Reposted from a comment I published two days ago:
The Arcade Fire may deny it, but their roots are in The Woodlands, Texas, a three hour drive from Alexandria, Louisiana.
Accusing someone of malfeasance is a serious charge, particularly when the accusation is made in a public meeting by a public official.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think that if you’re going to make such an accusation, you should probably have your facts straight, and you shouldn’t be relying on the idle speculation of anonymous bloggers on the Internet or the gossip you pick up from your friends.
Either way, the truth is easy enough to come by, and this issue has already been beaten like a dead horse.
By way of background, for those of you unaware, here’s a (condensed) version of the story:
More than four years ago, two former employees of Cleco alleged that the utility company had systematically defrauded the City of Alexandria. Cleco filed suit against those two employees and EMS, a company created by David Pugh, one of those former employees.
A few months later, the City filed suit against Cleco; that case is currently set to go to trial in February 2010.
Two completely different cases: Cleco versus their former employees (which is actually three different lawsuits), and the City versus Cleco.
Got it?
This all occurred during the previous administration, over a year before Jacques Roy even considered running for Mayor.
Anyway, the other former Cleco employee, Sam Sansing, hired Chris Roy, Sr., who then assigned the case to his son Jacques, to defend him against the employment suit filed by Cleco.
Notably, Sansing didn’t actually have a contract with Jacques Roy; his contract was with Chris Roy, Sr. But either way, prior to being elected Mayor, Jacques Roy represented Sansing.
Sure, it may be a little convoluted, but if you’re tasked with understanding these issues, it shouldn’t be too difficult. The employment dispute, for all intents and purposes, has absolutely nothing to do with the City’s case. Yes, some of the players overlap, and yes, the reason the City is now embroiled in litigation against Cleco is primarily because of the accusations leveled by those former employees. But regardless, the employment dispute deals with a completely different set of issues than the City’s case. The roles are reversed.
Still following me?
So three years ago, Jacques Roy decided to run for Mayor of Alexandria. During the campaign, one of his opponents suggested that Roy was a key player in the City’s case against Cleco, even though he wasn’t. At the time, a top adviser for his opponent’s campaign said this strategy was aimed to “confuse the voters” (and yes, that is a direct quote).
Now I know, some of you may be wondering how such a strategy could possibly gain any traction. The City was dealing with the most significant lawsuit in its history; why would it be a negative if one of the candidates already had a direct role in the suit (even though he didn’t)?
The simple reason: Money.
At the time, the City was primarily represented by attorneys who weren’t interested in having taxpayers pay them an hourly rate or a lump sum; instead, they wanted taxpayers to give them a significant portion of any potential settlement. The whole thing smelled bad, and the public knew it. So the strategy, even though it was patently dishonest, probably made some sense to Roy’s political opponents: If they could paint him as another “pig at the trough,” which is exactly what they did, then maybe they could undermine his credibility and, thus, his electability.
Again, it didn’t matter that Jacques Roy was a defense attorney in a completely different case; they only wanted to advance the meme that Roy was just another fat cat attorney waiting for a windfall from the City’s Cleco case.
Ultimately, the strategy didn’t work, and the public was wise enough to pick up on the lie.
But apparently, his political opponents are still consulting with the same playbook, ostensibly hoping that if they revisit this issue now, something will stick– or, at the very least, that they will earn a couple of articles with the words “ethics probe” and “Mayor Roy” in the same sentence.
It didn’t stick then, and it won’t stick now. Why? Because the whole strategy is based on a lie, a fundamental misunderstanding of the issues; it’s a strategy built on the politics of personal destruction. It’s irresponsible, unfounded, divisive, and counter-productive.
But most importantly, it’s unfortunate for the City. It distracts us from focusing on the issues that truly matter, from the work yet to be done, because, instead, we’re all forced to spend precious time and energy confronting and discussing a ridiculous, easily and already debunked lie.
PS: One more. My absolute favorite song by The Arcade Fire:
Thanks to Ryan, I am an early adopter of GoogleWave, which, as I posted a couple of weeks ago, looks like it could be the death of e-mail.
I don’t have invite privileges yet, but if Google rolls this out the same way they did with Gmail, I should soon. And if they give me 100 invites, like they did with Gmail, I will let all of you know, and I’ll give them all away quickly.
Anyway, if you are an early adopter, look me up. lamarw at googlewave dot com.
Update: After just a couple of hours of using GoogleWave, I am even more convinced in its potential to replace your e-mail client within the next six months, at least the client you use at work.
Update II: Here’s a screenshot:
Even though I absolutely love my job, I don’t like to blog about it.
This website has never been a personal diary; it’s primarily concerned with media criticism and progressive policies in the State of Louisiana– though, occasionally, I may publish something about the accomplishments of a friend or neighbor of mine or a new album, and Drew may discuss Eastern European urban planning or the most accurate way of calculating American unemployment rates.
Either way, the point is: This blog is not and has never been about the day and life of a 27-year-old, disabled, unmarried white guy who works as an assistant to the Mayor of his hometown. Believe me, if I were writing that blog, it would be much more interesting.
Remember the post featuring Jared the Subway Guy in the Mayor’s Office? Just a typical example of the day in the life.
In all seriousness, I don’t like to call too much attention to my job, because I’ve learned, sometimes, people who disagree with the opinions I express on my blog will quickly suggest that I am speaking in an official capacity, as if everything posted on this blog was directed and endorsed by the Mayor. Such an assumption is not fair to me, and it is particularly unfair to the Mayor, who is uniquely skilled and brilliantly adept at challenging me about practically everything.
I’d like to believe I present my opinions honestly, earnestly, and fairly, and I don’t expect or even hope readers will always agree with me. I believe the main reason this blog has sustained visitors and contributors for the last three and a half years is because it encourages discussion. Since I created this blog, we’ve published 1,412 posts and 8,333 comments.
I created this blog to spark a conversation on the future of Alexandria and the State of Louisiana, and since then, we have also had conversations on a number of other issues.
I say all of this in order to provide the context for why, exactly, I am going to take the bait.
You see, a couple of days ago, on the online Town Talk, a blogger named “councilwatch” criticized a private developer’s proposal to demolish City Hall as a part of a plan to privately purchase and renovate the Hotel Bentley and the Fulton, suggesting that such an arrangement would necessarily involve “kickbacks.” Incidentally, the proposal criticized by “councilwatch” considers the demolition of City Hall as an ancillary action that would not affect anything currently being considered. According to this particular proposer, this is just a Phase 2 or Phase 3 “concept,” which I guess means we must also be dealing with conceptual kickbacks. Believe it or not, as it turns out, sometimes, you can’t learn everything from a headline.
A few months ago, I heard that the handle “councilwatch” belonged to Gayle Underwood, a frequent and outspoken presence in Alexandria City Council meetings. Ms. Underwood, who owns and rents out a handful of single family homes in inner-city Alexandria, has always been incredibly kind and gracious to me, and after reading her criticisms of the downtown hotels project and her accusations about kickbacks, I decided to send her a personal e-mail, assuring her that I was happy and willing to directly answer any questions she may have.
As a rule, I never publish on my blog personal e-mails that I either send or receive, but considering Ms. Underwood shared my e-mail with another local blogger, Greg Aymond, who then published my letter on his website, I think Gayle Underwood has confirmed any correspondence with her is not personal. Fine by me, too.
Gayle Underwood never responded to my e-mail. Instead, she forwarded it to Greg Aymond. I am not sure why she decided it would be more effective to forward my letter for publication on Aymond’s website than simply engage in a discussion on a subject about which she ostensibly cared. But either way, since Gayle Underwood would have rather had my e-mail to her published on a blog site before she could honestly respond, I will give her another opportunity to respond publicly.
Of course, I will reply publicly.
Here is the letter I sent to Gayle Underwood, offering to answer any questions she had after she pseudonymously implied an illegal kickback scheme in the Downtown Hotels project:
Ms. Underwood:
A few months ago, someone (I honestly don’t remember who) told me that you blog under the name “councilwatch,” which I thought made sense considering you are a frequent Council “watcher.” I never had the opportunity to ask you if this was true, but in light of some comments made tonight on the Town Talk, I am writing to let you know I am more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the Downtown Hotels Initiative.
If councilwatch is not your online handle, then please forgive me and disabuse me of my presumption. As you know, I am an active blogger, and I’m always interested in the things people are saying online about our fair City.
And if, in fact, you are the blogger expressing concerns about the hotels initiative, I remain more than happy and willing to answer your questions.
I think this could be an incredible project for our City– a project that creates at least two hundred jobs and contributes significantly both to our tax base and our quality of life, and I wouldn’t want one of Alexandria’s most engaged citizens to form an opinion of the project’s merits without being afforded the opportunity to learn about the details.
I’m sure you would agree: It is impossible to describe a 100+ page proposal in a 500 word article (however well-written), particularly when the headline is somewhat inaccurate (headlines are usually not written by the writer of the article).
Again, I am more than happy to answer any questions, regardless of whether you’re a blogger or not.
This is my personal e-mail address, and unless you instruct otherwise or e-mail moed@cityofalex.com, I will not enter our correspondence into the public record.
I hope you had a great weekend.
All the best,
Lamar
PS: I was also saddened to hear about the sudden loss of one of Alexandria’s best champions, Mike Redman. Council meetings won’t be the same without him.
