Top jobs to friends of Gaudin (1/25) - Destination LC -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 1/1/2006
Last Visited: 1/25/2006
That's according to an American Press investigation into the hirings of former Gaming Control Board executive director Anne Neeb and board senior attorney Douglas Allen.
...
Allen remains at his job as legal counsel for Gaudin.
...
The American Press spent nearly two months looking into the hirings of Neeb and Allen to determine what their actual jobs were and their connections to Gaudin.
...
Allen, meanwhile, is a longtime friend of Gaudin.
...
Allen was a judge for the First Parish Court in the 24th Judicial District Court from 1972 to 1976.
...
Allen later served as Jefferson Parish president from 1976 to 1980 and served from 1996 to 2000 as a domestic commissioner.
He was also appointed to serve as a pro tem judge by the state Supreme Court to work in different district courts.
Allen was in private practice from 1980 up to the time he was hired by Gaudin and became a staff attorney on June 1, 2005.
He was hired under civil service rules to an "Attorney III position," which lists salary ranges from $41,538 to $74,422, according to Gaudin's response to an American Press public records request.
The job description for Allen's post says he is to "serve as a senior attorney in a legal unit or as an administrative law judge for certain programs, or to serve as a specialist in certain law."
...
In her investigative report, Inspector General Sharon Robinson wrote, "We question the necessity of the duties provided by Mr. Allen, because they appear to duplicate duties already provided by the attorney general, as required by state law."
...
Allen's attorney position was one of two jobs approved by the state Legislature in 2005 after slots were approved for horse tracks.
The board had asked for an additional attorney and a paralegal to help process applications dealing with the racetrack slots.
Gaudin used the attorney post to give Allen a job, but records show Allen has nothing to do with slots at the tracks.
...
The American Press asked Gaudin for copies of any reports, studies and other work products produced by Allen from June 1, 2005, to Nov. 30, 2005.
...
The inspector general wrote in her report that Gaudin, the gaming board chairman, was supervisor for Neeb and Allen.
...
Robinson wrote the same about Allen.