Legislative Auditor
Asks Kenner to Select Another CPA Firm
In an Aug. 28, 2002, letter to Kenner City
Council President Terry McCarthy, Louisiana Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle
disapproves the selection of auditing firm Pailet, Meunier and LeBlanc for the
city's 2001-2002 audit.
Councilmember-at-large Dominic Weilbaecher
and others had raised questions about the independence of the auditing firm,
citing donations from Rodney LeBlanc to McCarthy in the past few years.
Kyle states that he received numerous inquiries, complaints and newspaper articles
that questioned the independence of the firm with respect to an audit of the
City of Kenner. He plainly asks McCarthy to move in another direction: "Therefore,
I hereby request that you engage another firm of certified public accountants,
which is independent in fact and which is perceived by the public to be independent,
to perform the statutorily required audit."
Schwegmann Hopes for
Different Result in Rematch
Former Public Service Commissioner John
Schwegmann is seeking his old office this fall in a rematch with incumbent
Jay Blossman. Blossman represents the 1st PSC district, which covers
East Jefferson, parts of Orleans, three Northshore parishes, and St. Bernard
and Plaquemines parishes.
Blossman rocked the political world in 1996
when he defeated Schwegmann. This time, Blossman is the strong favorite because
of a large war chest and his high name recognition, boosted by his brief run
for the U.S. Senate earlier in the year.
Schwegmann served as public service commissioner
from 1981 until 1997 and as chairman of the PSC for four terms. He has refused
to accept contributions from utilities or their executives. "My opponent has
raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from utilities," he says. "I refuse
to do that."
Schwegmann doesn't have a large campaign team,
relying mostly on the advice of his wife, State Rep. Melinda Schwegmann,
and a few friends. He doesn't anticipate raising much money from outside donors
and will probably fund most of the campaign himself. "I'm not sure how much
I'll spend," he says. "He'll spend multiples of what I'll spend. Last time,
he spent 10 times what I spent."
The election will be held Oct. 5.
Surprise in 1st Congressional
District
Incumbent Bill Jefferson already had
major opposition when Public Service Commissioner Irma Muse Dixon qualified
against him; few, however, expected him to receive opposition from another major
candidate. Surprise.
Former New Orleans City Councilman Troy
Carter was a late qualifier on the last day of qualifying. Carter recently
ran fifth in the race for mayor of New Orleans and was not considered a potential
candidate in this race. "I decided to point my car in the direction of Baton
Rouge and see what happened," he says.
What happened was that Jefferson now faces
the prospect of the first competitive race since his 1990 defeat of then-State
Sen. Marc Morial. With three major candidates in the Nov. 5 race, there
is also the chance that a December run-off will be forced.
Most observers still consider Jefferson to
be the strong favorite because of his political war chest and his ability to
use his extensive contacts to raise money. If Dixon and Carter are able to put
serious dollars into the race, it could become quite competitive and interesting
to watch. The key question to consider in these next few weeks is what New Orleans
mayor Ray Nagin will do. Nagin defeated Richard Pennington in
a mayoral run-off earlier this year; Jefferson served as campaign chairman of
the Pennington campaign. Without doubt, a Nagin endorsement will be a major
coup for Jefferson, Dixon or Carter.
Jefferson Republicans Endorse
Cooksey
With three Republican candidates in the race
for the U.S. Senate, the Louisiana Republican Party, the Republican National
Committee and the Bush White House have remained neutral. However, that has
not stopped other organizations from getting involved.
One of the largest Republican organizations
in Louisiana, the Jefferson Parish Republican Party, officially endorsed U.
S. Congressman John Cooksey last week. This follows the endorsement of
Cooksey by Gov. Mike Foster -- who considered running himself -- and
will surely give Cooksey a boost in the heated race to make the run-off.
In contrast, fellow Republican candidate,
Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell, won the key endorsement
of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and will receive a major
financial influx of about $460,000 in coordinated campaign expenditures on her
behalf.
Also last week, the other Republican candidate,
State Rep. Tony Perkins, picked up the endorsement of St. Tammany Parish
legislators Pete Schneider and A.G. Crowe.
With the Republican Party split, incumbent
Mary Landrieu has been able to unify the Democratic Party behind her
candidacy. With her strongest potential opponent out of the race (Foster), some
analysts believe that Landrieu has a chance to win the race outright in November,
eliminating any December run-off.
