Article archive / August 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 12. Source pages: 1, 3.
Rumors Flying In Delayed LSBEP Appointment LPA Asks Members to Support “Democratic Process”
In the hotly contested election and politics surrounding the Governor’s appointment for a five-year position to the Louisiana Board of Examiners of Psychologists, rumors have been flying.
Last week, rumors circulated that the Governor was intending to appoint Dr. Joe Comaty, due to “pressure from the Department of Health and Hospitals.”
Previously a rumor had spread in the community that Governor Jindal was leaning toward appointing Dr. Constance Patterson. This followed a string of letters to Boards and Commissions from supporters of Patterson, including one from the President of Tulane.
The Times has made multiple requests to speak with Director Dirmann in the Governor’s office, about these rumors, but without success. And the time for the appointment, July 1, has passed.
In response to this latest rumor––that Jindal is now planning to appoint Dr. Comaty––the Louisiana Psychological Association Executive Council sent an email asking its members to consider contacting Boards and Commissions Director Barker Dirmann to support Patterson and the democratic process.
The LPA Council noted, “The election was not close. Dr. Constance Patterson won by a wide margin.” The Council said the association’s policy is to support the appointment of the candidate receiving the most votes, and asked members to contact Dirmann and “… support your profession and the democratic process.”
The Council also pointed out that top-vote getters have not always been appointed, alluding to the situation that the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP) has been dominated by medical psychologists since Act 251. While medical psychologists (MPs) have held a majority of seats on the board, MPs make up only about 5 percent of psychology board licenses. This dominance of the LSBEP is presumed by most to be due to the influence of the politically active Louisiana Academy of Medical Psychology (LAMP).
A number of decisions coming from the MP dominated board have supported the interests of LAMP. This includes a 2011 Opinion when the board, under then Chair Dr. Comaty, made a decision that MPs without a state psychology license would still be eligible to supervise candidates for a state psychology license.
Throughout the extended election for the current board position, the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) and Dr. Patterson have been the focus of complaints by Comaty, who is vying for his second term on the LSBEP.
One set of complaints had to do with ballot security and the process of vote counting. LPA, who conducts the election, sent out a second round of ballots after Comaty complained about the use of plain white paper in the election, with the suggestion of potential vote tampering. Then a third ballot was sent to psychologists after another complaint that an explanation was missing from some of the voting packages.
Additional complaints about the third effort were raised, this time about some number of envelopes being accidently opened by the LPA Executive Director. The LSBEP also sent a warning to LPA that the third vote could be in doubt.
In a records release request, the Times found that Comaty has sent over 29 pages of emails to Boards and Commissions with various complaints, including his concerns about ballot security. He was also in contact with the LSBEP Executive Director about his concerns.
The LPA Council noted, in their most recent email to members, said to, “Be aware that the Governor’s office has been bombarded with patently false insinuations of election rigging on the part of LPA. This innuendo is completely untrue, but we’ve heard it throughout this entire process.”
Another of Dr. Comaty’s complaints was that Patterson had a “direct conflict of interest.” This complaint was taken up by the LSBEP and put before the state Ethics Board in June. The Ethics Board found nothing relevant in their laws regarding Patterson’s previous consulting work to the board. She had helped on certain investigations. The LSBEP also asked about Patterson recusing herself, but the Ethics Board dismissed it as a problem all boards encounter.
In a recent presentation to LPA members, LSBEP Chair Dr. Rita Culross indicated that problems would occur if a board member had to recuse themselves. Past board chair, Dr. Tom Hannie, questioned this reasoning at a recent psychology board meeting but the board declined to explain, citing attorney-client privilege.
See related stories in the May, June, and July issues of the Times.
After news articles in the July Times and an editorial critical of the actions of LSBEP, the Executive Director of the psychology board emailed the Times and unsubscribed, noting that the publication was “junk.”
[Note: The publisher is a licensed psychologist and has publically stated opposition to certain decisions the LSBEP has made regarding Act 251 and also supported Patterson in the recent election.]
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