Something historic happened at the last Jefferson Parish Council meeting and Slabbed has the scoop

Slabbed has the scoop on something that happened 2 days ago? Absolutely we do as the historic event is something that would be so pedestrian elsewhere as to not merit a mention or second thought from my brother journalists on a typical government beat:  For the first time in years the Parish council split 4-3 on an agenda item; one for professional services at that and we need to take a close looksie at the whole deal as it represents the first cracks in the legendary unity of the Jefferson Parish Council. I hope our readers can help Slabbed fill in some gaps.

Our first stop is the agenda for the last Parish Council meeting, specifically agenda item #10.  If you click the agenda item in the pdf it will open a word document on how the agenda item would have translated had it passed but it didn’t.  In fact the online agenda indicates it was approved and that is clearly wrong as the following video of the Parish Council meeting illustrates (around minute 2:45):

So now that we’ve all witnessed the first 4-3 council vote since Butch Ward was on the Parish Council (according to observers of Jefferson Parish Government that speak with Slabbed) we need a bit of background that makes all this even more of a head scratcher and for that we visit with Rich Rainey’s September 2, 2011 story “No bids for Jefferson Parish tech work; $1.7 million contract to stay with current vender”:

For 16 years, Barowka & Bonura Engineering Consultants has been managing Jefferson Parish’s computer systems. The company’s contract has been renewed so often that Parish President John Young said he wanted to see whether other companies could do the work for less.

“My general rule is we look at everything and if it’s something that should be advertized (to solicit proposals), we advertize,” he said.

In this case, however, the Parish Council disagreed. Without discussion Wednesday, the seven-member panel unanimously ordered the administration to negotiate another year-long deal with Barowka & Bonura. The relationship that started in 1994 with a $132,000 cap has since grown to $1.7 million.

This article has never been featured on Slabbed despite the fact some of my sources were jumping up and down pointing out the following snippet which is now ripe for examining:

Walt Barowka, a company principal, said his firm avoids politics where it can. However, Barowka & Bonura and its other principals, Tony and Jeffrey Bonura, have made significant campaign contributions to council members and Young.

“We pretty much support all the incumbents, because it’s the nature of the beast,” Barowka said.

Councilmen Louis Congemi and Elton Lagasse have received $8,000 each since 2003, campaign finance records show. Since 2009, Council Chairman Chris Roberts has received $6,000; Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng has received $2,250 and Young has taken in $5,000. Councilman Byron Lee has received $6,000 since 2005, records show.

“I think it’s unfortunate that a councilman has to spend three to four hundred thousand dollars to win an election,” Barowka said. “I’m sure that contractors like us are contributing to the problem, but I don’t know how to stop it. I’m just glad there are limits.”

At the time observers of Jefferson Parish politics thought being quoted saying such things in the paper was corporate suicide for Barowka & Bonura. Indeed it may well have been as we circle back to that Agenda Item #10 mentioned above:

Resolution – selecting a firm to provide computer services for the MIS and GIS Divisions of the Electronic Information Systems Department for a period of two years under RFP No. 0249. (Parishwide) (Approved by Mr. Roberts at the request of the Administration)

So here we are nine months after the Parish Council unaminously extended Barowka & Bonura’s contract and now 3 members of the Parish Council are ready to replace them in favor of a new company, New Era Information Technologies.  Who is New Era?  According to a seasoned observer of Jefferson Parish Politics:

The IT guy Campbell,  finds a political operative, Terry Powers, to front for him…..

The observer then went on to detail certain legal problems Powers has/had and that his lawyer was/is current Harahan Mayor Vinnie Mosca.  Needing more info my next stop was New Era’s contracting affidavits, obtained for Slabbed by the divine M&M sisters over at CFGG.  Like Barowka and Bonura, Mr Campbell has spread around the campaign ca$h.  We didn’t stop there though no siree as the divine M known as Margie did more sleuthing and found that in 2006/2007 Campbell gave Aaron Broussard  $4,300, Tom Capella $7,000 from 2006-2011 among other notable Jefferson Parish Political Mafiasos that also include former Council member Louis Congemi, Paul Connick and of course, “Mini-Me” Chris Roberts.  The ladies at CFGG did great work folks.

But I still was curious so I searched New Era over at the Secretary of State’s office and found another officer listed in New Era, one Donald Flores of River Ridge.  Mr Flores owns Ultix Technologies, a company that is listed on the New Era website as being partners in the “New Era Group”. New Era is based in Kenner which is prime Goatherder territory so I decided to dig further so my next stop was the Ultix website which had this bio on Mr Flores:

After graduating from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Computer Science in 1984, Mr. Flores began his career as a software developer for the Regional Transit Authority in New Orleans, he then accepted a position as software developer, business analyst and systems administrator with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. His work having attracted offers of several independent software development and maintenance projects in the Greater New Orleans area, Mr. Flores founded Ultix Software, Inc. in 1989.

The RTA and Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals? This of course has inspired even more curiousity but it was there I ended the sleuthing.

To make this whole deal even more surreal Slabbed has learned the Parish’s evaluation committee recommended Barowka & Bonura get the contract thus the Parish council was again going against the wishes of  the Young Administration.  The 4-3 vote, historic in its own right coupled with recent history and active federal investigations into the operation of certain aspects of Parish Government tells me there is more to this story than meets the eye. I hope our readers can help fill in some of the blanks.

sop

11 thoughts on “Something historic happened at the last Jefferson Parish Council meeting and Slabbed has the scoop”

  2. http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/11/harahan_businessman_booked_wit.html

    excerpt comment:

    Terrance Michael Power who is partners with Kerry Lauricella in National League of Cities?

    Terrance Michael Power who is partners with David Campbell in New Era Information Technologies, LLC? David Campbell who has/had a mega interest in Jefferson Parish technolgy contracts?

    Terrance Michael Power who worked for deceased George Ackel Jr at various odd jobs?

    Terrance Michael Power who owns 32 Degrees LLC , a daiqurie bar/restaurent where he hosted a party for Debbie Villio at the behest of Sheriff Normand?

    Terrance Michael Power, member and President ( recently or still ) of St Rita Catholic Church Men’s Club or Knights of Columbus?

    Terrance Michael Power who claimed he ‘ran’ Kirk Talbot’s campaign for State Rep?

    Terrance Michael Power close personal friend of Dane and Dana Doucet and reputed architect of Dane’s Daughter Dana’s successful bid for the Harahan Council?

    THAT Terrance Michael Power?

    Law enforcement always looks for the weakest link and Terrance Michael Power certainly qualifies for that distinction.

    Mac Dickerson, husband of 1st Parish Judge Rebecca Olivier is new Police Chief in Harahan, Vinny Mosca is the new Mayor ( and ipso facto probably won’t be defending TMP), David Courcelle is City Attorney in Harahan ( see ipso facto above)…hmmm. Chick Foret maybe?

    Harahan got egg on its face for having TMP as Chairman of Zoning Board?

    Is this a warning shot over the bow of potential candidates from Harahan? Hmmm.

    Very Interesting.
    November 19, 2010, 8:03:20 PM CST

  3. Here’s a funny Terry “the Weazel’ Power story I heard some time ago after the Steib/Villio race.

    A friend of mine was in a car with several other people driving down Jefferson Hwy on election day.

  4. friend: Thank you friend and Sop for a GREAT informative, investigative POST.

    Shame on the TP for not first recognizing a CRACK in the GOOD OLE’ BOYS CLUB and digging deeper for the reason. Calling Car 51 please pick up Paul Purpura on Howard Ave. and haul butt to Council Offices for investigative interview with LargASSE.

    Especially when there was a criminal charge reported by the TP on the co-owner of the same FU*KING company LargASSE and other Harahan/ RiverRidge politicos want to award an IT contract worth over 1 MILLION DOLLARS.

    An IT contract which controls all the computers in JP. No background checks? WTF?

    Hey LargASSE would it be too much to ask that you author an ORDINANCE that mandates a criminal background check on all owners, co-owners or Officers of all companies awarded contracts over $100,000.00. I bet the DIVINE M&M Sistas are going to advocate one be passed and soon.

    LargASSE you only have a few more months at- Large so keep moving for awarding million dollar contracts to your cronies and there may be more cracks in the BOYS CLUB ( of course outside of your LargASSE crack through which you fart your mumbo-jumbo Parliamentarian rap).

    1. Amazing as there was not 1 but 2 reporters there Lockem. In fairness I believe this all went down on chop shop day.

      sop

  6. Although a little late to the party I’m still glad to see Richiee weigh in tody at the TP

  8. With all the politics and people that get in “High Places” meaning it’s not what you know it is who you know and this comment has no real direct link to all the scandals or the fact that a certain person I thought was a good influence in his doings concerning events and things he did that were good yet was I feel treated horribly why not go for the bigger catch? Also I feel and trust me I was treated horribly by two certain Harahan police offices who I am having my case looked at and I will post these officers name on a billboard as I was at a stop sign a famous stop sign on hickory were harahan police do break tag checks often and the drill is one vehicle goes left or right whichever way you see them go you follow the pattern which is what I did except because an unmarked red truck went right the next car left so I went right just to get pulled into the lot of a restaurant at the end of the road where there was an oil spill that was parallel to the road I was driving on. I had no idea I disobeyed the policeman and the gentleman in the red unmarked truck came to me and said he was called out to help but would try to help me out which I didn’t need help I was treated like say the more serious offenders should be treated. I was told by and I have someone who is in a very high position who is going to have my case reviewed and possibly reopened an then maybe those harahan police with one having Tattoo’s all over both arms( a real good role model) Not I was a teacher real good friends with Mr. Paul Emenes who shouldn’t have any building named after him he played games with me drove to my school took me for a ride in his new car while the principal watched my students (another person that deserved to die) he had me transferred to another year cause my best so I thought friend Bobby W. taught with me at every school I taught at the longest being 16 years at I won’t name the school. She was in the click but when you found a lump on her breast she was allowed to leave school early and have the other teacher who taught her students certain subjects watch her students this went on after I moved to my new school that Mr. Emenes actually allowed me to leave the school I was teaching at during the summer and met me and I went to Jefferson Elementary first and there was a long line as this was job fair so I was allowed to cut in line he winked winked at the principal and as we talked a good while she smiled as I left her and of course so it wouldn’t look obvious I was interviewed by many principals that Mr. Paul Emenes checked off as being great schools so when it was time to report to the place where all the different schools and positions were posted I was like the 5th person to choose and every principal checked me off as a “yes” meaning they all would have hired me but I chose Jefferson Elementary school and was happy my first 3 years and my husband was deployed to Bahrain after only being married not even a year the day before our one year anniversary which was April 8th 2000 he actually volunteered to go and so on April 7th 2001 he left so it was tough staring a new like in 2000 and him leaving in 2001 and so on the anniversary of 911 my principal who had the upmost respect to my now ex husband who is still a great person a “hand picked captain for the Navy Reserves and went to Loyola to get his law degree and worked in New Orleans as the assistant D.A. for the juvenile division but now works for the Louisiana Supreme Court . So again I was doing so good bringing the second graders scores up that Mr. Paul Emenes visited my class quite often then my 4th year at that school my back stabbing jealous Bi;;ch came crying to me because the principal at the old school I taught at for 16 years with no real serious write ups just a few and they were frivolous cause I don’t kiss ass to get in the “click ” Mr.Paul approached me and so because I was a wonderful teacher when my ex best friend came crying and begging me to ask my new principal for a job I asked her and she said and I quote ” if she is a friend of yours and you believe she is a good teacher I will hire her and unfortunately after 3 years of doing so well and Mr. Emenes even contacted some professor from UNO who was going to get me into the administrative department so I could go to school after teaching and get my Administrative degree so I could pick the school of my choice when I earned my degree and pretty much cut so to speak into a principals position what an awesome Jefferson parish public school system we have. Like when an African American title one director was in charge because the principal was out and there was an issue where there was money taken and 3 young boys were stripped searched pants pulled to their ankles in a locker I knew one of the parents who told me what happened. She should have been fired because the parents were on the news telling the media how their children felt so bad that they were seeing therapists so that title 1 person was I guess the right color because she sort of vanished for the remaining year but returned to the same school doing the same job the following year where as I was forced to transfer from the school I did so well at because my ex friend begged me to “team teach” with her in 5th grade I really didn’t want to but since I would be teaching the Reading spelling and English and social studies to my students and hers I agreed. So my students as always were in the times picyuanne several times and even my students were on TV when they were coming to different schools without telling the teachers or principals until the day of and on the day they came to our school my students were about ready to make their volcanos erupt since we had just finished that unit on volcano’s they were excited and the anchor man from channel 4 filmed a clip of their volcanos erupting and then I watched my ex best jealous a;s who was late almost every other day and so around March before the Iowa tests all of a sudden parents from her class began writing letters saying I wasn’t doing a good job then my ex friend knew I was bi-polar and had been for years but took my prescribed medication in fact she begged me for my adderal which was for being ADD. It’s an amphetamine and that is considered to act like speed to those who were not ADD. She told her students I begged her to have her husband bring me lunch for free she lied and so I after 8 months her parents held a private meeting behind my back and they told all kinds lies about me meanwhile my home room parents wanted to know why they weren’t notified so they wrote letters in my defense but I didn’t give Mr. Emenes the B.j. he asked so instead of exposing him with the recording I still have when he wanted to meet me at a donut shop before school claiming it was about the person I needed to see about the classes I needed to take to be a principal before this crap started with private meetings I was transferred to Green Park Elementary which was the worst school I ever taught at and Vic Costello got what he deserved after writing me up for any thing he could find he even asked parents to write letters but they couldn’t write a proper letter as most of them couldn’t even speak proper English so I was written up and the union who I paid into (joe Potts ) the president of the union who was an alcoholic missed work promised to help but because of the politics and the fact that I didn’t give the wonderful Paul Emenes a blow job I was forced to retire when I should have fought for my job I had 22 years so either way I would have won but even Melody Munch Vice President at the time of the union was talking to the loser attorney Larry Samuels who I hope had bad luck she was saying look those parents wouldn’t show up the school went to 5th grade speaking about the school I had issues with. So we agreed to let me resign with 1250 a month as a pension and nobody would say or know anything about what happened . I attended the award ceremony got my award and they lied I was blackballed in every school after that meaning private and others not Jefferson Parish Schools. So I went way into detail and again I was the wrong color cause the parents whose children were stripped searched by the African American title one director got paid off to drop it although my friends son got searched to and he said I don’t want money I want her I quote “Black Ass ” fired but nothing happened and as for as those harahan police that gave me the eye straight line test and I blew 000g and got a letter for a fair trial I asked my attorney about it he said don’t do anything you will be fine then a DUI cause I tested positive for drugs I have to take and because my elderly friend wanted to eat I said go ahead she couldn’t find her brush dumped her purse out and her cap on her morphine prescribed to her some pills fell on my floor she put them in my the middle compartment in my car meanwhile I was taking her to the place I got pulled over in and since I was going out of town the next day I invited my friend to meet us there so I could give her the key to my place as she cleaned my house every other Friday and it was Thursday and I was planning to go with my parents to celebrate 52 years of marriage so I did not know my old friend of 65 and my friend who cleaned my house were in the bathroom counting her pills and my friend asked my older friend if she could buy some morphine pills and one rolled under the stall where the waitress bought the pill to the cops outside meanwhile I wrote a children’s book so she bought a hard coho and a soft total 30 bucks but the police claimed I bought 30 dollars of morphine cause they thought the asshole harahan cops had cameras in the bathroom I hired two attorneys they had public defenders and I got a possession of morphene charge lie and DWI lie I blew 000g and a DUI for drugs I have to take but these policemen are being investigated and if anyone else would be willing to help I could use someone with knowledge and knows how to retrieve that letter naming the breathalyzer I blew in and the same letter saying I had a chance for a Fair Trial Hearing they lied about me being drunk and I had no morphine in my system and they said I told them I took too much medicine another lie so I can’t get a job and I believe this happened in 2011. I had to attend classes for over a year when I was innocent and lied to . Please someone with authority to help note that my case was heard in Gretna 24th Judicial Court in judge nancy millers division I think division D I would like her to be repremanded as she was easier with those who weren’t white she knew I was innocent I would like to have Bruce Netherville fired for the hell he put me through and his broken promises that I wouldn’t have to worry everything would be dismissed lying mother f)c&er!!! If there is a person who can help contact me at 504 309- 8041 cause I’m about to lose my condo I got divorced and can’t afford my mortgage payment .lets see if this is a fair city Harahan with it’s horrible police with getting pleasure ruining people with a career life’s . They have no life and pick on those who are niave.

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