Lege Watch

With all the hue and cry about the pay raises, a key fact to keep in mind is that had voters been doing our jobs, the legislature would not be in the condition it is in today.  The time to start tracking our legislators is during the campaign - and it certainly doesn’t stop after the elections.  Now is the time to start thinking about the next election; go here to make sure you’re registered, know who the candidates are and what they stand for.  The bottom line is that while it’s easy and fun to grumble from the cheap seats, we ultimately get the government we want to have.  In District 9’s state senate race, we don’t even have an incumbent to contend with, so this is an excellent chance to make sure we get the best candidate available.

Conrad Appel is running for Steve Scalise’s old state Senate seat.  I got a call from someone at the beginning of August who knew almost nothing about the candidate or the campaign.  Because his website was so uninformative (since updated) I sent them a few questions - as an individual, without mentioning LegeWatch.  It took nearly three weeks and several attempts to get them, but here are Mr. Appel’s answers are in red.

1. Does Mr. Appel view service in the legislature as a full or part time job?
I plan to serve as a Citizen Senator in the old sense. That is in a part time fashion in Baton Rouge and as full time as possible at home in the District.

2. Should the legislature have a pay raise – if so, why and how much?
No, the current guys and those such as myself that are running know what the time commitment and pay are and have accepted that.

3. What will his criteria be to determine whether an outcome is best achieved by passing a bill, asking the Governor to issue an executive order, or whether a given situation is best left for other agencies/organizations or the public to resolve?
My basic instincts are that less government is better. Based upon that I would always defer to having an outcome be driven by the Executive branch or agencies before legislation.

4. Will he pledge to refuse earmarks/pork?
All expenditures should pass through the legislative process so that we are able to set priorities and manage the expenditures.

5. Of what political party is he a member?
Republican

6. What is the highest tax rate that Louisiana residents should pay?
If you a referring to income tax, I would like to see it be reduced to 0% to match competing Southern States. That would require a major overhaul of the budget process and couldn’t be done on a whim.

7. How exactly does he plan to “make our streets safe” from criminals?
Crime in general is a socio-economic problem that has proven difficult to control because we always attack it in a piecemeal manner.There is no easy or quick fix. The way I think I break the problem down is into its sub-components. There are criminal justice and punishment issues, there are social issues, there are economic issues. Each of these contributes to either the problem or the solution. For brevity’s sake suffice it to say that I recognize the significance of all of these elements functioning as a whole and that we as a people need to realize that no one element of itself will solve the problems. My personal strengths are in the areas of economic development. Others such as my friend Newell Normand are strong in the areas of criminal justice. I will give Newell and the other members of the criminal justice system the tools that they need to support their efforts. Still others are strong in sociological issues. There must be a disciplined effort in all areas if we are to do better.

8. Redirect educational dollars into the classroom – from where?
I spent two years as a Commissioner on a Governor’s Task Force helping to redesign the Workforce Training aspects of State Government. At the first meeting the Governor informed us that $750 million was spent annually on Workforce Training. It took us a long time but we were able to get into the workings of that budget and redirect funds into areas that brought results. It can be done if there is a will to do it.

9. What will he do to support increased drilling off of Louisiana coasts to help increase the supply of oil in the United States?
The increase in drilling will be brought on by demand for crude oil , supply and demand in a pure sense. There is nothing that a State Senator (short of speaking on the subject) can do to drive this process. On the other hand there are areas that I am aware of that would assist the State in our efforts to capture the benefits of enhanced drilling. One is the construction of a new offshore supply and service port at Venice, La .

10. What will he do to help restore our coastline?
The answer is much the same as question 9. Despite what you may hear from other candidates the real solution is money on a scale that can only be supplied by the Federal government. Certainly if there are State issues that will help the process I am committed to support of them but its taken decades of neglect to get us where we are today and it will take even longer to repair the coast (assuming that we get Federal funding).

11. What will he do to hold the Corps of Engineers and others accountable for the deplorable condition of our levees, and to see that they are adequately repaired?
I belong to an organization known as the Flood Protection Alliance. We have been building relationships with the new Corps people for two years. Our goal is not to punish but to insure that the billions that will be spent on upgrading the system will be spent in an intelligent manner. For instance we have helped design a poldering system that will compartmentalize the City and Parish should there ever be another catastrophic failure.

12. Will he pledge never to vote on anyone else’s behalf, and never to allow anyone to vote on his behalf?
I consider that being a Senator will be the highest honor that I will have achieved in my career. In no circumstances will I allow someone to vote for me nor will I vote for someone else. I know that sounds condescending but you will note from my resume that I am not a perpetual candidate and that I am running because I am uniquely qualified to be a State Senator. I am not looking for another job, a promotion, or a title. Therefore I believe that what I am saying is based upon true commitment.

Alan Leone’s website already answers some of these questions - although his site doesn’t look as good as Appel’s, he had a lot more content out there to begin with and I think that speaks well of his campaign.  In the interests of fairness, I’m going to offer them the chance to answer these same questions.  Leone, if you recall, ran against Aaron Broussard after Katrina.

If any Democrats are running for this seat, I haven’t been able to locate them.  If you know of any, please post them in the comments.

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