The October 22 elections

17th October 2011   ·   0 Comments

New Orleans is under attack. Our piece of the state budget, the funding lifeblood of our recovery and reconstruction, faces death by a thousand cuts. Capitol area legislative appropriators who seek to strengthen Baton Rouge at the Crescent City’s expense have allied with North Louisiana Senators and Reps possessed by what can only be called a visceral dislike of all things Creole — in an effort to see our impoverished city fall into the proverbial sea.

Lacking a friend in the governor’s office (despite the constant support that this region and much of the African-American community provided Bobby Jindal in his two statewide runs), our editors ask the readers of this newspaper to vote for the candidates that keep New Orleans’ endangered budgetary interests close to their political hearts. Quite simply, our city needs friends in high places.

Our editorial board acknowledges that for much of the Black electorate, that choice will not be an easy one. In the races for Lt. Governor and Secretary of State, only white Republicans run. The temptation will be for many to simply skip voting in either of those races.

Don’t fall prey to that temptation to abstain. We beg of you; vote in all races.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the Black community will provide the swing vote in deciding many of the elections this year. African-Americans will be the arbiters of which GOP candidate wins in the myriad of all-Republican contests. Strangely, that reality gives the Black electorate more electoral influence than this community has known for decades. Nobody can take the African-American vote for granted.

Want to stop another SUNO-UNO merger? A Republican lieutenant governor or Secretary of State elected thanks to African-American voters would think twice before endorsing an effort to close a historically Black college. Want to protect the city’s roads, schools, and critical social programs? What Republican is going to attack those urban priorities if it means alienating the minority electorate that made the difference in his last race against a fellow member of the GOP? Why anger voters who could turn against him next time around?

Obviously, we would prefer African-American contenders for all statewide and local offices; however, as the contests are all Republican, the strange side-effect means that Black voters have a chance to influence this election in ways not seen for decades. It is a reality that has not been known since the all-white Democratic contests prior to the 1980s.

In other words, never has your vote mattered more than Saturday.

Governor: Anybody But Bobby Jindal

Send a message. It is not fair that a governor who ran with significant African-American and New Orleanian backing has seemingly forgotten us as he casts his gaze toward national office.

Far from a “no endorsement,” this is a recognition of two facts: Bobby Jindal will be re-elected on Saturday, and the only way for him to acknowledge that our votes matter is for the governor not to win in a landslide.

It is hardly an academic argument. If President Obama wins re-election next year, there will be no GOP cabinet posts for Jindal, and, therefore, he will come back to New Orleans looking for votes in a Senate bid against Mary Landrieu. Let’s remind him our votes count.

Still, that’s two years away, and, in the meantime, it is critical for New Orleans’ survival that the governor remembers that our electorate in the Crescent City does visit the ballot box.

We must flex our political muscle before Jindal seeks to shrink the state budget next year. Sending the message that he ignores Orleanian voters at his peril is a lesson the governor must learn. At least, before he decides to cut the state budget solely at the city’s expense — leaving GOP North LA — which has lost just as much population proportionately, relatively untouched.

It may seem strange that a newspaper that endorsed Bobby Jindal in both of his bids for governor would now opt to support anybody but he. The moderate reformer, though, who sat before our editorial board four and eight years ago is a far cry from the partisan governor that has occupied the Executive Mansion.

Plus, Jindal’s principle opponents are worthy of the voter’s consideration.
Democrat Ivo “Trey” Roberts offers a credible plan that would swap the Louisiana Income Tax with an oil-processing tax that local refineries would pass on to the rest of the nation when they sell gasoline refined locally. Ninety percent of the projected revenues would go to a dollar-for-dollar tax swap, making us a zero income tax state like Texas and Florida. And, 10 percent would go to expand the TOPS program to non-college bound high school graduates who seek to attend community college or Vo-tech schools.

Fellow Democrat Tara Hollis, a public schoolteacher like Roberts, seeks a higher focus on secondary education, and a third Dem in the race, “Niki Bird” Papazoglakis, ran to bring a greater focus on battered women’s issues — a campaign born because of what she calls the Jindal Administration’s lack of focus on the topic.

All are good candidates, and all are deserving of your support.

Lt. Governor:

Billy Nungesser

The curious truth of this cycle’s Lieutenant Gubernatorial contest comes from a general acknowledgement that Bobby Jindal has no intention of remaining in his current office for the next four years. That means, whomever is elected Lt. Gov, will likely serve as governor prior to the 2015 elections.

In choosing between Republicans Billy Nungesser and Jay Dardenne, we will, in all probability, elect the next governor on Saturday, October 22. And, in our editors’ view, the best candidate for both Lt. Governor and Governor is clearly Billy Nungesser.

When the levees threatened to break during Hurricane Gustav, Nungesser was out in South Plaquemines getting the weak spots sandbagged. When the BP oil spill threatened to destroy our coasts, it was Nungesser who led the efforts to install off-shore protective berms. And, most importantly, when he could have put the blame at Barack Obama’s feet for the delays, Nungesser refused.

The Plaquemines Parish President was critical of Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, but openly praised the help of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and President Obama. It was a risky move for a Republican Parish President to take, but he had no regrets in, as put it, “giving deserved praise where it was due.”

The Plaquemines Parish President is a native New Orleanian, born and raised in Algiers, who acknowledges the importance of this city as a critical economic linchpin of the state.

Unlike Jay Dardenne, he has pledged to keep the Lt. Governor’s office in New Orleans open, and occupied, and if Jindal should depart, to give the city its due consideration budgetarily.

We need a fighter for New Orleans, and if the BP oil spill did not prove it, nothing could. Billy Nungesser fights for his home state — and his home city.

Secretary of State:

Jim Tucker

This election constituted one of the toughest choices that our editorial board had to make this election year. Interim Sec. State Tom Schedler has run the Department with competent distinction both as 1st Assistant and as Dardenne’s replacement over the last year. His

However, when our editors had to focus on who would be the best man for the job, current State House Speaker Jim Tucker of Algiers easily won out. Whom­ever is the next Secretary of State will be involved in the fight in potentially merging the state museum system — in an effort to find budgetary savings. (Right now the facilities are split between the Secretary of State’s preview and that of the Lt. Gov.) We need an advocate in that fight who puts the city’s museums first, in that fight, above any other political constituency in North Louisiana.

Moreover, while this newspaper has disagreed with Tucker on a variety of political issues, we watched with approval on how he defended the Parish of Orleans during the redistricting process. When Jeffer­son legislators attempted to draw their districts into Orleans, merging two Democratic-majority districts into one, and “slicing and dicing” Uptown into multiple gerrymandered pro-GOP legislative districts, Tucker refused to back the measure.

It was through his abstention vote, and his subtle opposition, that the Republican plan to destroy the geographic unity of Uptown died. That was a courageous stand that a GOP Speaker took against his own caucus and some of his closest Republican supporters. That willingness to stand independent of one’s own party, for what’s right, is the key quality needed in a Sec. State. The Department of State oversees all of the state’s elections, after all.

Besides, Tucker has demonstrated his openness in other ways. While in the legislature, he has consistently worked with the Legislative Black Caucus, putting Karen Carter Peterson into the Speaker Pro Tem role upon his election as House Speaker, and naming several African-American Reps to senior committee roles.

Insurance Commissioner:

Donald C. Hodge

Strange that it takes a Democrat to question why Louisiana needs a state run insurance company, exposing the taxpayers to billions of dollars in liabilities. Meanwhile, the Republican incumbent defends the idea of Citizens, protecting what is essentially a nationalized corporation competing with the private sector. In the end, it is Republican Jim Donelon who defends the status quo, while Democrat Donald Hodge supports private sector solutions.

That is not to say that Hodge rules out imposing reasonable regulations. He supports putting a ceiling on heath insurance policy costs, noting that Louisiana has some of the most expensive heath premiums in the nation. But, just as he embraces this Democratic priority, Hodge also is open to the Republican idea of allowing consumers to buy health insurance across state lines, to get a better deal.

This willingness to take good advice from both ideological perspectives would make Hodge an excellent Insurance Commissioner.

State Agriculture & Forestry Commissioner:

Mike Strain

We support the re-election of Ag Commissioner Strain for no other reason than he was right on how to fight the brush fires in New Orleans East. While local officials simply wanted to dump water on the burning wet marsh, Strain recognized that the fire was subterranean. Dropping water on a swamp would not work. If City officials had followed his advice and burrowed under the trees, as is done in state marshlands when such blazes break out, the inferno lodged in the roots of trees would have gone silent days earlier.

ORLEANS ELECTION RECOMMENDATIONS

BESE District 2:

Louella P. Givens

We support the candidate who has consistently fought to restore local School Board control over the Orleans Parish School System. Louella Givens is accused of being anti-Charter. She is not. She merely acts as a watchdog over the Charter system, demanding that they accept all children, and are staffed for students with special needs.

Givens truly believes in a public school system open to all, and we see no reason to deny this watchdog another term on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Judge Civil District Court, Division B: Regina Bartholomew

In the race for the CDC, Ms. Bartholomew has made a compelling case to become a judge. Her work as General Counsel for the Orleans Parish School Board gives her a sensitivity to the needs of the community, and her years in private practice with several law firms, and with the United States Government at the U.S. Depart­ment of Labor, gives her something of a national perspective.

That is not to say that Ellen Hazeur lacks a community focus, but Ms. Bartholomew would bring new blood into the political system, and would spare the city from another special election.

Judge Civil District Court, Division E:

Clare Jupiter

This Yale University graduate has practiced law with an emphasis on litigation for 32 years. Like Bar­tho­­lomew she served as Gen­eral Coun­sel for the Orleans Parish School Board, earning a similar open perspective on New Orleans issues. Plus, what prepares a judge better to deal with our culture than serving as General Counsel for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival & Foun­dation?

Jupiter’s peers often invite her to lecture in continuing legal education programs on trial advocacy, ethics and professionalism. That approval from her fellow barristers gives our editors the surest sense that Ms. Jupiter is ready to ascend to the bench.

Judge Criminal District Court, Section L:

Glen A. Woods

This former Assistant District Attorney has send the criminal process from both sides of the court room. Sixteen years in the D.A.’s office, and ten years on the defense side, has let woods see, as he put it, “the numbers of mostly impoverished young African-American men coming through the criminal court system.” He believes that he can make the bigger difference in the New Orleans community from the bench than his opponents. We agree.

Judge Traffic Court, Division A:

Ernest Charbonnet

Charbonnet has been the leading critic against speed and red light cameras that render tickets without witnesses, and fines without due process. He has fought, and continues to battle, to allow Traffic Court the power to review those tickets, instead of the CDC. And, seeing the inexact nature of the radar guns on the speed cameras, has pledged to review tickets rendered for cars going few than ten miles over the speed limit.

Lastly, he tells the Weekly, “The cameras ought to be about safety, not making money. Right now, people see them as a source of profit for the city. That’s wrong, and that’s what I will fight as a traffic court judge.”

Mr. Charbonnet’s opponents are a sitting Civil Court Judge seeking a demotion, and the son of a long-serving Traffic Court Judge who openly argues that he should inherit his father’s position (in TV ads to that effect).

LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS IN ORLEANS, JEFFERSON, AND ST. BERNARD

State Senator 3rd Senatorial District:

J.P. Morrell

This was also a tough choice between two veteran African-American legislators. In the end, our editors had to opt for J.P. Morrell, the Senator with not only more seniority in Baton Rouge, but a senior post on the committee that funds projects in New Orleans.

It was his changes in the Omnibus Amendment to the State Budget that provided the $8 million to rehabilitate Methodist Hospital in New Orleans East. His background representing Jefferson Parish in his previous district has given him a regional perspective that will let him reach out to his new voters, just drawn into District 3, in St. Bernard.

J.P. Morrell has a bright future as an African-American political leader, and the rising star needs our support in Saturday’s election.

State Representative 85th Representative District:

Stephen Leonard

Two Republicans run in a West Bank Jefferson District that is nearly 40 percent African-American. Black voters will decide the next Rep. in this seat, yet only one candidate has made a significant attempt to reach out to the minority community, Stephen Leonard.

The Terrytown Civic Association President has spent years fighting for his neighborhood and community, and launched into the State Rep. race in an effort to stop any attempt to renew the tolls on the Crescent City Connection — when they expire in 2012.

Our editors also like Stephen Leonard’s idea to ask every business owner and constituent to name “one crazy law” that should be repealed. Long overdue.

State Representative 94th Representative District:

Nick Lorusso

Anyone who chose to run against Rep. Johnny Labruzzo would be under serious consideration for our support. Labruzzo is famed for his attempts to drug test welfare recipients, without explaining how to pay for such a huge program, and to voluntarily sterilize welfare mothers, an idea that we thought went out with Adolf Hitler.

Casting a ballot for Nick Lorusso, however, is more than voting against John Labruzzo. A veteran of the 10th Mountain Division and having served as a JAG attorney in Iraq and Afghanistan, he is the kind of hero we need more of in Baton Rouge. Moreover, no candidate has focused more on the needs of our returning, often mentally and physically wounded vets as has Lorusso.

State Representative 98th Representative District:

Neil Abramson

The district, stretching from the Riverbend to Napoleon Avenue generally south of Claiborne Avenue (but including Broadmoor to the north and the riverfront precinct downriver from Tipitina’s at Napoleon to the east), comes from the merger of parts of no less than three legislative seats. It needs a steady hand with seniority in Baton Rouge.

The incumbent, moderate Democrat Neil Abramson fills the profile of just that type of desired State Rep. He is pro-business, but puts his community first. He stood with Orleans area legislators against Bobby Jindal’s effort to merge SUNO and UNO, and has attempted to be open to all parties and races as a serving Repre­sentative.

State Representative 99th Representative District:

Wesley Bishop

Bishop saw his district essentially merged into the Ninth Ward seat of retiring State Rep. Charmaine Marchand-Stiaes. This is no difficulty for Bishop, who grew up in the Ninth Ward, and knows the precincts of his birth as well as the New Orleans East neighborhood in which he now lives. Less than a year ago, SUNO Administrator Wesley Bishop won election to succeed Cedric Richmond in the Louisiana Legislature. He immediately was tapped to lead the fight against the UNO merger, and as a freshman, became one of the most articulate voices in the State House.

State Representative 102nd Representative District:

Jeff Arnold

Jeff Arnold enters his third term representing Algiers. His seniority and relationships have made the Democratic Rep. a solid contender for Speaker — even in a Republican controlled State House. Moreover, he has consistently fought for a state law that would force public referendums before milliage rates could be rolled forward by local governments after they had been rolled back due to rising assessments. This type of stealth tax increase weakens public trust in parish and municipal government, and must end. If it is up to Jeff Arnold, it will.

State Representative 103rd Representative District:

Mike Bayham

Mike Bayham is an example of tenacity against the odds. The former St. Bernard Councilman has faced a well-funded Republican opponent backed by David Vitter, and two other contenders, and still, he is within inches of making a runoff in this New Orleans East, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines seat.
We are not surprised. No elected official works harder for his constituents, campaigns harder, and lives for the electorate with greater commitment than Mike Bayham.

JEFFERSON PARISH ELECTIONS

Jefferson Parish Council, District 2:

Walt Bennetti

When one needs the definition of a civic activist who speaks truth to power, one should look up Walt Bennetti’s profile on the Internet. The founder of ClickJefferson.com, he has stood up against sweetheart contracts government for years. There is only one way to clean up the Augean Stables of corruption resting in Gretna & Elmwood. That is to elect Walt Bennetti on Saturday.

Jefferson Parish Council, District 3:

No Recommendation

There are a slew of candidates seeking this African American-majority seat on the Jefferson Council. We have had insufficient time to interview everyone. All seem good men, but our editors will make a recommendation in the runoff.

BESE District 1:

Jim Garvey

This East Jefferson district which also includes parts of Uptown New Orleans is currently represented by Jim Garvey, who has put forth a tireless focus on turning around failing schools during his four-year tenure on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The incumbent is posed to earn a second term, facing only political newcomers, yet is worthy of support on his merits.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS RECOMMENDATIONS:

No. 1. YES. This proposal would dedicate much of the state’s tobacco settlement to providing a permanent funding source for the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS). It establishes a stable trust fund for the most popular scholarship program in the state, a fund that future legislators cannot raid at whim.

Critics note that it also renews $.05 tax on Cigarettes dedicated to health care. This is a long established tax, and Governor Jindal effectively forced the legislature to put in a constitutional amendment, after he vetoed its renewal. While we would prefer the two issues to be voted upon separately, we can hardly fault a tax measure that would be decided by the electorate. The money would also provide badly needed resources to local hospitals. Please vote in favor.

No. 2. YES. Our state retirement fund faces bankruptcy. This amendment is a “baby-step” toward reducing the Unfunded Accrued Liability (“UAL”) in the state retirement system. The law already allows this as a use of the non-recurring money to pay the UAL, but this would mandate a small amount of the surplus revenues toward paying down the $18 billion deficit in the state retirement systems. It’s about reducing a huge financial burden that will fall on our children and grandchildren.

No. 3. YES. It should not be necessary to spell out in the constitution the obvious; do not raid trust funds. This amendment mandates what is right, giving constitutional protection to the Patients’ Com­pensation Fund which is funded solely by premiums paid by healthcare providers.

Better put, as good government advocate C.B. Forgotston noted to the Weekly, “This is a case of the leges telling us that they cannot be trusted not to dip into this privately-fund program. At least, they are being honest for once.”

No. 4. NO. This deals with the Budget Stabilization Fund (erroneously referred to as the “Rainy Day Fund”). We, the voters, established this fund in 1990 and now the legislators seek to change the rules on when they have to pay back the money they take from the fund.

If the amendment passes it makes it easier for the House and Senate to delay the repayment of money borrowed from the fund, defeating the original intent which was to make the state less dependent on mineral taxes.

No. 5. YES. This amendment merely changes the existing constitutional provision from “a parish of over 450,000” to “Orleans Parish” to conform to the latest Census figures. It deals with the sale of property to pay delinquent property taxes in Orleans Parish — ONLY. It must pass both statewide and in Orleans Parish to become law.

This article was originally published in the October 17, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper