Gov. Landry falsely accuses Dillard President Guillory of “failing to nominate;” Did he also aid, abet, collude, and/or orchestrate denying U. S. Sixth Congressional District voters’ representation on State Police Commission?

Newly-elected State Sen. Larry Selders, who will be responsible for advancing the Louisiana Senate confirmation of Stephen Lewis Guidry Jr., to the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) for U. S. Congressional District 6.  Selders has that responsibility because Guidry cancelled his St. Tammany Parish voter registration on January 6, 2025 and enrolled in Selders’ Senate District 14 (a Senate seat previously held by Congressman Cleo Fields) later that same day.

When we presented this feature on Gov. Landry’s appointment of, “millions of gallons of raw-sewage polluter,” Jared Caruso-Riecke to the LSPC representing U. S. Congressional District 1, we did not present all of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans which occurred making Landry’s appointment of Riecke even possible.

Quite frankly, it would have made that feature way too long.

Today’s feature will illustrate just what all transpired behind-the-scenes to make Riecke’s appointment possible, and we’ll once again utilize our favorite means of illustrating such facts, which is a table.  Here is that table:

Date of Event for LSPC U. S. Congressional District 1 (AND U. S Congressional District 6) Commissioner Vacancy FillingEvent
December 12, 2024Long-time LSPC Chairman (and U. S. Congressional District 6 Commissioner) Eulis Simien, Jr., abruptly resigns (his term would have expired on December 5, 2028). Simien's resignation would be fortuitous for Gov. Landry mere days later.
December 12, 2024LSPC Executive Director Jason Hannaman notifies Xavier President Dr. Raynold Verret of the 6th CD vacancy and solicits names to replace Simien; however, Verret declines to submit any names. Based on what we learned from former Dillard President, Dr. Walter Kimbrough, the likelihood is very strong that Verret may have been "guided" not to supply any names because, with no names submitted and per Louisiana's Constitution, Gov. Landry would have the latitude to appoint anyone of his choosing SO LONG AS THAT PERSON RESIDES in U. S. Congressional District 6.
December 23, 2024Dillard University President Monique Guillory composes and sends this letter nominating Stephen L. Guidry, Jr., as her only nominee to fill the U. S. First Congressional District's LSPC vacancy previously held by controversial LSPC Member Jared Caruso-Riecke.
December 26, 2024LSPC stamps Guillory's letter as "received" at 4:53 p.m. on December 26, 2024 (see bottom right of document at link on the preceding row on this table).
January 2, 2025We publish this feature indicating that Gov. Landry is "poised" to nominate Guidry to the LSPC representing Louisiana Congressional District 1. We were comfortable publishing the feature because, per the Louisiana Constitution, Gov. Landry WOULD HAVE NO CHOICE BUT to name Guidry as the new FIRST District Commissioner because Guidry is the ONLY individual whom Dillard University President Guillory nominated (and most assuredly at the direct urging of Landry as per Dillard's prior President, Walter Kimbrough, indicating that these university Presidents merely nominate whomever the Governor tells them to nominate).
January 5, 2025Deadline for Dr. Guillory to submit any other nominee, which she did not.
January 6, 2025Guidry cancels his St. Tammany Parish voter registration.
January 6, 2025Guidry files paperwork with the East Baton Rouge Parish Registrar of Voters stating that he now resides at 625 Convention Street, Unit # 603 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. That is the Heron Downtown BR Upscale Apartment Complex.
January 9, 2025LSPC Meeting.
January 10, 2025Gov. Landry sends Secretary of State Nancy Landry this letter instructing her to issue a Commission to Jared Caruso Riecke to represent Louisiana U. S. Congressional District One. Very importantly, in that letter, Gov. Landry FALSELY accuses Dillard University President Monique Guillory of, "failing to nominate," when, in reality, she not only nominated Stephen L. Guidry, Jr. for that FIRST Congressional District appointment, but she did so almost assuredly at Landry's direct urging, and she did so at a time when Guidry was a registered voter in St. Tammany Parish and was fully qualified to represent the voters of the FIRST Congressional District!
January 27, 2025 @ 3:30 p.m.Gov. Landry's Head of Boards and Commissions, Ryan Roberts, sends Guidry this email with attached LSPC Appointment Letter to Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry for Guidry's appointment to the SIXTH Congressional District (the same one conveniently vacated by Simien 46 days before the letter and for which Xavier's President conveniently nominated no names to replace Simien). Furthermore, Guidry's appointment letter continues to show a redacted Mandeville address (believed to be 119 Cardinal Lane, Mandeville LA 70471 though the zip code on the letter, 70447, is, according to the USPS website, exclusive to Madisonville, LA.)
January 27, 2025 @ 3:42 p.m.Roberts sends Hannaman this "for your records" email (addressed ONLY to Hannaman) indicating that Guidry's, "mailing address was shown on his appointment letter, but (he) is registered at 625 Convention Street, Unit # 603, Baton Rouge LA 70802." Furthermore, Roberts' "welcoming letter" to Guidry again shows that redacted Mandeville address with the same zip code discrepancy noted above. Common sense would seem to dictate that the redacted address is 119 Cardinal Lane, Mandeville LA 70471, especially since that address continues to be the address shown on the Louisiana Secretary of State website page for one of Guidry's LLCs for which he serves as a Manager [ See:
this filing
]. Of course, common sense does not always prevail! That fact notwithstanding, it begs the question of a disparity between Guidry's "mailing address" and where he is "registered to vote." Maybe we're dumb, but we always thought one is supposed to LIVE (and thus receive mail) where one registers to vote!!!!!!!
February 8, 2025We mailed this letter to Guidry providing him with the opportunity to be quoted for this feature regarding the disposition of his LSPC nomination and an opportunity to explain Gov. Landry's, "demonstrably false statement" (our words) entailing Landry's emphatic statement regarding Dillard University President Dr. Monique Guillory having, "failed to nominate," when, in reality, Guillory had nominated HIM (Guidry) on December 23, 2024!
February 8, 2025We sent Guidry this email to his email account of [email protected] with the same material sent via letter but to include a link for Guillory's nomination of him for the FIRST Congressional District Membership on the LSPC along with Gov. Landry's Commission letter containing the demonstratively false statement that, "Dillard University Failed to Nominate." Again, we were seeking an explanation from Guidry entailing the disposition of his LSPC nomination. We also copied the following individuals on the email:
Ryan Roberts, Gov. Landry's Head of Boards and Commissions ([email protected]).
Jason Hannaman, LSPC Executive Director ([email protected]).
Dillard University President Monique Guillory (as a courtesy).
Dr. Walter Kimbrough, former Dillard President who was so instrumental in exposing the whole sham nature of LSPC nominations (again, also as a courtesy).
While we certainly expected no comment for purposes of this feature from Kimbrough or Guillory, we find it interesting that Guidry, Hannaman, and Roberts all declined to make comment for this feature. Then again, we place ourselves in their shoes, and what kind of explanation can be provided given what we're outlining in this table? Basically, the stench when one opens the lid on this garbage can is so overpowering that they have little choice but to just place the lid back on the can and hope nobody ever lifts the lid again!

So, with that, newly installed LSPC Chairman (and LSP Trooper-Elected Commissioner) Monty Montelongo proudly announced to the voters of the U. S. Sixth Congressional District who their new Commissioner is.  Let’s take just 10 seconds to watch him do so at the LSPC meeting of February 13, 2025:

2/13/25:  LSPC Commissioner (and LSP-Trooper-Elected LSPC Member and newly-installed LSPC Chairman), Monty Montelongo, introduces Stephen L. Guidry, Jr., as the brand new LSPC Commissioner representing the SIXTH Congressional District, previously held (from 2016 to 12/12/24) by long-time LSPC Chairman, Eulis Simien, Jr.

Here are some concluding answers to questions which have been posed to us as well as some of our own concluding observations:

===>  Why did Guidry go to all this trouble?

Our longest-tenured LSP source has told us (and to which we concur) that the answer is derived by uttering one four-letter acronym:  LSTA (Louisiana State Trooper Association).

We said at the outset of this whole sordid scandal that the LSTA sought a very quiet and unceremonious reappointment of Riecke.

When Guillory nominated Guidry (almost assuredly at Gov. Landry’s direct urging) instead of Rieke for the U. S. First Congressional District Commissioner (which Constitutionally locked Landry into Guidry, which is why we published the January 2, 2025 feature linked in the table above), Landry had no choice but to find some kind of way to make it up to the LSTA!

We would place a sizeable wager on the fact that the LSTA top brass was absolutely outraged at the prospect of Riecke no longer being on the LSPC, and we’d also make another significant wager that Riecke himself was equally, if not even more, furious over the development!

Thus, Landry appears to us to have either proposed this whole sordid scheme, or he at least fully acquiesced to it.  After all, it is Landry’s signature on those Commission letters!

We will point out that some observers with whom we’ve consulted prior to publication have described the entire scheme as, “outright fraud perpetrated on the voters of the U. S. Sixth Congressional District.”

To appease the LSTA, Landry had to ensure that Riecke remained on the LSPC as the U. S. First Congressional District Commissioner; furthermore, the scheme concocted also appeased Landry himself in that Landry got his own choice onto the LSPC just as he wanted.

Everybody would seemingly be happy with the possible exception of the voters, particularly the minority voters, in the U. S. Sixth Congressional District.  Perhaps Landry et. al. figured they’d never even know just who represents who on the LSPC.

 

===> Is Guidry representative of the typical voter in the U. S. Sixth Congressional District?

Probably not given that he lives (or at least he did live until his abrupt move and establishing a “theoretical residence” in his Baton Rouge apartment) at this $3.7 million, 16,750 Square Foot, 10-bathroom, 6-bedroom home complete with a two-lane bowling alley (see photo # 52).

[Sidenote:  Realtor.com estimates the home’s value at near $6 million; furthermore, Zillow.com (see “$3.7 million” link above) shows that, at least for a three-day period, the home was listed at nearly $15 million.]

Oh, heck, let’s supply a few photos (including that two-lane bowling alley photo), shall we (since, after all, a picture is worth a thousand words)?:


Somehow, we’re just a tad dubious that the above photos are illustrative of the typical average voter in the newly-formed Sixth Congressional District that Guidry now represents as per the video above, and we feel certain that it’s not typical of the average resident in Louisiana State Senate District 14 that Selders now represents.

After all, it is Selders who is responsible for advancing Guidry’s Senate confirmation now that Guidry has this new “home,” at least for voter registration purposes.

Confirming Guidry is a task that would have befallen U. S. Congressman Cleo Fields who, interestingly enough, is responsible for LSPC Members having to be confirmed by the Senate for all LSPC appointments transpiring on or after January 16, 2023.

 

===> Did Guidry’s “move” to 625 Convention Street, Unit # 603, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 affect his Membership on the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission (LMVC)?

 

Apparently not since the LMVC still touts him as the proud representative for its First District!

While the LMVC Districts do not match U. S. Congressional Districts, let’s focus in on how the LMVC, by Statute, defines its First District.  Here’s how they do so (from the preceding link):

(a) Commission District 1 shall consist of the following parishes: Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, and Washington.

Gee, we don’t see East Baton Rouge Parish on the list!  Imagine that!  That’s because East Baton Rouge Parish would be in District 3, to wit:

 (c) Commission District 3 shall consist of the following parishes: East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Ascension, East Feliciana, West Feliciana, St. Helena, Livingston, Assumption, and Pointe Coupee.

Now, let’s take a moment to provide views of Guidry’s Membership on each Commission:



So, we guess the bottom line is that Guidry Landry needs Guidry’s voter registration to be the SIXTH U. S. Congressional District for LSPC purposes but not enough to relinquish his St. Tammany voter registration (notwithstanding the fact that Guidry has in fact cancelled that voter registration effective January 6, 2025) for LMVC purposes!  Wow!

 

===> Has this whole series of acts served to effectively deny any minority representation whatsoever on the LSPC?

 

Well, we’ll let people make that conclusion for themselves; however, one long-time (and very, very astute) individual who follows this blog religiously stated to us:  “Robert, the bottom line is that the Louisiana State Police Commission is now lily white and is in fact all white male.”

That is a correct observation.

We’ll also point out that former LSP Commissioner Bernell Nevel, Jr., a black male, who previously represented U. S. Congressional District Two (he replaced disgraced former Commissioner Sabrina Richardson) was not selected by Landry from among the three (3) names submitted by Louisiana Christian College’s President, Dr. Rick Brewer.

Those three names were:  Bernell Nevel, Jr., (the incumbent, and a black male), Ross Bourgeois (a white male), and George Bensel (ethnicity unnown).

Gov. Landry chose Bourgeois to represent Congressional District Two (Louisiana’s other minority district beyond the newly-created Sixth District).

Bourgeois is Treasurer of the Louisiana Fraternal Order of Police.  Interestingly enough, according to this BallotPedia feature, the Louisiana Fraternal Order of Police voiced its opposition to Congressman Fields’ Constitutional Amendment (which passed by a margin of 72-28) to require Louisiana Senate confirmation of LSPC appointments.  We can only wonder why!

With Nevell’s departure from the LSPC, that left Simien as the lone final minority Member of the LSPC and, with his convenient resignation and the series of events outlined above effectively replacing Simien with Guidry, the Commission is, as this individual made note, all “lily white” and male.

Furthermore, numerous people with whom we’ve spoken for this feature are emphatic that:  #1) The U. S. First Congressional District now effectively has two (2) Commissioners, and #2) the U. S Sixth Congressional District now has no representation.

 

===> Was it easy for you to obtain the records you obtained for this feature?

 

Not “no,” but “HELL, no!”

Furthermore, while we provide the addresses for our site visitors in the documents on the table above, they were all redacted from the documents we obtained through our public records requests.

Nevertheless, we used a little resourcefulness and some timely placed phone calls to overcome the obsession with redacting addresses that Gov. Landry seems fixated upon.

Further, Gov. Landry’s Deputy Legal Counsel, Brett Robinson, advised us that Gov. Landry opted to exercise two exemptions in order to withhold two emails sent to and/or received from Ryan Roberts’ (the Head of Gov. Landry’s Boards and Commissions Division)  email account.

Let us reproduce Robinson’s exact wording:

        • 1 record has been withheld pursuant to La. R.S. 44:5, the Deliberative Process Privilege pursuant to Louisiana Department of Insurance ex rel. Donelon v. Theriot, 2010-0069 (La. App. 1 Cir. 5/3/11), 64 So.3d 854, writ denied, 2011-1139 (La. 9/30/11), 71 So.3d 286, and Executive Privilege pursuant to La. Const. Art. IV, § 5.
  • 1 record has been withheld pursuant to La. R.S. 44:5, Attorney-Client Privilege pursuant to La. C.E. 506, the Deliberative Process Privilege pursuant to Louisiana Department of Insurance ex rel. Donelon v. Theriot, 2010-0069 (La. App. 1 Cir. 5/3/11), 64 So.3d 854, writ denied, 2011-1139 (La. 9/30/11), 71 So.3d 286, and Executive Privilege pursuant to La. Const. Art. IV, § 5.

Obviously, Gov. Landry doesn’t want the public knowing a few things about this whole scandal, but we think we’ve gotten plenty of material (albeit taking a ton of legwork beyond just receiving the redacted records) that the average visitor to this feature can easily see just what all went down!

In other words, it’s bad enough in our eyes even with Gov. Landry shielding certain emails from us.  Having said that, we think the chances are sky high that what Landry doesn’t want us seeing is pretty damning!

So, with this whole sordid episode now laid bare, it is now in the hands of State Sen. Partrick McMath (Senate District 11) to decide whether to advance Gov. Landry’s nomination of raw sewage polluter Jared Caruso Rieke (who is also, by the way, former Gov. John Bel Edwards’ $70 Million Man  on the LSPC and who openly bragged on concealing radar detectors and being aligned with race team drivers changing out license plates and violating the nation’s speed limits in cross-country trips to break time records going from the East Coast to the West Coast) to the LSPC as the U. S. First Congressional District Commissioner.

It is also in the hands of newly-elected (as in 19 days ago) State Sen. Larry Selders regarding whether he will advance Gov. Landry’s nomination of Stephen Lewis Guidry, Jr., to represent the voters of the U. S. Sixth Congressional District.

We would provide a link for Selders’ Legislative webpage, but he’s too new to the Louisiana Senate for such a page to have been created yet (plus he needs to be sworn in as well).

We’ll see how it all plays out, folks!

Billy Broussard, in defending Gov. Landry: “Voters didn’t approve Senate confirmation of LSPC members 72-28 for nothing;” states he lacked all facts when reappointing Riecke to State Police Commission.

Louisiana State Senator Patrick McMath, along with his contact information.

Well, as has always been the case in the history of this blog, whenever Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Member Jared Caruso-Riecke has the starring role of a feature, our hits and Facebook shares absolutely skyrocket!

Such has once again been the case in our most-recent feature on him, which has garnered several thousand hits and is closing in on 1,000 Facebook shares.  Furthermore, those hits continue unabated even as we prepare to publish this feature!

We want to thank the dedicated followers and visitors to our blog from St. Tammany Parish for their strong interest in the LSPC, last year’s District Attorney race, and now this latest episode entailing the reappointment of Riecke to the LSPC.

By our own admission, that last feature was a direct slam of Gov. Jeff Landry, and we would note some pretty damning comments at the end of the feature that certainly are not very flattering of Gov. Landry.

One comment, however, is an exception, and that is the comment of Billy Broussard, who is steadfastly defending Landry on this matter albeit not for Landry’s selection of Riecke but rather Broussard’s belief that Landry was not fully apprised of all of the facts surrounding Riecke.  Here’s Broussard’s comment from the last feature:

 

I have never met a more honest man in Louisiana State Government than Kevin Davis!!

I refuse to believe the Governor was made aware of all the details of this matter.

It is no secret that Kevin Davis is not afraid to call it what it is, no matter who’s involved in the fraud waste and abuse or fabrication of evidence by….!!!!

Governor Jeff Landry and/or President Trump (DOGE) Elon Musk need good men like Kevin Davis on their team!!

Broussard called us and asked if he could be the guest for a Sound Off Louisiana feature on this whole ordeal, and we told him, as we always do, that the door is always wide open for him to “Sound Off” (which is kind of why we named the blog what we did) on any Louisiana governmental issue.

Broussard was very direct and to-the-point entailing the Riecke matter and the fact that Riecke must now be confirmed by the Louisiana Senate.  Here’s what he had to say:

2/24/25:  Broussard defends Gov. Landry in saying there is “no way” he was fully apprised of the details entailing Riecke before reappointing to him to the LSPC.

As stated on the video above, we indicated we’d again reproduce the contact information for Riecke’s State Senator, who is State Sen. Partick McMath of Senate District 11, because he alone now holds the key entailing whether Riecke is confirmed by the Louisiana Senate.  Here’s a repeat of that contact information, which is also included as one of the lead photos of this feature and is also incorporated into the video screen on several occasions on the above video:

Gov. Landry stuns St. Tammany Parish citizens by choosing raw-sewage-polluter Riecke over popular former Parish President & GOHSEP Director Davis for State Police Commission.

Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Member Jared Caruso-Riecke, in a pose which could serve as symbolism from Gov. Jeff Landry to St. Tammany Parish residents given that, on January 10, 2025, Landry chose Riecke to represent the First Congressional District over former popular Parish President and GOHSEP Director Kevin Davis.

On January 10, 2025, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry instructed Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry to issue a Membership to the LSPC representing the First Congressional District to Jared Caruso-Riecke.

Gov. Landry did so even with the full knowledge that popular former St. Tammany Parish President and GOHSEP Director Kevin Davis expressed his desire to serve the people in the First Congressional District on the LSPC.

Why did Gov. Landry’s decision upset so many people in St. Tammany Parish (trust us, his action infuriated many of them!)?

We have previously drawn extensive attention to the myriads of controversies surrounding Riecke, but what makes Landry’s decision all the more galling to the people in St. Tammany Parish are these three (3) facts:

  1. As we’ve illustrated before in Episode 9 of this thorough Counter Clock podcast, Riecke signed a felony plea on behalf of his company which entailed a $2.1 million fine (along with agreement to extend $12 million in already-spent remedies by making another $800,000 in remedies) to atone for, “millions of gallons of raw sewage” dumped into St. Tammany Parish waterways, with said millions of gallons of raw sewage eventually making their way into Lake Pontchartrain.
  2. It was former St. Tammany Parish President and GOHSEP Director Kevin Davis who was tasked with dealing with the fallout from Riecke’s company’s actions.
  3. On December 30, 2024, Kevin Davis made it known to Gov. Landry that he would like to serve the residents of the First Congressional District on the LSPC, yet Landry chose Riecke anyway!

Let’s present 10 minutes of audio excerpts from the above-referenced podcast focusing on the Riecke/Davis raw sewage matter:

Audio excepts from this podcast feature outlining the raw sewage problems associated with Riecke which former Parish President Kevin Davis had to resolve.

Pretty intriguing set of audio excerpts, no?

When Davis applied for the LSPC, he provided an extensive resume and bio.  Let’s reproduce his email to Gov. Landry’s Office seeking appointment to the LSPC:

From:Kevin Davis

To:[email protected]

Cc:Ryan Roberts (Governor’s Office)

Subject:Louisiana State Police Commission

Date:Monday, December 30, 2024 12:50:55 PM

Attachments:Kevin Davis Resume with Bio 2024.pdf

Dr. Guillory,

I am writing to you to express my interest in being appointed to the Louisiana State Police Commission. I believe my experience and qualifications make me a strong candidate.

For your review, I have attached my detailed resume and bio. Should you have any questions or need further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for considering me to serve on the LSP commission. I greatly appreciate your time and look forward to the possibility of contributing to the commission’s work.

Thank you, Kevin Davis

Now, as we gave thanks to former Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough for exposing the sham nature of LSPC appointments, he made this important observation that he wanted made known:

……..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.

Kimbrough is right in that any single State Senator, provided the appointee resides in that Senator’s District, can essentially block the confirmation of an appointee.

Close followers of Louisiana politics may recall that scenario playing out with regard to then-Senator Karen Carter Peterson who, though refusing to comment on the matter publicly, has been credited with single-handedly blocking then-Gov. John Bel Edwards’ appointee to head the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, Ronnie Jones.

So, if the voters of St. Tammany Parish feel incensed enough about Gov. Landry’s appointment of Riecke to the LSPC (particularly given his other option of Kevin Davis), perhaps they may wish to contact Riecke’s State Senator, Patrick McMath, and ask him to block Riecke’s nomination just as Karen Carter-Peterson is widely believed to have done with Ronnie Jones’ nomination.

To facilitate St. Tammany Parish residents who may wish to contact McMath, here’s a copy and paste from his Legislative webpage to assist them in their efforts:

Senator Patrick McMath

Even if someone does not reside in St. Tammany Parish but does reside in the First Congressional District, that person would still be represented by Riecke and therefore may also wish to reach out to Sen. McMath.  Furthermore, that First Congressional District resident is certainly free to reach out to his or her own State Senator indicating a desire for the Senate to reject Riecke’s appointment.

After all, if McMath turns out to be unwilling to adhere to the will of St. Tammany Parish voters entailing Riecke (assuming enough of them feel strongly enough on the matter to reach out to him), those same voters just may wish to reevaluate whether he is the State Senator they want to continue serving them once his reelection efforts get underway in 2027.

In closing, we know what many people are asking:  How did Gov. Landry appoint Riecke to serve on the LSPC when Dillard University President Dr. Monique Guillory did not even nominate Riecke?  Wouldn’t that be a blatant violation of Louisiana’s Constitution?

We will provide the answer to those two questions, along with revealing many of the other behind-the-scenes shenanigans we’ve been able to uncover in this sordid episode, in the second installment of this feature.  We just KNOW you’ll want to see that next feature and find out just what all transpired!