First in Line
Absentee
balloting for the Nov. 5 elections begins statewide Thursday, Oct. 24. But before
absentee balloting begins, people with disabilities will cast the first local
votes for the United States Senate and the House. Orleans Parish Registrar of
Voters Louis Keller Sr. says voting officials will fan out across the city
Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 21-23, to record the votes of some 70 people with
permanent physical disabilities who are both unable to make it to the polls and
cannot vote absentee in person at his office. Keller says those voters are registered
with his office's "special handicapped program," which was established by his
predecessor during the late 1970s.
Keller says he also is encouraging more than
300 registered voters age 100 or older to avoid standing in line on Election
Day by voting absentee in person at his first-floor City Hall office or at the
Algiers courthouse, 225 Morgan St. Most of these individuals are frequent voters,
Keller says.
To learn how to qualify for the disabled voter
program, write to Louis Keller Sr., Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters, City
Hall Room 1W23, New Orleans, LA, 70112. The program is open to any physically
disabled voter over the age of 18. A certificate from a doctor is required.
Firing Felons
Even as suspended state Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown began serving
a six-month federal prison term last week, a constitutional amendment on the
Nov. 5 ballot to remove convicted felons from public payrolls has somehow managed
to escape the public spotlight.
Amendment No. 4 would require the termination
of all state and local employees convicted of a felony during employment after
all appeals have been exhausted. Current law allows for the immediate suspension
of most elected officials and unclassified employees but leaves the ouster of
convicted classified workers up to agency supervisors and state and local civil
service systems.
State Sen. John Hainkel, R-New Orleans,
filed the proposed amendment after the Louisiana Supreme Court last year ruled
that that the Legislature violated the separation of powers principle by passing
a fire-the-felon law that usurped the executive branch authority of state Civil
Service. In the same ruling, the High Court upheld the removal of unclassified
workers convicted of a felon because they do not enjoy "protective status" under
state law, according to the Public Affairs Research Council.
Raphael Goyeneche, president of the
private Metropolitan Crime Commission says the MCC would take no public position
on Amendment No. 4, but he personally favors the measure. "It's only fair that
if public officials can be removed from office under state law, then the same
should apply to public employees," Goyeneche says. Other proponents argue that
government should require higher codes of conduct for employees.
If approved, however, Amendment 4 "will probably
open up the state to expensive, protracted litigation under the equal protection
clause," says PAR president Jim Brandt.
Joe Cook, executive director of the
Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, opposes Amendment 4.
He says the legislature has not demonstrated that there is a "rampant" problem
of convicted felons working in government. "Our position is there could be some
serious due process questions regarding this amendment," Cook says. "This appears
to be a case of the Legislature passing a law in search of a problem to address."
New Orleans Civil Service Director J. Michael
Doyle says he takes no position on the amendment, but adds: "If the fear
is that there is no management oversight of employees, then maybe this is essential.
But in 99 out of 100 cases where you have sound management, a person who is
convicted of a felony is going to be terminated. This amendment limits management's
discretion in disciplinary cases."
Brawl in
St. Bernard
U.S.
Sen. Mary Landrieu this week is scheduled to go to St. Bernard Parish
to face at least half of the eight challengers who are trying to unseat her
in the Nov. 5 elections. Landrieu will defend her record against three Republicans
-- U.S. Rep. John Cooksey, state Rep. Tony Perkins and state elections
commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell -- and fellow Democrat Rev. Raymond
Brown beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the parish Council Chambers,
8201 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette. The forum is co-sponsored by four area
chapters of the Alliance for Good Government. The other four candidates on the
Nov. 5 ballot are Republican Ernest Skillman Jr., Libertarian Gary
D. Robbins, and two independents: Patrick "Live Wire" Landry and
James Lemann.
Last week, the Alliance endorsed the re-election
of Republican incumbents David Vitter and Billy Tauzin, of the
first and third congressional districts, respectively. But the group backed
state public service commissioner Irma Muse Dixon in her bid to upset
12-year veteran incumbent U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. Both are Democrats.
Gridiron Threepeat
Twice postponed by advancing hurricanes,
the Press Club of New Orleans has again re-scheduled its 41st annual gridiron
show to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, at Carlone's Dinner Theatre. The local media
will lampoon the "reform" administration of Mayor Ray Nagin. Proceeds
go the club's scholarship fund. For tickets call 523-1010.
Coming Clean
Mayor
Ray Nagin and local business leaders will meet at the headquarters of
a peppermint mouthwash/antiseptic manufacturer in an attempt to clean up the
image of the New Orleans Business & Industrial District (NOBID). Nagin and officials
from the New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce, MetroVision and the district
will unveil plans to stimulate businesses in eastern New Orleans. "The Summit
on the Future of the New! Orleans Business & Industrial District" begins at
9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Dr. G.H. Tichenor Antiseptic Co.
Promoters concede the eastern New Orleans
district is notorious for its illegal dumping problems. However, Nagin and others
want to refocus public attention on the fact that the district is the home of
87 businesses, including the NASA/Michoud Assembly Plant. When NOBID was originally
created 20 years ago as the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District, local urban
planner Dr. Anthony Mumphrey envisioned 50,000 jobs in the district by
the year 2000. The district currently employs more than 12,000 people, the majority
of whom live outside of Orleans Parish. During the last two years, 10 businesses
have moved to the district, which offers special tax exemptions to those who
qualify.
Atkins-Jordan Debates Scheduled
Dale
Atkins and Eddie Jordan, the two run-off candidates for Orleans Parish
District Attorney in the Nov. 5 elections, will debate at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct.
21, in Room 110 of the Tulane Law School, 6329 Freret St. Pamela Metzger,
director of Tulane's Criminal Law Clinic, will moderate the forum, which is
co-sponsored by the Black Law Students Association and the Criminal Law Society.
The event is free and open to the public.
The candidates face off again in a one-hour
public television debate beginning at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, on WLAE-TV
(Channel 32). The Oct. 23 forum is under-written by the McGlinchey-Stafford
law firm.
