Month: August 2018

Louisiana State Rep. John E. “Johnny” Guinn, the newest member of AFP’s “takers dozen.”

On Tuesday, August 14, 2018, Louisiana State Representative John E. “Johnny” Guinn, R-Jennings, became the eighth member inducted into Americans for Prosperity’s (AFP) “Takers Dozen.”  In inducting Guinn, AFP cited these votes on Guinn’s part that earned him that induction:

• Hiking Louisiana’s sales tax by 25%.

• Voting to tax online purchases.

• Voting to raise taxes on small businesses.

• Voting to extend a sales tax that residents were promised would be temporary.

We’d like to take this opportunity to educate our subscribers on another crucial (and illegal) means for which Guinn has openly advocated “taking.”  That would be the illegal practice of shill bidding at auctions.

In October of 2009, then-Rep. Damon Baldone, D-Houma, attended a real estate auction of a home in Thibodaux which was on the National Register  of Historic Places and which was being auctioned  by auctioneer Barbara Bonnette.  Baldone, who is an attorney and real estate broker, registered to bid at the auction, and he purported that, though there were numerous onlookers, only three (3) bidders registered, and each bidder was required to provide a $50,000 certified check to be a qualified bidder.

Baldone represented that he personally knew the bidder who bid $650,000 and that he was a serious bidder who would purchase the property.  Accordingly, Baldone had no qualms outbidding him and raised the bid to $675,000.  What happened next is the subject of some debate, but Baldone asserts that Bonnette stated from the stand that Baldone’s bid of $675,000 had been topped by a bidder, whom he could not see nor hear, who was purported to bid $700,000.  The bid assistants then approached Baldone and placed pressure upon him to up his bid to $725,000.  Baldone refused and indicated that they could go ahead and sell it to the $700,000 bidder because he had reached his hard limit and emphatically declared himself to be “out.”

What happened next is truly bizarre (to be extremely kind), but nobody disputes that Bonnette stated, “It turns out that $700,000 bid was not from a qualified bidder, so sir (Baldone), you’re back in at $675,000.”  Baldone had a strong suspicion that he was the victim of a shill bid, which entails having a plant in the bidding audience who jacks up the bid for the sole purpose of increasing the bid on the part of a legitimate bidder.  Actually, if Baldone was correct in his assertion, he was actually the victim of “phantom bidding,” which has been described as the “evil cousin” of shill bidding, and is a technique (illegally) deployed by auctioneers to (illegally) jack up the bid when there are few bidders but tons of curious onlookers.

We should point out at this time that auctions are often conducted with a “buyer’s premium.”  That’s how the auctioneer is compensated.  In the auction referenced above, the buyer’s premium was 10%.  Hence, when Baldone bid $675,000, he was actually bidding $742,500 ($675,000 x 1.10).  Baldone was furious at what happened, which he described as “down right theft” (and to which Robert Burns, a real estate auctioneer at the time and founder of Sound Off Louisiana, concurs).  Baldone quickly realized that, if the phantom bid he alleges transpired was in fact deployed and had succeeded, it was an attempt to grab $55,000 right out of his pocket ($50,000 added bid plus 10% buyer’s premium).

Needless to say, he was not happy!  Accordingly, he filed HB-1439 in the 2010 Legislative Session to criminalize the practice of shill bidding.  The Chairman of the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board (LALB) at the time, James “Kenneth” Comer, was very upset at Baldone filing the bill.  Accordingly, he insisted that Executive Director Sandy Edmonds, during times that he wasn’t permitting her to commit blatant payroll fraud by relaxing on beaches, visiting Disneyworld, sightseeing in New York, etc., call auctioneers throughout the state to have them show up and testify against the bill.  When Edmonds called Burns, who was a then-LALB member, he first told her that what she was doing was an ethics violation in that Comer, as an LALB member, could not lobby auctioneers to testify for or against a pending bill.  Burns also informed Edmonds that he would be showing up in his individual capacity and testifying in favor of Baldone’s bill.  Burns stated his frustration to Edmonds at how pandemic the illegal practice of shill bidding is and that it was just a matter of time before a politician was victimized and took that type of action.

True to his word, Burns showed up and testified FOR the bill.  Here’s video of his testimony:

Burns testifies, in his individual capacity as an auctioneer, IN FAVOR of the bill.

Bonnette also showed up and thoroughly embarrassed herself to the point that, as evidenced in the video just linked, she had to be interrupted by the chairman and told, “that’s not relevant.”  Her embarrassing performance was followed by convicted felon Marvin Henderson’s testimony against the bill wherein he named consignors who have consigned equipment to his auctions for which he deployed shill bidding.

Although he did not testify on the bill, Guinn was in the audience mingling with the 19 auctioneers and associates whose names were read into the record in opposition to the bill.  Immediately after the bill was involuntarily deferred (effectively killing the bill) by a vote of 8-3, led by then Rep. Bodi White, R-Central, Guinn confronted Burns in the hallway, and he was nothing short of irate!  Guinn, who was accompanied by approximately 10 auctioneers who were equally irate at Burns, chose to reference Burns as “a sack of s@!@” and further told him to “go straight to hell.”  Because Guinn opted to place his right index finger on Burns’ shoulder as he made those points, upon the advice of Burns’ attorney, Burns filed a police report containing the statements Guinn made, which included Guinn’s own admission that, “hell yes, I’ve run up the bid,” and excused the action as being necessary to, “put clothes on my kids’ backs.”  At the August 2, 2010 LALB meeting, Guinn stated his “embarrassment” at Burns’ testimony.  Auctioneer Joe Massey took it a step further and stated that Burns had “stabbed me in the back.”  At the same meeting, Henderson, the convicted felon, voiced his extreme anger at Burns.

On August 30, 2010, Guinn sent a letter to then-Gov. Jindal indicating that “numerous auctioneers throughout Louisiana” requested that Jindal remove Burns from the LALB.  Jindal wasted little time acquiescing to Guinn’s request, and Burns was terminated from the LALB on September 10, 2010 after refusing Jindal’s prior request that Burns voluntarily resign.

While Guinn was busy seeking Burns’ ouster by Jindal, Comer, the then-LALB Chairman, was also busy filing an ethics complaint against Burns for his testimony.  That complaint was summarily dismissed upon the ethics investigators viewing Burns’ testimony above and quickly concluding that Burns was testifying in his own capacity as an auctioneer and not in his capacity as an LALB member.  Though Burns mentioned the fact he was an LALB member, that was merely a statement of fact, and at no time did Burns ever state what the LALB’s position on the shill bidding initiative was (though they had taken a vote to issue a resolution in opposition to HB-1439 for which Burns was the only dissenting vote).

So, we at Sound Off Louisiana certainly believe AFP made a wise selection of Guinn as a “taker” and hope this feature has enlightened our subscribers as to just how resolved not only Guinn, but the vast majority of auctioneers in Louisiana, stand fully prepared to go to the mat illegally taking money from auction bidders through the illegal practice of shill (or phantom) bidding.  If folk are still brave enough to bid at Louisiana auctions, we recommend they watch out for those ghostly shill and phantom bidders.  They’re known to reach right into your pocket and grab your cash!

We will have a second installment to this feature on Guinn to reflect his antics on the floor of the House of Representatives entailing Sen. Milkovich’s SB-260 during the 2018 Louisiana legislative session.  We believe you’ll find that feature fascinating.

As a concluding remark, our recent feature on high school football coach Jack Goode has exploded in popularity after being spotted by Lincoln Parish blogger Walter Abbot.  Accordingly, we updated that feature with the following insert:

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UPDATE (8/16/18):

This feature was picked up by Lincoln Parish blogger Walter Abbot.  He, in turn, notified Ouachita Citizen reporter Zach Parker, who, in turn, published this extensive article on the subject.

In reading Parker’s article, it’s VERY obvious that three elected officials [the Ouachita Parish School Board President, Jerry Hicks, (see center seated gentleman for photo), Ouachita Parish Sheriff Jay Russell, and Fourth JDC District Attorney Robert Tew] are treating this as a (pun intended) political football which nobody wants to touch. 

Guess any efforts to keep all this hush-hush have failed and will likely provide valuable ammunition for any challengers to their offices in upcoming elections.

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Louisiana House Speaker Taylor Barras

U. S. Congressman and veterinarian Ralph Abraham recently filed a bill to help stop the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among the nation’s deer population. The following press release provides more details on Abraham’s bill:

Notice that three of the original four cosponsors of the bill are from the state of Pennsylvania.  That’s no accident.  Pennsylvania is known to have some of the most prized trophy deer in the nation, but the state’s deer population has also had the misfortune of being afflicted by CWD, which is something Louisiana’s deer population has thus far been spared of.

Amazingly enough, Louisiana’s most prominent dentist, Don Donaldson, who appears to hold tremendous sway over Louisiana Legislators (particularly with Louisiana House Speaker Taylor Barras) was recently charged by a Mississippi Federal Court of violating the Lacey Act for smuggling deer from Pennsylvania from a herd which tested positive for CWD into three holding pens in Louisiana located in Lake Charles, Carencro, and Franklinton.  Several deliveries of deer were taken in trailers to the Turkey Trot Ranch, a high-end hunting ranch in Mississippi controlled by Donaldson and said to be a favorite hunting destination for Louisiana legislators with close ties to Donaldson and with whom he seeks to curry favor.  A total of 55 deer were purchased for an amount exceeding $200,000.  Donaldson was to provide the funds for purchasing the deer and covering maintenance costs.   Let’s take a close look at just what the Feds charged Donaldson on:

On September 8, 2017, Donaldson entered into a plea agreement in Federal Court in Mississippi in which he pled guilty to a misdemeanor act of violating the Lacey Act.  In accordance with the plea agreement and despite the fact it was a misdemeanor rather than a felony to which he pled guilty, Donaldson faces up to a one-year Federal prison sentence or five years probation along with a fine of up to $100,000.

Many Sound Off Louisiana subscribers will recall our intense focus this past legislative session on Sen. John Milkovich’s SB-260.  The measure would provide licensees of occupational licensing boards, including the Louisiana Board of Dentistry (LBD), who have the misfortune of being called before such a board for an administrative hearing, to have the option to have his hearing adjudicated by an administrative law judge rather than the board itself.  The measure was specifically intended to provide relief to licensees, particularly those of the LBD, to avoid a Kangaroo Court proceeding wherein they’d been subject to intimidation, harassment, and Mafia-like tactics to engage in acts that essentially amount to extortion.  Sound Off Louisiana has received more pleas from dentists to expose the LBD’s corruption than any other state agency in Louisiana!  Many subscribers may recall we exposed Louisiana Senate committee testimony on Milkovich’s bill demonstrating dentists’ anger at the Mafia-like tactics of the LBD.

Milkovich’s bill sailed through the Louisiana Senate without ONE SINGLE “no” vote.  Once his bill reached the House side, where Donaldson could exert his influence over many House Republicans, most especially Louisiana House Speaker Taylor Barras, his bill hit a ton of turbulence.  Let’s take a close look at the final House vote on the bill with Republican “no” votes highlighted, shall we?

The above vote highlights 18 House Republicans, led by none other than House Speaker Taylor Barras, who voted AGAINST the measure.  Hence, they are against providing licensees of corrupt occupational licensing boards such as the LBD, the fundamental right to have Kangaroo Court proceedings such as the LBD has extensively conducted in the past be adjudicated by a fair and impartial administrative law judge instead of the Mafia-like members of the board!

In short, we at Sound Off Louisiana view ANY legislator who voted “no” on the measure to be unworthy of serving in ANY elected capacity!  PERIOD!!!!!!!!  We have therefore framed that vote, and we will actively oppose the candidacy of any legislator listed under the “no” column!  PERIOD!!  We have heard speculation that Speaker Barras, who is term-limited, may seek election as Lieutenant Governor next year.  If so, we will oppose his candidacy tooth and nail!!

So, why did Barras (and 16 of his Republican colleagues) cast the “no” vote?  Well, that would be due to Donaldson’s extensive political contributions.  The extensive contributions outlined on the preceding link only include direct contributions from Donaldson and do not include dental PACs.  One lobbyist whom we contacted stated, “Donaldson has a bazillion dollars and he makes use of it with legislators in Louisiana.”  Let’s focus in strictly on Barras’ contributions, since his vote of “no” was the most stunning of all to us at Sound Off Louisiana, shall we?

So, for a mere $4,000, it would appear Barras is more than happy to permit the LBD’s historical corruption to continue unabated!

Let’s take it a step further to demonstrate Donaldson’s influence, shall we?  Let’s provide the following 35-second video in which former LBD staffer Diana Chenevert testified before the House and Governmental Affairs Committee on May 8, 2018 and, the second she mentions Donaldson’s name, she’s quickly told by Acting Chair Stephen Pugh (R-Ponchatoula), who also appears prominently among the “no” votes, that she needs to “wrap it up.”  Let’s take a peek:

Chenevert is immediately cut off when she merely mentions Donaldson’s name 9 seconds into the above video.

If one  clicks on this link of Senate committee testimony on Milkovich’s bill, one quickly sees the “standard close-out letter” for which Louisiana Inspector General Stephen Street has obtained a patent indicating, “the evidence (of corrupt practices by the LBD) did not support criminal charges.”  One dentist has led the charge entailing LBD corruption, and he’s repeatedly expressed his frustration directly to Louisiana Inspector General Stephen Street and was kind enough to include us on his latest such communication of Friday, August 10, 2018.  Nevertheless, all he ever receives from Street is that patented letter of excuses from Street regarding why his office will take no action and instead, true to that patent he’s had since 2008 when he took office, has “closed our file” on the matter.  Our dentist source also stated that two inspectors with Street’s office resigned simultaneously to the closing out of Street’s “investigation” into the LBD.

Louisiana citizens often ponder how corruption can be so rampant in Louisiana.  One reason may well be that a picture is emerging wherein Street, who cares only about continuing to receive his own salary (lest he end up having more Federal tax liens filed against him), has a ton of dirt on members of the Louisiana legislature.  He is willing to be the straw fake inspector over Louisiana governmental operations and easily manage to find ways to “close files” in exchange for corrupt legislators agreeing to continue funding his office, which has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster since it was awarded limited law-enforcement status in 2008.  That single act is now appearing to be one of the biggest mistakes the Louisiana Legislature has ever made in its history!

Okay, so what about those deer?  Well, yesterday, August 13, 2018, Federal judge Keith Starrett issued the final order for the depopulation of the deer at Turkey Trot Ranch.  The judge weighed the potential harm to Mississippi’s deer population if a CWD-infected deer were to find its way into Mississippi’s deer population (the incubation period for CWD is from 18 months to five years) versus the waste of “destroying a perfectly healthy deer herd,” so he implemented a five-year quarantine on the deer.  Donaldson lost on his desire to have an outside firm conduct testing during that five-year quarantine.  Donaldson was further ordered to submit $120,000 to the Court’s register to cover the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ estimated cost of testing and monitoring the herd during the five-year quarantine.

Now if we can only seek an order from a Louisiana Federal judge depopulating Louisiana’s legislature of members who would cast the kind of INEXCUSABLE votes depicted above on Milkovich’s bill and the sorry excuse for an Inspector General who should protect against Louisiana governmental agency corruption which runs so rampant at agencies like the LBD, we as Louisiana citizens would be MUCH, MUCH better off!

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.

Former Sterlington High School football coach Jack Goode, who now is a teacher at West Monroe High School.

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UPDATE (8/16/18):

This feature was picked up by Lincoln Parish blogger Walter Abbot.  He, in turn, notified Ouachita Citizen reporter Zach Parker, who, in turn, published this extensive article on the subject.

In reading Parker’s article, it’s VERY obvious that three elected officials [the Ouachita Parish School Board President, Jerry Hicks, (see center seated gentleman for photo), Ouachita Parish Sheriff Jay Russell, and Fourth JDC District Attorney Robert Tew] are treating this as a (pun intended) political football which nobody wants to touch. 

Guess any efforts to keep all this hush-hush have failed and will likely provide valuable ammunition for any challengers to their offices in upcoming elections.

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Sound Off Louisiana made the trip to Monroe, Louisiana on Thursday, August 9, 2018 for one specific purpose.  We desired to provide video coverage of an appeal hearing before the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC).

The appeal entailed LSP trooper Joseph Jones, who received a 40-hour suspension.  That suspension resulted from Jones’ conduct after encountering his son and others in April of 2017 in an environment wherein Sterlington High School football coach Jack Goode provided vodka to Jones’ son and other classmates.  Goode also assaulted Jones’ son after first declaring his son to be a “pussy” upon him throwing up as a result of his system’s inability to handle the vodka Goode provided.

We intentionally placed several small segments of the appeal hearing near the front of the video.  We did so because, in a first in the history of Sound Off Louisiana, we have been specifically asked to let the sentiments of the commissioners be known to as many news media outlets as possible.  They want their united front regarding expressing via letter outrage and disgust at the Ouachita Parish School Board entailing its decision to retain Goode in light of his actions.  We are happy to oblige, as we are equally appalled at the school board’s action.

The actual hearing was nearly three hours in length, but we have condensed it to under 37 minutes (and that includes a two-minute news feature which aired when the incident first transpired).  We made a decision to include in its entirety an approximate 14-minute segment entailing LSP Col. Kevin Reeves’ testimony before the LSPC because we believe his testimony provides useful insight both to troopers as well as to the general public.

With that, the following video highlights the hearing, and we encourage news outlets, especially those around Monroe, to air the LSPC’s sentiments and ask Ouachita Parish School Board officials by what logic Goode continues to be employed by that system:

Highlights of the appeal of LSP Trooper Joseph Jones.   CLICK HERE for the hearing in its entirety.

As everyone is likely aware by now, the LSPC also deliberated the fate of the “Vegas Four.”  That matter has already been covered very well by The Advocate’s Jim Mustian, so we will do nothing more than simply provide video coverage of that matter in its entirety for those who may wish to view it.

In our opinion, the action of the LSPC on that particular matter is moot because the attorney for the troopers, Floyd Falcon, went to great lengths to demonstrate that the troopers were never read their rights until long after the formal investigation had commenced.  In fact, Falcon even questioned Col. Reeves on the witness stand and asked, “If Col. Edmonson instructed McClendon (the Internal Affairs investigator) not to read them their rights, that would be a problem, right?” (see 15:13 – 15:33 segment of this video).  Also, Falcon demonstrated in pretty authoritative fashion that the investigation was not completed in a timely manner (60 days as required by policy).  Finally, many subscribers may also recall that Falcon accused LSP Col. Kevin Reeves of violating a sequestration order in a feature covered only by Sound Off Louisiana.

Falcon’s motion entailing Reeves at the “Vegas Four” hearing was clearly a maneuver taken to add further ammunition for an appeal, which, being blunt, we believe Falcon is going to have a fairly easy time prevailing on.  It will be up to Derrell Williams and Rodney Hyatt on whether they wish to pursue an appeal (Thurman Miller’s disciplinary letter of reprimand was overturned by the LSPC, so he won’t be appealing); however, we believe the smart money is on an appeal because of the matters just stated.

We asked Col. Reeves for comment on the ruling of the LSPC entailing the “Vegas Four,” which included overturning Miller’s letter of reprimand, reducing Hyatt’s demotion to a 500-hour suspension, and reducing Williams’ demotion to a 40-hour suspension.  In response, Col. Reeves provided the following statement:

“We disagree with the outcome but are certainly respectful of the State Police Commission’s appeal process and decision.   I appreciate the Commission’s work and the careful consideration they demonstrated throughout the process. I will be meeting with my senior staff and DPS Legal Affairs to determine how we move forward.”

We take the preceding statement by Reeves to indicate LSP may contemplate an appeal as well; however, we firmly believe an appeal is all but guaranteed on the parts of Hyatt and Williams.

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.