useless amendment into the state constitution, which is already existent in the statute books, and to which evidence shows little danger of that law being broken currently. Has there been a rush of non-citizens voting in Louisiana of late? Of course not. The Amendment constitutes Right-Wing ridiculousness, and should not be on the ballot, much less approved. Enacting this amendment has no point; why outlaw something already illegal, and hardly a problem anyway?

CA No. 2 (ACT 281, 2022 – SB 160) – Requires Senate confirmation of gubernatorially appointed members of the State Civil Service Commission: VOTE YES

CA No. 3 (ACT 280, 2022 – SB 75) – Requires Senate confirmation of certain members of the State Police Commission: VOTE YES

The Louisiana Weekly Editorial Board prides itself on consistency—and commitment to democratic standards found elsewhere in the world. Just as our Editors supported amendment of the Home Rule Charter last month to give the City Council confirmation power over executive appointments, so we believe that the State Senate should have the same power—across the board(s). This newspaper urges our readers to vote for Amendments 2 and 3, as Governors for decades have used their unilateral authority over the civil service and State Police to control patronage and investigations without oversight. Please end this practice, and thereby bring the State of Louisiana into the mainstream of the rest of the democratic Western World.

This article originally published in the December 5, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.