A STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE!!
Statements of Recollections of
Restrictions on the License of Ken Buhler at the
March
26, 2013 Hearing of LALB v. Ken Buhler / Estate Auction Services vs.
the Actual Statements Made at the September 20, 2010 LALB
Meeting for That
License Reinstatement
First Let's Examine a Collection of
Video Clips (totaling less than 5 minutes in length)
of the Discussions of the Restrictions
Which Took
Place at the March 26, 2013 Hearing. That video follows:
0:00 - 3:40
- LALB Attorney Anna Dow makes it clear she feels Ken Buhler was "permitted to
CALL auctions ONLY."
3:40 - 4:10 - Board
Member Greg Bordelon states his recollection (which matches Ms. Dow) that "ONLY
the
CALLING of auctions was permitted."
4:20 - 4:52
- Ken Buhler states he was "never advised I can't communicate with consignors
and, quite frankly,
I think that's unrealistic. I couldn't
operate....."
O. K. Now one
of the biggest benefits of the LAPA video archive is that we can actually go
"back in time" and examine just
what all was said at the September
20, 2010
LALB meeting. Let's take a look and also call into question some
other
representations made by Ken Buhler at that particular meeting, shall we
(video is in 3 parts because,
back then, YouTube had a 15-minute maximum)?
10:10 - 10:35
- Ken Buhler HIMSELF admits he'll be a "contract auctioneer ONLY" and stresses,
"I will not
under any circumstances
be accepting money, consignment, or
anything else."
11:46 - 11:50 - Mac Buhler readily states, "I will run the business and I
will accept the consignments."
12:42 - 12:46
- LALB Executive Assistant Sandy Edmonds: "Ken would simply be a CONTRACT
auctioneer."
1:05 - 1:16
- Ken Buhler: "In the five years I've been through hell and back, I
did not file bankruptcy. I did not shed
one
single debt."
[Note: At the 4:04
mark of the first video above, Mr. Buhler also
said, "I did not file bankruptcy. It's against my beliefs...."
Reality?: CLICK HERE
for Mr. Buhler's Bankruptcy Filing!
.3:30 - 3:42
- Ken Buhler (after having subtly been corrected by LALB attorney Anna Dow
regarding his bankruptcy):
"I withdrew my
bankruptcy."
Reality?: Far from "voluntarily dismissing" his
bankruptcy, 120 days after filing:
Buhler
Initiates Adversarial Proceedings Against His Largest Creditor, State Bank.
Only a month later,
Judge Dodd grants a Motion by State Bank to
Dismiss Buhler's Adversarial Proceeding
12:30 - 13:20 -
Despite hearing that Ken Buhler filed bankruptcy, LALB Member
Greg Bordelon
nevertheless commends him for NOT filing bankruptcy and says a farmer he knew
also didn't file bankruptcy
and paid back all of his creditors so, "it's in
that spirit that I recommend we reinstate Mr. Buhler's license."
13:20 - 13:40 - Then-LALB Chairman Ken Comer,
along with Member Greg Bordelon, make
it clear Ken Buhler is being
approved as a "CONTRACT auctioneer ONLY."
0:40 - 1:55 -
Ken Buhler responds to concerns of LAPA President Rev. Freddie Phillips who, in
turn, expresses his
belief that more constraints need to be included in any
reinstatement of the auction license of Ken Buhler.
LAPA President Rev.
Freddie Lee Phillips would also direct everyone's attention to the following
"stroll down memory lane."
Rev. Phillips:
"I
sent
certified letters to my fellow Board Members outlining many of Mr. Buhler's
past problems.
Ms. Linda Williams spoke to the Board, and she relayed her
experience near the end of her 91-year-old mother's life.
Here is the audio of Ms. Williams'
statements regarding her experience with Ken Buhler. Note that, at the
7:12 mark of the audio,
Ms. Williams says, 'If you do give him his license back, each one of you is to
blame if, several years from now, the same thing occurs.'
Also, this
Advocate article was published outlining my strong opposition to Mr.
Buhler's license being reinstated (and was based on
the certified letters at the link above). I was the sole dissenting vote
regarding reinstating Mr. Buhler's license.
I would also point out that,
at the January 23, 2012 LALB meeting, the LALB went into Executive Session to consider Buhler's 2012 renewal.
Once the LALB exited Executive Session, the vote was 4-2 in favor of renewing his 2012
license, so there must have been some reservation about him holding a license at the outset of 2012
[now revealed to be "sloppiness" (Anna Dow 3/26/13 hearing quotation) at
a prior hotel auction]."