Blogging is a new "feature" of the internet. It allows an easier way to update web pages and gives a "log" type setup with some automatic features. This is the second Blog I've created, the first can be seen here.

 

Court of Appeals Election

It?s the Saturday before the election and the negative campaign is in full swing. I?ve received three pieces of mail from Barrie Byrnes? campaign and one from Roland Belsome?s (I think the disparity is because I?m a registered Republican, Democrats may not have received the same pieces I did). Let?s look at the Byrnes? pieces first.

The first piece is a double-size postcard. The front side is a blurry picture of a court house, I don?t think it is the Court of Appeals building, but I can?t confirm it. There is a small blurb reminding everyone to vote since they are expecting a very low turnout. Imposed over the building is text listing the names of Lynn Dean, Fmr. Cong. ?Lindy Boggs?, Fmr. Gov. Dave Treen, Fmr. Cong. Bob Livingston, Sen. Diana Bajoie, Sen. John Hainkel, and Peggy Wilson as supporters of Barrie Byrnes. She is also endorsed by SOUTHPAC, a political action arm of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. The back side of the card is a letter from Lynn Dean urging everyone to vote for Mrs. Byrnes.

The second piece features the same front with the exception of the names endorsing Mrs. Byrnes. The back side lists all the names that were listed on the front side and includes a picture of each (Lynn Dean is the only one in black and white). The text is addressed to ?Republican Voter.? The text states that Mrs. Byrnes is also endorsed by New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan.

As a plea to vote in this election, a statement is made in reference to the American Tort Reform Associations 2003 Annual ?Judicial Hellholes? report which lists New Orleans is the fifth worst in the nation and a repeat offender. The report is available on their web site and is an interesting read. Be sure to read the foot notes also.

* Note: The cover of the Judicial Hellholes report features the same Court House as Mrs. Byrnes ads.

The third piece is tabloid side folded over and is a series of six blurbs on the inside. Each blurb containing a statement about Judge Belsome.

• Belsome is support by L.I.F.E., the political organization headed by Marc Morial.
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• Belsome has been reversed over 59% of the time by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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• Belsome has stated in his commercial the too often arrests result in a jail sentence and time in jail. Belsome?s criminal experience has been as a criminal defense lawyer.
• 
  
• Both the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Louisiana Supreme Court found that Belsome committed ?misrepresentation.? He appeared drunk at his client?s home confessing that he ?did not know what he was doing? and later sued the client for more money.
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• The Louisiana Ethics Commission fined Belsome $10,000 for violating Louisiana Campaign Finance Disclosure Law.
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• Belsome refused to step down as the presiding judge in the lawsuit over Marc Morial?s attempt to run for a third term in New Orleans.
• 
  

The one piece I received from Belsome?s campaign is a trifolded tabloid size flyer. The front piece attacks Byrnes on the fact that she has never served as a judge before.

The first page on the inside flap strikes against Byrnes stating he ?prosecutor? experience has been as a part time assistant New Orleans City Attorney who processed traffic tickets.

Belsome also tries to reverse the charge against him, stating that Byrnes got her job as a political favor from Mayor Morial ages ago.

Belsome continues the charges against Byrnes claiming her only legal experience consists of being a defendant in lawsuits filed against her.

He then quotes an article from the March 2, 2004 Times-Picayune which discusses a bankruptcy filing by Mrs. Byrnes and her late husband in 1993 regarding real estate properties they own.

Finally, he lists some of her other political supporters which have not received as much recognition as the others she?s listed in her campaign literature US Congressman William Jefferson and Sherman Copelin. He continues to try to reverse the Morial connection he has by restating she received her first appointment from Dutch Morial and was reappointed by Marc Morial.

The back side of the flyer refutes Mrs. Byrnes claim that he has been reversed frequently by the Court of Appeals, claiming the Appeals Court has written that no such records exist.

The flyer then lists his supporters as ?attorneys of our region, y rank and file police officers, prosecutors, the Alliance for Good Government, and the Times-Picayune? along with the Police Association of New Orleans.

I have to say, you look at these ads and you really don?t want to vote for either of them. You?d like to have an outsider you can vote for, but since we don?t have that opportunity, I will continue to support Mrs. Byrnes for the position.

One thing that does come to mind is how much to some of these endorsements help? After the parish elections we had last year, I don?t have any faith at all in the endorsements made by the Alliance for Good Government. Other than a logo, there is no information on who they are and how they decide who they are going to endorse. Searches on the Internet always turn up empty.

In my post from March 4, I mentioned the race for Republican State Central Committee, Sub-District 103B. In that race, incumbent Mike Bayham is running against three challengers. I urged everyone to vote for anyone but Mike Bayham due to his appearance of trying to be a career politician.

At this time, I?d like to narrow things down. If you are undecided in that race, please vote for Robert ?Bob? Schneida. He has been involved in the community through the Red Cross of St. Bernard and Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church. He is current working as an Information Technology Program manager at Lockheed Martin. A newcomer to the political scene, he has received the backing of Senator Walter Boasso.

Please remember to vote this Tuesday, March 9.

Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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posted by Westley at 3/06/2004 06:06:01 PM

 
I'm not sure how long this link will be active, but if you want to see the first series of ads by President Bush that is now causing a stir, here's your chance.

I've watched the ads and don't see what the big deal is, but, then, that's just me.
Again, here's a link from the Washington Post showing all three ads using RealPlayer.

They are also available in Windows Media Player format from the George Bush web site here.


Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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Got Tech Questions? We wrote the book! AnswerSquad

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posted by Westley at 3/05/2004 08:17:56 AM

 
Elections are here! On Tuesday, March 9 you can vote on your party’s presidential nominee, if you are a Democrat or Republican. Although most, if not all of the Democratic nominees have withdrawn after the commanding lead John Kerry picked up earlier this week, everyone’s name is still on the ballot, including General Wesley Clark.

I’m not familiar with all of the rules regarding delegates and the Democratic Party, but you can still vote for your candidate if you want to give them a little more standing within the party.

The Republicans also have to pick a presidential candidate. Californian Bill Wyatt has placed his name on the ballot. Needless to say, he has not garnered many votes within any of the states that have already held elections or caucuses.

What is surprising to me, and perhaps it is a good thing, there are some battles taking place for state party delegates. The Democrats have a couple of elections for precincts and at-large positions, while the Republicans are having elections for all positions.

I’m not sure what the boundaries are, but if you are a registered Democrat living in precincts 14 through 50, you can vote for 104th Representative District, Office A and Office B. If for no reason other than the fact that we are both members of Kiwanis, I would vote for Suzy Andry. She is wrapped up in old line politics, married to Gilbert Andry and affiliated with Sidney Torres, but this is not a position that is making any laws, so what the heck.

Anyone within St. Bernard that is a registered Democrat can vote for the At-Large positions, which has six people running for five seats. I think Democrats should have some fun, vote for everyone but Sheriff Jack Stevens. Again, it would be jus for the fun of it.

Disclaimer: In case you don’t know or haven’t picked up on it, I’m Republican. Although I’m interested in what Democrats do, I have no say in how they run their party and don’t hold much more than a passing interest.

St. Bernard Republicans have their own party delegates to elect. 103rd Subdistrict B has three challengers for the incumbent, Mike Bayham. I’m not familiar with any of the three, but would pick one instead of Bayham. He just seems to be trying too hard to be a career politician.

In the 104th Subdistrict A race, Robby Showalter is running against Carlos Zelaya II. Robby is to the go to man here. He is the CFO for Boasso America, one of newly elected Senator Walter Boasso’s right-hand men. Robby has been very involved in the St. Bernard community through his efforts with the Kiwanis Club (he heads the Invention Convention program and the Golf Tournament), has served as President of the local Kiwanis Club, and is currently Lt. Governor of the local Kiwanis District. Having known Robby for over twelve years, I have to say is a very straight forward and honest guy.

In the 1104th Subdistrict B race, Steve Fecke is running opposite Andrew Marshall III. Steve Fecke is your man in this race. He has received the endorsement of Senator Boasso, is owner, along with his wife, of Jubilee Food Store, and contributes to the community in many ways. I’m voting for Steve.

Just a side note here. During the qualifying period for this election, I was contacted by one of the State Party Representatives to run for this position myself. I turned it down, especially after learning that Steve was running.

Republicans also have five at-large positions to fill, of which eight are running. Interesting names on the ballot include Jacqueline Dean, Lynn Dean’s wife, and Linda Vinsanau, the sister of Marlene Vinsanau. I really haven’t decided who to vote for in this race.

The last election for Republicans only is another parish-wide at-large position for the Western Division. This position must have been shrunk from two seats to one since there are two incumbents running against each other. Don’t know either, so bring a coin into the booth with you (I call tails!).

This leaves the last race that will be on Tuesday ballot, and is probably the most important one, Judge for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. This is a special election due to the death of Chief Judge William Byrnes. The two people running for this election are New Orleans Criminal District Court Judge Roland Belsome, and Barrie Beth Byrnes. Widow of Judge Byrnes.

I contacted the campaigns of both candidates and spoke at length with Mrs. Byrnes son, William Byrnes, IV. Judge Belsome’s campaign did nothing more than get my email address and send me the press release announcing his candidacy.

After speaking with Mr. Byrnes, he emailed me a copy of his mothers qualifications and several articles from the Times-Picayune that have been gathered over the years. These articles do not paint a friendly picture of Mr. Belsome.

Although he has been serving as a judge for some time now, Mr. Belsome has never faced an election for his seat. He elected to a vacant seat after his only challenger dropped out of the race.

Perhaps the biggest the worry with Mr. Belsome is his deep involvement and close ties to former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial. Mr. Belsome was the judge assigned the case to hear the lawsuit regarding whether the petition was valid for Mr. Morial to seek a third-term. Mr. Belsome saw no conflict of interest in hearing the case instead of recusing himself.

I have to join Parish Councilman Lynn Dean and former US Congresswoman and Ambassador Lindy Boggs in supporting Mrs. Byrnes.

You can get a sample ballot for your precinct by visiting the Secretary of State's web site here.

On a lighter note, if you're looking for somewhere to eat tonight for Lent, visit the Marksmen of St. Mark's Fish Fry. Serving fried fish, oysters, shrimp, crab cakes, and all the trimmings, it's great food at a great price. We start serving at 5:30 PM and will be located in the St. Mark School Cafeteria.

Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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posted by Westley at 3/05/2004 08:00:35 AM

 
If you haven't signed up for our discussion list, you're missing out on some interesting conversation about St. Bernard Parish. Currently the focus is on law enforcement, particularly with regards to traffic enforcement.

Among the members of the discussion list, there is a perception that St. Bernard is not a safe place as far as traffic is concerned. Some of the comments mentioned traffic laws that are not being enforced.

Since we know perception does not always tell the truth, I went looking for some accident statistics and found them compiled by LSU. You can get accident statistics for the state going back to 1996 by visiting the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business website here.

I only looked at some information for 2003 and the record is mixed.

Among parishes of a similar population as St. Bernard, 20000-50000 licensed drivers, St. Bernard ranks well when comparing the number of accidents per driver. However, St. Bernard fails based upon the number of vehicle miles travelled (I haven't delved into things enough to figure out how they determine the number of vehicle miles travelled).

*Side note here: I realize that a cutoff had to be made some where, but I wonder if 50000 was a good number. Among the 17 parishes St. Bernard is grouped with, we are tied with Iberia parish with 47000 licensed drivers. Acadia and Vermilion are tied for third place with 37000 licensed drivers. With 10000 licensed drivers separating the two top groups, perhaps we should have been matched with the 50000-100000 group. The separation would have only been 6000 instead. With that said, I'm going to compare St. Bernard with Iberia, Jefferson, and Plaquemines.

I would include Orleans Parish, but I don't trust the numbers reported. There is just no way Orleans Parish only had 32 accidents in a 12 month period. Has to be some serious under-reporting going on there.

Looking at raw numbers, St. Bernard doesn't do too bad against Iberia. We've got 60 less accidents, about 200 less injuries and only half as many fatalities. When you start extropolating those numbers based on number of drivers and number of vehicle miles travelled, it starts to look ugly.

Among drivers, we still beat out Iberia in injuries with 980 to 1090. But when you look at vehicle miles travelled (VMT), St. Bernard does a crash and burn. We have 139 injuries per 100,000 VMT to put us at number one on the danger list among the 17 parished within the 20000-50000 drivers range. Thankfully, the ranking drops to number 9 on fatalities per 100,000 VMT.

Comparing St. Bernard with Jefferson and Plaquemines puts us just about even with Jefferson. At about 80 less accidents per 100,000 drivers, we would have 12.9 fatalities to Jefferson's 12.3.

Plaquemines has 30000 less licensed drivers than St. Bernard which translates into less accidents all around, recording 93 accidents in 2003. Extrapolating the numbers puts Plawuemines twice as safe as St. Bernard.

I think the overall big picture to look at is that St. Bernard is not much different than Jefferson in terms of drivers. The safety record for both parishes is about the same, it is only raw numbers that makes Jefferson look worse. But on a per capita scale, the two parishes are neck and neck.

What I think would really help with getting some meaning out of this report is to see the actual numbers for Orleans Parish. And I would also like to know how they calculate the number of VMT per parish.

Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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posted by Westley at 3/01/2004 01:13:24 AM