HAD ENOUGH OF THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN? JAY BATT HAS

Jay Batt’s political opponents are counting on one thing: You wanting to throw out all current officeholders because of Katrina. And they won’t let something like the truth get in the way of their desperation to win at any cost.

These are the facts behind the attacks:

SHELLEY MIDURA

Shelly Midura passes herself off as a simple citizen reformer. But in fact she’s fronting for and funded by for the wealthy lawyers who’ve attacked Jay with a website full of deceit. See her campaign finance report FOR THE TRUTH.

She attacks Jay Batt in an expensive mailpiece saying Jay took flights on an Entergy jet, and that Entergy contributes thousands of dollars to his campaign.

THE TRUTH:

1. JAY BATT PAID HIS OWN WAY, AND HAD TO PAY FIRST CLASS FARE, to get on the plane in the days after Katrina when the airport was barely functional and commercial flights were virtually nonexistent, in order to stand up for his constituents in Congress and lobby FOR the Baker Bill and FOR stronger levees. And this was while Shelley Midura was still away from New Orleans in Virginia. FOR THE TRUTH, YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT JAY BATT PAID HIS OWN WAY AND FOUGHT FOR YOU.

2. JAY BATT HASN’T TAKEN A DIME FROM ENTERGY.

3. If Jay hadn’t fought for the same kind of assistance from the Federal Government for Entergy that they supplied to New York City and ConED after 9/11, the citizens of District A could be faced with no infrastructure rebuilding on the power grids for the district, as well as rate increases of up to 300%! Jay’s fighting to keep your utility bills LOWER.

You see, the only thing missing from the Midura mailpiece is THE TRUTH.

NOBODY’S PAL

Sal has a cute negative ad running, attacking Jay for missing a large community meeting, Back to the Breach, after the storm. This former car-booter turned political opportunist fails to mention THE TRUTH:

*That JAY WAS ON THE GOUND HELPING CITIZENS GETTING BACK INTO DISTRICT A for weeks after the storm, getting them through the barricades and bringing them safely in from all over the south. ON RE-ENTRY DAY, JAY PERSONALY HANDED OUT OVER 10,000 BOTTLES OF DRINKING WATER TO RETURNING CITIZENS.

*That Jay missed that one meeting because he, like many of you, lost his home in Katrina. He went to Houston to help his wife and children set up in temporary quarters in Houston ONLY AFTER ATTENDING TO HIS DUTY TO THE CITIZENS OF DISTRICT A. JAY HADN’T SEEN HIS WIFE OR DAUGHTERS FOR OVER A MONTH BECAUSE HE WAS ON THE JOB, SERVING THE FAMILIES OF HIS DISTRICT. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE TWO CITIZENS WHO PULLED TOGETHER THE BACK TO THE BREACH EVENT ARE BOTH SUPPORTING JAY BATT FOR RE-ELECTION! The meeting was unfortunately scheduled after Jay could alter his family travel plans.

THE CITIZENS OF LAKEVIEW KNOW THAT JAY’S BEEN FIGHTING FOR THEM. They've seen Jay at every Lakeview Civic Improvement Association Meeting, giving him their input and hearing his reports on the status of rebuilding and recovery efforts. THAT’S WHY JAY HAS THE SUPPORT AND ENDORSEMENT OF NEARLY EVERY PAST AND PRESENT LEADER OF THE LAKEVIEW CIVIC IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION. They know Jay’s been fighting for us.

THAT’S THE TRUTH.

And if you’ve seen Sal’s oversized signs, one thing’s very clear: Sal loves Sal.

ANY BODY BUT BATT JUST WON’T DO

Wealthy trial lawyers are behind the smear assault, and they don’t care about you or the truth.

* They’re mad because Jay took the advice of the City Planning Commission and supported the 111 Iberville Hotel project in the French Quarter. But the smear machine omits something kind of important, like THE TRUTH:

* Did you know that, before the hotel project that will create new jobs and a serve as a new tax source for the city, the site in question was zoned in such a way that anyone could have bought that property and put A FACTORY OR A SEWERAGE TREATMENT PLANT on that very same space WITHOUT THE COUNCIL BEING ABLE TO STOP IT??? That’s because the space was zoned as industrial use, not as French Quarter residential. You probably didn’t know that, because that would involve telling THE WHOLE TRUTH.

* They’re mad because they didn’t get their way about renovations to Bruno’s, an uptown restaurant and bar. THE TRUTH IS THIS:

While the neighborhood institution and the surrounding neighborhood groups’ leaders reached a compromise on the issue that received City Planning Commission approval, Jay’s opponents wanted it their way or no way, and the smear campaign began.

THE TRUTH IS THAT JAY HAS ALWAYS VOTED TO SUPPORT THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION ON ALL MAJOR LAND USE ISSUES. ALL OF THEM. THE TRUTH IS JAY BATT TOOK POLITICS OUT OF THE PROCESS, AND HIS OPPONENTS WANT TO PUT IT BACK IN.

FYI: THE GROUP SPONSORING THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST JAY IS LISTED IN THE STATE ETHICS BOARD PAC SECTION. THEIR FINANCE REPORT SHOWS THAT THIS IS ALL THE WORK OF, AND FUNDED BY, 5 DISGRUNTLED PEOPLE, 3 OF THEM TRIAL LAWYERS.

This is no grassroots movement. This is political smear, paid for by some rich guys, and at the expense of the facts and your future.

Is that really what you want? More politically connected lawyers in backrooms deciding what they’re going to do to you next? WE DIDN’T THINK SO.

Or do you want a businessman who’s still committed to rebuilding yours and his community, creating jobs and helping business instead of raising your personal taxes and utility bills?

THEY’VE GOT LOTS OF MONEY, THEY’RE LOUD, AND THEY’RE DESPERATE. DON’T BUY THE GARBAGE THEY’RE SELLING.

JAY BATT IS A GOOD MAN, DOING A GREAT JOB IN A REMARKABLE SITUATION. HE’S BEEN STANDING UP FOR YOU ALL ALONG. AND HE WILL CONTINUE TO WHEN YOU RE-ELECT HIM ON APRIL 22.

FOR THE TRUTH, DON’T BELIEVE THE PAID POLITICAL SLEAZE, VISIT WWW.JAYBATT.COM .