Wouldn’t you know – the Times Picayune published Public records law proposal in Jefferson losing momentum after SLABBED posted Young at heart – well, not exactly, but… Jefferson Parish felt the heat, Young claims to have seen the light on Public Records – and it’s too big a story for an update.
Among the many things the powers that be in Parish government don’t seem to understand is that when you see the light after feeling the heat, you use it to reflect what’s right! Obviously, it will take more heat, so let’s turn it up on interim Parish President Steve Theriot who seems oblivious to what the rest of us know. Theriot is no buck-stops-here administrator (pun intended) and he’s not smart either or he wouldn’t try and hide behind the USA:
As news media requests for Jefferson Parish public records fueled almost daily disclosures about potential wrongdoing in former Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration last winter, parish officials said they caught some flak from federal criminal investigators.
“They had issued subpoenas for the records, and I don’t think they were happy that some of the information became public before they had even seen it,” interim Parish President Steve Theriot said.
“Not happy”? Did Theriot consider the reason? Nooooo! He came up with one to cover the concern (and no doubt some of his as well):
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten declined to weigh in on the issue. “We were not consulted on the legislation in question,” he said. “If we had been consulted, we would not have provided an opinion.”
Letten said any concerns his investigators raised with parish officials had to do with how quickly the parish responded to subpoenas, not the fact that the subpoenaed records were released to the news media under public records laws.
“When we issue subpoenas for records, we expect a timely response,” he said. “Beyond that, as we have previously stated to Jefferson Parish, we take no position formally or informally as to when or how the parish might provide those records to the press or anyone else who requests them.”
Sadly, it appears a torch wouldn’t be hot enough for Senator Martiny “get it”:
Martiny said the bill is intended to strike a balance between public access to information and the needs of investigators.
“Everybody keeps making it sound like I’m trying to hide something. This would simply give investigators time to question a potential suspect or witness before the information becomes public,” he said.
The bill would give investigators five days after a public body receives a request for subpoenaed records to block the records from being released.
Martiny said he plans to revise the bill to limit the proposed indefinite hold on public records to either two weeks or a month, after which the records would have to be released.
“I’m willing to make changes to address some of the concerns that have been raised,” he said. “But if it turns out that this is not something prosecutors want, I’m not going to pursue the bill.”
Makes one wonder if Martiny thinks “dumb as dirt” has something to do with the landfill! Maybe he’s just trying to be “honest” and thinks the Parish attorney might take as long as a month to provide the USA with subpoenaed documents!
Theriot and Martiny may be the only dynamic duo of dumb in the Parish but Chairman Young will need to shake which-way-is-the-wind-blowing member Chris Roberts or make it a foursome:
Council Chairman John Young said he will introduce a resolution at Wednesday’s council meeting to rescind the council’s support for amending the public records law.
Councilman Chris Roberts said he would vote to rescind the vague resolution. Placed on the agenda by the parish attorney’s office, the resolution calls on the parish’s Baton Rouge delegation to pursue “appropriate legislation” to amend the public records law but includes no details about what changes should be made.
“I think that before we could really take a position on the specifics of this bill, we would need to have a question-and-answer session about why it is necessary,” Roberts said.
Someone please tell Chrissy the time to ask questions is before you vote!
“Any bill which imposes restrictions on our current access to public records is unacceptable,” said Margie Seemann, vice chairwoman of Citizens for Good Government. “We need transparency in government, not secrecy.”
Great message, Ms. Seemann, but you may want to translate it to little words like “clear” for “transparency” and pack Saran Wrap in case you need a visual aid. Pass that Rebel Yell, whitmergate!
Ca alors ! Mr. Martiny dumped on the JP Attorney’s Office…Mr. Young dumped on the JP Attorney’s Office and now I get to follow up, and dump-out on the players of the incestuous Wilkinson Posse still in daily contact with Mr. Wilkinson and in control of the Parish Attorney’s Office as I write.
But first remove AMV: At a meeting in the JP President’s office, AMV was put on paid administrative leave by Mr. Theriot and six other eunuchs, all of whom sat across from her. In front of Mr. Theriot was a stack of illegally seized blogs written by third parties, and not by AMV, who did not blog. These blogs were used to frame AMV, and given as the reason for the unconscionable act of putting her in a false light. This job action was intentionally timed in tandem with the removal of Mr. Wilkinson for the various criminal and ethical violations that were made public; it must then appear she had done something wrong also, which she did not. At that moment, the administration, being advised by Mr. Gruntz, began to put the clamps on access to public records. The fact is there is no one in Parish government other than AMV that has the full breath of legal understanding of the Louisiana Public Records Law, both in application and spirit. Mr. Gruntz was and is fully aware of this fact, and that is the threat. His mission is to stonewall, misinform, add more subjective exceptions, tell people what he says is the law, not what the law is. At no time did anyone in JP Government bother to consult with AMV concerning the proposed laws written by Mr. Gruntz and the negative effect upon the public’s right to information they paid for. We know why now, don’t we, Mr. Theriot ?
And of course, Ms. Barton, acting Parish Attorney, (no pun intended ?) has become acutely aware of why she wants to limit access to public records. It was her intentional and/or negligent mismanagement, that was the back-bone of the scandal relating to the “para-legal” cover-up. As a result of a media PRR, Ms. Barton apparently altered the supervisory chart so as to have it appear that the para-legals were not her responsibility. Wrong ! This is the same person who was 1st assistant to Mr. Wilkinson for way too many years. This the same person Mr. Theriot appointed temporary Parish Attorney. Pardon madamn, mais je crois que vous etes en train de griller…
And now enters Gregory Giangrosso, a bona fide Wilkinson lackey. Mr. Giangrosso was transferred from the Recovery Department to now be in charge of the Public Records Department. Just as he was not competent to litigate in his former position, he again is not required to be competent in this new assignment. It is simply his job, or more accurately that of an underling, to mail out Mr. Gruntz’s rather questionable form letter telling us the law as he says it is and you will not receive any satisfactory response to your PRR. And for this we have the privilege of Mr. Giangrosso having the status Sr. Asst. Parish Atty. at a salary of $75,000 + benefits, retirement, etc, and having been with the Office for less than a 3 year period. Thank you Mr. Wilkinson, Ms. Barton and Mr. Gruntz. Bande de chameaux !…
Pelican is coming over to sip some Rebel Yell with me so that we can discuss what could be the cause of the memory problem Mr. Young and other Council members appear to be afflicted with when asked about certain sensitive political matters. Bonjour deBrief…a water back s’il vous plait…
Speaking of salaries in the Parish, whitmergate, did you catch the quote I linked in the post “How con-VEEN-ient” ?
“Young said he didn
I am curious. Not curious-George ( hello there little monkey!)but just curious.
What exactly is the work of the Jefferson Parish Council?
What exactly is the work of the Council Administrative Assistants?
What exactly is the work of the Council Research and Budget staff?
Could it possible be their work is to actually READ THE AGENDA ITEMS, understand the Agenda items and be informed WHEN THEY VOTE?
Since Alan Gandolfi is the Council Research and Budget Attorney, and, since he and Louis Gruntz are joined at the hip, one would think Gandolfi could educate his clients about what Gruntz is up to. But since Wilkinson is still controlling Gandolfi the Council probably doesn’t have a chance. Remember Gandolfi was the other plant on the River Birch committee. He is also verrrry close to retirement and perhaps is looking for a place to land. BK Sneed landed well when he retired. But then again Gandolfi’s track record advising his clients is not exactly stellar.
No whitmergate I did not say Stella. Go back to Pelican and your Rebel Yell.
If I were the Council I would call Gandolfi on the carpet for not ‘splaining thangs.
If I were the Council I would not vote on ‘vaguely’ worded Agenda items
If I were a Council Adm. Asst. I would be concerned about my $90,000.00 per year job.
And where exactly is wind-blown Chrissy Roberts? No grandstanding on the telly. No grandstanding in the Times-Pic-Ur-Nose. Oh dear, we must be stuck in the doldrums. And we all know what happened to sailing ships in the old days if they got stuck in the doldrums while out at sea. Lots of ghost ships with skeletons a la Pirates of the Carribean.
So who exactly is left out there in the great information void?
Is the Parish Attorney’s office stonewalling the Council on public records by not ‘splaining the Agenda items?
Maybe the actual wording of the proposed bills is somehow exempt, excepted or limited under La R S 44:1 et seq. and that is why Gruntz didn’t ‘splain it to the Council. They will never know exactly what or why because he probably just sent them that form letter by way of Gee-I-Am-An-A_ _hole.
We feel your pain Jefferson Parish Council.
Adieu. Au revoir. C’est tout pour moi.