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Does a person’s affluence (e.g. an auction victim buying a home for $300,500 all cash with no mortgage) impact Auctioneer Board’s willingness to pursue violations or file a bond claim?

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, whose appointments to the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board are coming under close scrutiny for their inconsistency in treatment of auction victims.

Sound Off Louisiana subscribers will recall the video we provided wherein State Rep. Johnny Guinn, R-Jennings, referenced that, “this same individual (Robert Burns, whom he declined to name but only referenced him as a ‘disgruntled auctioneer,’) tried to stir up a big mess inside the (auction) industry a few years back.” (For reference, see from the 4:52 – 5:10 mark of the video just linked).

Guinn actually gave Burns way too much credit because it was actually Guinn’s then-colleague, Rep. Damon Baldone, who, upon being convinced he was the intended victim of an illegal act of shill bidding who “stirred up a big mess.”  How?  By filing HB-1439 of the 2010 Legislative Session.  Basically, Baldone, who felt there was an attempt at “down right theft” (quoting him verbatim) of $55,000 from him, sought to criminalize the practice of shill bidding at auctions with the penalty being equivalent to “theft by nonviolent means.”  Of course, as all Sound Off Louisiana subscribers know by now, auctioneers, including members of the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board (LALB), aren’t bashful about engaging in “down right theft” as evidenced by member Jacob Brown’s recent arrest by Louisiana State Police for writing $175,000+ in worthless checks to the state of Louisiana entailing auctioning of state surplus equipment.

Burns, who served on Gov. Jindal’s LALB at the time of Baldone’s proposal (Jindal would terminate Burns’ services soon thereafter at Guinn’s direct request), attended LALB meetings during which Baldone was the subject of much discussion.  Suffice to say that Adolph Hitler was likely deemed to have better character than Baldone in the eyes of the LALB members once Baldone filed his bill.  Interestingly enough, several comments were made along the lines of Baldone, “being born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” and that he really, “shouldn’t give a d— about another $55,000 given how much he was paying for the house,” for which his final bid was $675,000 (making the total contract price after buyer’s premium tally $742,500).

Well, Baldone did “give a d—,” as would just about anybody irrespective of how wealthy he may be.  In making his arguments in support of his bill, Baldone indicated that such false representations of bids would never be permitted on the stock market, and he made an excellent point in that regard.  We challenge anyone to log onto TD Ameritrade (or other online brokerage) and attempt to execute a trade without either having the cash to buy the security or marginable securities which enable a loan for the proceeds to buy the security.  Sure, one can hit the “send” button, and it will take mere nanoseconds for the “order rejected” screen to appear staring at the individual who attempted to place the order.  Let’s take a brief peek at Baldone posing these arguments and the blowback he got back, primarily from Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport:


Baldone explains why he has sponsored his anti-shill-bidding initiative.

As stated above, Burns observed first-hand the comments made both by LALB members and audience members at LALB meetings at the time concerning Baldone’s wealth.  Burns found them disturbing because Baldone’s wealth is irrelevant to the question of whether illegal acts transpire!  It’s that simple!

More recently, evidence has been supplied to Sound Off Louisiana that the wealth of Ms. Judy Fasola, who was victimized by notoriously-problematic auctioneer Ken Buhler, may be playing a role in the LALB’s adamant stand that it is not going to file a bond claim to partially recover her losses.  If the LALB ran a search on her at EBRP Clerk of Court (which board attorney Anna Dow is known to have a high propensity to do), they are aware that Fasola, on November 21, 2017, purchased a new home and, in so doing, paid $300,500 in all cash (i.e. with no mortgage to finance her purchase).  We have received concerns indicating that fact may have played a role in the consistent denial of her request that the LALB file a bond claim on her behalf.

Our first step in investigating the potential for the LALB to factor in Fasola’s wealth was to make our own independent verification at EBRP Clerk of Court, and sure enough, we uncovered this transaction (with NO corresponding mortgage) regarding Fasola’s home purchase:

 

 

Now consider LALB Executive Director Sandy Edmonds’ response, voicing the sentiments of LALB Chairman Jacob Warren, to Fasola’s most recent request for her bond claim to be filed, which was supplied a mere eight months after Fasola’s purchase:

 

 

The letter referenced in the above email follows:

 

Now, we find it very interesting that Warren provides the justification for the LALB declining to file a bond claim that, “the court has not yet adjudicated your case” regarding a lawsuit Fasola filed against Buhler.  Notice what he says further:  “the board is not in a position to act without some action by the court.”

 

Well, guess what, folks? The State of Louisiana has sued Jacob Brown for his alleged theft (though, thus far, they have been unable to serve him). That case too has “not been adjudicated;” however, the LALB has already commenced with filing a bond claim to collect on Brown’s actions!

 

Perhaps the State of Louisiana is deemed to be a little more “broke” than Fasola? That must be the rationale because, otherwise, using Warren’s justification to Fasola (and treating victims in the same manner), the State should have been told, “first fully adjudicate your case against Brown. If you get a judgment that cannot be collected, then we’ll file your bond claim.”

 

So folks, the moral of the lesson here appears to be that, if you have any level of wealth like Baldone or Fasola, don’t expect any LALB sympathy or action when you are victimized by an auctioneer!

 

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LSTA to LSPC: “Restricting our political activities is a bold and blatant violation of Louisiana’s Constitution;” files suit to have provisions of Circular 191 declared unconstitutional.

Louisiana State Trooper Association Attorney Floyd Falcon

Literally days after Governor John Bel Edwards was sworn into office, a group of retired troopers asked the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) to investigate campaign contributions made by the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA) into Gov. Edwards’ 2015 campaign for Governor.  They asserted that a “straw donor,” David Young, LSTA’s Executive Director, made the contributions, which totaled $8,000, through his personal account but was then reimbursed by the LSTA for those contributions, which constitutes a violation of law.

 

One retired trooper, Leon “Bucky” Millet, has spearheaded efforts to prohibit the LSTA from making such contributions, and former LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne has publicly stated that the LSPC strong-armed her resignation (which she granted effective January 13, 2017) as a result of her having reported the illegal campaign contributions.  The Louisiana State Board of Ethics investigated the matter and fined the LSTA $5,000 for the violations.  Former LSPC Member Lloyd Grafton, who resigned on February 9, 2017 in frustration of the treatment he asserts Derbonne received, bluntly characterized the campaign contributions, which Edwards refunded but several other political candidates, including former Gov. Bobby Jindal, did not, as “straight up money laundering.”

 

On Thursday, April 12, 2018, the LSPC withdrew its previously-issued circular on political activity by classified Louisiana State Troopers (Circular 190) and replaced it with Circular 191.  That circular mirrors the same provisions and restrictions which Louisiana State Civil Service utilizes for other state civil service classified employees.

 

As evidenced in the following brief video highlight from that April 12, 2018 LSPC meeting, the LSPC’s action drew extremely sharp criticism from LSTA attorney Floyd Falcon, who also made a subtle reference of litigation over the LSPC’s action:


LSTA attorney Floyd Falcon, at the April 12, 2018 LSPC meeting, sharply criticizes the LSPC over promulgating Circular 191, followed by LSTA President James O’Quinn openly venting frustration to LSPC Chairman Eulis Simien, Jr. that the Circular would prohibit the LSTA from actively opposing candidates whose platforms do not align with LSTA’s interests.

 

Falcon is a man of his word entailing the litigation threat as, on August 15, 2018, the LSTA sued the LSPC over what it claims is a “bold and blatant violation” of Louisiana’s Constitution.  The case has been assigned to 19th JDC Judge Michael Caldwell.  We at Sound Off Louisiana commit to attend any and all hearings on this litigation and report the outcome to our subscribers.

 

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D’Jay’s Cosmetology Institute owners vent on Inspector General Street, Gov. Edwards; allege Cosmetology Board now targets, harasses them similar to Nelda Dural several years ago.

Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology Chairman Edwin Neill, III

 

In today’s Sound Off Louisiana feature, Ed and Paul Schilleci, owners of D’Jay’s Cosmetology Institute, sit down with founder Robert Burns to inform viewers of their assertions that the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology (LSBC) is “singling us out for harassment,” in a manner eerily similar to the manner in which Nelda Dural has made the same assertions.  The video of Paul and Ed, complete with some biting remarks entailing Inspector General Stephen Street and Louisiana Gov. John  Bel Edwards, follows:

Ed and Paul Schilleci visit with Burns on Monday, October 1, 2018 to discuss alleged harassment by the LSBC.  CLICK HERE for the letter drafted by a former student allegedly recruited by the LSBC to provide ammunition against the school (an accusation nearly identical to the one Dural made publicly at the 11/6/16 LSBC meeting and for which LSBC staffer Deborah Johnson admitted on video did in fact transpire — see 12:59 mark of video above).   CLICK HERE for former Congressman Cao’s assessment of the Cosmetology Board as a state agency with “no regard for the law.”

Regarding the issue of the timing of when the alleged harassment began, as the above video depicts, Ed and Paul contend there was a direct correlation to the timing of them moving their school, which used to be located on Government Street in Baton Rouge, to its present location which, according to Mapquest, is a mere 8.8 miles and estimated 16-minute drive from former long-time LSBC Chairman Francis Hand’s school.  Hand remains as an LSBC member today (the only one other than Jill Hebert to survive the transition from Jindal to Edwards).  Are the sudden “problems” Paul references above about trivial issues such as too wide of grout separation between tiles coincidental to that move?  We’ll let our subscribers be the judge.

We also attended today’s LSBC meeting, and we’ll have a very interesting post on an administrative hearing which transpired at that meeting which we’ll publish in a couple of weeks or so.

 

 

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.