Due to popular demand, we have provided Batt's 2004 and 2005 Candidate's Campaign Reports for download at the end of this article.
The expenses section of the reports show LOTS of meals in our local fine restaurants, while the contributor list has some familiar names.
Some notable Batt contributors include:
David Melius, owner of Bruno's Bar on Maple St-$1000 ; D. Barth Melius-$500
Phillips Bar on Maple St-$1000
Charles Napoli, owner of The Boot bar: as CJN, Inc-$1000; as C NAPCO-$1000; Aline Napoli-$1000
Norby's Bar-$1000
Three Tropical Isle bars in the French Quarter-$3500
David Ducote, for whom Batt broke the 35-year French Quarter Hotel ban-$1000; his company Gravier Development-$1000; his business partner David Voelker-$2500
FMB Development, developer of controversial condo project in West End that required Batt to push for yet another Zoning Change-$2500; FMB Partners Frank D'Amico, Jr-$1500, Bradley Bartholomew-$1000, Morteza Shamsnia-$1000
GHK Developments, owned by Gordon Kolb, a Walgreens drugstore developer-$2500 in '04
Darryl Berger, Jax Brewery developer-$2250
Champs New Orleans Collision Center, owned by Louie Roussel, who was one of the bidders vying to take over the Fairgrounds Racetrack in 2004; under Roussel's proposal, control of the track would be turned over to horsemen, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage officials, and prominent members of the community-$2500 in '04; Louie Roussel (individually)-$2500 in '04; Quint Davis, Festival Productions-$1000 in '04
David Picou, an owner of one of the corporations contributing to the smear campaign against Paulette Irons who was reprimanded by the state Ethics Board-$500; business partners William Cahill-$2500 and Martin MacDiarmid-$1000
Patrick Quinn, Decatur Hotels-$1000 in '04, $2000 in '05
Michael Valentino, Hotel Management of New Orleans-$1000 in '04, $2000 in '05
Provincial Hotels-$500 in '04, $1500 in '05
Urban Systems Associates, parking, gaming and hospitality consultants-$3000 in '05
Waste Management-$500 in '04, $1500 in '05
United Cabs-$2500
Fenn French, President of Joseph A Bank Clothier's, Batt's company- $3500; Matthew French-$1000; William French-$1000; Ronald French-$500; E. French-$1000
William Broadhurst, a crony of former Gov. Edwin Edwards best known for chartering the Monkey Business yacht for Gary Hart's rendezvous with a model, indicted on charges he skimmed money off a gambling riverboat construction contract-$2000 in '04, $2500 in '05
The Audubon Commission, a public agency-$1500
St. Michael's Special School-$1000
Pontchartrain Pointe Subdivision Homeowners Association-$1000
Regarding some of the above: last time we checked, non-profit corporations were not allowed to make contributions to political candidates or campaigns. In addition, Jay Batt has used the names of certain neighborhood organizations in his advertisements, apparently without their permission, and certainly without regard for their non-profit status.
Eating Well
No doubt some of these silver-plated names are only too happy to let Jay spend their contributions wherever he chooses, including:
Ralph’s on the Park, Table One, Smith & Wollensky, the Grill Room, Ruth’s Chris (NO & BR), Tommy’s Cuisine, Vega’s Tapas Café, Bacco, Dickie Brennan’s, Bourbon House, Commander’s Palace, Chateau Briand Steakhouse, China Rose, Clancy’s, Crepe Nanou, Cuvee, Emeril’s, Fox Sports Grill, Galatoires, Pascal's Manale, Old Absinthe House, Pontchatrain Pointe Restaurante, Pirate’s Alley Café, Semolina’s, The Dock, The Grove, Wolfe’s and many more, plus a tremendous amount of pizza.
These meals are listed as being for "business meals", "dinner with constituents," "staff lunch," "lunch meeting," "campaign dinner," "campaign meal," and "office lunch." In 2004, these "campaign expenses" added up to over $17,000. Mr Batt's donations to civic and charitable groups out of his campaign funds came to just under $11,500.
It is also worth noting that the "Candidate's Report", the form by which campaign contributions and expenditures are reported to the state, contains this notice:
The personal use of campaign funds is prohibited. The use of campaign funds must be related to a political campaign or the holding of a public office or party position. However, campaign funds may be used to reimburse a candidate for expenses related to his campaign or office, to pay taxes on the interest earned on campaign funds or to replace articles lost, stolen, or damaged in connection with a campaign.
Excess campaign funds may be returned to contributors on a pro rata basis, given as a charitable contribution as provided in 26 USC 170(c), given to a charitable organization as defined in 26 USC 501(c)(3), expended in support of or opposition to a proposition, political party, or candidacy of any person, or maintained in a segregated fund for use in future political campaigns or activity related to preparing for future candidacy to elective office.
Those Campaign Finance Reports in Full
January 1 thru December 31, 2004 (102 pages) January 1 thru July 29, 2005 (74 pages) August 8 thru December 31, 2005 (23 pages)
