Former Dillard University President Walter M. Kimbrough.
In 1991, Louisiana voters approved, in the form of a Constitutional Amendment, permitting the Louisiana State Police (LSP) to have its own civil service department, and that department is the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC).
An important sales pitch made to voters for the formation of the LSPC was that its Members would be “independent” of the Governor and would instead be comprised of individuals who were recommended by private university Presidents across Louisiana.
Many folk have quietly contended that the entire process for obtaining nominees for these appointments is essentially a sham and that the Governor merely tells the University Presidents who should be nominated, and that’s who makes the list. Nevertheless, until this week, there has been no way to supply definitive proof that voters’ assurance that these selections are independent of the Governor is being violated and that Louisiana’s Constitution is being blatantly violated by Governors choosing to circumvent both the letter and the spirit of that Constitutional provision.
Sure, we saw it essentially play out when former LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne allegedly got told to, “shut the f— up” by former Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Office. She got that alleged directive from Gov. Edwards’ Office after she complained that the Constitution was not being adhered to.
Nevertheless, the alleged action by Edwards’ Office to Derbonne is just that: an allegation. Thus, even though the allegation got formalized in pleadings filed in court as Derbonne sued the LSPC asserting a “constructive discharge,” her allegation doesn’t constitute authoritative proof that this entire process is a complete and total sham.
All that changed this week, however, when former Dillard University President Dr. Walter Kimbrough responded to our most recent feature by indicating that University Presidents are, “simply being used as cover” for the appointments and that, by appointing anyone other than the one the Governor tells them to appoint, they would be committing “political suicide.”
In the video for today’s feature, Sound Off Louisiana‘s founder, Robert Burns, expresses his heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Kimbrough for exposing the raw naked truth of this entire sham process for precisely what it is: a sham! Here’s the video:
12/31/24: Burns expresses his heartfelt gratitude to former Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough for exposing the, “raw and naked truth of the sham nature of these LSPC appointments.” Regarding Kimbrough’s reference to Congressman Fields, beginning at the 6:45 mark, we replicate Fields’ ditching of his bill to abolish the LSPC and the fact that Fields actually had the bill, “withdrawn from the files of the Senate.”
Click here to see Dr. Walter Kimbrough’s email in its entirety, which we are also incorporating into this feature. Here’s Dr. Kimbrough’s email:
Mr. Burns-
Thank you for including me after you published your blog without getting my insight. Since you found my email address, clearly you had a motive for the approach you took.
I found it interesting that you made me the subject of your hit piece (picture included) when over the past decade there have been scores of issues with this commission. I can’t find you attacking the school that nominated Sabrina Richardson (who was it anyway?) and she has been in the news the most.
Your post is misleading. We submit names for consideration- the Governor decides. And while you were able to access written communication, you did not have access to all communications.
You then conveniently left out the fact that over 70% of citizens voted in 2022 to give the Senate veto authority on any nominee. In essence, Senator Cleo Fields raised the same issues I had, created a constitutional amendment, and it passed. This now provides a great check and balance so that any Senator can prevent a problematic nominee from being confirmed. This now removes universities from the politics of this appointment, which is good.
The fair thing would be to include this fact. But again, you had a motive. And your attempt to pit me against the Black community and the Ronald Greene tragedy was insulting.
In the end, university presidents are simply being used as cover for these appointments. I stand by my letter that we don’t have the time to thoroughly vet positions that ultimately we don’t select, and as even you figured out in Hannaman’s December 5th letter to President Guillory, lobbying is and has been done to ensure preferred candidates are one of the 3 nominees. Asking people to send her nominees is great, but understand that if any Governor wants a particular candidate as one of the 3, they will be included. There is no incentive for any president to defy a Governor over a matter that does not directly impact their operations. That’s political suicide.
So again, tell me why anyone should waste time and energy to find nominees, especially if a Governor has a preferred candidate and they ultimately choose?
Don’t attack the presidents. The process is broken. The 2022 amendment is a good step forward.
Walter M. Kimbrough
Interim President
Talladega College
It probably comes as no surprise that we’ll remain on top of this whole process of filling the vacancy of LSPC Member Jared Riecke, whose term expired on December 5, 2024, in real time.
Happy New Year!