And the answer Alex is the West Bank Beacon, which appears to have been set up by straw men so that Roberts could come take control after the fact (and secretary of state filings which list the ownership). The problem for “Sissy” Roberts is that he could not delay filing his 2009 ethics report statement any longer and the good folks at The Jefferson Report were dogged in its pursuit. It is a good thing too because now people can sit on the terlit at 5 in the morning and read all about Chris Roberts’ finances and the stench which emanates from same.
It was our commenter Patricia that first put the West Bank Beacon on our radar screens a few months back and we soon dismissed it as a fluffer publication staffed by political hacks that dedicated itself to reporting only good news as Gambit explains:
There’s a new publication for West Bank readers who tire of “negative” news — the West Bank Beacon. Troy Aaron Broussard, son of parish president Aaron Broussard, is the publisher of the Gretna-based monthly community newspaper, which debuted in June.
Despite our subject matter covering politics is not our goal here at Slabbed but it does pay to have a good understanding of the underlying lay of the land and network of candidate support to help properly put events in a better context. With the qualifying period for the upcoming special elections in Jefferson Parish now over I’ll disclose I got lots of emails beginning with advance heads up on the 2 qualifiers besides Roberts in Tim Baudier and Jimmy Lawson of Slabbed Dumpster Diving Infamy. Since we have a variety of sources I ran both Baudier and Lawson up the flagpole along with the fact that soon to be indicted Aaron Broussard is working hard in the Robert’s campaign ground game which a few of our sources thought very strange given the circumstances.
I think we now know why Brou$$ard hopped in bed with Robert$. What we still don’t know is who is funding the losses over at the Beacon, which has a staff and direct mails 20,000 copies a month to registered voters. Disseminating political propaganda isn’t cheap folks.
Speaking of cheap, this brings us to Jimmy Lawson, the man who hopped in and out of the race during the qualifying period. Entering the race was a head scratcher to begin with because Lawson’s reputation is literally that of a corrupt sack of shit politician/political hack that has a hard time making an honest living. One of our sources nailed Lawson’s entry into the race well before he dropped out and I quote:
Personlly he’s in it for what he can get out of it. Jimmy is all about Jimmy (so) don’t look for him to go to the post. Maybe an aids job to get back on the payroll. Maybe just cash under the table. (remember he’s old school) He is getting something from someone or will get something to get out I will promise you that.
Based up what we knew about Lawson from the good ol’ dumpster diving days, this of course rang true and to the extent Lawson was one of Aaron Broussard’s taxpayer-funded do nothings on the Parish payroll and given Broussard’s business and political relationships with Roberts I think we can all very reasonably guess the “who” ol’ Jimmy cut a deal with to get out of the race.
This gets better though because sources close to the Baudier campaign tell us that not only did Jimmy drop out himself, he also personally lobbied Mr Baudier yesterday to withdraw from the council at large race so that Chris Roberts would have no opposition. That made sense because I’m told Roberts has some very high polling negatives with the public, which a credible candidate would certainly exploit.
As the election season unfolds, I’m certain more turds like Lawson, Broussard and the West Bank Beacon will float to the surface and there will be few dull moments. Stay tuned.
sop
Well well, now it’s a race. Thank goodness Tim Baudier has the creds and the kahunas to take on the challenge. I can’t wait to put a sign in my yard. Go Tim!
Can Baudier put a war chest together? Roberts is vulnerable on the East Bank, but if Mosca gets a call from Young to rally for Roberts it is over.
Reliable source reported yesterday that Mosca has spoken/met with Baudier and committed to him. This means Baudier gets Westbank too. Yay!
Unslabbed Great news. Now we need to get an Assessor!
Besides the West Bank Beacon, there is also the Kenner Star.
– The Kenner Star is also owned by Troy Broussard. It also used to (and may still) operate out of Aaron Broussard’s law firm’s address on Florida Avenue in Kenner.
– The Kenner Star used to get City of Kenner and maybe also JP official publication revenue. It might still.
– 7/26/09 TP: “The Kenner Star, a monthly community news publication, sued the city Monday , saying it has not been paid $8,845 for publishing advertisements and other work, and that city officials have twice
Telemachus, from a reader.
I wonder where that is in proximity to Byron Lee’s place?
sop
Freakin Leone needs to toughen up and go on the attack. The freakin Chehardies are unhappy with only controlling the assessorship for 45 years and r shootin for record 100 years. Capella is now point guard for Lee-Sheng’s $20,000 Redman zoning debacle and the RB dump contract.Allen if you can’t score points and dunk on those two short reserves you are not first string material . Taxpayers are pissed off and ain’t taken any more. When you don’t have money for ads make headlines at the political forums showing your anger for the taxpayers.Your first game is in Harahan at February 23rd forum held by Alliance for Good Gov. so get your passive ass in mean shape. Put up a freakin vanilla offense like you did against Boussard and you ‘ll be a two time loser and blamed for allowing another pol crony to remain in power.
Jeff Crouere is a political shill Tele. From what I’m told he sold out long ago.
Remember all those alleged death threats Crouere wrote that Martin Feldman received after he refused to do right and step down in the drill moratorium case? Funny how no arrests were ever made huh.
The bottom line for both the Star and the Beacon is that neither could exist without the taxpayer handouts they receive but I still think someone else is funding their losses.
sop
Punditto:
I could not have said it better myself. Leone needs to go on the attack against Tommy Boy. Maybe we can cobble together some talking points, including Tommy Boy’s use of the JP server to do work for his private law practice.
“Lawson
Crouere is a vajeen.
About that 5:00 am terlit reading that Chrissy likes so much, it would have been a good retort at the time (the hearing where citizens were asking for contribution info) to point out that Roberts himself was late with his reports (as TJR points out) so such research would not have done anyone any good anyway.
Lee still hasn’t turned his in. The last disclosure he turned in was notarized by someone named Doushon Lawson.
I guess the TJR report explains why there are two Roberts on the “staff”.
About the “Beacon” (beacon of *what*?)…. Roberts on his report shows the address as 536 Lafayette. There’s no assessor or TP transfer info on it. Now, how does that happen?
I don’t know about Lee on Lafayette or 5th/6th. I do know he has 56 companies under his name at LA SOS but only shows perhaps one other source of income besides his council pay. His company Maxima Group Behavioral Services (& Maxima Group Inc.) has property at 1901 Westbank Expressway (according to his own disclosure report) that the JP Assessor has listed at zero dollars. Again, that’s at “0.00” dollars. It looks like car dealership property (in fact a Rainbow dealership is not far away). I have no idea what’s going on there but that property ain’t worth 00.00 dollars. In any event that’s not all that far from Lafayette, but it is further down near Manhattan (next exit).
Side note: if you go right to that 536 Lafayette address, across the street, maybe next to 539 Lafayette, there is a strange (for the area) alley with a gravel walkway, it has a sort of garden tressle with the words “Lawson’s ____ {?}” written over it. Seriously. Might have to fill in that blank just out of curiosity.
For what it’s worth… the only ownership info for 536 Lafayette coming up is for a Cleophas J. Le Blanc.
http://citizensinfo.com/result.aspx?number=504-366-9904
This is taking several leaps here (because there are seemingly about a hundred LeBlancs per square mile in every town south of Avoyelles) but there was W. J. LeBlanc who was stripped of his legal license after getting caught up in the Judge Green scandal (he was caught handing cash to the good judge, something caught on video by the Feds). He was also Gretna city attorney (replaced by Mark Morgan). Later as president of Timberlane Timberlane Improvement Association he led the move to not only have Timberlane annexed by Gretna (something Gretna citizens at large were not allowed to vote on, only the 550 Timberlane subdivision households could) but also to allow it to gate itself off. Chris Roberts was a big proponent of this.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/annexation_push_reaches_cresce.html
I’m sure finding the name LeBlanc here is just a coincidence. As always lots and lots of coincidences with this krewe though.
W. J. LeBlanc – a/k/a Walter J. Leblanc – does show up at 603 Lafayette St.
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Walter.J.Leblanc.504-367-0373
http://www.merchantcircle.com/blogs/Walter.J.Leblanc.504-367-0373
That is getting awfully damned close. In fact that *is* at the corner of Lafayette and Sixth Street (referenced above).
Well, thereyago.
**************************
LeBlanc, was suspended only for a year, and so is again city attorney. Gretna also hired Mark Morgan and a secretary as counsel for the city. Not sure how that works.
LeBlanc is Gretna’s prosecutor apparently, but also works with the city’s “Environmental Court.” Of course.
Now we talking Sock…un vajeen grand pour vous.
Go to Leone’s Facebook page. He’s starting to take some jabs at Capella. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Allen-Leone-For-Assessor/183110038385876
From Fox 8 in July 2010:”Councilman at Large Tom Capella announced he’s running for the soon to be vacated Jefferson Parish Assessor seat. Capella’s announcement took many by surprise because it was widely believed he would square off against fellow Councilman John Young for the Parish President seat.”
More From the Fox 8 Report: “When contacted today, John Young, said Capella’s move surprised him too.
Rumored to run in 2007 for Parish President against Aaron Broussard. Many believed he would run against John Young in 2010 for Parish President. I guess Tom Capella is full of surprises.
I already have my yard sign. Do you? VOTE LEONE!
——————-
BTW, the Kenner Star sucks. Nobody in Kenner takes it seriously. The Kenner Star, the West Bank Beacon, Jefferson Life, they are all mouthpieces for the politicians. Jefferson Life is funded by Jedco, the JPSO, and Jefferson Parish.
Thank God for Slabbed, ClickJefferson.com and TheJeffersonReport.com otherwise we would have no independent media in Jefferson Parish.
Anyone seen an email from W J Leblanc ( while he was still suspended from practicing but was on Gretna payroll ) to Tim Whitmer and Tom Wilkinson with a cc perhaps to Debbie Villio where he complains about the Hearing Officers acting like Social Workers and likens them to the ‘fools’ on the 24th JDC bench ? Would have been around October 2009.
Saw something like this but can’t find the original post anymore.
Nicole Amstutz was on the email also.
Hey Unslabbed, I think VFH had the post, but I haven’t seen the email.
http://slabbed.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/hark-did-someone-say-debbie-villio/
Kenner Star update:
Kenner is sending $30K+ to The Kenner Star, per year:
“Council President Kent Denapolis did limit speakers at Thursday’s meeting to three minutes each.
But he said he was upset by the mayor’s column. He said Kenner pays about $30,000 to the Kenner Star every year, and that entitles the residents to respond to Yenni in writing.
“It’s only fair because you don’t have the ability to put $30,000 towards it like he did,” Denapolis told the speakers.
Though he didn’t know an exact figure, Mike Quigley, Yenni’s chief administrative officer, said the city does spend around $30,000 to advertise in the Kenner Star. But the city doesn’t pay for Yenni’s column, he said.”
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/yenni_responds_in_writing_to_h.html
The Kenner Star is owned by Aaron Broussard’s son, Troy Broussard (Troy Aaron Broussard).
Now this is a “company” which claims to be a newspaper but provides no actual physical address for itself. Where is the actual office for this paper, does anyone know???
Let’s see how the creation of this paper and its actual existance may have been in the past, based on another “news” company founded by this father and son team:
5.22.93 TP:
“NEW STAR FOR TV SHOW: BROUSSARD ON SON’S SPOT
Kenner Mayor Aaron Broussard says he will be a co-host for a monthly cable television program to showcase the city and earn college tuition money for his 20-year-old son. But a local media expert contends that Broussard stands to benefit the most.
The show, called “Kenner in Motion,” will premiere June 1 on Cox Channel 38 and will be broadcast the first Tuesday of every month.
Broussard describes his role on the program as that of an unpaid adviser, co-host, legal expert and market and publicity consultant for his son, executive producer Troy Broussard .
The mayor says he has approached Kenner friends and business owners about running advertisements on the show, but maintains that he has not actually sold any ads and will receive no money from the venture.
But Larry Lorenz, chairman of Loyola University’s communications department, is convinced that the thrice-elected mayor will profit politically from the show.
“It seems it will put him forward (politically) even more than he already is,” Lorenz said. “I think if I were a competing politician with designs on the mayoralty, I would have a real concern.”
Lorenz said he has not heard of any other politicians hosting or co-hosting for-profit cable programs.
“But I’ve been in New Orleans 12 years and nothing surprises me about what politicians do,” he said.
Broussard has emphasized that the show was his son’s idea. Troy Broussard , a senior at the University of Mississippi, plans to pursue a master’s degree in English, but says he has no means to pay for graduate school.
As executive producer, Troy Broussard reportedly enlisted the help of his father and producer Brett Ward and negotiated a 13-month contract with Cox Cable. He also made a deal with a local television station to help produce individual segments of the show.
A Mustang convertible, jewelry and other belongings were Troy Broussard ‘s reported collateral for a bank loan to start the show.
Other financial support will come from advertisements.
Broussard said some of the show’s advertisers do business with Kenner while others have no ties with city government.
Maris McCrory, an attorney with the state board of ethics, said Friday that the mayor’s relationship with the show does not appear to violate any sections of the state’s ethics code. But she said she is unaware of any other politician with a cable show selling ads.
“It certainly might create an appearance of a problem,” she said. “But I think it would be difficult to fit into any specific ethics violation.”
Broussard said he transferred ownership of his production company, Aaron Broussard Productions, to his son. The mayor said he used the company in the past for fund-raisers, to coordinate travel and logistics for local Carnival krewes and to film election commercials for candidates. The company, now called Troy Aaron Broussard Productions, will not change hands again, the mayor said.
The company has no assets, Broussard said, and the transfer was a paper transaction only.
Troy Broussard said he has hired local personalities including former television anchorman Bob Krieger, local stage actors and others.
The show, he said, will be divided into segments that will concentrate on culture and theater reviews, events for senior citizens, sports and quality of life features.
“This is not going to be an issue-heavy show,” the mayor said. “This basically covers the quality of life in Kenner.”
Broussard said he believes the show is a win-win situation for all involved: Kenner residents get more information than they have ever gotten about their city, advertisers get relatively cheap television exposure and Troy Broussard hopefully earns enough for graduate school.
But Lorenz said he isn’t certain that scenario will be accurate.
“I cannot imagine people in Kenner will sit down and watch a program like that,” Lorenz said. “I don’t think they have a great interest in Kenner as anything more than a place to sleep and take the kids to shop or play ball.” ”
If you look at People Plus, you will find a similar company in the name of a child of Aaaron Broussard.
[Troy] Aaron Broussard Productions, Inc. still exists; it is in good standing and is active per the LA SOS website.
Who exactly is Broussard Productions, Inc. staying active for?
The City of Kenner? If so, how much money does it make via the city? Any? None?
K-TV (Channel 76) is the official organ for the city of Kenner; like the Kenner Star it is there to put out the city administration’s positive view of things, echoing Mike Yenni’s comments (Page 6), the subject matter of the story above:
http://www.kennerstar.com/Back%20Issues/2011/2011JunKS.pdf
K-Tv is produced out of the second floor of this building at 303 Williams Blvd.:
http://www.kenner.la.us/images/pr031209.pdf
303 Williams used to belong to a former Kenner City Councilman, Russell Block, and mayeb still does (it is not listed in the JP assessor website for some reason). It came to house the Wildlife and Fisheries Museum and now serves as a banquet hall for the city and as the production studios for K-TV, Ch. 76.
Unsurprisingly it became a key component of Rivertown, Aaaron Broussard’s “non-profit” idea for creating museums, restauarants and shops from the river side of Williams Blvd. by the river.
It would be really interesting to find out whose property ended up becoming utilized for Rivertown, a project that the City of Kenner still devotes a fair amount of resources to.
Apparently at least one of thos properties belonged to Russell Brand.
Another key use of Rivertown was for Aaaron Broussard’s own performing arts society, which today of course has morphed into the grandiosity now being malformed on Airline Highway.
Another key use is the Saints Hall of Fame, which is partly owned by Ken ‘Kenny’ Trahan, who was getting paid $15,000 at the parish attorney’s office as a paralegal even though he was nothing close to that. Did he ever even show up, or not at all like Karen Parker? Who knows.
But here’s some more info on how 303 Williams & Rivertown came to be:
1.4.98 TP:
“MEET MR. KENNER – ZONING CHAIRMAN PUTS HEART IN HOME
His interests range from history on John F. Kennedy to poker, but Russell Block’s heart belongs to the city of his youth, Kenner.
So when the 67-year-old makes decisions as chairman of the Kenner Zoning and Adjustment Board or vice chairman of the Kenner Historical Commission, both volunteer positions, it’s done with a great deal of knowledge and consideration.
“Sometimes it’s very heart-wrenching,” Block said about the zoning board. “You turn the individual down who has individual problems. . . . We try to understand their problems. . . . We’re there to see that a variance is not a self-created hardship.”
Block’s Kenner ancestry dates back to 1912 when his grandfather Solomon Block and his uncle, former Kenner Mayor Paul Felix, owned S. Block and Son, a general mercantile store located in the Wildlife and Fisheries Building on Williams Boulevard in Rivertown.
“They sold everything from horse collars to horses,” Block said about the store that doubled as their home.
Born in 1930 when a U.S. census pegged the Kenner population at slightly more than 2,400, Block grew up with the city and participated in many of its big events, such as being ring bearer in the “biggest double-ring ceremony in the history of Kenner.”
He revels in telling stories of Kenner’s colorful past, especially the +++++infamous poker games at his grandfather’s store and at G.I. Joe’s on Third Street. He said the card players, ++++++including Sheriff Frank Clancy, wouldn’t stop their games for anything. When G.I. Joe’s would flood, they’d stack Coca-Cola cases under their chairs and lean over the table several feet below to play a hand.
… It was then he began his own legacy with the city through business, runs for elected office and volunteerism.
In 1965, he, his mother, Irene Diamond Block, and sister, Matile Block Goldberg, built the largest strip shopping centers in Kenner at the time, anchored by his Russell’s Work and Western Center, Block’s Ladies’ and Children’s Apparel, Dave’s Men’s Wear (owned by his brother-in-law) and a Li’l General.
… Block’s prolonged interest in the city prompted his run for alderman in 1971 with the slogan, “Join the flock, vote Russell Block” and for councilman a few years later. He didn’t win, but his son, Morris, said they threw “the best election parties around.”
Being among the few Jewish families in Kenner placed Block in some interesting positions. He was affectionately dubbed “the chief of the Kenner branch of +++++++the Israeli Mafia” controlling “all three of his family’s votes” by former ++++++Kenner Police Chief Sal Lentini, and for years he portrayed Santa Claus for the Kenner Lions Club, an organization he twice presided over.
Block ranked his Santa experience among his favorite.
“When I waved and walked through that crowd, those kids’ eyes became like saucers,” Block said. “Those people might have had a relative just die, the dads might have had a bad day at the office, but when I got to them, they forgot about that. I, Russell Block, did that.”
When former Kenner Mayor Aaron Broussard wanted to revitalize Rivertown in south Kenner in the early ’80s, Block, his wife, Molly, and son, Morris, were among the founding members of Rivertown USA, a group formed to develop the area. Russell Block was its first president, and Morris was head of public relations. Broussard annointed him the “Mayor of Rivertown” for his efforts. …”
So, again, who does the production for K-TV?