A candidate for the state House of Representatives District 47 seat vacated by Sen.-elect Jonathan Perry found herself in an awkward position Wednesday morning when she had to borrow $200 from her competitor in the race in order to qualify.
Kaplan Mayor Linda Hardee showed up at the Vermilion Parish Clerk of Court’s office at 8 a.m. to qualify — the same time her sole opponent in the race, Gueydan Mayor Bob Hensgens, also arrived. Hardee arrived with what she thought was the qualifying fee — $250 — which must be paid in cash. But the actual fee is $450. Fortunately for Hardee, her competitor and fellow Republican had some extra cash on hand. Hensgens ponied up the extra $200 and Hardee wrote him a check to cover it.
“I had looked on the Internet that morning for how much it was and I just happened to have some walking-around money with me,” says Hensgens, who laughs off the episode.
“I haven’t cashed it yet but she did indeed write me a check for it,” he says. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do with it; I’ll need to talk to my CPA first. I don’t know if I’m supposed to put it on the wall or cash the thing.”
Of the $450 it costs to qualify to run for state representative, $112.50 goes to both the state central committee and parish executive committee of the candidate’s political party. The state keeps the remaining $225. Hensgens jokes that he may have gotten a $200 campaign contribution from his competitor in the race.
“It’s a strange situation,” he says. “I had other contributions at that point, but I guess it was the first official one — I’ll have to fill out the paperwork.”
The special election for the House 47 seat, which covers all of Cameron Parish and part of Vermilion, will be held April 30. Hardee was at a funeral home midday Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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