State has too many elections

By James Ronald Skains
Journal Correspondent

"The Secretary of State's office has several functions, museums, archives, and corporations but 85% of our budget is taken up with elections," Secretary of State Tom Schedler told the Piney Woods Journal.

"In the last five years, Louisiana has had 70 elections," Schedler pointed out. "In comparison, the state of Georgia has had 38 elections and Florida has had 31, and both states have much larger populations than our state. A state wide race cost the taxpayers of Louisiana about $6,000,000," Schedler explained. "A single district House of Representatives election costs over $75,000 and two recent State Senate special races elections cost over $100,000 each. When a local governmental agency tells me that they want to hold a special election for some purpose, I tell them that the cost will be around $1,000 per precinct," Schedler added. "Most people, including the Louisiana Legislators and local governmental agencies have no idea what it cost the taxpayers to hold an election."

"Our office is putting together a video to detail what it takes personnel wise, and the amount of money it takes to hold an election," said Schedler, a former three term State Senator from St. Tammany and Tangipoha Parishes. "I want all the legislators to see the video as well as local governmental officials. This regular legislative session, I'm going to propose a Constitutional Amendment that will limit elections to four times a year," noted Schedler, a former bank president in the Florida Parishes. "With a few changes in the law, we can save taxpayers a lot of money. Just this year, with some careful planning, we were able to save the taxpayers the cost of a special state wide election to replace the former Secretary of State Jay Dardenne when he was elected Lt. Governor after Mitch Landrieu was elected Mayor of New Orleans." "The law as written now allowed Dardenne to delay taking office as Lt. Governor until the deadline requiring a special election for Secretary of State had passed," Schedler stated. "Even with that, we will have, based on the way the election law is now written, two elections for Secretary of State in October. One election will be to fill the unexpired term which is for only 90 days of the former Secretary of State,'' Schedler explained. "The way the election laws are now written, an appointed State official to an elective office can only serve so many days without holding a special election. Thankfully for the taxpayers in Louisiana, the date of the state wide election in October will fulfill this requirement," said Schendler, a native of New Orleans and a 1967 graduate of De LaSalle High School. :As soon as the election is finalized, a new Secretary of State will take office for 90 days. Then when the newly elected state level officials take office, the person elected to the full four year term for Secretary of State will take office.

"Our present election laws are confusing, costly and downright antiquated in my opinion," Schedler said. "To further complicate our election process, the Speaker of the House of Representative and the President of the Senate have the right to call special elections to fill vacancies in either body at their discretion. Sometimes we don't plan those elections to coincide with other local elections which would save the taxpayers a lot of money. One important thing about our election system is that it is rated the finest system in the nation," Schedler noted. "We own all our voting machines, keep them under lock and key and only employees of the Secretary of State work on the machines. When it comes to voting day, we have numerous checks and balances to make sure that every voted is cast and counted properly," Schedler noted. "If any politician knows the importance of properly counted votes, it is me. In my first race for Senator, I made the run-off by only 7 votes."

The Secretary of State has 300 plus employees. They recently lost 19 people through budget cuts. Schedler has also left several unclassified position unfilled.

"Three years ago when we began to realize the severity of the potential budget cuts, we began to offer an early retirement incentive," said Schedler, a two time past President of the United Way in St. Tammany Parish. "This reduced significantly the number of people we had to terminate when the actual budget reductions occurred.

"Probably the most enjoyable duty of the Secretary of State, in my opinion, is working with our museums around the state," said Schedler, who served on the Slidell City Council for six years "We have named our State Museums the `Heroes and Heritage Trail.' Every Museum in our system celebrates some unique aspect of Louisiana's remarkable people. Each of these museums has a different tale to tell, collectively they represent the very story of Louisiana and America itself. We have what I call our 1-20 Corridor of Museums which starts in Shreveport with the Louisiana State Exhibition Museum and extends eastward to the Cotton Museum in Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish,'' Schedler, who at one time was a member of the Slidell Zoning Commission elaborated.

``Shreveport also has two museums, the Shreveport Water Works Museum and the Spring Street Historical Museum,'' Schedler, who was considered a champion of health care during his tenure in the Senate added.

``The Cotton Museum in Lake Providence has a complete cotton gin while the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum has displays valued at $2 million,'' Schedler, who has served on hospital boards explained.

``One of my favorites is the General Chennault Aviation and Military Museum in Monroe,'' Schedler added. ``The Chinese still love General Chennault for all he did for them in WWII. It also helps that General Chennault's granddaughter is the director of the Museum.''

The Heroes and Heritage Trail, in addition to the three museums in Shreveport, the Cotton Museum in Lake Providence and the Chennault Aviation Museum in Monroe include along the I-20 corridor five other museums. The Eddie G. Robinson Museum in Grambling, the Germantown Colony Museum in Minden, the Louisiana State Oil and Gas Museum in Oil City, Mansfield Female College Museum in Mansfield, and the Louisiana Military Museum in Ruston.

Going south from I-20 into Central Louisiana is the newest addition to the system, the Political Hall of Fame Museum in Winnfield, the Tioga Heritage Park and Museum, and the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday. Going further south below I-10 are the Louisiana Military Hall of Fame and Museum in Abbeville, The Jean Lafitte Marine Fisheries Museum in Lafitte, and the Garyville Timber-mill Museum which is under development.

The Old State Capitol in downtown Baton Rouge is considered the flagship museum in the Secretary of State's museum system. Nearby is the Old Arsenal Museum adjacent to the State Capitol.

``We even offer a program for visitors to stay over night at the Old State Capitol to listen for the alleged Ghost of the Building,'' Schedler elaborated. ``Also, we have a great display on the legendary Huey P. Long in the Old State Capitol.''

``We don't take sides in telling people who or what Huey Long was but present both sides of Long; one side, the Builder and the other side, the heavy handed Politician,'' Schedler explained.

``We believe that our Heroes and Heritage Trail of State Museums offers a viable entertainment option during these hard economic and costly energy times,'' Schedler pointed out. ``Our museums make excellent day trips, and wonderful educational activities for school kids.''

The two other major sections of the Secretary of State's office is the State Archives and the Commercial or Corporations divisions. The Commercial or Corporation division is self sustaining through fees generated in forming new commercial entities, establishing trademarks and follow-up annual reports.

``I'm also very fond of our Archives,'' Schedler noted. ``We have a super Genealogy Section. I was able to trace my ancestry on my mother's side all the way back to Boudeaux, France.''

``Although I have a German name, French ancestry, many people tell me that I look and act more like an Irishman,'' Schedler concluded.

Schedler has been married for 39 years to the former Stephanie Gele' of Lafayette who owns and operates hospice programs in Louisiana and Mississippi. They have three daughters, two grandchildren and are members of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Mandeville.

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