In December of last year, Gov. John Bel Edwards appointed political unknown Alan Jackson to fill the unexpired term of James Flurry, the council member from District E.
Only days before his appointment, Jackson changed his voter registration address to one within the council district. Unlike his opponents, he is a short-term resident of District E.
To say that his service on the council has been poor is an understatement.
The same can be said about his compliance with the ethical requirements of being a council member.
Jackson has tied himself to the apron strings of council members James Green and Tabatha Taylor. As a result, many of his votes have not been in the best interests of his constituents.
Most recently, he voted against a two-tier health insurance plan that would have put Willis Knighton on the same footings with Ochsner. The result of his vote means that city employees and city retirees who want to maintain their health insurance and doctor relationships with WK will be forced to pay more for premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
Jackson also voted for the across-the-board pay raise of 13% for all city employees. This means that many, many highly paid city employees now draw salaries in excess of $75,000, with over 30 that are now paid over $100,000.
As Chief Administrative Officer Henry Whitehorn advised at a recent council meeting, the pay raises and the increased retirement benefits based on the increased salaries are not sustainable without new revenue sources. The city's so-called budget surplus was substantially gutted meeting these increased costs this year.
And when it comes to complying with the ethical standards, Jackson has failed miserably. The list of his failures is long and very telling. To say he has set a bad example minimizes his pathetic record.
Initially, there are substantial unanswered questions if he is being double-paid as a Grambling University administrator and a city council member. Records produced by Grambling leave substantial doubt if Jackson is taking personal time off (PTO) to attend all council meetings and appearances. In other words, it appears that he is double-dipping with state and city salary at the same times.
Jackson has also failed to timely file his personal financial statement as required of all elected officials.
Jackson acquired a 30% interest in a hookah bar/lounge that had been issued an ABO license by both he state and the city. The requirements of both are that a change in ownership be reported and a new application filed with the new owner listed.
Jackson did not file a new application, which is a major violation of the alcohol beverage laws.
After acquisition of ownership, the hookah bar/lounge burned to the ground in a mysterious fire. Arson was suspected since the fire reportedly started in three places.
Jackson pushed the ethical envelope again by having the city council clerk's office issue a press release for a community forum announcement.
Once he announced he would run for the council seat, he launched a campaign website. He listed as his campaign address the office of the city council clerk, and he used his council email address. These actions are major ethical "no-no's."
Next up on his list of "do what I want, ethics be damned list" was a town hall meeting Jackson held at Southwood High School, which was in reality a political event. These events must be approved by the Caddo superintendent. Jackson failed to obtain this consent and, thus, jeopardized the job of the office person who allowed the event.
Another example of Jackson's total defiance of law was his posting of illegal campaign signs. These signs exceeded the maximum sign size, and many were posted unlawfully in city rights of way.
The most recently known campaign travesty of Jackson is the campaign finance report he filed with the Louisiana Ethics Commission. He only listed Shreveport as the address of many donors, without the street/mailing address as required by the commission regulations.
With this track record of votes and questionable ethical actions, one can only wonder what Jackson has done behind closed doors during his 10-plus months of service. What's clear is that he does not need to be in a council seat for four more years.
Jackson has many photographs on his Facebook page of his wife and himself that most constituents consider inappropriate.
Jackson clearly does not have the moral compass to be on the state payroll as an administrator for Grambling University, much less an elected official.
District E voters should not vote for Alan Jackson for the city council.