Category: Uncategorized

EMS Reform Co-founder Walter Beach.

Today’s Sound Off Louisiana feature is a very informative interview with Walter Beach, who is the co-founder of EMS Reform, who contends that the Louisiana Legislature promotes monopolies of EMS services via LA R. S. 4791.1(D) which states:

Any municipality or other local governing authority is authorized to carry out the provisions of this Section as acts of government on behalf of the state as sovereign and, to the extent the governing authority deems necessary or appropriate, is further authorized to displace competition and provide a monopoly public service. All immunity of the state of Louisiana from liability under antitrust law is hereby extended to any municipality or other governing authority acting within the scope of authority contained in this Section and, when so acting, a municipality or other local governing authority shall be presumed to be acting in furtherance of state policy.

We fully expect to have Beach on Sound Off Louisiana as part of an ongoing series, but for this interview, his focus was primarily upon EBRP Mayor President Sid Edwards’ plan to allow Baton Rouge General Hospital to provide ambulance services, for which Beach applauds Edwards and controversies around Edwards’ plan to merge EBRP EMS with the BR Fire Department.  Here’s our interview with Beach:

August 6, 2025:  Beach provides his thoughts on Edwards’ proposal to allow Baton Rouge General Hospital to provide ambulance services and his proposal to merge EBRP EMS with BR Fire.

Here are highlights from the above-linked Advocate articles:

BRGH providing ambulance services:

For decades, Acadian Ambulance has provided the lion’s share of ambulance services not handled by East Baton Rouge’s own Emergency Medical Services, transporting patients from facilities like hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers and more in the parish.

But now, Mayor-President Sid Edwards has opened the door for a competitor, allowing Baton Rouge General to enter the market.

“We are excited about the opportunity to better support patients in Baton Rouge and help ensure they get where they need to go quickly,” said Meghan Parrish, Vice President of Marketing and Communications.

Edwards made the decision over protests from Acadian, which argues city-parish ordinances require the mayor to consider “whether the public convenience and necessity require,” a new ambulance service.

“We definitely did not like the way it was done, because it did not follow the ordinance,” said Acadian Director of Operations Porter Taylor.

Still, Taylor added that the company is “not interested in making it messy.”

According to Taylor and Acadian, no need for an additional provider exists.

” … it appears that Baton Rouge General’s intentions are self-serving,” he wrote. “To my knowledge, there have been no other health care entities in this parish that have expressed a need for additional ambulance services, including your own municipal EMS.”

On July 14, Edwards issued a letter to BRG granting a request to apply for an ambulance service for nonemergency calls and emergencies when requested by city-parish EMS.

Merger of EBRP EMS with BR Fire:

With Baton Rouge EMS workers pushing back on a recent announcement that their department will be merging with the city’s Fire Department, the mayor and emergency services leaders are trying to calm those anxieties.

But after a town hall meeting Tuesday led by East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards, EMS Director Chris Landry and BRFD Chief Michael Kimble, many of the EMS workers still expressed frustration.

At the meeting, which originally was meant to be closed but which Edwards decided to open to reporters, officials said no jobs or promotion structure will be lost, and EMS will keep control of its funding.

And while Landry, Edwards and others tried to put workers at ease, many EMS workers continued to voice their opposition to the merger.

“We need support, we do not need a merger,” said Emergency Medical Technician Amber Munch. “EMS has our own problems, just like everyone else, but the fire department is not the answer to those problems. Support is.”

Since the merger was announced in June, EMS workers have voiced concerns about their positions and benefits, wondering if cuts would take place.

Kimble said there has been a lot of “misinformation” on those subjects over the past month or so.

The back-and-forth between workers and officials remained mostly civil, though tensions rose as many EMS workers repeatedly asked why the merger was happening.

“Because I want it,” the mayor finally said.

Paramedic Association President Janice Willard said officials didn’t have answers to many of the questions EMS workers were asking.

“It was a lot of dancing around questions, not really answering anything,” Willard said. “I could see a lot of people in the audience, especially from EMS, very frustrated. And a lot of people got up and left. I think that says a lot.”

Before the meeting ended, one worker asked the mayor if the merger was a done deal.

Edwards replied and said he wants it to move forward and the process, but conceded that “If it was 100%, I wouldn’t have wasted my time coming.”

“I still feel strong about it happening,” Edwards said. “But to answer your question: no. I’m listening to you … Because look, anytime you come in to try and change something … people get very uncomfortable.”

As Burns states on the video, this matter is, “not going to be resolved in a week,” and we look forward to having Beach return as this process advances further along.

Furthermore, as Burns also states on the video, Edwards and/or his representatives are more than welcome to engage in a Sound Off Louisiana feature to present his side of this matter.  As always, we will be more than happy to accommodate.

Partial receipt from Dough Nguyener’s Bakery, reportedly owned by Louisiana State Police (LSP) Major Donavan Archote (Region NOLA Command Inspector) on January 1, 2025 to feed LSP troopers on the day of the terrorist attack in New Orleans.  LSP would subsequently purchase another $10,725.25 from restaurants reportedly owned by Archote through June 1, 2025.

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Editor’s Note (7/30/25 @ 11:14 a.m.):

This feature has generated thousands of hits and well over 1,000 Facebook shares.  We received numerous statements that essentially stated that overtime was being utilized to jack up the final three years of salaries of some troopers for retirement purposes.  Accordingly, we reached out to the Louisiana State Police Retirement Board Executive Director, Ms. Margaret Michel, to inquire if that could transpire.  Ms. Michel could not have been more prompt and concise in her reply back to us.

The one word answer is “no!”  Ms. Michel  also supplied LA R. S. 1310 (A)(1) to document the fact that the answer is “no.”  From that Statute:  “For the purposes of computation, “average salary” shall not include overtime, expenses, or clothing allowances.”

We were also asked to contact Louisiana State Police Commission Executive Director Jason Hannaman and inquire as to whether there is any provision in place to permit LSP personnel at the rank of Captain and above to earn overtime in apparent contravention to LSPC Rules and/or LSP policy.  We reached out yesterday, July 29, 2025 and here is what he reported back on Monday, August 4, 2025:

Good afternoon, Mr. Burns,

 

In 2019, the LSP appointing authority petitioned the State Police Commission for authority under SPC Rule 6.27: Exceptions to the Overtime Rules. The request sought approval to compensate all non-exempt and exempt State Police personnel at the time-and-one-half rate for events declared an official State of Emergency by the Governor or activated at Level 3 or above by the State Emergency Operations Center, effective June 1, 2019. The Commission approved this request at its general business meeting on May 23, 2019, and that authority remains in effect.”

We reached out to an individual with integral knowledge of LSP affairs and asked if the above statement by Hannaman means that Gov. Landry would have to declare a State of Emergency in order for LSP Troopers with the rank of Captain and above to be able to earn overtime compensation.  Here is his response:

Yes for captains and above to go earn at the 1.5 an hour rate. Not the 75 an hour escort detail rate.  However, the emergency declaration has long passed and the argument it hasn’t been rescinded when the emergency declaration was rescinded is comical.

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When we published our last feature, we openly questioned if the recent settlement of the Braxton v. Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA) et. al. litigation (at least by Defendant LSTA – former LSP LTC Jay Oliphant remains as a Defendant) would be a topic of discussion at the business meeting of the LSTA’s recent convention.

We have no idea whether the Braxton matter was even discussed (though one recently-retired trooper told us there was “no way” anyone would be brave enough to bring that topic up), what we do know is that, among retired LSP troopers, the topic de jour was these $11,000+ in meal purchases made by the newly-formed “Troop NOLA” during several recent events:  the terrorist incident on January 1, the Superbowl, Mardi Gras, and the prison escape of 10 inmates in May.

We knew nothing of these purchases prior to the convention; however, soon after the convention, we were contacted and notified that retired troopers were “furious” that the $11,000 in meal purchases were all directed to be made from “Major Donovan Archote’s restaurants.”  Here is the position Archote holds from the just-linked LSP webpage:

Region NOLA

Major Donovan Archote
Region NOLA Command Inspector

478 S. Johnson Street, Suite 150
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone:504-635-4400

Region NOLA is headquartered in New Orleans, LA. Geographically, it encompasses six (6) parishes and includes the city of New Orleans. It is bordered on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and on the east by the state of Mississippi.

Within the Region NOLA command structure are two State Police Troops, each commanded by a State Police Captain:

Troop B
Kenner, LA – Captain Joseph W. Piglia
Jefferson · Plaquemines · St. Bernard · St. Charles · St. John the Baptist

Troop NOLA
New Orleans, LA – Captain Rodney Hyatt
Orleans

What the above caption from LSP’s website is missing is the fact that Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Chairman Lt. Monty Montelongo (one of only two authorities to whom LSTA members could submit questions long before the convention, with the other being LSP Colonel Robert Hodges) serves as the Executive Officer (XO) of Troop NOLA, and he is the one who approved all of the above-linked purchases from restaurants  Archote allegedly owns.  Montelongo’s position is itemized, however, on the “Troop NOLA” link provided within the above LSP webpage.

These retired troopers didn’t hold back the fact that they are “furious” over what transpired in this matter.  In fact, one recently-retired trooper told us that Montelongo is being groomed to be the eventual Captain of Troop NOLA, and he asserted that, by authorizing these payments to be made to an individual superior in rank to him at the same Region (NOLA), he (Montelongo) is, “playing the political game exactly the way he needs to in order to eventually obtain that position of Captain of Troop NOLA.”

Now, as is apparent from this memo, Troop NOLA food purchases (at least in generic form without specifying from any particular vendor) were approved on January 14, 2025.

More recently, such approval has been granted for similar purchases for Troop B (which, as explained above, is the other component of “Region NOLA”).  Here’s evidence of that approval:

It’s interesting to note that the request for approval is submitted by Archote who, at the time of making that request, was already the beneficiary of $11,000 in food purchases made by Troop NOLA to restaurants that he and his wife, Betty, allegedly own.

Site visitors may recall our October 22, 2023 feature expressing concerns that troopers had that Gov.-Elect Jeff Landry would choose Frank Besson (a/k/a “Edmonson 2.0”) as the next LSP Colonel.  Those troopers expressed to us that Besson, who was ultimately chosen for the position of LSP Chief of Staff with that being the person historically designated to make the day-to-day calls and decisions on running LSP, would simply reward “Edmonson’s cronies” and simply continue LSP’s downward spiral they assert originated during Edmonson’s tenure.

The moment Besson (or Hodges) named Rodney Hyatt as the new Captain of the newly formed Troop NOLA, we got tons of correspondence indicating that Hyatt’s appointment constituted the “strongest evidence” to date that Edmonson’s cronies continued to be elevated under the current regime.

Long-time visitors to our site may recall Hyatt as being one of the troopers caught up in the “Las Vegas Gate” that ultimately caused Edmonson’s downfall.  Many troopers have referenced Hyatt as a “clown” who is in so far over his head in his current role that he will simply go along with whatever may be asked of him to reward those in the prior “Edmonson clique” to obtain perks such as that bestowed upon Archote and highly-elevated salaries allegedly obtained via excessive overtime (more on that shortly).

For those who aren’t longer-term visitors to our site, here is video of Hyatt having to explain his participation in “Las Vegas Gate:”

7/16/18:  43-minute highlight video of Hyatt’s testimony before the LSPC entailing “Las Vegas Gate” (Note: Click Here for the totality of Hyatt’s 3-1/2 hours of testimony entailing “Las Vegas Gate.”)

A few paragraphs above, we said we would soon demonstrate that the final meal purchase was made on June 1, 2025.  We realize not many folk are going to go through 76 pages of invoices and related processing documentation for all of the meal purchases, so we took the time to prepare this one-page summation of all of those purchases.  Let us also go ahead and place that document front and center:

We’re going to consider that a wrap for presenting retired troopers’ concerns over the meal purchases to the benefit of restaurants allegedly owned by Archote, but we feel compelled to present another matter that both current troopers and retired troopers are extremely angry about, and that is alleged inflated salaries at Troop NOLA accomplished via excessive overtime doled out by Hyatt and/or Montelongo.

Specifically, we were told in late March or early April that, “every trooper assigned to Troop NOLA was paid in excess of $200,000 in 2024.”

We have been seeking to substantiate these allegations; however, Hodges and Besson seem hell bent on thwarting all of our efforts to substantiate the troopers’ claims.

Given the high level of credibility of these sources, however, we are going ahead and declaring their claims of every Troop NOLA trooper making in excess of $200,000 in 2024 to be true, and the onus is now officially upon LSP to present documentation to refute the troopers’ statements to us.

First, however, let’s present the following table to document the extent to which Hodges and Besson have ducked and dived in trying to avoid providing documentation which we believe is all but certain to substantiate the troopers’ claims (anyone is welcome to view that ducking and diving by clicking here):

We’re not sure what purpose stalling us out serves because there is no question whatsoever that the salaries of those folk assigned to Troop NOLA are public record; furthermore, as evidenced by this entry on Open Payrolls for Montelongo’s salary for 2023, it won’t be long before 2024 salaries will be easily and readily available for those troopers.  Here’s what Open Payrolls divulges for Montelongo for 2023:

State of Louisiana records show Monty C Montelongo held multiple jobs between 2018 and 2023. One of the most recent records in 2023 lists a job of State Police Lieutenant and a pay of $106,962.96. This is 115.0 percent higher than the average pay for co-workers and 49.1 percent higher than the national average for government employees. The highest paying job held by Monty C Montelongo was in 2021 as a State Police Sergeant making $115,831.86.

As is readily apparent, the above excerpt reveals that Montelongo made more in 2021 than in 2023, and that can only be via overtime.  Our trooper sources have told us that Hodges and Besson don’t want the public to see that Hyatt and/or Montelongo scheduled massive overtime for those assigned to Troop NOLA, and that is what is going to cause the requested records to reflect those troopers making in excess of $200,000 each in 2024.  One recently retired trooper had this to say:  “Hyatt, who should have been fired, made $206,000 in 2024.  Archote made $210,000 the same year.”

We’ve also been told that, “Captain and above are not allowed OT (overtime) by policy.  They are salary only but can claim comp time for extra hours.”  That source referred to it as “criminal” for all the troopers at Troop NOLA to have made over $200,000 in 2024.

One of our sources also said:  “Supposedly they got an exemption from Hodges to work overtime.  I believe it’s in the LSPC rules that Captain and above can’t make OT (overtime). It’s definitely in policy!”

Incredibly, we were informed that, very soon after the public records request of April 4, 2025 above, suddenly, “they’re cutting back overtime in NOLA.”  We’ll make a public records request a few months from now to ascertain if such a cutback in overtime did in fact occur around the April 4, 2025 timeframe.

For those troopers who have inquired if we intend to just let the Hodges/Besson stall of our request continue indefinitely, the answer is an emphatic “no!”  We have already reached out to an attorney to represent us in the matter; however, she is presently out on maternity leave.  Once she returns, which is not far off, we intend to retain her to represent us in pursuing the records.

Also, we have two other pending public records requests with LSP and, on one of them, LSP has not communicated anything to us beyond the fact that they received it and that, “You will be notified when the status changes.”  When we say “nothing,” we mean “nothing.”  Obviously, that is completely out of conformity with Louisiana’s Public Records Laws, and we have no doubt that there is a battle royale transpiring between Besson and/or Hodges (who clearly don’t want the requested document made public) and LSP Legal Counsel Faye Morrison, who knows full well there is no statutory provision by which she can deny us obtaining that particular record.

The final public records request is too recent to take legal action upon; however, all of these requests will be lumped together in a lawsuit against LSP should that end up being necessary once the young lady returns from maternity leave.

Perhaps the rationale for Hodges stalling out our public records request lies in the fact that numerous sources have told us that Hodges has been nominated as the U. S. Marshal of the Eastern District of the LA Office (though one source has indicated that Hodges has reportedly turned the position down).  If he has not turned the position down, perhaps he doesn’t want the alleged abuses of taxpayer funds attributed to Troop NOLA to be made public if such revelations may cause him not to obtain the position, which we’re told would entail him having more power than he presently possesses at LSP.

We guess we’ll just have to see how the purported shenanigans allegedly transpiring at Troop NOLA play out in coming weeks and months as we await several pending public records requests which LSP clearly doesn’t want to release to us.

On May 11, 2022, former Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Member Calvin  Braxton responds to a question by State Rep. Debbie Villio (R-Kenner) as he testifies before the Special House Committee investigating the LSP in-custody death of Ronald Greene on or around May 9, 2019.

We published this feature on June 16, 2025.  In it, we stated that many LSP Troopers and retirees thought it was a “bad look” for the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA) to hold its annual convention at Caesar’s in New Orleans.  Their concerns were that the LSTA should not have chosen a venue which LSP regulates.

When we published the feature, we made brief reference to the LSTA’s long-running litigation wherein it is Defendant in a defamation suit filed by former LSPC Member Calvin Braxton, Sr.  Let’s take a look at what we said just over a month ago:

This year’s convention also transpires against the backdrop of the civil litigation of former Louisiana State Police Commissioner Calvin Braxton, who sued the LSTA for alleged defamation entailing his bizarre exit from the Commission in the middle of 2017.  That litigation has been scheduled for trial in the coming weeks; however, given that Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court records indicate no activity on the matter, we are going on the premise that a settlement may be in the offing in that matter, thus avoiding the necessity of a trial.

Well, we can now report that our speculation back then was correct, and the Calvin Braxton v. LSTA et. al. matter has been settled out of court for an undisclosed sum (at least as it pertains to the LSTA)!  That settlement interestingly enough comes right on the eve of the LSTA convening for its annual convention at 7:00 p.m. tonight, Thursday, July 17, 2025.

The terms of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality agreement.  Nevertheless, we wonder if LSTA Executive Director James O’Quinn may get quizzed about terms of the settlement during the business segment of the convention, which is scheduled to be conducted between 9 a.m. and noon on Saturday, July 19, 2025.

Regarding the settlement, we do not know if any such letter is included as part of the settlement; however, we do know that, going back seven-plus years, Braxton has always expressed his insistence that any settlement with him be accompanied by a letter of apology from the LSTA regarding the Association’s role in his ouster from the LSPC.

Here is a table outlining significant events in the Braxton v. LSTA et. al. matter during its seven-plus years of life:

The video of Zurik and WWL-TV’s Katie Moore’s features as they pertain to Braxton’s allegations of defamation are presented in the following video:

July 17, 2017 features of Fox 8’s Lee Zurik and WWL’s Katie Moore as they related to what Braxton asserts are defamatory statements made about him initiated by the LSTA and Jay Oliphant.

WWL-TV in New Orleans airs this May 17, 2018 feature on Braxton’s defamation lawsuit against the LSTA and Jay Oliphant.

So, after a staggering approximate 2,618-day life, the LSTA and Calvin Braxton are no longer in litigation.  We should point out that, during that 2,618-day period, staggering legal fees racked up for these depositions.  Once the litigation is over (former LTC Oliphant remains a Defendant and LSP should be paying his legal expenses since he was acting in his capacity during this whole sordid scandal), we intend to make public records request for the legal invoices of this whole matter to tally them up and obtain a final tab attributable to taxpayers, but common sense dictates that the number is going to be through the roof.

Also, the LSTA filed ethics charges against Braxton but, on April 19, 2018, the Louisiana State Board of Ethics opted not to file a single charge against Braxton; furthermore, as we have published before, it was actually the LSTA itself which was on the receiving end of this $5,000 fine for matters which Braxton was concerned about.

We would also like to point out that retired troopers have indicated to us that past LSTA Conventions were set up to where Management (i.e. folk like LSP Colonel and Chief of Staff) would never, ever be permitted to be in attendance at the LSTA’s business meeting because that segment of the convention is intended to be for airing out any potential concerns and grievances entailing Management.

That’s not the way it works anymore, and we were supplied with this email excerpt outlining exactly how LSTA Members are going to be allowed to pose any concerns they may have:

Greetings everyone,

 

In preparation for the upcoming business meeting at this year’s convention, we are polling members of the affiliate for any questions they may have regarding the department.

 

These questions may be directed to either Col. Hodges or Monty Montelongo with the State Police Commission.

 

To submit a question, simply reply to this email no later than COB on July 8, so that we can compile and forward all inquiries for review and reconciliation with submissions from across the state.

 

If you prefer to remain anonymous, you may instead place your question in the LSTA box located in the radio room at Troop B.

Troopers, both active and retired, have stated that the above framework is nothing like business has been handled in the past, and one trooper asked us, “Do you see why the only reason I remain a member is because of the discounted rate we obtain for a life insurance policy?”  A second former trooper who recently retired indicating to us then that he was “sick” of the place, stated:  “It (the LSTA) was a great organization when I joined and it stayed out of politics.  It has since become part of the political machine and that is very disappointing.”

So, since everything is so scripted as outlined above, we openly wonder if Col. Hodges, LSTA Executive Director James O’Quinn, and/or Monty Montelongo (who is not just “with” the State Police Commission — he just so happens to Chair that Commission), are going to permit Trooper LSTA Members and/or retirees to pose questions of the Braxton settlement.  Since it’s their money, it would seem they would not want to be kept in the dark about the nature and amount of the recently-agreed-upon settlement.

Now, as site visitors may recall, the LSTA laid down the law with Gov. Landry that Steven L. Guidry, Jr., would not be the LSPC Member representing the First Congressional District.  They had such pull with Landry that they would actually convince him to submit the following letter to Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry flat-out falsely accusing Dillard President Monique Guillory of “failing to nominate:”

Meanwhile, the LSTA convinced Guidry to change his voter registration from St. Tammany Parish to East Baton Rouge Parish, which ended up forcing Guidry to resign as Chairman of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission (with him also having to resign from the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission) after we exposed the whole sham, which included this damning email from Ryan Roberts, Gov. Landry’s former Head of Boards and Commissions  to Jason Hannaman acknowledging an obvious discrepancy between Guidry’s mailing address and his address for voter registration purposes.

Well, Ryan Roberts, Landry’s previous Head of Board and Commissions, has now been promoted to third-in-command of the Landry Administration with him now serving as Landry’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

Regarding Guidry’s resignation as Chairman of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, anybody curious as to who replaced him?  That would be James C. “Jay” O’Quinn II, who is the mastermind behind this entire Braxton debacle and who appears on prominent display on the Zurick feature linked and provided above.

We received a report today that radio talk show host Moon Griffon has indicated that a statewide poll has been conducted indicating Gov. Landry’s approval rating sits at 32 percent.  The only thing we ponder, with the kind of “leadership” and “integrity” just outlined, is how that approval rating has not yet fallen to the teens or below.  Nevertheless, he appears headed on the same general trajectory of a one Bobby Jindal.  Time will tell, but we are firmly convinced that he is severely-burnt toast!

So, does anyone figure this year’s LSTA convention will have a little added spice given the Braxton settlement being so fresh?