My name is John Roberts, founder of the Taxpayers Union of La. and I’d like to see some changes in Jefferson Parish.

Ten important principles and items I would pursue as Jefferson Parish President.

1. Bring in an outsider as Chief Administrative Officer.  The Parish has many fine employees, but there is an ingrained mindset that allowed all the shenanigans of the last administration.  I will recruit an experienced professional city or parish administrator from outside the current employee pool.  I will involve a committee made up of a cross section of Parish employees in the interview process.  My ideal candidate would be someone born and raised in Jefferson Parish who is now running a successful administration of a political entity with a similar population.

2. Parish employees do NOT work for Parish Council members or the Parish President, they all work for the citizens of Jefferson Parish and political considerations should not come before the taxpayer’s interest.  As such there should be a system in place whereby Parish employees can anonymously report waste and corruption without fear of reprisal.  In fact, coming forward with information that saves substantial taxpayer money or shines a light on corruption should be rewarded financially and I intend to set up a fund for that purpose.  An office of Inspector General should have free rein to investigate reports of wrong doing and to refer illegal activities to the D.A.

3. No spending items on the Council’s consent agenda.  What was originally intended to be a convenient way to dispense with such things as awards and commendations has now become a way for individual council members to get items through a council meeting without the media or public noticing.  The $340k spent by the Parish on site work for the Mr. Bubbles Car Wash on Hwy 90 is just such an example.  The parties involved, Hubbard Enterprises, Aaron Broussard, Nick Baroni, Tim Whitmer, Byron Lee and a few JP dept. heads, did not have to answer any questions about this expenditure when it was quietly passed on the consent agenda.

4 All professional services contracts worth over $10k annually to be put out to bid.  The practice of accepting campaign contributions from parish professional services contractors and then approving business contracts worth millions of dollars without competitive bids is a practice that rips off the taxpayers of this Parish.  It also enables incumbent officials to amass large campaign funds and results in fewer choices for voters come election time.

5. There are currently over 30 salaried JP employees making over $100k per year plus very attractive benefits packages.  If you include employees receiving overtime pay the number rises to approximately 100!  There’s no way the Parish needs this many employees at these salary levels.  I will eliminate “special advisors” and ensure the taxpayers are receiving fair value from top Parish positions.

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6. The tolls on the Crescent City Connection bridges should be allowed to expire.  The citizens and businesses of the westbank were lied to when they were presented a long list of major projects that would be financed by the tolls.  Not only have NONE of the major projects been done, the CCC loses millions of dollars a year.  Eliminating the tolls will put $25M+ of toll money back into the local economy resulting in a much needed boost.

7. In general I oppose government involvement in the economy.  As a Parish government we should not try to shoehorn ideas created by government bureaucrats into our local economy at taxpayer expense.

8. There has developed an attitude in Jefferson Parish government that they know what’s best for the citizens of this Parish.  My beliefs lend more credence to those of our Parish’s namesake, Thomas Jefferson, who famously said, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

9. Parish officials are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their taxpayer provided offices.  I do not need an office rivaling the Taj Mahal to conduct the business of the Parish.  If elected, I will not spend a dime of taxpayer money on renovations or furnishings and will oppose such spending by other officials.  If furniture in a busy family home can last many years then it certainly can be used over many terms in parish offices.

10. I’ll never let “political considerations” stop me from reporting corruption to the US Attorney’s office.  Corrupt dealings are ruining our Parish and cost us all much more than just money.  I believe an elected official cannot be a great leader just because he or she does not personally participate in corruption, to be a great leader one must be willing to confront corruption wherever it exists in government and report it for criminal prosecution when there is specific knowledge it has or is transpiring.  I am unequivocally willing to expose corrupt activities at my own political and personal peril.