[Editor's Note: This blog has been altered to reflect a phone call made to The Ind by Shane Romero, who denies any involvement in the anonymous email circulated in reference to Iberia CAO Sally Angers.]
An anonymous email sent by a “Parish Watcher” reveals that Iberia Parish Chief Administrative Officer Sally Angers has been using her parish government email address — during business hours — to gather voter information that could assist Iberia Parish President Ernest Freyou’s re-election campaign.
A Nov. 2 email from Angers to the Iberia Parish Registrar of Voter’s Office asks what it would cost for a “listing of all registered voters, a listing of registered voters that voted in the October 22, 2011 election” and “any new voters since October 22, 2011.”
Although the Louisiana Ethics Code states that public employees politicking on behalf of a public officials is only illegal if the workers are “compelled or coerced” to do so, a 2007 Legislative Auditor’s report recommends that “the parish not allow parish employees to perform non-parish duties while on Parish time.”
The auditor’s report was in response to abuse of office allegations against former Iberia Parish President Will Langlinais, who for more than a decade required parish employees to solicit campaign donations and take time off of their parish government jobs to work Langlinais’ annual golf tournament campaign fundraiser.
“In addition to Parish employees assisting with the campaign golf tournament, Ms. Jolyn Fleming, executive secretary, performed bookkeeping duties for Mr. Langlinias’ campaign fund while on Parish time,” the auditor’s report says. “Mr. Langlinais stated that she wrote checks and completed his year-end financial statements and used his personal stationery and stamps to mail checks and letters. Mr. Langlinais stated that he was not aware that she could not perform these duties during Parish time.”
The 17-plus page audit report was made very public in 2007, as it also referenced numerous other allegations of wrongdoing by Langlinais, which eventually led to his ousting from public office and criminal convictions for malfeasance in office.
In an email sent to media outlets and other contacts this week, Shane Romero, son of Freyou's challenger, "Romo" Romero, outlines several “facts” about incumbent Freyou, including one that references Angers’ emails to the registrar of voters.
Freyou, a New Iberia businessman and former administrator under the Iberia Parish Police Jury, faces Romo at the polls Saturday in a runoff. Romo, a former police juror, sheriff and state representative, took 41.9 percent of the vote in the Oct. 22 primary, while Freyou garnered 29.9 percent. New Iberia Mayor Pro Tem Freddie Decourt came in third with 28.1 percent of the primary vote.
Angers has not responded to a request for comment. View the Angers emails requesting voter information here.
MAY 24 Blogger Robert Mann posts this entry about the Baton Rouge Chamber's recent report on Louisiana's higher education system. It's critical to economic development, and yet our system is facing a "funding crisis" with no way to resolve it, the report says. The Chamber says control of tuition and fees must be returned to the higher ed governing boards.
MAY 24 Here's a NBC33 story about Tyrann Mathieu. He has signed with the Arizona Cardinals, inking a $3 million, four-year deal. He gets a signing bonus of $265K, but gets another, larger bonus if he doesn't get cut from the team for doing drugs. The deal reportedly includes mandatory tests and meetings for the player.
MAY 24 Jarvis DeBerry posts here about the redonkulus rhetoric that would have us believe NOLA is a safe city with a murder problem. Maybe the city's crime stats don't compare with its murder stats because you can't manipulate a murder, he says: a dead body's a dead body. It just doesn't make sense, he says, and his readers agree: a poll asks if they believe the city is safe, and more than 90 percent say no.
MAY 24 Jindal administration officials announced Thursday that the privatization of public health care is going to cost a lot more than they budgeted for, the Advocate reports here. "I'm so surprised," said no one. Anywhere. The cost they're projecting now is more than $1 billion - a lot more than the $626 million budgeted for it. And, it's more than it cost the state to operate those hospitals. So why are we doing this again?
MAY 24 Blogger CB Forgotston ridicules the recent PR campaign by the state GOP in the wake of a legislative auditor's request to both major parties. The GOP (apparently unaware that the Dems got the same request) started yammering about being targeted because it had "killed" a tax increase. CB finds that laughable, but it's also pretty funny that the GOP was comparing this episode to the IRS scandal (Because the President has so much to do with our state auditor. Right?).
MAY 24 Politico details some recent fund-raising efforts by Sen. David Vitter, which have raised the question of his future political plans. This time, it is a $5,000 per head "bayou weekend" that includes "Cajun cooking" and an all-caps "alligator hunt," the story reports. Funds raised go to a super PAC that can spend money to support Vitter in federal or state races, the story points out.
MAY 24 The pink building on Royal in the quarter was sold at a sheriff's sale Thursday, this Picayune story reports. An injunction that would have halted the sale wasn't enforced because the family failed to post a $150,000 bond, the story reports. So the owner of the mortgages on the building bought it, for nearly $7 million. Now the feuding family will have to negotiate with that company to get a lease on the building that has housed their business for close to 60 years.
MAY 23 This post in Louisiana Voice tells us about a bill by a Winnsboro lege that would require all public high school students to take at least one Course Choice online class in order to graduate. (What?) Blogger Tom Aswell says it's a monument to "waste and corruption," especially in light of the problems he's exposed with the program in recent weeks. Idaho had a similar program, but voters removed it by a 2-1 margin, Aswell says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed