Day: May 25, 2012

Citizens for Good Government calls out Councilman at Large Elton Lagasse over his support of pay to play

From the latest CFGG email blast:

Supporters of Good Government:

Citizens for Good Government is distressed at the Jefferson Parish Council’s apparent dismissal of the Bureau of Governmental Research’s recently-released report on service contracting entitled, “Reforming Jefferson Parish’s Unusual Approach to Service Contracting.” When at the May 23rd Council meeting CFGG Vice-Chairman Margie Seemann asked the question:

“Has BGR been invited to present their report to the Council, or will they be invited?”

Councilman Lagasse responded, “No Ma’am.”

We were flabbergasted at this lone response to our question. Although he did not clarify his response, it appears that Councilman Lagasse intended to indicate that BGR will NOT be invited to present their report. Councilman Lagasse’s response was outrageous and unacceptable. We do not believe that he should have the final word about having the BGR report presented at a council meeting, particularly since he was quoted in the Times-Picayune as objecting to some of the conclusions of the report. Continue reading “Citizens for Good Government calls out Councilman at Large Elton Lagasse over his support of pay to play”

Heather Hilliard bounced out of the Young Administration

I hate to sound callous but I saw this coming with the very first set of posts I did on the Richard Hart-Heather Hilliard conflict. Rich Rainey has all the skinny.

Is Hilliard a whistle blower?  No.  Did how her complaint of harassment against Hart was handled set the bar for how these type of employment issues would and should be handled in the future? Absolutely because it was handled right despite the attempted interference on part of COO Chris Cox.

Yes, Hart well deserved the chop shop for his slaughterhouse management style but sources have consistently told Slabbed since the early days that Hilliard was in over her head as a CAO.  Both illustrate a consistent criticism I’ve heard about the Young Administration that many members of his senior management team are long on legal/professional credentials and very short on practical management experience. I’ll add no amount of experience can help someone with Hart’s personality type, which is well suited for industries like construction that need strong willed a-holes to push jobs to completion.

That said debacles like the Hart-Hilliard saga are certainly giving those previously uninitiated in the art of management in team Young a very quick education.

sop