Bar Owners, Contractors and Developers Line Up to Donate to Batt, But Money’s Not Everything In District A

Jay’s website says he is “offering himself in service to the people of New Orleans.” With the release of Batt’s campaign report, we’re getting a picture of who expects service from Jay. First, the expected. Urban Systems, Volkert & Associates, Boh family members, Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Stuart Consulting Group, N-Y Associates, all of whom profit from large public infrastructure projects, gave generously to Batt. Batt also received $ 500 from Bourbon St. bar owner Earl Berhardt’s the Tropical Isle (home of the “hand-grenade”cocktail) but that was only half what Isle gave Batt in 2006. However, Batt’s report shows no donation from Bernhardt’s the Funky Pirate, which gave Batt $ 500 in the last election. Batt also got donations from Mulate’s and two alcoholic beverage distributors.

In his younger days, Batt promised to end “shakedowns” by “consultants.” (TP, 3/4/00, 4/6/00) But his contributors include political insider Bill Broadhurst, who was noted by the Picayune to have “an uncanny knack of picking up consulting contracts from companies needing the council’s good offices.” (TP 5/18/05) Indeed, Broadhurst picked up over $ 44,000 as an Entergy consultant in the first three months of this year.

Andre and Christian Hooper, who own hundreds of apartments in Carrollton, gave Batt a total of $ 6,500. In addition to the contributions, Christian and Deidre Hooper recently hosted a “Battgirl” party at their St. Charles Avenue mansion. What the Hoopers want from Batt is anyone’s guess, but in 2004, the TP reported that Andre and Christian Hooper and their mother, Joan Hooper, plus several corporations they own, had given their assessor at least $7,650 over a six-year period, and that most of the Hoopers' properties for which sales information was available were valued by the assessor at less than what the Hoopers paid. The Picayune noted:

The Hoopers' largest holding, the Carrollton Parc apartment complex, is valued by Heaton at $4.7 million, $1.8 million less than they paid for it two years ago That break alone is worth more than $30,000 per year. (TP 4/5/04)

On his half-baked website, Batt says he wants to “jump start improvements to our infrastructure such as streets and blight.” But it’s not clear whether Batt wants to take on blight or take money from blighters. For example, Batt accepted a thousand dollars from landlord Vincent Marcello, Jr. One blogger has noted the deplorable condition of some of Marcello’s Mid-City properties. One of Marcello’s properties was listed as “remediated” by NORA, but photos suggested otherwise.

Here’s the unexpected: according to this report, which accounts for the period ending 90 days before the primary, Batt raised only $70,000, and loaned his campaign another $ 75,000. In 2006, there were no 90 day reports, but Batt’s report covering the period ending about 40 days before the 2006 primary showed he had about $ 440,000 on hand, meaning Batt will have to do a lot of fund raising to have anything near his 2006 war chest this go round.

In spite of his fundraising difficulties, Batt is spending like a Funky Pirate, paying $ 2,500 to legacy candidate Adrian Bruneau, who chaired the last-ditch Stop Shelly campaign in 2006, and $ 8,000 to Market Research Insight of Gulf Breeze Florida for polling (guess our franchise-owning friend hasn’t gotten the “buy local” message). And of course, if your campaign dines at places like the Grill Room, Ruth’s Chris, Bacco, Dickie Brennan’s, Bourbon House, Commander’s Palace, Clancy’s, Cuvee, Emeril’s and Galatoires, as Batt’s did in 2006, you need to generate a lot of cash.

But money doesn’t always make the difference in District A. In 1994, Mary Jane Fenner spent $ 650,000, twice what Susie Terrell spent, and lost. In the 2005 election, Batt spent well over twice what Shelly Midura spent, and still lost. Thus, while candidates Virginia Blanque, Susan Guidry and Fred Robertson may not be able to beat even Batt’s faltering fundraising effort, money isn’t everything in District A.

Keep the faith, folks. Don’t go Battwards!

Keith Hardie, Chairperson
AnybodyButBatt

Attachment:   Batt Campaign Contributions 1/1/09-10/29/09