There was plenty to be hashed out at the meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) of Thursday, June 14, 2018. Let’s break it down by video segment:
LSP Trooper Daryl Thomas flatly denies committing payroll fraud and slams an investigative report by Fox8’s Lee Zurik as he pleads with the LSPC to not suspend him without pay and the LSPC’s response.
As is obvious from the preceding video, Thomas is emphatic that far more egregious violations have been committed by LSP Troopers. Thomas elaborated to Advocate reporter Jim Mustian during an executive session of the meeting.
Next, there was a discussion of a Motion for Summary Judgment (i.e. dismiss all charges) on yet another Zurik investigative report entailing a Las Vegas detour en route to a San Diego convention:
LSPC deliberates Motions to Dismiss charges by “Vegas crew.”
On a previous Sound Off Louisiana feature, we were asked to contact the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA), David Young, and inquire about the process by which the LSTA decides whether it will pay the defense costs for any given trooper who files an appeal of a disciplinary action with the LSPC. We reproduce that paragraph of the feature’s segment below:
We contacted Young on Friday, December 15, 2017, and he indicated that, whenever an LSP Trooper desires to appeal a disciplinary action to the LSPC, as a member of the LSTA (which he indicated “93% – 94% of active troopers are members”), he or she may ask to have the legal representation costs covered by the LSTA. The process entails the trooper appearing before the LSTA Board of Directors, and a closed-door meeting takes place during which the trooper supplies the relevant facts and documentation to the Board. The Board then takes a vote and, if approved, LSTA funds are then allocated to provide legal representation to the trooper using attorney Floyd Falcon, Jr., who was first admitted to practice law in Louisiana in 1972, as the attorney who will represent the trooper.
We contacted Young again today, June 14, 2018, and he indicated that the LSTA Board of Directors has met entailing providing the funds for the defense of the “Vegas crew” troopers, and that each trooper has been approved for his defense costs to be borne by the LSTA.
Next, the LSPC discussed changing the venue of its August meeting to Monroe, Louisiana to accommodate witnesses entailing the appeal of LSP Trooper Joseph Jones, who took exception to his son’s high school football coach allegedly permitting Vodka and beer to be consumed by football players (to the point of intoxication by most everyone, including the coach) and that same coach allegedly while plastered by alcohol, then, “beating his (Trooper Jones’) son up pretty bad, almost to unconsciousness.”
Other players reportedly called Trooper Jones in a state of near panic and, when Trooper Jones arrived, that’s when he let his sentiments on the matter be known. Sound Off Louisiana will make the trip to Monroe for the August 9, 2018 hearing and videotape the proceedings as we are told there are quite a few subplots to this incident that should be intriguing. The football coach was fired, and it is not known who filed a complaint against Trooper Jones.
LSPC discusses moving August meeting to Monroe, Louisiana.
Here’s a little more background on the incident that will be deliberated on August 9, 2018 in Monore:
Fox14 feature on Sterlington High School football coach altercation.
Finally, the LSPC accepted the resignation of member Michael W. Neustrom, who provided the rationale for his resignation:
Member Neustrom explains his resignation from the LSPC.
NOTE: For historical videos of LSPC meetings in their entireties, CLICK HERE.
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Proposed city of St. George organizer Andrew Murrell
Two organizers for the movement to form a new city in Southeast Baton Rouge, St. George, Andrew Murrell and Chris Rials, spoke to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday, June 11, 2018. Let’s break down what all they had to say and their responses to media and press members’ questions:
Murrell responds to a question by Sound Off Louisiana’s Robert Burns about the integrity of the petition-signing process vs. what it was in a previous effort several years ago. In his response, Murrell expresses concern that EBRP Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome may tie the incorporation effort up in court.
Rials presents what he referencs as “the most efficient city we researched, Sandy Springs, Georgia.” Murrell was subsequently hit with a barrage of questions entailing whether the proposed City of St. George can replicate that success and not be challenged by growth of the proposed city, with one question going so far as to question whether a breakoff of the breakoff may transpire in the future.
Rials cites the inefficiency and bloat of the EBRP Library system as one reason for his group’s efforts.
Rials and Murrell address the genesis of the movement (i.e. separate school system) and Murrell addresses repetitive questions by The Advocate’s Rebekah Allen entailing making a “promise” that future St. George residents won’t see an increase in their taxes to fund education within any newly-formed city.
Murrell responds to a question entailing how many signatures have been gathered, how many are required, and how the organizers are funding the initiative. Here’s a link for the St. George Louisiana website he references.
Murrell responds to a reporter’s question about “crime being more of a North Baton Rouge problem,” after which he was forced into a mini-debate with The Advocate’s Andrea Gallo (who authored this article on the presentation) about the degree of legacy costs (e.g. pensions, etc.) for which any new St. George city would be held responsible.
Murrell responds to a question from former candidate for Attorney General (2015) Ike Jackson entailing whether a St. George city may be hit with requests for corporate exemptions (which Jackson characterized as “giveaways”) upon the formation of a new school district for any City of St. George.
Murrell responds to a question about “comparable cities of 100,000 or so in Louisiana” and a characterization that the St. George proposed budget “smells.”
Murrell responds to a question that he essentially deemed nonsensical by BRPC Member Remi DeLouche. Perhaps our subscribers can better understand what Remi may have been trying to ask!!
CLICK HERE for Murrell and Rials’ presentation in its entirety.
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Rep. Alan Seabaugh, as he questions the germaneness of HB-12, authored by Rep. Walt Leger, of the Second Special Session.
In our previous feature, we went to excruciating lengths to demonstrate that the Louisiana Senate, and most especially Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, failed to exercise even a modicum of bill scrutiny by not even questioning the constitutionality of HB-12 authored by Walt Leger in the most recent special session.
We singled Claitor out because, as explained in the preceding post, Sen. Claitor actually litigated a previous Act of the Legislature when it became readily apparent it was unconstitutional based upon an amendment’s germaneness and the bill having multiple objects.
Since Sen. Claitor has such past experience, one would have thought he would have severe reservations about HB-12. Apparently, he did not.
Rep. Seabaugh has now gone to great lengths to explain his actions of Monday night. Being blunt, his commentary ought to be required reading for all students in Louisiana high school and college history classes, high school civics classes, and most certainly college political science classes!
With that in mind, we believe it’s time to highlight all 63 members of the Louisiana House of Representatives who chose to openly defy Rep. Seabaugh’s admonitions about constitutionality, the reinforcement thereof by Louisiana House Speaker Taylor Barras, and (by inference) the legal opinion of Louisiana House Clerk Alfred “Butch” Speer (who most assuredly gave Speaker Barras the guidance of how to handle Seabaugh’s question).
Before we do that, however, let’s provide what may likely be the shortest video of any Sound Off Louisiana post and show our subscribers a brief clip of Seabaugh’s challenging the germaneness of the bill and House Speaker Taylor Barras’ commentary thereafter:
Seabaugh poses question of germaneness of Louisiana Senate amendments to HB-12 and Speaker Barras provides an answer.
Now, we are about to itemize off the 63 members of the House of Representatives who openly defied the guidance depicted in the video above and voted in favor of HB-12; however, let’s make one point first.
Not content with one bite at the apple entailing a bill that would almost assuredly be judged unconstitutional in the courts, as the clock literally was ready to expire on the entire session Monday night, a motion was made to reconsider the measure. Who made it? Well, that would be Rep. Julie Stokes, whose quest for becoming Louisiana’s next Secretary of State now appears to be a complete joke.
Why do we say that? Well, the bill would have needed to pick up seven more votes to pass. Clearly, Stokes, whose name ironically won’t appear itemized below because she requested that her vote be officially changed from “yes” to “no” for the sole purpose of becoming a member of the prevailing side (thus enabling her to have the ability to request reconsideration), would have been one of those seven, thus making the deficit only six (as it actually was mere seconds after the vote and before Stokes requested the vote change entailing her own vote).
However, for Stokes to openly taunt Seabaugh in the manner we are about to present in the following brief video clip as if it were a pickup basketball game and she’s yelling and pointing “it’s on you, buddy” as if to be calling Seabaugh for a personal foul in the basketball game, is simply beyond the pale!
Stokes’ act of taunting someone trying to save Louisiana from needless litigation over a bill with clear constitutional challenges, at least in our minds, makes her abjectly unqualified to serve as our next Louisiana Secretary of State. Here’s Stokes’ performance for those who may perhaps be more forgiving of it than us:
Rep. Julie Stokes’ open taunting of Rep. Alan Seabaugh.
All right folks. We now shamefully present to you the 63 members of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of HB-12 on its initial vote prior to the second video clip above:
CLICK HERE to ascertain whom your Louisiana State Representative and Louisiana Senator are if you’re not sure. All you have to do is supply the brief requested information. Thereafter, you can request your polling location and also whom your elected officials are. When the list comes up, simply observe your Louisiana State Representative and your Louisiana Senator. Then all you have to do is see if that Representative or that Senator’s name and photo appear below as having voted to blatantly ignore Louisiana’s Constitution and cast a vote in support of Rep. Walt Leger’s bill as hijacked and made unconstitutional by Sen. J. P. Morrell:
(Red = Representative is term-limited and cannot run for re-election in 2019).
Rep. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles,
District 36 Phone: (337) 475-3016[email protected]
If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops). 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.
