Does John Georges have an ethics problem?

Lee Fletcher, at the Town Hall Show, certainly believes so.

Gordon Russell and Frank Donze, at The Times-Picayune wrote:

A lingering mystery from the 2002 mayoral campaign- who exactly was behind a series of television spots that helped sink then- state Sen. Paulette Irons’ campaign- was quietly put to rest Thursday when the state Board of Ethics approved a settlement that named names.

And the record shows that Irons wasn’t far off the mark when she blamed allies of former Mayor Marc Morial for the attack ads, which took her to task for holding two public jobs and for misrepresenting the death of her brother.

The group of 16 contributors includes a number of Morial confidents or corporations they control: restaurateur Stan “Pampy” Barre; Civil District Judge Herbert Cade, who was then a lawyer; businessman Bobby Major; airport planner Anthony Mumfrey; lawyer Roy Rodney; businesswoman and Sewerage & Water Board member Penelope Randolph; businessman and former Regional Transit Authority Chairman Robert Tucker; financier Rafael “Ray” Valdes; contractor Reginald Walker; and Jimmie Woods who owns a trash hauling company.

The group also includes businessman John Georges, who along with Barre and Rodney was a partner of Mayor Ray Nagin in the New Orleans Brass minor-league hockey team; T.R.C. Construction LLC, whose directors are listed as Sandra Kruebbe and Jamie Santopadre; Management Services USA Inc., whose director is listed as S.F. Brechtel Jr.; and Louisiana Fleet Consultants LLC, whose directors are listed as David Picou and Michael Ecuyer.

The settlement known as a consent opinion is a product of a years-long effort by the ethics panel to determine whether the group ran afoul of campaign finance laws. Contributors had to agree to its terms, which include listing the donors’ names as well as a $12,000 fine imposed on the four corporations and a political action committee they set up.

Irons who wound up finishing third in the race behind Nagin and former Police Superintendent Richard Pennington, is now a Civil District Court judge.

Fletcher’s comments on the above article:

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SEVERAL REVEALING ELEMENTS AND PRESENTS BIG TIME QUESTIONS ABOUT GEORGES ETHICS:

FIRST, GEORGES WAS IN BUSINESS WITH MAYOR RAY NAGIN AND HELPED ELECT HIM IN A VERY EXPENSIVE AND VERY HEAVY-HANDED WAY.

SECONDLY, GEORGES WAS INVOLVED IN THIS LITTLE CAMPAIGN CONSPIRACY WITH A WHO’S WHO OF THE MORIAL INNER CIRCLE MANY OF WHOM HAVE SINCE BEEN CHARGED WITH CRIMES.

AND FINALLY, HOW COULD ANYONE WHO HAS AN ETHICS SANCTION FOR RUNNING DISGUISED SLEAZY ATTACK TV ADS THINK THEY COULD ACTUALLY BE CONSIDERED A LEGITIMATE CONTENDER FOR GOVERNOR? AND AS A REPUBLICAN NO LESS.

THE TAG LINE TO JOHN GEORGES TV SPOT IS- “JOHN GEORGES GOVERNOR, A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, NOT A POLITICIAN.” IT SHOULD BE “JOHN GEORGES, A NEW ORLEANS POLITICAL INSIDER’S INSIDER!