do I really have to say it???
Posted on 04/01/2006 7:04:39 AM PST by Ellesu
The Blanco administration is still spending state money on lawmakers’ pet projects, six months after the governor officially pulled the plug on what critics call slush funds.
Among those receiving money are the son and former daughter-in-law of a lawmaker.
Rep. Arthur Morrell, D-New Orleans, acknowledged his family members are on the payroll of Forever Our Children, an after-school tutoring program he used his legislative clout to establish.
He said he discounts any criticism of the arrangement.
“I had a couple of comments about it, but I told them where to go,” Morrell said.
Forever Our Children was one of dozens of organizations or small towns to receive more than $700,000 from the Urban Development Fund or Rural Development Fund between December and March.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco froze the funds on Sept. 19 to offset a financial crunch created by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The funds are often criticized as being “slush funds” for black and rural legislators in favor with the governor.
In her order freezing the spending, Blanco agreed to pay the expenses for urban and rural development programs through Sept. 30.
Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc said in a written statement that a closeout period was needed to pay commitments made before the governor’s freeze order.
However, some of the applications for funding are dated after Sept. 30.
The city of Baker, for example, faxed a request on Oct. 21 for a $22,000 police car.
In accompanying paperwork, Ty Brommel, executive director of the Office of Rural Development, said the vehicle would be used to help the Baker Police Department patrol a nearby FEMA trailer park for hurricane evacuees.
The park is not in the Police Department’s jurisdiction since it is outside the city limits. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office handles calls from the park.
Baker Police Chief Sid Gautreaux said he does not know why that was used as a justification for the vehicle purchase. He said the Police Department would have no need to patrol the trailer park.
“We’re just financially strapped,” he said. “Revenues have not kept up with the demand for service.”
Brommel contends Baker police did need a car because of the hurricane evacuee park.
“That was part of it, yes,” he said. “That was part of the justification.”
Brommel said he sometimes makes verbal commitments on projects. He said he told Gautreaux before Hurricane Katrina that he would fund the car.
“I don’t like to go back on my word,” he said.
Brommel said he asked the governor to fund $110,000 in projects after the storm. Some of the projects were to help small towns with limited financial resources, he said.
The bulk of the funded rural projects are for things such as a fire hydrant for the town of Campti and floodgate repairs for the town of Chatham.
The administration also agreed to spruce up the Historical Foundation Building in Florien — House Speaker Joe Salter’s hometown — and to pay $10,000 to disassemble, transport and reassemble an A4 Skyhawk jet fighter for a Ruston museum.
The urban program is largely for community organizations, such as Forever Our Children.
Morrell’s former daughter-in-law, Geralyn Labbe, is the organization’s executive director. His son, Matthew, worked as the group’s maintenance contractor.
Labbe’s annual salary was $65,000. For $833 a month, Matthew Morrell was supposed to empty the trash and clean the group’s office and classrooms.
Arthur Morrell said he did not run Forever Our Children. He just ensured that there was funding.
“I don’t have any say about what goes on there,” he said. “I don’t even know who’s on the board. All I do is make sure that there are grants.”
Morrell said he also supports funding for Reality House, a senior citizen center that receives Council on Aging funds.
“I have many friends over there,” he said. “I may have some relatives. I don’t know.”
Spending didn’t stop Money the Blanco administration spent from the Urban Development Fund and the Rural Development Fund after the Legislature abolished the so-called slush funds in November.
APPROVED IN DECEMBER 2005
District 2 Enhancement Corporation, $27,531.24 (urban) Louisiana Leadership Institute, $82,150.74 (urban) United Christian Fellowship, $5,794.75 (urban) Young Audiences, $30,694.60 (urban) Southwest Louisiana Center for Health Services, $23,904.85 (urban) The Resource Center, $8,142 (urban) Calcasieu Association for Social Enrichment Inc., $8,964.41 (urban) Baton Rouge Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, $6,232.40 (urban) Novice House, $9,728.88 (urban) Diocese of Lafayette, $3,000 (urban) Dryades YMCA, $61,421.53 (urban) Economic Freedom Association, $13,192.68 (urban) Louisiana Center Against Poverty, $113,232.07 (urban) Forever Our Children, $48,909.58 (urban) United Way of Southwest Louisiana, $16,453.25 (urban) Community Coordinating Council Inc., $11,203.32 (urban) Riz Up!, $41,577.41 (urban) Urban Support Agency, $8,752.74 (urban) 12th Ward Save Our Community, $69,723.05 (urban) APPROVED IN JANUARY 2006
Louisiana Military Museum, $10,000 (rural) Franklin Parish Police Jury, $5,000 (rural) City of Baker, $37,000 (rural) Town of Campti, $3,200 (rural) Town of Chatham, $40,000 (rural) Town of Sarepta, $15,000 (rural) Historical Foundation Building, $15,000 (rural) APPROVED IN FEBRUARY 2006
Literacy Works, $5,000 (urban) Source: Division of Administration
...why am I not surprised?
bidnizz as usual ping.
Democrats are disgusting.
Drive-by media will blame it on Bush.
Rep. Arthur Morrell, D-New Orleans, acknowledged his family members are on the payroll of Forever Our Children, an after-school tutoring program he used his legislative clout to establish.
He said he discounts any criticism of the arrangement.
“I had a couple of comments about it, but I told them where to go,” Morrell said.
Well, it's good to see things are back on track in the bayou.
Liberalism is financed by the dividends from Conservatism.
Well, we're talking about slush funds. Slush isn't really frozen ...
Is NO a small enough town now to get new buses?
Is this an April Fool's joke?
Hurricane? What hurricane?
This is just sickening. Lousianians who voted for Blanco should be ashamed of themselves. She has all the leadership of a caboose.
“I don’t like to go back on my word,” he said.
So he makes a monkey out of Blanco who initiated the freeze? Or is she winking at this while maintaining plausible deniability? Nothing surprises in such a corrupt environment.
do I really have to say it???
Just further proof of how corrupt and evil Blanko and all those liberal Dems in LA are....
My tagline says it all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.