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Executive board members serving the Louisiana Association of Extension 4-H Agents for 2018-19 are reporter Lanette Hebert, southwest region 4-H coordinator; vice president Adriana Drusini of St. Mary Parish; secretary Hannah Devall of St. Martin Parish; past-president Esther Boe, central region 4-H coordinator; president-elect Jeannie Crnkovic of Bossier Parish; and president Kimberly Jones, state 4-H youth development instructor.

Current Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser has brought up an interesting idea. Have the governor and the lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket. Such a system exists in a majority of states across the nation.
As Nungesser states: “The ticket idea seems to work well in other states. We ought to consider it. The only way I can do the best job I can do is to have a good working relationship with the governor.”
Under the present Louisiana constitution, the lieutenant governor has no assigned duties. The person holding the office is at the beck and call of the governor.
When I served as secretary of state back in the 1980s, I would often make fun of my friend, Lt. Gov. Bobby Freeman. If he were in attendance at a gathering, I would tell the crowd that I knew what the lieutenant governor did all day. “As best I can figure, the lieutenant governor gets up in the morning to see if per chance the governor died the night before. If not, he’s free go fishing, play bouree, or do whatever he wants.”
Freeman would always feign laughter, but the point was made. The job has no constitutional responsibilities. The Legislature has put the lieutenant governor in charge of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, but do we really need to elect a bureaucrat to see that the trash is picked up in state parks and museum pictures are dusted off?
Seven states across the country do not even have a lieutenant governor, and Tennessee and West Virginia just gave the title to the president of the state Senate.
In 25 states, the governor and the lieutenant governor run as a team on the same ticket, similar to how national elections for president and vice president are selected. In fact, only 17 states have entirely separate elections for governor and lieutenant governor. In seven states, they don’t even have a lieutenant governor.
Nungesser’s suggestion of having the two offices run as a ticket actually makes pretty good sense. The governor would then have a lieutenant governor of his or her selection, and would be able to assign duties to a colleague well trusted to work together as a team effort.
Quite frankly, several other statewide offices could also be appointed by the governor as is done in a number of states.
I held two such offices that could well go on the chopping block. The secretary of state is an appointed position in 12 states and three more don’t even have the office that some refer to as a “high end or glorified clerk of court.” The Louisiana Constitution requires that the secretary of state be the keeper of the “Great Seal of Louisiana.” I was Louisiana’s secretary of state in the 1980s. I looked for the seal during my entire eight years in office, but never could find it.
And how about the office of Louisiana insurance commissioner? Would you believe there are only 11 insurance commissioners elected in the entire country?
Commissioners spend a good part of their time raising campaign dollars from the very people they are supposed to regulate. Is this the best way to assure policyholders of reasonable insurance rates? Of course not.
I also held this elected office, and it could and should go on the chopping block.
Then there is the agriculture commissioner. Twelve states select, while 38 states appoint. It must make Louisianians more at ease to know that some politician is checking up on the veggies and milk that is consumed.
There’s a move by a number of education groups to elect the superintendent of education. Oh great! Let’s put a politician in charge to screw up the education of our kids even more. Why not just elect ‘em all right down to dogcatchers and trash haulers, right?
In a time of major fiscal crisis caused by inept political oversight, does Louisiana need to elect more positions than any other state in the nation? Some consolidation would seem to make good sense for a state on the verge of going broke. The lieutenant governor is on the right track.
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all of his columns at www.jimbrownusa.com.

The Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition will move its annual event to New Orleans next year after 65 years in Lafayette.
Officials cited the potential for growth and increased participation for moving LAGCOE 2019 to the Ernest Morial Convention Center next October, rather than holding it in the Cajundome. The biennial oil industry expo has been a mainstay in Lafayette, dating back to 1953 when it was held in a parking lot of the Petroleum Club.
The expo is a three-day gathering that provides a platform for innovators in the oil and gas industry to showcase technology, equipment and services to local businesses. At its peak, it featured representatives from 49 states, 40 countries and 17,000 attendees.
“The decision to host LAGCOE 2019 in New Orleans is rooted in our mission to cultivate economic growth in the energy industry by facilitating domestic and global business development,” LAGCOE board Chairman Greg Stutes said in a statement. “A significantly larger venue will accommodate more exhibitors and an even larger attendee base. This promotes growth, diversity, and develops even more connections among Louisiana’s energy industry.”
LAGCOE officials said they remain committed to Lafayette and will retain its offices and staff in the city. It will continue to develop innovative programs for its members and offer scholarships to high school students.
Cajundome diretor Greg Davis said he heard the organization was considering the move but “didn’t know it had gotten to this point until earlier today.”
“We have been very fortunate to have had LAGCOE for 20-plus years at the Cajundome,” Davis said. “We’ve been very, very appreciative of the partnership we’ve had with LAGCOE. It was a great impact on the Cajundome and the greater community of Lafayette. It will create a void, but we will have to revisit our financials and have other businesses replace it.”
The Lafayette community, LAGCOE officials said, embraced the event as leaders volunteered time and talent to build it into the second-largest oil and gas tradeshow in the country. It later moved to Blackham Coliseum, the Cajundome and later the Cajundome and Convention Center.
“This achievement would have not have been possible without significant community support,” the statement read.
“I wish them all the luck in the world and will do our best to hold their dates in 2021,” said Pam Deville, assistant director for the Cajundome. “I still believe, despite what they’re saying, Lafayette is a major player in this industry.”

Familiar foes face off when Morgan City takes the short ride to Geisler Stadium to tangle with Berwick in the season opener for both teams on Aug. 31.
Morgan City comes into the game on the strength of a competitive second-half showing in last week’s Taco Bell Jamboree at Tiger Stadium in Morgan City. Despite losing 26-7 to Patterson, Morgan City allowed just one second-half score.
“Offensively, we were able to run the football and move the sticks,” Morgan City Coach Chris Stroud said. “We also made some plays in the passing game so we were able to keep their offense off the field in the second half. But we can’t have the turnovers and missed assignments we had last week. We gave them two easy passing touchdowns and we fumbled two kickoff returns.”
Quarterback Tate Alcina led Morgan City, completing 4-of-7 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown while Deandre Grogan had two catches for 42 yards and Devonta Grogan had two catches for 20 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell Mancuso was the leading rusher with 4 carries for 34 yards.
But it’s the Berwick’s offense that raises concerns for Morgan City coaches.
“We must stop their quarterback Mitchell Sanford and running back Josh Jones,” Stroud said. “They’re both big-play options for their offense. We have to control the clock again with our run game to keep the ball out of their hands, but our biggest key to winning is winning the turnover battle.”
Berwick enters the opener after holding off White Castle 27-24 in the Morgan City Jamboree last week.
“I thought we did a good job in the first half in all three phases,” first-year Berwick Coach Mike Walker said. “White Castle did a good job of making some adjustments in the second half to close the gap. I’m proud of our guys for holding on and winning, but there were a bunch of things to fix.”
Jones led the Panther’s rushing attack with nine carries for 107 yards and a touchdown while Sanford seemed to struggle with his new receivers, completing just 1-of-7 passes for 22 yards and a touchdown.
“Offensively, we have to take care of the football and finish our drives,” Walker said. “There were a lot of teachable moments throughout the entire night last week.
“We had turnovers that could have cost us the game and we worked on that stuff all week. It was good to get the jitters out and I think Friday’s home field game against Morgan City should be electric.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.