Louisiana Officials in Flood-Money Scam

newsmax.com ^ | Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 10:18 p.m. EDT

[InvisibleChurch]

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 10:18 p.m. EDT Louisiana Officials in Flood-Money Scam

Nine months before the Hurricane Katrina disaster, three Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness officials were indicted for obstructing an audit into flood prevention expenditures.

In a November 2004 press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana announced:

"A federal grand jury has returned two separate indictments charging three members of the State Military Department with offenses related to the obstruction of an audit of the use of federal funds for flood mitigation activities throughout Louisiana. "The two emergency management officials were senior employees of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Both were charged with conspiracy to obstruct a federal audit."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco told Louisiana's News-Star at the time that she was disturbed by the indictments. She said the National Guard is cooperating with the investigation "as I expect them to do."

Reports of rampant corruption among Louisiana's state and local agencies have been cited in recent days to explain why officials were so ill-prepared to deal with the Katrina disaster.

[hipaatwo]

Geez, talk about corrupt. I thought Philly was bad but LA has us beat.

[kcvl]

November 28, 2001


Mr. William A. Norfolk
Attorney at Law
Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips
P. O. Box 2471
Baton Rouge, LA 70821


Re: Ethics Board Docket No. 2001-686

Dear Mr. Norfolk:

The Louisiana Board of Ethics, at its November 27, 2001 meeting, considered your request for an opinion concerning the propriety of Annette Martinez Melerine contracting with the Military Department after her retirement from that Department. Ms. Melerine’s job description indicates that she is currently employed as the Deputy Director, with responsibilities in the areas of human resources, fiscal, logistics, grants, risk management and office administration. The proposed contract would be for services related to internal controls. Colonel Michael Appe, Ms. Melerine’s supervisor, confirmed by telephone that the contractual duties would be different from the human resources and payroll responsibilities Ms. Melerine currently provides. Colonel Appe explained that the Department lost its full-time employee for these services several years ago due to budget cuts. The position of the quality control employee who assumed the duties was also eliminated. Colonel Appe has attempted to provide the internal control functions. Ms. Melerine has not assisted him in those duties.

The Board concluded, and instructed me to inform you, that no violation of the Code of Governmental Ethics is presented by the facts you described. Section 1121B of the Code prohibits a former public servant, for the two year period following the termination of public service, from contracting with their former agency to perform any service rendered to the agency during the term of public employment. Here, because the services to be performed by Ms. Melerine after her retirement pursuant to the proposed contract are different from the services she provided as an employee, no violation of the Code is presented.

If you have further questions, please call me at (225) 922-1400.

Sincerely,

LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS


Maris LeBlanc McCrory
For the Board

[hipaatwo]

Are they all Dems or is that a stupid question.

[kcvl]

MICHAEL C APPE

Officer of Subsidiary Company




MICHAEL APPE

Declared Holdings
Relationship/Company Reported Shares Value

Officer of Subsidiary Company
Microsoft Corporation

Roster, Transactions N/A
* Indicates shares held indirectly
Transactions (All Holdings)

Date Shares Stock Transactions
06/30/1998 111,750 MSFT Award of Stock

*** Undefined Type ***

[Mo1]

I'm not sure ..

but since the Dems have pretty much controlled that state for the last 30 years .. I'm guessing they are

[hummingbird]

...back when Mary Landrieu's father was a mayor (?)...

According to Wikipedia, Maurice Edwin "Moon" Landrieu was a state rep, a councilman-at-large, a judge, a mayor (1970 - 1978), president of the United States Conference of Mayors, and a US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Carter years 09/79 - 01/81. His children are Senator Mary (gonna slap the president) Landrieu and Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu.

Victor Schiro was the mayor before him and Ernest Nathan Morial succeeded him.

...corruption was almost a "pride factor" in LA...

Txsleuth, I think "pride factor" really sums it up! That's why I am so curious about the DESIRE COMMUNITY HOUSTON CORPORATION audit and what, if any, connection Nagin has besides the T-Shirt.

[syriacus]

Audit Report

Wow!!! I've been waiting three days for these to show up. You must have been reading my mind.

[Mo1]

N. Orleans school funds missing
Audit: More than $100 million over four years

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3341719/

(snip)
Now an audit of district finances shows there was plenty of money, but in the kind of scandal the city is famous for, it was misappropriated — possibly stolen in amounts shocking even here.

[kcvl]

Colonel Brown was born and raised in West Virginia. He and his parents moved to Louisiana in 1959. He has nearly 35 years of plans, operations and training experience at the local, state, and national level as a member of the U.S. Army and as the Assistant Director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

During his active service with the Army he held a variety of command and staff positions within the United States and overseas. He is the recipient of numerous state, federal, civil and foreign awards to include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal and the Louisiana Cross of Merit. He is authorized the Combat Infantry, Ranger, Special Forces and Senior Parachutists badges.

He is a graduate of Louisiana State University Northwestern, in Natchitoches, Louisiana and the United States Army Command and General Staff College. He has attended numerous military command and staff schools as well as federal and state professional development courses.

His last duty assignment before retirement was as Chief, Mobilization Branch, The National Guard Bureau, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. In this position, he was a member of the Army Staff, the Army Crisis Action Team and a member of the U.S. Army Continuity of Government Team. The positions also required he be a member of the Army Operations Staff where he worked as part of the Loma Pretia earthquake response effort and Desert Storm.

Colonel Brown has worked for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness since his retirement from the U.S. Army in May of 1991. He has served as the State Coordinating Officer for response during numerous catastrophic events. During his tenure with the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Colonel Brown has been responsible for response and recovery operations for more than 16 federally declared disasters in Louisiana.

He is a member of numerous civic and professional organizations to include The Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association, The National Guard Association of the U.S., The National Guard Association of Louisiana and The Retired Officers Association.

Colonel Brown assumed the duties of Assistant Director, Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in November of 1997. He, his wife, Pam and daughter Ashley currently reside in St. Francisville.

[Republic]

In an email I received, the amount of 30 million dollars was mentioned.

[Mo1]

http://www.jimbrownla.com/columns/EasyMoney.html

Their terms spanned three decades, from 1972 to 2003. Until last year’s state election, no one born after 1946 could have voted for an insurance commissioner who did not get convicted. Sherman Bernard served four terms from 1972 to 1988. He was jailed in 1995. Douglas Green was commissioner from 1988-1991. Jailed in 1991. Jim Brown’s term ran from 1991 until he relinquished his title in 2003. Jailed in 2002.

[Salvation]

The thought crossed my mind today. When will the scams start in New Orleans?

Guess my timing was right on.

[kcvl]

Hurricane Pam


snip


Times-Picayune reported that officials were upbeat after completing the hurricane exercise. FEMA Region VI Director, Ron Castleman, and Louisiana’s Emergency Preparedness Department Deputy Director, Col. Michael Brown were quoted as seeing good progress in preparedness. The exercise pointed out areas where work remained to be done and gave the participants the opportunity to evaluate their State capabilities.

"We made great progress this week in our preparedness efforts," said Ron Castleman, FEMA Regional Director. "Disaster response teams developed action plans in critical areas such as search and rescue, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration and debris management. These plans are essential for quick response to a hurricane but will also help in other emergencies."

snip

"Hurricane planning in Louisiana will continue," said Colonel Michael L. Brown, Deputy Director for Emergency Preparedness, Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "Over the next 60 days, we will polish the action plans developed during the Hurricane Pam exercise. We have also determined where to focus our efforts in the future."

A partial summary of action plans follows:

Debris

* The debris team estimates that a storm like Hurricane Pam would result in 30 million cubic yards of debris and 237,000 cubic yards of household hazardous waste
* The team identified existing landfills that have available storage space and locations of hazardous waste disposal sites. The debris plan also outlines priorities for debris removal.

Sheltering

* The interagency shelter group identified the need for about 1,000 shelters for a catastrophic disaster. The shelter team identified 784 shelters and developed plans for locating the remaining shelters. [The Red Cross has stopped providing shelters in New Orleans for hurricanes rated above Category 2, saying they are too dangerous for people to remain in the city. During Katrina, more than 20,000 people went to the city's shelter of last resort, the Louisiana Superdome. Later, the nearby New Orleans Arena provided additional shelter.] ]
* In a storm like Hurricane Pam, shelters will likely remain open for 100 days. The group identified the resources necessary to support 1000 shelters for 100 days. They planned for staff augmentation and how to include shelterees in shelter management.
* State resources were deemed adequate to operate shelters for the first 3-5 days. The group planned how federal and other resources will replenish supplies at shelters.

Search and Rescue

* The search and rescue group developed a transportation plan for getting stranded residents out of harm's way.
* Planners identified lead and support agencies for search and rescue and established a command structure that would include four areas with up to 800 searchers.

Medical

* The medical care group reviewed and enhanced existing plans. The group determined how to implement existing immunization plans rapidly for tetanus, influenza and other diseases likely to be present after a major hurricane.
* The group determined how to re-supply hospitals around the state that would face heavy patient loads.
* The medical action plan included patient movement details and identified probable locations, such as state university campuses, where individuals would receive care and then be transported to hospitals, special needs shelters or regular shelters as necessary.

Schools

* The school group determined that 13,000-15,000 teachers and administrators would be needed to support affected schools. The group acknowledged the role of local school boards and developed strategies for use by local school officials.
* Staffing strategies included the use of displaced teachers, retired teachers, emergency certified teachers and others eligible for emergency certification. Displaced paraprofessionals would also be recruited to fill essential school positions.
* The group discussed facility options for increasing student population at undamaged schools and prioritizing repairs to buildings with less damage to assist in normalizing operations
* The school plan also called for placement or development of temporary schools near temporary housing communities built for hurricane victims.

A second Hurricane Pam Exercise was planned for the summer of 2005, but did not take place, appartently due to a lack of funding. Agencies had anticipated expanding on aspects of response and recovery that were not explored in the 2004 exercise.

The events of hurricane seasons in the 1990s made evacuation one of the leading emergency management issues. Hurricanes Georges in 1998 and Floyd in 1999 precipitated the two largest evacuations in the history of the United States (US) and perhaps, its two largest traffic jams.

Distressingly, the 2004 exercise focused on managing the aftermath of the catastrophe, and did not address initiatitives that would diminish the magnitude of the catastrophe. While repairs to the sagging levees surrounding New Orleans were the province of the Corps of Engineers, not FEMA, improving evacuation and sheltering strategies remained open issues. As a result of the Hurricane Pam Exercise, agencies began applying lessons learned. Those changes included assisting people without transportation. The American Red Cross began developing a program that would ask private citizens to collect people at area churches and transport them.

In Louisiana, the Office of Emergency Preparedness (LOEP) is responsible for developing emergency procedures and coordinating preparedness for hurricanes. The LOEP uses a five-step activation process to transitions from routine activities to responding to a storm. Under routine operation LOEP functions at a Level V Activation status. When a storm strike is imminent the LOEP reaches its highest state of readiness. zones. During a Level I Activation, the LOEP monitors the status of institutional housing and low-mobility groups such as nursing homes, hospitals, and prisons.

A considerable amount of data was collected during the New Orleans evacuation associated with Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Dr. Jeanne Hurlbert and Dr. John J. Beggs, professors in the Dept. of Sociology at LSU, studied how individuals in the New Orleans area would respond to a major hurricane. Their phone survey excluded those living in households without telephones. Those households are disproportionately poor, minority residents. These individuals are also much more likely than to reside in vulnerable housing. In some parts of the city, the proportion of households that lacks telephones is high — as much as 25%. Based on a 2004 telephone survey [that excluded these households], the LSU professors, found that overall, 68.8% of respondents would leave the area, 9.8% would leave their homes but remain in the area, and 21.4% would remain in their homes. That 21.4% of respondents would remain in their homes is a startling and important statistic, because it indicates that nearly 1 in 4 residents would refuse to leave their homes and 3 in 10 would refuse to leave the area.

The City of New Orleans, with its 1.3 million residents, has limited out-bound route capacities. One of the problems of mandatory evacuations is that they are difficult to enforce. Many people resist being ordered to leave their homes and property by government officials. The number of people without access to transportation in New Orleans, has been estimated as high as 25 to 30 percent of the population. In addition to people without vehicles, potential low mobility evacuees include the indigent, elderly, prisoners, the infirm, and tourists. About 250,000 residents of New Orleans (not including tourists or "special needs" populations) have no means of private transportation. The total number of busses in all of New Orleans would provide only a fraction of the capacity needed to transport all of these people.

Louisiana emergency management officials planned to use any available alternative means of transportation, including National Guard vehicles. They also planned to open local shelters and refuges of last resort for those not able to evacuate.

Terry Tullier, director of the city's Office of Emergency Preparedness, said "I'm always asked what's my worst nightmare, and I talk about the generations of New Orleanians who have no historical reference in their brain about how bad this will be... And when I preach the gospel of evacuation, they won't take it seriously. Evacuation, that's such a tough decision for our officials to make, so once they make that decision, to have people say, 'Ah, I ain't going to go,' that scares me..."

[John Lenin]

President Bush explains to the crowd that Kathleen Blanco's political career is soon to be , "dead in the water" ....

[hummingbird]

Who recommended Witt?

I'd love to see a flow chart of the Dixie Mafia...think I'll google. In the meantime, is there anyone familiar with the Dixie Mafia, which I guess, would include Arkansas.

[Mo1]

Wow .. corruption goes way back

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long

His efforts in Louisiana were the subject of an IRS investigation; he had increased annual state government expenditure three-fold and the state debt over ten-fold. In 1929, he was impeached on charges of bribery and gross misconduct, but the state senate failed to convict him by a narrow margin of two votes. It was often alleged that Long had concentrated power to the point where he had become a dictator of sorts; this was unprecedented.

[hummingbird]

Very interesting....I think we are about to find out a lot about the Gov that would have never surfaced if Katrina hadn't hit NO...

And, mystery-ak, not just the governor and not just Louisiana if all goes as it should.

[Mo1]

Why Witt? Who recommended Witt? Blanco is so inadequet someone would have had to direct her to conclude to bring in James Witt. I'm still smelling a rat.

IMO .. Mary Landru or Mary's brother the Lt. Gov ... via the Clinton's

IMO .. Witt is another Jamie Gorelick

[zot]

I have also posted this on another thread, but it certainly fits this one.

Here is someone whose actions and non-actions should be looked at more closely.

Major General Bennett C. Landreneau, Adjutant General, Louisiana National Guard, and Director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

[hummingbird]

Ditto, ditto, ditto.