TT: Death of Journalism

Today TT opens year 128 of disinformation.  The mission of the TT is to suck up to local politicians and the powerful.  They've done a great job.  TT mainly print news releases from city hall, businesses and other politicians.  They ain't lookin out for you the reader.  No No No.  If they were, they'd look into this

http://jacquesbarack.blogspot.com/2010/03/rapides-regional-killed-downtown-now.html

or this

http://jacquesbarack.blogspot.com/2010/03/rapides-regional-silence-is-deafening.html

or this

http://jacquesbarack.blogspot.com/2010/03/oh-snap-ordinance-no-184-2008.html

They'd get up in David Williams face and ask him why Rapides Regional cut the levee and when Rapides Regional was going to fix it.

They go do some research to figure out who let Rapides Regional cut the levee.

They'd get up in Chris Brouillette's face and ask him what he's been doing all these years and where's the permits for Rapides Regional and the Pentecostals.

They'd get up in Jacques face and ask him what he did when he was employed by Chris Brouillette and why he's been lying about the city's role in the levee mess.

They'd get up in Jacques face and ask him why he hasn't demanded that Rapides Regional fix the levee problem they caused.

They'd get up in Harry Silver's face and ask him what he plans to do about the Rapides Regional levee problem as a board member.

They'd get up in Jacques face and ask him if he got any money from Cleco or if his campaign is looking for money from Cleco.

They'd get up in Jacques face and ask him if the economy is so bad, why he's driving a new $60,000 Mercedes?  Did Cleco pay for it or does the mayor make too much money?

No, TT ain't gonna do that.  Don't call yourselves journalists when all you are is a copier and a suckup.

Attention Whore: Me, Me, Me

Jacques went down to Baton Rouge and turned up the drama.  Maybe he stopped by the offices of Owen & White to drop off a check.  Jacques is the kind of dude that can't work with people to accomplish something, so he's got to have a crisis and get his freak on when problems come up.  He doesn't care about us, he cares about his political career.

If nothing is done, "we're dead," said Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy, who led a panel of Rapides officials in explaining the problem and spelling out the needs for improving levees to meet new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' specifications. "I'll be the mayor of a city in a region that's dead."

Thanks for thinking of your job before thinking of us.  We're already a rotting corpse and Mini Mayor is one of the maggots feeding off us.  Then Mini Mayor contradicts himself again.

"We are different," Roy said. "We're the only one whose levees have been fully decertified."

Jacques has spent hours trying to convince everyone that this is a national problem, now he says Central Louisiana is alone.  Thanks Chris Brouillette and the Levee District.  God help us, this is the Apocalypse.

You Think Rapides Regional Didn't Know It Was Them the Whole Time?

Reading Bret McCormick's piece on Leveegate this morning, our first thought was why has Rapides Regional been quiet the whole time?  They had to know it was them?  They were going to hang the Pentecostals of Alexandria out?  Nice.

During a meeting of the Red River, Atchafalaya & Bayou Boeuf Levee District Board of Commissioners this week, Chris Brouillette, the district's executive director, said he didn't know the location of a 350-foot parking lot along Bayou Rapides that was cited by FEMA as being without the required freeboard along the levee.

The first parking lot that came to his mind was on Bayou Rapides Avenue across the street from The Pentecostals of Alexandria church grounds.

Jessie Lachney, a Marksville resident who is a former member of the levee board and was in attendance at Tuesday's meeting, knew that couldn't be correct and started digging.

Lachney said he was on the levee board when the sea walls were constructed on the church parking lot. When Rapides Avenue was being expanded, part of the levee was taken, causing the need for the sea wall construction.

At that time, Lachney said, the construction project was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"I called Chris Brouillette (on Wednesday), and he said, 'Mr. Jessie, I don't know. FEMA won't let me know,'" Lachney said, referring to the parking lot in question.

Brouillette told Lachney that the Pentecostals' parking lot was the first one that came to his mind, but that there were several others that came to his mind later, including one at Rapides Regional Medical Center.

That's when Lachney sought out the city's Engineering Department, and he said he got confirmation from City Engineer Mike Wilkinson.

Why does Chris Brouillette still have a job at the Levee District?

"I don't have it in black and white," Brouillette said, adding that "the city was the one who was kind of in charge of" the certification process.

This is getting more and more interesting.  Who is it, the Levee District or Alexandria?  FEMA definitely thinks Alexandria is responsible.

City officials have said they've had trouble getting answers about the deficiencies from both FEMA and the Corps of Engineers.

FEMA officials continually have said that levee certification "is a Corps issue," and Susie Webb with FEMA's Region 6 public information office said the city of Alexandria is the one to contact about Bayou Rapides and Bayou Phillips deficiencies.

Bret McCormick treats us to some other interesting facts that will make Jacques blood boil.  We like reading Bret, but couldn't he have at least given us a nod for breaking the ordinance story?

In June 2007, the Levee District entered into a PAL agreement for Rapides Parish with FEMA that gave the district 24 months to make sure all of its levees were certified, which would then allow FEMA to accredit them.

The Alexandria City Council approved an ordinance on Sept. 25, 2007, for the city to enter into a contract with the Levee District and the Rapides Parish Police Jury "to obtain Bayou Rapides and Bayou Phillips levee certifications."

Here is today's example of Jacques lying and trying to blame others for his failures.

Roy said critics who are taking shots at the city for any deficiencies in the levees are "missing the boat on the city's responsibility, scope and role" with the levees. The mayor said the levees fall under the jurisdiction of the Levee District, but the city offered to "provide resources" for levee certification, including use of the city's Engineering Department to inspect the levees.

Because the levees within the city limits are not among the Mississippi River & Tributaries Project, the Corps would not provide inspection, which meant the Levee District would have had to hire a private engineering fund to perform the inspection at a cost of approximately $45,000 per mile.

"The city steps up to provide the engineering services it can, and the Corps says it's not enough," Roy said.

Jacques, if you think we here at Jacques Barack are done with our investigation, you are wrong.  You are lying again today.  You are about to get rain made.  Look for more breaking news on Leveegate from Jacques Barack on Monday.

The Apocalypse Will Be Preceded by Incompetence

Bret McCormick is a good reporter.  He has given us this little gem of a story:

Local officials still don't know exactly what is wrong with the levees along the Red River and within the city of Alexandria.

Chris Brouillette, the executive director of the Red River, Atchafalaya & Bayou Boeuf Levee District, said Tuesday that he still is searching for answers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

That's outright embarrasing.  Why is Chris Brouillette still employed?

Coco said he had spoken to officials at FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Alexandria, and nobody seemed to know to which parking lot the letter referred.

"Does anyone know where this parking lot is?" Coco asked.

Brouillette offered a couple of suggestions, with the parking lot across Bayou Rapides Avenue from the Pentecostals of Alexandria being the most likely culprit.

"They never did identify where the parking lot is," he said.

Brouillette suggested Coco again attempt to get an answer from the Corps or FEMA.

"I think it's kind of odd that nobody knows where this parking lot is," Coco said. "How can it be fixed if nobody knows where it is?"

We think it's odd, too, Mr. Coco.   And there's ordinance No. 269-2007.  According to the Mini Mayor's own internet site, "the City Engineer provided an honest and thorough report.  Based on the City’s own reporting, alleged deficiencies were identified. "  So, the City Engineer or one of his incompetent boobs should know, right?

Gary Eldridge, who works for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, said he had spoken with Eric Duck at the city of Alexandria's Engineering Department and that Duck was "following up" on FEMA's letter.

Duck was attending a seminar on Tuesday and wasn't in his office, and attempts to reach City Engineer Mike Wilkinson for comment were unsuccessful.

Did Mike Wilkinson or Eric Duck sign the city's report?  Is Eric Duck at a seminar learning about levees and levee certification?  Eric Duck has already quit a few times with the city and parish, so his heart is probably not in it anyway.