Month: May 2017

Former LALB Attorney and Convicted Felon Larry S. Bankston

On Monday, May 8, 2017, the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board (LALB) stunned many observers when it severed ties with its five-year attorney, convicted felon Larry S. Bankston:

LALB meeting of 5/8/17, during which it declined to renew the legal contract of Larry S. Bankston.

During the public comment section of the preceding video, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns referenced Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s staunch opposition to Larry Bankston serving as attorney for any board or commission.

Also, Burns stated that, “if you want to enhance the perception that you’re protecting the consumer, Mr. Bankston is not the route to go.”  As a perfect example of Burns’ contention, consider the following 90-second video of an administrative hearing entailing notoriously-problematic auctioneer Ken Buhler:

LALB meeting of 5/20/13, during which Bankston essentially serves as a de facto second defense attorney for
Ken Buhler (in addition to Buhler’s own attorney, Joseph “Beaver” Brantley) rather than assuming his proper role as a prosecuting attorney for the LALB.

As is blatantly obvious from the preceding video, Bankston was far more interested in grilling Burns about his attendance at a Buhler Federal civil trial and essentially creating a perception that it was Burns, not Buhler, who is the evil one entailing the episode.  Despite the fact that the trial was in mid 2011 and despite Bankston’s steadfast resolve to grill Burns about his attendance, Bankston had no interest in the fact that the result of the trial in question is that Buhler was assessed over $200,000 in judgments for the “fraudulent use of interstate commerce instrumentalities.”

To say that Bankston’s tenure as attorney for the LALB was tumultuous and clouded in repeated episodes of questionable ethics and outright efforts to fight consumers’ complaints (particularly Betty Jo Story, an 83-year-old widow, and Judy Fasola) notwithstanding his presumed role to assist with protecting the consumer is an understatement.  Perhaps the episode depicted in the first video above entailing Rep. Mark Meadows simply became more than either Gov. Edwards or his board members, at least those on the Auctioneer’s Licensing Board, could endure.

The big question now:  Will the Louisiana State Board of Contractors follow the LALB and vote to deny the reappointment of Larry Bankston?  Flood victims, and Attorney General Jeff Landry, will likely be watching any upcoming actions entailing Bankston very closely, especially in light of the content of the first video depicted above!   

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above. 

Cosmetologist Chris Guidry

Monday, May 1, 2017 won’t go down as a great day in history for the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology.  First, at its regular meeting of 9 a.m. that morning, Cosmetologist Chris Guidry, an open critic of the Board, who has posted in the recent past that the Board is a “straight money grab with no regard for the guest or the craft and is disgusting,” addressed the Board directly.  The following video highlights his presentation to the Board:

Guidry, an outspoken critic of the Cosmetology Board and its regulatory shortcomings,
addresses the Board and offers his suggestions for improvement.

Only a few hours later, the Board, which has held steadfast that it should not budge regarding the 500-hour educational requirement for anyone to obtain a permit to braid hair, saw legendary Institute for Justice attorney Lee McGrath testify before the Louisiana House Commerce Committee and present compelling evidence as to why Louisiana should require, as Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana would say, “none, zero, zilch, nada” license or permit requirement to braid hair in Louisiana.  Let’s take a look at highlights of that testimony:

Highlights of testimony on  HB-468, sponsored by Rep. Julie Emerson.

Meanwhile, HB-326, which would raise the cosmetology license renewal fee from $25 to $35, has stalled on the House floor.  Sound Off Louisiana has learned that Gov. Edwards’ office has been inundated with complaints about the Cosmetology Board in the last several weeks.  Viewers may recall our extensive feature on the snow job  attempted by Cosmetology Board Chairman Edwin Neill, III, and Executive Director Steve Young to cram the increase down licensees’ throats.  That attempt has met with hostile resistance, particularly in light of the covert manner in which the increase was attempted.

The viewership for the Legislature’s stream of the Commerce Committee’s hearing entailing HB-468 was high.  One viewer is extremely angered by what he contends are misrepresentations by members of the Cosmetology Board and/or its attorneys which have run rampant over the years.  When asked for an example, he supplied the following Facebook post by current Cosmetology Board Member Mike Grayson:

The reality is that the Cosmetology Board has licensed numerous nail salons, including the cosmetologist angered by Grayson’s post, to engage in waxing services.  Thus, is Grayson indicating that the Cosmetology Board staff who issued those licenses do not know the law?  Perhaps the following video in which attorney Celia Cangelosi is readily exposed as not knowing the law (despite her role as prosecuting attorney of alleged infractions) may have been of benefit to Grayson before he made his Facebook post (especially since the video emanated from a meeting conducted about a year before Grayson became a member of the Board):

Cosmetology Board attorney Celia Cangelosi is exposed to be ignorant of the law forbidding manicuring activities in esthetic salons.

Given the sordid past history of the Board, the massive litigation expenses, the chaos surrounding what is and isn’t legal to such an extent that even a prosecuting attorney doesn’t know what’s legal, perhaps Guidry has the best solution:  simply “do away with it and proceed with full-blown deregulation.”

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.