Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 9. Source pages: 8.
A release of emails from both the Louisiana State Board of Exam- iners of Psychologists and the Louisiana Psychological Association responding to requests for public records by the Times, points to behind the scenes interactions, some of which contributed to the historical three ballots having to be sent to voters.
In a December 31, 2013 email from Dr. Joe Comaty to Kelly Parker, Executive Director of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP), Comaty wrote about several concerns he had regarding the election.
He first said that he had been given emails circulated about the election, “… that we had discussed earlier,” and noted that the emails “… indicate a concerted effort on the part of this group to run Connie or get behind Robin and to clearly defeat me at all costs.”
The memo seemed to suggest that Comaty believed the emails to come from LPA. However, sources confirm that the emails referred to by Comaty came from Grassroots, a group opposing Act 251 and its consequences.
Comaty wrote to Parker, “Well, I hope that the new year will bring new opportunities to rid LPA of these malicious members.”
In this email to Parker, Comaty expressed a complaint that this group had the names of candidates before others in the voting public, and also his concerns about how the voting would be verified. “How can we be sure that some psychologists would not be encouraged to send in more than one ballot; or that there may be some manipulation of the counts?” he wrote. “Of course, I would be unfairly judging the integrity of my colleagues and making a serious allegation.”
In another email, released by the LSBEP, Ms. Parker forwarded a copy of a letter Comaty wrote to Boards and Commissions Assistant Director Holly Robinson on January 2, 2014. It is not clear how Parker came by a copy of this letter. She forwarded it to LSBEP chair Dr. Rita Culross.
In this letter, Comaty listed his concerns, beginning with, “One of the candidates currently running has a direct conflict of interest,” he wrote to Robinson.
He also noted his complaints that some LPA members had knowledge of the candidates before others did, and that some psychologists had enlisted the help of counselors to support one candidate over another, and that he had a concern that there was a lack of security measures for the ballots and the counting of the ballots.
In other emails released to the Times for both LSBEP and LPA, there were numerous back and forth discussions with Comaty about ways to resolve or answer his concerns, or explanations about why not. “We understand your concerns and will continue to try and resolve them,” wrote Dr. Bryan Gros, and explained that the group would reissue ballots and this time number and color them.
There was also an exchange regarding Dr. Conni Patterson’s consulting work for the board, where LPA president John Fanning said that Patterson had met all the qualifications.
In another topic, Comaty complained about a LPA listserve comment criticizing him while he previously served on the board. The emails discussed a solution for Comaty to, along with the other candidates, write a statement which LPA officials would send to members. (Comaty is not a member of LPA.)
Both the state psychology board and the state psychological association responded to a Times request for public records, after some delays by both. Louisiana Psychological Association President Dr. John Fanning contacted the Times and explained that the attorney had changed her initial opinion, and now felt that the emails did in fact fall under public records laws.
The attorney for the psychology board wrote the Times that the request was “unusually expansive” and the board could refuse it on those grounds, but they did not. The Times analyzed the first release of emails and asked that gaps be reviewed, and the board sent several more emails.
The Times did not receive any emails involving the two other candidates contacting either LSBEP or LPA.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.