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Browsing entries categorized as Ethics
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Ethics on new assessor
Pointe Coupee Parish Assessor James Laurent cannot hire his son, incoming assessor Jimmy Laurent Jr., and begin hands-on training before the junior Laurent takes office Jan. 1.
That’s according to an opinion issued late last week by the Louisiana Board of Ethics.
State law bans the immediate family of an agency head from being employed within his agency, the board said.
In addition, no law requires the assessor-elect to receive training or compensation, according to the opinion.
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Ethics chief says new laws crippled system
Patrick Dennis/The Advocate
“This is a convoluted and crippled ethics system we have today,” Ethics Board chairman Frank Simoneaux said Monday at the Baton Rouge Press Club. “It does not make sense. It does not work well.”
Louisiana’s ethics system has been “crippled” as a result of legal changes made during Gov. Bobby Jindal’s 2008 special session on ethics, the chairman of the Louisiana Board of Ethics said Monday. Simoneaux said the main culprit is a law that moved judicial power from the Ethics Board to administrative law judges, called ALJs. The ALJs are hired by an appointee of the governor. Simoneaux said he agrees that there should be a division of powers between prosecutorial and judicial functions. But the law goes about it in the wrong way, he said. Read more… -
Ethics committee wants to drop a disclosure report
A Louisiana Board of Ethics committee recommended Tuesday that the state scrap election-day expenditure reports that candidates must file under campaign finance disclosure laws. The proposal goes to the full board today for approval. If the OK is given, the idea would be forwarded to the Louisiana Legislature for consideration. Read more… -
Donahue to speak at Southeastern
State Sen. Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, is scheduled to deliver Southeastern Louisiana University’s James and Evelyn Livingston Lecture on ethics Tuesday at 7 p.m..
The lecture, cosponsored by the College of Business as the main event of its two-week Business Perspectives program, is scheduled at 7 p.m.
The speech is part of the Business Perspectives program and will be in the second floor Kiva of the Cate Teacher Education Center, 1300 N. General Pershing, Hammond. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Posted in: Politics, Ethics, Legislature
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Kathleen Allen tapped top ethics administrator
The Louisiana Board of Ethics chose long time ethics attorney Kathleen Allen to be its top administrator late Wednesday.
She takes over the position at close of business Wednesday. She has been deputy general counsel, the number two position at the agency. The Baton Rouge native and LSU law school graduate has been with the ethics agency for 12 years. She was chosen over 10 other candidates.
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Ethics interviews behind closed doors
The Louisiana Board of Ethics went behind closed doors Tuesday to interview candidates seeking to become the state’s top ethics enforcement official. The board is expected to pick a new administrator in an open session Wednesday. Read more… -
Controversial blog to stay online
The Jindal administration said a controversial blog will remain online.
State Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton, accused the administration of using taxpayer dollars to promote its political agenda through The Ledger, an Internet blog that launched earlier this year. The state Attorney General’s Office and other officials are reviewing the complaint.
Adley said the governor’s executive counsel, Tim Barfield, recently phoned him and indicated the blog was being scrapped.
Barfield said Adley is mistaken.
“Along with the Division of Administration, we’ve had several conversations with the parties involved. The Ledger will remain online as a source of factual information about the budget,” Barfield said in a prepared statement.
Posted in: Politics, Ethics, Gov. Jindal
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State rep wants to appeal ethics charge
Baton Rouge state Rep. Michael Jackson said Tuesday he would fight state ethics charges related to his law firm doing legal work for the state’s insurer of last resort.
Jackson said Tuesday he plans to ask the Ethics Adjudicatory Board, called EAB, to dismiss charges on the grounds that they were untimely filed by the Louisiana Board of Ethics.
The EAB is a three-person panel that decides cases of alleged ethical misconduct.
“It’s the first step in the process we have to do,” said Jackson. “I really want to explain my side of the story … but it’s better to give a chance for the process to work itself out.”
Jackson’s appeal would be the third high-profile case to be challenged by elected officials who claim the charges against them were untimely filed.
The adjudicatory board heard two similar appeals last week in the cases of state Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, chairman of a legislative ethics oversight committee, and Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre.
The EAB panel’s presiding judge gave no indication when a ruling would be forthcoming.
The decision is being watched closely because it could impact other pending cases.
The issue revolves around whether a new law giving the ethics agency a year to bring charges from the time complaints are made or investigations begun applies retroactively or prospectively.
Jackson’s attorney Charles Patin said he will file a motion to dismiss Jackson charges by early next week.
“The question is whether they (ethics officials) can do anything,” Patin said.
Jackson, No Party, had tried to get the inquiry against him shut down prior to the charges being levied — taking his case to state district court. State District Judge William Morvant ruled he did not have jurisdiction and referred Jackson to the EAB.
In documents made public Monday, the Ethics Board alleged that Jackson failed to disclose his law firm’s receipt of $46,929 from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in 2006. The insurer is underwritten by tax dollars.
The income was missing from a personal financial disclosure statement that was required by law to be filed by July 1, 2007.
Nearly two months later, Jackson amended the statement to reflect the income by Jackson Bell Attorneys at Law, LLC.
The board also alleges potential violation of a law that bans legislators, their spouses or businesses in which they have an interest from entering into contracts or subcontracts with state government unless they are competitively bid or negotiated.
The amended report that Jackson signed contends the work was done according to normal procedures in state law for the procurement of professional personal consulting and social services.
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Ethics board cites former Metro council member
Former Metro Council member Charles R. Kelly pleaded with the state ethics panel last week for relief from a $2,000 fine it imposed for campaign finance law violations.
“I’m unemployed and have not been able to get a job,” Kelly said.
He said he held a fundraiser to try to get some money to pay the Louisiana Board of Ethics fine.
“Nobody showed up,” said Kelly. “I was considered a lame duck.”
Kelly’s request for a rehearing on the fine had been filed too late. The board opted to give him time to prove that a medical problem caused an earlier “no show” at a hearing where he could have made the appeal.
At the same meeting, the board issued orders against Baton Rouge political candidate Darrel Glasper seeking payment of a $1,000 fine for campaign finance filing violations.
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Jindal blog probed
State officials are looking into a complaint that the Jindal administration is breaking the law by using taxpayer money to publish an Internet blog. At issue is whether “The Ledger” is purely informational or rises to political commentary. Read more…Posted in: Politics, Ethics, Gov. Jindal
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