| Dominick Cross | |
| (From left) Rep. Vincent Pierre, Rep. Mike Huval, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Rep. Stephen Ortego, Rep. Jack Montoucet and Philippe Gustin, director of Le Centre International de Lafayette at CODOFIL's office Thursday morning. |
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Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne wants the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana to know he's got its back — and its future — with a plan that includes grants and the promotion and support of economic development outreach and tourism opportunities already in place with Francophone countries.
"We are undaunted in our commitment to make certain that we strengthen CODOFIL and we strengthen what all of you have a tremendous interest in doing that is beneficial to the State of Louisiana on multiple fronts," says Dardenne. In town for French Ambassador François Delattre's visit, Dardenne outlined his plan for CODOFIL Thursday in a press conference prior to a CODOFIL board meeting.
There's also another plan in place to utilize social media to help CODOFIL replenish its lost funding.
When Dardenne's Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism felt a loss of $2 million two weeks ago at the swipe of Gov. Bobby Jindal's veto pen, CODOFIL had $100,000 lopped off in the process.
"This is not a political issue. This is something that's good for the economics of Louisiana. It's good for tourism in Louisiana," says Dardenne. "And tourism in this state means jobs and it means money coming from outside the borders of Louisiana, investing in Louisiana and it minimizes the burden that our taxpayers have to pay to make good things happen in government."
Dardenne says there's a tremendous untapped potential from a tourism standpoint to capitalize on the relationships "we're building now to convince those Francophone countries that this little slice of the world in the southern most part of America is a place that is welcoming to them and shares their culture and shares their language and shares many of their interests."
Jindal's cuts hurt the 2-year-old Escadrille Louisiane initiative that sends teachers to French universities to learn the language and teach it to Louisiana students.
"It was unexpected. It's very unfortunate. It was unnecessary," Dardenne says. "It is one of the programs in Louisiana that is working at a time when we're attempting to create jobs and create economic opportunity for Louisiana. CODOFIL is one of the agencies that makes that happen."
Dardenne says Louisiana needs to capitalize on the "incredible and intense interest on our state that exists in Francophone countries all over the world," something he saw in a trip to Quebec and one he plans to promote in France and Belgium when he goes to "reinstitute the accords that exist between Louisiana and those countries and to talk about the incredible opportunities that exist from an education and an economic development standpoint."
Along with the grants, Dardenne's CRT plans to cover CODOFIL Director Joseph Dunn's expenses to Europe for what he calls "a very important trip and one of the most important international trips that the State of Louisiana has made in recent years to reach out to our business partners in France to thank them for what they do, encourage them to expand what they do in Louisiana and to create opportunities for Louisiana businesses to do business in France."Mandy Migues, a teacher and president of FrancoJeunes, is on board to help through a campaign called 100,000 Cajuns and Creoles that is soliciting $1 from French-speaking Louisianans and those who support CODOFIL. Go here for more information.
"If we can do our part to help, that's what we're trying to do," says Migues. "I'm hoping once we get the word out, I'm very comfortable we'll reach our goal."
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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