Fri, 06/03/2022 - 12:00am
SETTLE TALK JOHN E. SETTLE JR. EDITOR
The Shreveport City Hall mystery still remains: Who directed that my emails be blocked from the city's email domain?
This action meant that any emails sent to any city employees, any council members and any members of the mayor's staff, including the mayor, could not receive any emails from me.
IT Director Keith Hanson has acknowledged in writing that I was blocked from May 4 through May 17.
Councilman Alan Jackson responded to a text denying any involvement in the blocking action.
At the council work session on May 23, Council President James Green stated that "he never spoke to anyone about blocking anyone from his city email."
Councilwoman Tabatha Taylor had a long discourse at the work session without directly addressing the issue of blocking my email from the city's email domain.
In what was an obviously rehearsed dialogue, Taylor posed this question to Hanson at the work session: "Did you receive a directive from any member of this council to block John Settle's email?"
Hanson replied, "No, I did not."
Hmmm.
Note the term "directive" was used rather than "request."
To most people, a "directive" implies an official, authoritative instruction.
Compare that to the term "request," which is a polite ask.
Hanson's response does not jive with the email he sent to his IT staff on May 4, which is set forth below.
Please note that he specifically listed the city email addresses of Green, Taylor and Jackson:
tabitha.taylor@shreveportla.gov
alan.jackson@shreveportla.gov.
Readers should remember that my email was blocked on May 4. On the newsstands on that day was The Inquisitor with the lead story, "Is Shreveport City Attorney Double-Dipping?"
The Shreveport city attorney is Taylor's long-time paramour Ron Lattier.
I have published criticizing Taylor for her vote to confirm Lattier as city attorney and her vote of a 13% pay raise for Lattier without either disclosing her relationship with him or, better yet, recusing herself from the votes.
Most informed politicos point to Taylor as the primary player in this action, which clearly violated the constitutional guarantee of free press.
To top off the irony, I contributed $500 to Taylor’s campaign fund when she ran in 2021 for the balance of former councilman Willie Bradford’s term.
Hmmmm … the mystery remains.