Sound Off Louisiana

Stephen Holliday, Gov. Edwards’ Director of Commercial Trucking within the Office of Multimodial Commerce.

Viewers will recall our first feature entailing Gov. Edwards’ controversial hiring Stephen Holliday, who presently serves as the Commercial Trucking Director of the Office of Multimodal Commerce.  For this Sound Off Louisiana feature, we’re going to dispense with our usual obligatory video (though a brief, one-minute video exists on our prior feature if anyone would like to view it) and get straight into providing more detail (along with our support documents) on Holliday’s “domestic abuse.”

Let’s consider the following sequence of events which we’ve now been told transpired:

1.  Holliday is hired by Edwards in 2016 as an Executive Management Officer for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).

2.  The then-Secretary of LDWF, Charlie Melancon, uncovers the fact Holliday had a domestic abuse conviction the prior year and therefore seeks Holliday’s immediate resignation, which Holliday reluctantly provides.

3.  Edwards convinces Melancon to resign.

4.  Edwards insists LDWF re-hire Holliday, but the agency refuses.

5.  After staying in limbo for about a year, Holliday is quietly hired to his present position in January, 2018.

Why was Edwards so adamant that Holliday be hired?  Simple.  Because his attorney cabal of supporters, the same crew of characters who arranged for a New Orleans blogger to conduct a video interview with a prostitute who would state (falsely) that then-U. S. Sen. David Vitter, Edwards’ opponent, “got me pregnant and then insisted that I have an abortion” told him to.  That’s why!  They went to those lengths because they feared Vitter’s “Together Louisiana Strong” platform to institute tort reform (and most especially reducing the jury trial threshold to zero) in Louisiana.  In short, Vitter was going to annihilate their business model (the ones that keep the television station ads going non-stop during daytime TV shows and on evening newscasts).

Well, let’s just examine exactly what that attorney cabal managed to pull off by flexing their collective muscles with old “Honor Code” shall we?

 First, we have the Affidavit of Probably Cause on Holliday’s arrest.  Let’s take a look here’s a link for the Domestic Battery Abuse Statute :

Now, by our own admission, the arresting officer’s handwriting is not the best, so we’ve created a document with his written account typed, which follows:

So, we have “Honor Code” Gov. Edwards’ attorney cabal flexing their muscles to go to bat for Mr. Holliday whom, as is easily ascertained above, struck his daughter with a closed fist in the face and left forearm, thus causing the school nurse to need to alert authorities.

Next, as part of ongoing arrangement for Holliday and his former wife to provide for their daughter, a fairly routine judgment was entered into Court on January 20, 2016 calling for each parent’s financial responsibilities for the young lady.  However, as perhaps could be expected given Holliday’s actions (e.g. running from police) in our first feature, Holliday didn’t cooperate.  Accordingly, his ex-wife initiated Contempt of Court proceedings.

We are told that, while working at LDWF, Holiday would be “hold up” in an office unwilling to come out or answer the door.  That is quite plausible because, unable to serve Holliday with the Contempt of Court documents, his ex-wife had to resort to hiring a private process-server, who ultimately got him served at 8:40 a.m. on October 5, 2016:

The list of potential witnesses which his ex-wife supplied to the Court for the Contempt of Court hearing makes for interesting viewing as well.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

Holliday saw fit to honor the Court with his presence for the hearing on October 11, 2016, at which time a Consent Judgment was agreed to and formally entered into the Court record on November 16, 2016, and the Rule for Contempt of Court against Holliday was dismissed

We reached out to Gov. Edwards Office for comment, but they have not responded to our phone call seeking comment nor our email seeking comment.  Of course, that just may be because that, when Gov. Edwards appeared at the Baton Rouge Press Club on January 7, 2019 and Robert Burns was engaging in an exchange with LaTonya Smith Scott, AARP’s State Communications Director, after the meeting and after Scott had grilled Gov. Edwards on home health care for Louisiana’s elderly population, Richard Carbo, Edwards’ newly appointed Campaign Chairman, came right up, interrupted the conversation between Scott and Burns and told Scott, “Don’t listen to him.  He doesn’t publish anything but junk.”  Perhaps we’ve pleased Mr. Carbo with this latest installment of “junk.”

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Stephen Holliday, Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Commercial Trucking Director of the “Office of Multimodal Commerce.”

In today’s edition of Sound Off Louisiana, founder Robert Burns provides a brief (just over a minute) introduction of Gov. Edwards again flaunting his 2015 “Honor Code” with his repetitive hiring of Stephen Holliday:

Burns provides brief overview of the disgraced Stephen Holliday and why Edwards was so adamant about him being hired, despite his despicable past acts to include a DOMESTIC ABUSE CONVICTION in 2015 MERE MONTHS before Edwards took office.

Stephen Holliday was convicted of domestic abuse in 2015 (see below).  Nevertheless, Gov. Edwards has, for a SECOND time in his first term,  awarded him a lucrative Executive Position within his Administration.

Since January 2018, Holliday has served as the Commercial Trucking Director of the “Office of Multimodal Commerce.”  With the exception of possibly driving a truck drunk (see below), Holliday has no prior experience related to commercial trucking.

The office he “oversees” is yet another layer of bureaucracy within DOTD.  The Office was created  via Act 719 of the 2014 Louisiana Legislature.

Ironically, in creating this new Division, the author of the legislation, State Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, stated that his legislation would “help the state capitalize on potential business opportunities.”

The Hayride’s Scott McKay had an interesting encounter with Chabert on Monday, May 22, 2017, and McKay has characterized Chabert as “another nail in the coffin” of political conservatism at the State Capitol.

Given Edwards’ hiring of Holliday, it sure as heck looks to us like, contrary to Chabert’s statement that the newly-formed bureaucracy would “help the state capitalize on potential business opportunities,” what it’s serving as is a mechanism for governors like John Bel Edwards to use as slush funds for pure rank pork to engage in political cronyism .

For example and hypothetically, let’s just suppose for a moment that Baton Rouge attorney Ted Jones, who is known to have played a significant financial role in Edwards’ 2015 election to become Governor, were to lean upon Edwards to help Holliday out (they’re believed to have close family ties), could that explain Edwards’ apparent ease with which he abandoned his much-touted West Point Honor Code and thereafter hired a convicted domestic abuser?  Heck, if Jones or any other attorney hypothetically leaned on Edwards to hire Holliday, if he’s such a great cracker jack attorney, why didn’t any such leaner (Jones or otherwise) step up to the plate and hire him at their own firm(s) rather than dumping him off as a deadhead to the taxpayers of Louisiana?

If someone did “lean” on Gov. Edwards for the taxpayers to provide Holliday with a deadhead job (and sources tell us that such a “leaning” on Edwards  most assuredly transpired), then it sure looks to us like Chabert’s legislation has allowed someone who could never hold down a job in the private sector with his despicable conduct (see below), to enable the “good ole Louisiana State Government Tit” to be there to supply plenty of taxpayer milk!  Perhaps that explains why historically only 11% of Louisiana gas taxes have gone to actual highway, road, and bridge construction and repair  or why, Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport), who is seeking to be Louisiana’s next Speaker of the House, was not at all off base when he called for whopping off about 3,000 heads at DOTD!

Now, as we’ve mentioned, Edwards hired Holliday not once, but twice!  Holliday was first hired by Edwards in 2016 as an Executive Management Officer for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).  Sources have stated that Holliday’s resignation from LDWF came as a result of former LDWF Secretary Charlie Melancon becoming aware of the domestic abuse conviction.  Melancon felt compelled to seek Holliday’s resignation as a result of Melancon’s own exploitation during his 2010 campaign for U. S. Senator, at which time he hammered Vitter over an aide having engaged in domestic abuse.   Apparently, Melancon felt a need to be consistent in his strong stand against domestic abusers whereas Edwards, as evidenced by him hiring Holliday at the Office of Multimodal Commerce, WHEN HE KNEW DARN WELL HOLLIDAY HAD COMMITTED DOMESTIC ABUSE, can conveniently let his “Honor Code” phase in and out.

Also, as we’ve already stated before, and as relayed in this Times Picayune article, Edwards was obviously oblivious to Johnny Anderson’s past history at Southern University, which was readily available to Edwards and included sexual harassment claims by nine (9) women!

Will the many women who were justifiably outraged at Vitter having such a person on his staff, particularly the female “Republicans for John Bel Edwards” have the same outrage with Edwards over his hiring of Holliday, not once, but TWICE?  Will they demand Holliday’s immediate resignation?  For that matter, will the mainstream media even bother with reporting on Edwards’ hypocrisy regarding hiring a domestic abuser, or does the mainstream media view that only as a sin for Vitter?

So, we have a pretty simple question at this point:  Is THIS the type of “Honor Code” voters, particularly those “Republicans for John Bel Edwards” signed up for when they supported him to be a Governor who would “not lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate those who do?”  We’ll see if there are any thoughts from those Republicans on how all that is working out, particularly women who may be offended at his efforts to provide for a convicted domestic abuser by awarding him such lucrative positions within his Administration.

Support Links for this Feature (together with other findings of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel such as Holliday driving around intoxicated with a minor child in the passenger seat, bashing in his ex-wife’s boyfriend’s truck WHILE HOLDING HIS CHILD IN THE OTHER HAND, falsely stating (i.e. lying) that a Gold Club stripper was driving his vehicle after he fled from police after another traffic stop, etc. — in other words, just the type person to fit the bill for Edwards’ commitment to “not tolerate those who lie, cheat or steal.”):

1.  Louisiana ODC recommendation of August 18, 2008.

2.  Holliday’s bar suspension for DOMESTIC ABUSE in 2015.

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Louisina State Police Commission Member Jared Caruso-Riecke

Subscribers may recall our coverage of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) meeting of January 10, 2019 during which retired trooper Leon “Bucky” Millet called for the “immediate resignations” of three LSPC Members over what he alleged were improper and illegal campaign contributions.

At the LSPC meeting of Thursday, February 14, 2019, Member Jared Caruso-Riecke, one of the three whom Millet filed complaints against, dressed Millet down regarding his presentation at the previous meeting.  Here’s a video of what Caruso-Riecke had to say to Millet:

Caruso-Riecke dresses down Millet.

Millet was provided with an opportunity to respond to Caruso-Riecke.  Here’s what Millet had to say:

Millet responds to Caruso-Riecke.

Executive Director Jason Hannaman addressed the broader issue of the status of the investigations of all three members’ complaints:

Hannaman addresses status of investigations.  As Member Riecke references in the video above, we have already provided his official response in full.  Responses from the other two members were provided at the meeting:   Simien’s response and  Pierite’s response.

Subscribers may also recall that then-trooper member Jeffrey Foss issued a scathing rebuke of the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA) after it openly questioned his vote (which turned out to be the deciding vote) regarding the appeal of Trooper Joseph Jones.  A variety of factors Foss took under consideration led to his retirement from LSP effective January 31, 2019.  Accordingly, Hannaman had to address obtaining a replacement for his position.  Here’s what Hannaman had to say on that:

Hannaman discusses replacing LSPC Trooper representative Foss.

In addition to Millet’s complaints against the three LSPC members, he also filed one against the LSTA.  At the January 10, 2019 meeting, the LSPC deferred that discussion to February 14, 2019.  Here’s a video of that matter:

LSPC discusses Millet’s complaint against the LSTA.  The LSTA also provided an official response to Millet’s allegation.

The meeting’s time was substantially dominated by consideration of proposed Circular 196.  Here’s video of that discussion:

LSPC discusses proposed Circular 196.

As always, historical videos of LSPC meetings are available at this website, which is also profiled as a feature sister website assessable from any post we make on Sound Off Louisiana. 

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