Team Waste Management has been very busy of late taking depositions etc in the Parish’s suit against them and man o’ man is there a treasure trove of information coming out, hopefully all of which will be discussed in the upcoming public meeting.
For one, I’m not sure why anyone is wasting time on these after the fact costs analysis because it is clear Broussard, Wilkinson and Whitmer were lying through their teeth about the “savings” when this contract was bum rushed through as it is clear no cost projections or other financial analysis was ever performed.
Document 104 has some good stuff, including Team Waste Management wanting to amend their counter-claim to include new allegations that have come to light after certain depositions were taken. Team Waste Management explains:
The initial discovery and depositions in this case took place only months ago, in November and December, 2010, when Waste Management took the depositions of three high ranking officials employed by Plaintiffs, namely, Margaret Winter, Director of the Jefferson Parish Environmental Affairs Department, Joseph “Rick” Buller, Jefferson Parish Landfill Engineer, and Gwen Bolotte, Director of the Jefferson Parish Finance Department. As recently as January 11, 2011 (two days ago), Waste Management took the deposition of Deano Bonano, a former Chief Administrative Assistant and former emergency management director of Jefferson Parish.
So what are some of the new facts? Pretty much the old ones that have now evidently been confirmed:
From the outset, the issuance of this RFP was highly unusual and irregular, and violated normal procedures and Ordinances of Jefferson Parish. In particular, the interference in the RFP process by the Parish’s two highest officials, Broussard and Whitmer, was highly unusual and irregular. In addition, the advertisement process was abbreviated and rushed through. In fact, the Finance Director of Jefferson Parish was directly told by Broussard and Whitmer to “rush” the advertisement of the RFP, a request she thought was highly unusual, but which she followed due to their position of authority over her.
Its get better:
Moreover, Parish officials have recently acknowledged in sworn testimony that there is no evidence to support a claim of savings with the River Birch contract. The only report even remotely addressing cost comparison between the Waste Management and River Birch contracts was a preliminary report done by the Landfill Engineer dated May 5, 2009, almost five months after the River Birch proposal was approved. However, the preliminary report by the Parish Landfill Engineer was incomplete and was not intended to provide a basis upon which to make a determination that Jefferson Parish would save money over the 25-year life of the River Birch contract, primarily because the report did not project costs beyond the year 2012, something which needed to be done in order to make a proper comparison of the Waste Management and River Birch contracts.
And then we have this:
At that time, Whitmer directed the Finance Director not to include the funds for the Waste Management contract in the proposed 2010 Parish Budget, despite adequate funds being available in the Parish Treasury. Their plan was to falsify budgetary information such that it would appear that there was “insufficient funds” for the continuation of the Waste Management contract, thereby allowing the Administration to cancel the contract effective January 1, 2010 and to commence the River Birch contract at that time, as demanded by River Birch in their proposal for the contract.
After reading this it seems to me these dueling after the fact cost studies should have been done back in 2008/2009 instead of way after the fact, especially the curious one done for Team River Birch by the hired guns at Loren C Scott and Associates. Maybe the Parish council will make Miss Bollote, Rick Buller and Marnie Winter available to answer questions at their special meeting too.
Document 108 deals with cross motions for summary judgment on the annual appropriations dependency clause and it has some interesting tidbits too including a depo snippet from the Parish’s Landfill Engineer Rick Buller, who evidently sees no benefit in lying for Whitmer, Wilkinson and Broussard:
Q. Yeah. My question is: Do you believe that the parish would be in good faith in negotiating with waste Management in that manner?
A. In the manner of?
Q. In the manner of using a nonappropriations clause to terminate the contract at that period of time?
A. No.
Q. The parish would not be in good faith?
A. I wouldn’t think so.
For our readers who want to see all the dirty laundry for themselves I’ve uploaded case docs 104 and 108 for your reference. I think what we need are the full depos of these Parish employees. Anyone in the Slabbed Nation who is willing to help us there should drop us a line.
sop
My guess is that any information that would prove to be embarrassing to the Council, the current Parish President, or to River Birch and its owners will be “off-limits” at the “special public hearing”. I mean, shoot: That’s what will make it so “special”, Silly Rabbit. So let’s keep our ears to the ground to determine who will set the Agenda for and who will preside over the “special public hearing”. I mean Young cut Margie off recently at a Council Meeting and wouldn’t let her speak. Do we really believe that the same sort of thing won’t occur at the “special public hearing”? Ashton O’Dwyer, Jefferson Parish landowner, whose land is being “stolen” by Elton LaGasse, the “other” Council Members, and various Federal, State and Parish agencies, all of whom are “aiding and abetting” squatters and trespassers in the theft.
Freakin’ public meeting to be held after 10 am february council meeting. Chickensh*t council and pres. young are scared of the peeons who work coming to sit in and ask common sense questions. Council at large,Capeela, seems the leader for Team River. Like man are the feds ever going to hammer these fockers. Stealin’ $100 of dog food to feed your dog and you go straight to pen but the fockers who stole millions in payroll fraud and steal batture property to give to their mooching buddies get off hook.
Sop: Maybe Waste Managment will give you a copy of each deposition so the Slabbed nation can review, dissect and offer suggestions on where else to look.
Whadda ya say WM: want us to help?
Bayou,
Even as profitable as River Birch may be as you commented on in a previous post, this parochial outfit isn’t a tick on Waste Management’s international ass. Now River Birch and their conspiring Jefferson Parish Officials have awoken the 10,000 pound gorilla. River Birch has neither the money or the deep seated political influence Waste Management can pound these local politico mafioso with if they choose to do so.
River Birch paid out $8,000,000 in dividends…try Waste Management’s payout of $795,000,000.*
The next legal move WM should consider is suing Whitmer, Wilkinson and Broussard personally and individually as a result of their illegal acts of abuse of power, to wit: interference with third-party contractual relations outside the scope of their authority. And now that the retirement funds of public officials are subject to be seized to respond in judgement for acts committed while in office, it would be more than economically sound in light of the retirement package Whitmer, Broussard and Wilkinson accrued while robbing the taxpayers of Jefferson parish.
And I wholeheartedly agree with Unslabbed…it would be in WM’s best interest to provide Sop with copies of those depositions so that we all could read and helpfully contribute and develop more information on this disgraceful affair of River Birch and Jefferson Parish Officials.
*EXERPT FROM WASTE MANAGEMENT’S WEB-SITE
Maintaining financial strength. We are
proud to report that, despite the economic circumstances
of 2009, our company performed well in many aspects.
I’ve got to write a post on Sean Alfortish that will lend some insight into what Team Letten may be waiting on. In Alfortish’s case they waited until related civil litigation hit the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion I happen to have courtesy of a reader. Short story is it was only when Team Alfortish was made to come clean on the ballots in the civil litigation that he finally moved on indictments.
Here we have a major piece of litigation but River Birch isn’t on the hook for the legal fees in this case so the “bleached bones” strategy isn’t in play here. What it is doing is putting major pressure on the politicians, the same gang that brung everyone in JP this bad deal.
So long as the spotlight in that case is on Broussard, Whitmer and Wilkinson they have nothing to lose by dragging things out. That said Waste Management is going for the jugular here contending that since the RFP was handled inproperly and not in accordance with the Parish Code of Ordinances it is invalid out of the gate. If Lemelle sides with Waste Management there, seems to me it is also a good excuse for Young to settle the litigation and let nature takes its course with respect to Whitmer, Broussard and Wilkinson.
sop
Sock I’m going ‘balls through the wall’ with this one. We have yet again another apologetic T-P article written by Paul Rioux concerning this River Birch fiasco:
“Jefferson Parish Council to hold meeting on dueling studies on garbage contract
Published: Friday, January 21, 2011, 6:00 PM
By Paul Rioux, The Times-Picayune”
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/01/jefferson_parish_council_to_ho.html
I would doubt Rioux knew or had read Waste Management’s amended petition and supporting depositions, or had the Council or Young for that matter. If they had and they chose to continue on this course of aiding and abetting in this criminal conspiracy to award River Birch an illegal landfill monopoly, then I would hope Waste Management sics their legal beagles on their collective asses and then have the Feds move in for the kill !
In the leader headline Rioux uses the word dueling to describe the 180 degree discrepancy between JP’s consultants’ report here on Earth and River Birch’s report presumedly prepared on Uranus.. Are we to expect that Young and Heebe will meet under the Huey Long Bridge, select weapons and shoot it out. I could only wish that both would come to such a fitting end. Given the sordid history of the River Birch conspiracy, it should go without saying, that any report that favors River Birch would lack any credibility and could not warrant any public review. Simply put, there is no contest and there is no contract.
Next, Rioux seems to allude to some type of pow-wow the Council Clowns are staging:
“The Jefferson Parish Council plans to hold a special meeting Feb. 2 seeking to reconcile contradictory studies about the financial viability of the parish’s controversial 25-year garbage-disposal contract with the River Birch landfill.”
Why do these studies have to be reconciled ? And for what purpose ? And in whose favor ? Reconcile in this context would be defined: ” cause to coexist in harmony; make or show to be compatible”. Well the whole point of the Parish spending thousands of dollars for an ‘independent study’ was to rely on it’s findings, and if River Birch doesn’t like what they read, then fuck them. Maybe that dumb ass Peggy Barton in the Parish Attorney’s Office needs to study up on the word ‘laches’ and it’s application in our law. Didn’t I notice her name in the pleadings on behalf of the Parish…hmmm… that can’t be good for our side.
And this segues into that asinine comment by THE Parish idiot, Capella, as quoted by Rioux in this article:
“Council Chairman Tom Capella said he spoke individually with other council members, who agreed to honor River Birch’s request for a meeting to discuss the studies”
Use of the word honor in the same breath with anything having to do with River Birch is blasphemy, and most certainly a contradiction in terms. Capella is a River Birch whore…I know it, you know it and even he knows it. I have a request of Capella on behalf of myself and all the taxpayers of Jefferson Parish: cancel the totally unnecessary River Birch hearing. Are you on the phone yet with mini-me Roberts ?
In conclusion, I have chosen the following three quotes that I think best describes the shameless and arrogant actions taken by Jefferson Parish Officials in their collusion with River Birch and it’s principals in this continuing criminal conspiracy to award River Birch an illegal landfill monopoly…in summation, boundless unmitigated GALL !!!:
“River Birch officials, who have questioned assumptions underlying the parish study, applauded the council’s decision.” (WHAT ELSE WOULD WE EXPECT FROM THESE COUNCIL CLOWN CONSPIRATORS)
“It’s a win for the citizens of Jefferson Parish, and it will help council members get accurate information before making decisions critical for the future of the parish,” landfill spokesman Glenn Smith said. (NEXT TIME I NEED TO THROW UP I’LL READ THIS QUOTE)
The council unanimously approved the River Birch deal in June 2009 after Broussard’s administration estimated it would save the parish $19 million to $23 million.(YOU MEAN THE SAME ADMINISTRATION THAT RESIGNED AND SAME COUNCIL THAT INCLUDED YOUNG VOTING AS PART OF THE 7-0 VOTE).
What else can I say…ces connards sont une honte putain !