Tag: Conflict of Interest

The Sun Herald was at Tuesday night Cumbest Fight Night in Hurley

Karen Nelson’s companion story is a must read for vital context.

The question in my mind is whether there is anyone in Jackson County whose last name is not Cumbest that thinks Supervisor Barry Cumbest is not a crook? My guess is the answer is more than one but not many.

My personal hunch is a backroom deal was cut that incentivized every Jackson County Sup to support the project as well as keep it on the down low for as long as possible.

Meantime we have this from our friends over at SRHS Watch:

How to File an Ethics Complaint and Help Stop Lake George

My recommendation is to complain as loudly as possible to Governor Phil Bryant. This type of major construction project could not take place without his blessing. I’ll be having more on this.

“No one can serve two masters…” A SRHS Conflict of Interest Series Part 1

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Slabbed has gone biblical since our Singing River coverage became a hit over in Jackson County with the scripture quoting CEO set there. After all ancient wisdom is the best kind of wisdom thus the post title. All these months later the exact same glaring conflicts of interest still exist with the pension plan. After failing to secretly terminate the pension plan the political set in Jackson County is still searching for an ever elusive financial solution to the ailing finances of the Singing River Health System. Throughout the pension trust has been SRHS management’s captive.

I start today with the conflict of interest on display for all to see as I highlight new SRHS Board of Trustee member Scott Taylor’s first blog post. Taylor’s appointment to the hospital Board of Trustees puts him fundamentally in an interest conflicted position to the financial interest of the pension trust which the Trustees now control. The comments, especially those by Cisco Aguilar, are well worth reading.

In Part 2 Slabbed will examine the underlying litigation and some possible paths out of the financial quagmire.

Lets chat a bit more about them Jennifer Sneed Heebe ethics charges

Last week I laid down the Jennifer Sneed Heebe ethics charge challenge and no one was brave enough to venture a guess despite the hint I left so here is another clue. Suppose there were changes in zoning and or zoning enforcement regarding certain properties that in turn caused garbage that was previously going to the Parish Landfill to end up at River Birch. Further suppose Ms Sneed Heebe voted on such measure.

I mention all this because we have a new agenda out from the good folks at the Louisiana Board of Ethics and Mrs Sneed Heebe is front and center. By now you folks know the drill, click it quick for it will soon be gone with the cyber winds. But for kicks I created a picture linked to the full 11 page pdf for posterity sake below the fold. ~ sop Continue reading “Lets chat a bit more about them Jennifer Sneed Heebe ethics charges”

Play it again Sam: Why legal ethics have important public policy implications as the depths of Ronald Bodenheimer’s depravity is again on display.

All our readers in greater New Orleans well know state judge turned convicted felon Ronald Bodenheimer.  Like so many judges on the bench in Jefferson Parish, Bodenheimer traces his roots to the DA’s office though in the case of Bodenheimer it was former DA John Mamoulides, who’s links to local organized crime are well docuemnted on these pages.  Paul Purpura over at the Times Picayune has an incredible story of a man on death row for murdering his wife with some of the proof being the life insurance policy he took out on her.  After Bodenheimer prosecuted the man for murder for the DA’s office he represented the family on a civil suit against the insurance company in the process arguing diametrically opposing legal arguments from the ones he used to put the murderer, Manuel Ortiz on death row at Angola.  It is a legal conflict of interest that is simply stunning and Paul’s story is well worth the read.

The fact employees of current DA Paul Connick are still allowed to moonlight is stunning IMHO.

sop

Slabbed News Miscellany: A week’s worth of Jefferson Parish news we broke on Slabbed plus the continued fight against conflicts of interest.

There have been several area news stories which touched upon topics we cover, including 2 stories we broke this past week in the request for resignations from unclassified Parish employees and Anne Marie Vandenweghe’s disappointing day in court. In going back through the week in news I thought WWL TV (Channel 4) was “there with the most” on these news items so it is with them we stop first. Dominic Massa filed a report on Anne Marie’s day in Ross LaDart’s courtroom which was very good. This story ran at 5 last Tuesday but unfortunately the companion video was not posted online. It contains one good nugget of information, Anne Marie has lawyered up with Northshore attorney Bobby Truitt.  Truitt’s selection is meaningful, especially as it relates to LaDart and his curious public records rulings, as it appears he was instrumental in bringing down crooked 24th Judicial district court judge Alan Green of Operation Wrinkled Robe infamy.  My own opinion is that AMV’s tastes in lawyers is very good.  I’d be remiss if I did not add that the women of Truitt Law not only appear to be highly intelligent, professional and “sophisticated” but also are hotties too.

On the same topic Rich Rainey at the Times Picayune filed a short report Friday which falls into the category of several days late and relies upon their own prior stories on this general topic as illustrated by the fact that neither Mr. Truitt’s name or the fact AMV now has outside council is not mentioned.  I’ll add this appears to be round 1 of a 3 round fight and to that extent the headline over Rainey’s story is a bit misleading IMHO.   I suspect we have not heard the last of AMV and her public records suit against the Parish.

Finally I’ll add the file photos of AMV used in both reports are hideous.  I’ll see if I can get the Slabbed Nation a better pic besides wind blown AMV and car door AMV. Continue reading “Slabbed News Miscellany: A week’s worth of Jefferson Parish news we broke on Slabbed plus the continued fight against conflicts of interest.”

Peggy Barton: Tom Wilkinson’s Continuing Legacy of Arrogance and Incompetence to Further Facilitate Corruption Part I. A guest post by Whitmergate

When Steve Theriot was unlawfully appointed by the Jefferson Parish Council to be Parish President as a result of Broussard’s resignation, he chose, in concert with the six Council members who ushered him upon us, to appoint Peggy Barton acting interim Parish Attorney. And what an act it’s been…

It was Deja Vu …and live on Cox TV too. Our backdrop is during one of the Council meetings around the time the public records debate was heating up as a result of a sudden and dramatic shift in policy resulting from Anne Marie Vandenweghe’s reassignment. She was removed from the Public Records Department only to be replaced by Greg Giangrosso, a Wilkinson lackey. Under Vandenweghe’s direction, public documents were just that, Public Records readily available in most instances to those qualified to request the same. Giangrosso’s assignment was and is to stonewall the release of Public Information which he and his superiors, Peggy Barton and Louis Gruntz, have decided taxpayers are to have limited access to in almost all instances. The response that one receives from Giangrosso is a pasted legalese form letter citing erroneous legal precedent for not honoring the Public Records Request. Margie Seemann (CFGG) was pressing the Council to explain why documents regarding information of a similar topic which she had previously received under Vandenweghe’s tenure, was now routinely denied under some broad and vague “governmental” exception. It was at that moment when Peggy Barton opened her mouth to defend the indefensible, everyone in that Council Chamber and watching TV, could foretell the response as though it would have been uttered by her mentor Tom Wilkinson, himself. She looked down at Ms. Seemann, a facial expression of pure contempt and as sarcastic a tone as one could muster, stated that she would review “OUR” records and “SHE” would determine what would be made available to the public at some later date. And there you have it, Wilkinson in drag…without the proverbial…FUCK YOU, SUE ME! Continue reading “Peggy Barton: Tom Wilkinson’s Continuing Legacy of Arrogance and Incompetence to Further Facilitate Corruption Part I. A guest post by Whitmergate”

SLABBED (not exactly) Daily – August 5, 2010

On a slow news day – or a day when it’s not so hot – any one of these stories could take an entire post to cover.  However, today is neither and without going further, here is news you can use:

Making a diagnosis of “improper influence” requires a scalpel, not a sledgehammer. Not only is it unrealistic to think we can eradicate all judicial biases, instincts, leanings or interests, however termed, but it is also unwise. We want our judges to live in the real world, so that they can bring their life experiences and common sense to the table when deciding cases. Judges must remain “partial” to some influences, therefore, like the case law, and controlling statutes, and perhaps even basic standards of decency and morality, too. As The New York Times recently cited, former Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s view on recusal was that if a justice’s mind was “a complete tabula rasa” in relevant respects, it “would be evidence of lack of qualification, not lack of bias.”

While I hope you’ll follow all the links, but by all means, read this opinion post on recusal from Law.com.

  • Staying with matters of public policy for the moment, let’s talk unemployment rates. Online news is filled with stories like this about the uptick in unemployment rates – and all appear to have been written by someone clueless about the issue.

Here’s a clue – anyone reporting on the increase should start by defining “seasonal”. Continue reading “SLABBED (not exactly) Daily – August 5, 2010”

BREAKING: Who Dat Judge Martin Feldman owned Exxon-Mobile when he heard agruments in the deep water drill ban. Slabbed again calls for his immediate removal from the bench and impeachment.

So far the AP has mangled the story but the Wall Street Journal caught Feldman’s dirty little problem and it is there we begin:

Legal documents released Friday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reveal that U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman sold his holdings in Exxon Mobil Corp. on Tuesday, the same day he blocked the Obama administration’s drilling moratorium.

Exxon Mobil was among the companies using drilling rigs whose operations were suspended under the administration’s moratorium, according to Exxon spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman.

According to federal law, federal judges are required to step aside from cases that present financial conflicts. Continue reading “BREAKING: Who Dat Judge Martin Feldman owned Exxon-Mobile when he heard agruments in the deep water drill ban. Slabbed again calls for his immediate removal from the bench and impeachment.”