On Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 11:58 a.m., Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards had the head of his Boards and Commissions, Ellen Palmintier, call Rev. Freddie Lee Phillips and rescind his appointment to the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board. Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns elaborates on this act by Gov. Edwards in the video below:
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On Wednesday, April 20, 2016, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards ended the 17-year reign of corruption of Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board (LALB) Chairman Tessa Steinkamp by replacing her on that board with Jacob Warren, Assistant General Manager of Louisiana First Choice Auto Auction located in Hammond, Louisiana. Governor Edwards also announced the appointment of Rev. Freddie Lee Phillips, President and CEO of Auction Sells Fast, LLC to replace LALB Secretary-Treasurer Darleen Jacobs. Rev. Phillips is also the President and Founder of the Louisiana Association of Professional Auctioneers, a trade association charged with the dual purpose of advocating on behalf of auctioneers and providing extensive assistance to consumers who have been victimized by auctioneers. Rev. Phillips previously served on the LALB from mid 2008 until January of 2012. He communicated to Gov. Jindal that he was unwilling to submit himself to the type of personal attacks Ms. Steinkamp, Vice Chairman James Sims, and others were launching his way (see a few “embarrassment” links at the conclusion of this post). Accordingly, he told Gov. Jindal that he would NOT serve a second term under his administration, and he was replaced by Ms. Jacobs for Jindal’s second term.
An Edwards Boards and Commissions staffer indicated that Gov. Edwards will make a subsequent announcement of whom he wishes to serve as Chairman of the LALB. In the following Sound Off Louisiana feature, Robert Burns assesses the 17-year reign of corruption entailing Ms. Steinkamp (and provides supporting links for substantiation) and strongly praises Gov. Edwards for taking such quick and decisive action, especially so early in his term and despite facing absolutely massive budget problems inherited from his predecessor, Bobby Jindal:
Burns highlights the 17-year reign of LALB corruption under Chairman Tessa Steinkamp
Supporting links for webpages or Sound Off posts with extensive supporting details:
As clearly stated in the video, Sound Off Louisiana wishes to acknowledge the highest level of praise for Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards for taking this initial action to clean up the corruption within the auction regulatory environment in Louisiana. We believe that, in order to purge adequately the stench associated with that regulatory body from the Jindal administration, only the systematic removal of all of Jindal’s appointees applicable for the day Edwards took office (two positions, one for an auctioneer and one for a consumer, were vacant when Edwards was sworn in) will clean the agency up. Thereafter, the new members need to clean house and terminate the contracts of both attorneys and also terminate the Executive Director, Sandy Edmonds, which was a recommendation made by the Louisiana Inspector General’s Office in this report once they’d caught Edmonds engaging in payroll fraud and lying to them about the practice.
Until further notice, the JBE fraud website is being suspended. Furthermore, if Gov. Edwards continues with actions such as those depicted above, it won’t ever resurface. For the hard-core Republicans on the Sound Off Louisiana list (of which there are tons) who simply can’t stomach any complimentary words for a Democrat, if you wish to be removed from the email list, simply inform me of that fact, and I’ll be happy to remove you. As for me, though I am a registered Republican, my allegiance is toward governmental operations devoid of fraud, waste, abuse, corruption, and cronyism, and I don’t give two bent pins who initiates measures to bring about same. In that regard, Gov. John Bel Edwards has done more in his first 100 days entailing this corrupt LALB than Bobby Jindal did in his entire eight-year disastrous tenure. I assume he was too preoccupied with “no-go zones” in England to care about 83-year-old auction victims like Betty Jo Story and victims fleeced for over $100,000 EACH through fraudulent practices such as those outlined in link # 1 above and about which LALB Chairman Tessa Steinkamp concealed from the very body on which she served in a leadership capacity, the LALB.
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On June 15, 2015, Corey delaHoussaye sat down with Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns for an extensive interview entailing Livingston Parish governmental corruption. In the interview, Corey outlines $58 million in fraudulent invoices to FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, his role as an FBI informant in reporting the fraud, and the nightmare his life became from serving as a whistleblower.
DelaHoussaye, who was prosecuted for allegedly submitting his own invoices for which prosecutors claimed he invoiced hours worked during which he was tending to personal affairs, filed a civil suit against the Louisiana Office of Inspector General (OIG) alleging malicious prosecution and defamation. On Wednesday, February 24, 2016, delaHoussaye again sat down with Burns and spoke about his lawsuit and his resolute belief that the OIG should be abolished and that its funding be redirected to higher education and health care. In the interview below, DelaHoussaye bluntly states that the OIG serves to “bully whistleblowers” such as himself.
delaHoussaye explains why he sued the OIG, comments on its
investigative techniques, and calls upon voters to contact
Louisiana Legislators to abolish the OIG and divert
its funding to health care and higher education.
If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and 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.
