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Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana utility regulators sanction colleague who insulted Gov. Landry on social media
Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, left, sits next to Chairman Mike Francis during the Feb. 19 PSC meeting. (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) Louisiana utility regulators sanctioned one of their colleagues Wednesday after he called Gov. Jeff Landry an 'a–hole' on social media. In a 3-2 vote along party lines, the Louisiana Public Service Commission removed Commissioner Davante Lewis, D-Baton Rouge, as vice chair of the panel and installed Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, R-Metairie, in his place. Defending himself at Wednesday's meeting, Lewis accused Republicans of creating double standards for free speech and decorum. 'If we're gonna talk about behavior, we're gonna be fair in here today,' Lewis said. 'Because I'm not gonna sit here and hold myself to a standard that you won't hold anybody else to, you won't hold yourself to, you won't hold the president to, you won't hold the governor to … It seems that if you're young, if you're Black, if you're outspoken, you've got to do whatever the white man tells you to do.' The commission's vote came after a crowd of Lewis' supporters took turns speaking in his defense, calling the sanction an erosion of free speech. Others pointed to the demographics of the commission as a factor, even shouting 'racist' as the votes were tallied against Lewis, a 32-year-old gay Black man and the only person of color on the five-member panel. Kenntonio Rosette, a U.S. Air Force reservist and graduate student at Southern University, told the commission that many young Black people and LGBTQ+ people look up to Lewis as a leader. It would be undemocratic to punish him over something he said on social media, he said, adding that he found it 'utterly disgusting' they would sanction a gay Black man during Black History Month. 'I thought that the United States was the land of the free and the home of the brave, am I correct?' Rosette asked. 'So are we running this state like an autocracy, or are we running it like a democracy?' Louisiana utility regulator could face reprisal for insulting Gov. Landry The controversy unfolded last week when the governor created a social media post with a side-by-side photo comparison between new U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Rachel Levine, a former assistant secretary under Kennedy's predecessor. Levine is the first openly transgender person to hold a federal government position that requires Senate confirmation. Remarking on his preference for Kennedy, Landry wrote: 'Major upgrade in the @HHSgov Secretary department.' In response, Lewis placed his own statement atop Landry's post, calling the governor an 'a–hole.' When Commission Chairman Mike Francis, R-Crowley, learned about the exchange, he added an item to Wednesday's meeting agenda to revisit the commission's vote in January when they chose Lewis as vice chair. In a phone interview Monday, Francis said he originally nominated Lewis to the role as a show of good faith bipartisanship on the commission and now feels embarrassed by his decision. He also said the governor had no involvement in his decision, a point which he repeated at Wednesday's meeting. Other than that reiteration, neither he nor the other two Republican commissioners, Skrmetta and J.P. Coussan of Lafayette, spoke on the matter. Commissioner Foster Campbell, D-Bossier City, defended Lewis by comparing the situation to similar acts that did not result in sanctions. 'I've seen other things happen here that were just as bad,' Campbell said, recounting an incident in which he alleges Francis once stood behind him with a poster that said 'Bull—t' while Campbell was speaking in front of a camera. Francis denied the allegation. Although Wednesday's vote attracted news media attention, the decision is unlikely to have much of an impact on Lewis' authority as a commissioner. The vice chair presides over meetings when the chairman is absent but doesn't wield any significant power over the other commissioners. Sensing the vote would not go his way, Lewis remained unapologetic and said he would be unmoved by the decision. 'If you attack somebody that I love, I'm gonna call you out. If you don't defend the poor, I'm gonna call you out. If you don't stand up for everybody's rights, I'm gonna call you out,' he said just before the vote. 'And if calling you out means you've got to shut me up, well then shut me up. But you will never stop the work or the progress that I'm here to do.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana utility regulator could face reprisal for insulting Gov. Landry
Davante Lewis speaks at a candidates' forum in Lutcher held Sept. 21, 2022, for the District 3 seat on the Louisiana Public Service Commission. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator) State utility regulators will decide Wednesday whether to punish one of their own after he called Gov. Jeff Landry an 'a–hole' on social media. The Louisiana Public Service Commission will consider a proposal to remove Commissioner Davante Lewis, D-Baton Rouge, as vice chairman of the panel. Commission Chairman Mike Francis, R-Crowley, added the proposal to Wednesday's meeting agenda after seeing a news report of Lewis criticizing the governor on social media. The situation began when the governor created a social media post of a side-by-side photo comparison between the new U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and, Dr. Rachel Levine, an outgoing assistant secretary under Kennedy's predecessor. Levine is the first openly transgender person to hold a federal government position that requires Senate confirmation. Remarking on his preference for Kennedy, Landry wrote: 'Major upgrade in the @HHSgov Secretary department.' In response, Lewis placed his own quote atop Landry's post, calling it cruel and then insulting Landry. 'This tweet shows that conservatism right now is only about cruelty and chaos. They will find away (sic) to be cruel to someone just [because] they can,' Lewis wrote. 'What a completely (sic) [a–hole] you are @LAGovJeffLandry,' Lewis wrote. In a phone interview Monday, Francis said Lewis should not have responded to the governor with a profane insult and feels the commission should revisit the vote they held in January when they first chose Lewis vice chair. 'We should be above that kind of language when you're talking about public servants,' Francis said. 'I've enjoyed working with the guy, but we don't need to be trashing each other.' Francis said he nominated Lewis to the position as a show of good faith bipartisanship on the commission and now feels embarrassed by his decision. In a separate phone interview, Lewis, who is gay, said the governor's post was personally offensive to him and other members of the LGBTQ+ community. Lewis said the governor's post about Levine is similar to others that have mocked her. Levine's 2021 U.S. Senate confirmation drew transphobic attacks from conservatives, some of whom created similar side-by-side photo comparisons involving Levine. 'He must not like me?' Landry said in response to questions about Lewis' quote from the USA Today Network on the matter. Anyone paying attention to politics and reading through those comments can see clearly what the governor was doing, Lewis said. 'This has been a repeated pattern of the governor,' he said. 'He punches down at immigrants, trans athletes and professors who disagree with him.' Landry has been particularly sensitive to public criticism, most recently calling on LSU administrators to discipline a law professor who criticized the governor, using profanities in front of his class. Ken Levy has been suspended from teaching and is suing the university, claiming his First Amendment rights were violated. Francis said he alone made the decision to propose Lewis' removal and that the governor had no part in it. He said he hasn't spoken to Landry since his election in 2023. Foster Campbell, the only other Democrat on the Public Service Commission, was unaware of the situation when reached by phone Monday and said he would have to look into it before commenting. Commissioner J.P. Coussan, R-Lafayette, did not return a call seeking comment before this story was published. Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, R-Metairie, did not respond to phone calls and emails. Lewis said he feels conservatives have created a double standard where they can say whatever they're feeling and it is defended as freedom of speech. But Democrats don't get that same latitude whenever they say something that Republicans disagree with, he said. Lewis pointed out that he didn't make his comments at a commission meeting and feels it's a waste of time to bring the matter before the commission. He has support from the Louisiana chapter of the ACLU, which issued a press release on the matter Monday afternoon. 'This retaliatory action against a Black elected official is deeply troubling,' executive director Alanah Odoms said. 'Elected leaders should be able to express their views without fear of political retribution. Suppressing dissent in this way is not only undemocratic but also sets a chilling precedent for free speech in Louisiana. The ACLU Louisiana calls on the Public Service Commission to reject this undemocratic vote.' Wednesday's meeting starts at 9 a.m. and will include a number of other matters, including Entergy Louisiana's application for a storm recovery fee and a report on how the electric grid performed during January's historic snowstorm. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
