Saturday, January 30, 2010

Dirty Politics and the Campaign for the Next Assessor

You know what, you've got to hand it to them. For the longest time, New Orleans' 7 Assessors had it made. Cushy job with a big paycheck and full benies. They never had to work to raise campaign funds. All they had to do was send out a few suspiciously low property assessments and campaign funds would roll right in.

The assessors sat back and relaxed. The assessor seats would even be passed down from generation to generation, because nobody bothered to challenged a sitting assessor and they would just pull out of the reelection campaign hours before the deadline, so the next generation would have it without any competition. Claude Mauberret's family has controlled the 2nd District for 100 years!!!

And then the voters had to go and fuck the whole thing up for them! How could they do that! Who do these 1 Citizen and I.Q. People think they are, ruining the gravy train?!?!

The race for the next assessor is critical for the future of New Orleans. It's a battle between old nepotistic assessors that flout the law and back the vampires of the city and a new system that will actually treat everyone fairly, regardless of political connections. A shocking revolution, I know. Oyster has been beating on this particular issue for quite a while, actually.

Anyone looking for who to vote for should read these two fantastic articles:

N.O. Property List Prices, City Values Often Far Apart. From Thursday's Picayune.

Janis Lemle for Assessor.

Janis Lemle is the best hope to reform the system. The race is getting nasty. I recently got this libelous flier:
Libelous Anti-Lemle Ad 2
Click to Enlarge

Looks like someone is getting nervous they'll lose their cushy position. Anyone want to bet that "Citizens for Fair Assessments", with their scare-tactic (OMG! DREADLOCKS! THE JEFFERSON DRAGONS!) "tax woman" ad is really Mauberrey?

The only ones getting their taxes raised are the ones who've bribed assessors into illegally low assessments. Nobody's taxes are getting raised that don't deserve it. Also, thanks in no small part to Nancy Marshall's work in Uptown, property taxes were rolled-back and, with the exclusion of the old-money vampires, taxes went DOWN!

The best thing you can do a week from today is put Claude Mauberret and all the other crooked assessors in the unemployment line.

UPDATE- Eli has more background. "Most Consequential Race Flying Under The Radar"

UPDATE 2- More tantalizing details here: "Mystery of the Shadow Unsolved". Nagin and Riley go hilariously conspiratorial on WBOK. At the end, though, it's noted that the Lemle ad is by an unregistered Political Action Committee and strongly hinted that Mauberret is behind it. Crooked bastard.

UPDATE 3- Janis Lemle's latest ad:

(H/T Chris K)

UPDATE 4- Keep the ad on the air:

Click here to donate

5 comments:

Chris K said...

I also got this mailer and thought it was completely racists, offensive, and a desperate tactic employed by desperate fat-cats.

Janis Lemle is the only candidate for reform. Here's the TV ad of hers I saw last night. Much better example of what Janis really stands for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3HE0rtB98

We CANNOT let this Mauberrey clown get back in to office. We simply cannot. I'm sending this ad to all my friends and just got back from City Hall where I gladly voted for Ms. Lemle

Anonymous said...

To keep this TV spot on the air Janis needs everyone's support at this critical time, and in any amount you can donate. Please go to her website and give so that we can continue to reach the mass media audience, raise her exposure more and more and reach voters across New Orleans with her platform of urgency in voting for reform in the Assessor's office, and to need to eliminate the stranglehold the politicians have on this office. Janis Lemle's website - www.janislemle-neworleanstaxassessor.com

Chris K said...

Totally agree Anonymous. I just donated but noticed that the link you posted wasn't working.

Here's a better one for anyone who wants to vote these clowns out and vote Janis back in:

http://bit.ly/Donate2Janis

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed reading these posts about the assessor. There's been some question as to why the Gambit has refused to make an endorsement in the assessors race, despite making endorsements in many other elections. Found this quite interesting

Gambit's headquarters at 3923 Bienville St is underassessed. It was bought in March, 2004 for $650,000 and is now assessed for $555,750. It is on almost 2/3 of an acre. It has clearly been extensively renovated since Katrina. Market price is at least $1 million plus. No telling - possibly $1.5 million. Don't know about equiptment valuations on premises.

Between Clancy's home and business--- about $30-$40k each year in tax underpayment by my rough conservative estimate.

It appears someone has quite a lot to lose if Mauberret doesn't get in office. And clearly the respected Gambit couldn't actually endorse a long-time crook like Claude. So--- just stay on the sidelines and wait this one out.

http://qpublic4.qpublic.net/la_neworleans_display.php?KEY=3923-BIENVILLEST

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