Some of Louisiana’s most intriguing and shocking political stories aren’t necessarily developing on the statewide scene, says Jeremy Alford in his latest column.
“Sometimes you have to dig deeper and go local—and sometimes, more often than anyone would care to admit these days, you won’t like what you find,” he writes.
Parish presidents in Ascension and Jefferson are facing recall efforts for allegedly doing things that “would make any good, church-going rotarian blush,” says Alford, noting another president in Lafourche is still reeling from a “no confidence” vote that was delivered by his council last week over perceived violations of the parish charter.
At the municipal level, Alford says, the mayor of LeCompte is being sued by his district attorney for how taxpayer money is reportedly being spent. Meanwhile, the mayor of New Roads is about to begin a trial related to charges on a city-issued credit card.
“In the Louisiana Legislature, a state senator spent 38 hours in prison three weeks ago for domestic abuse battery,” Alford writes of Sen. Troy Brown, who refuses to give in to calls for his resignation. “And in a little over a week, he’ll take his seat in the upper chamber for a special session where he will be voting ‘yes’ and ‘no’ on behalf of the fine people of his district.”
Aside from these and other scandals, Alford says there are a dozen positive stories worth sharing for every terrible story out there about a Louisiana politician. The positive stories, however, rarely stay atop the headlines, which Alford says is unfortunate.
“But the bad stories, the ones that remind of us of everything wrong with Louisiana politics, are worth revisiting every now and then,” he writes. “Otherwise, they would be ignored and go unfixed, which would be yet another embarrassment of note for this state. And no one wants that.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
