INDIVIDUAL LICENSEE ISSUES:

 New Orleans Auction Galleries (NOAG)
Pre-Bankruptcy of April 1, 2011

March 19, 2012:

 
LALB Meeting:  3/19/12
LALB Attorney Anna Dow drafted this stipulation agreement for Jean Vidos; however, the LALB immediately rejects it out-of-hand
and proposes Ms. Vidos be called in for a hearing at a future date.

 0:20 - 1:03 Anna Dow goes on record as stating NOAG wrote NSF checks on its consignor escrow account and that
consignors were not paid timely.

1:03 - 1:09 Dow states "a number of complaints were filed with the office and all those were taken care of as I understand."
Wonder if Massoud Pouratian, who bid $114,000 on paintings which left NOAG with Christie's rejection stickers on them would concur?
Wonder if Danny Pun, who bid $85,000 on a fake Chicken Blood Stone on the LAST auction NOAG conducted before filing bankruptcy (Jan. 2011) would concur?
Just asking!!!

2:40 - 3:17 LAPA Vice President Robert Burns voices pleasure with the fact that the items he brought up at the November 15, 2011 discussion of NOAG
are finally going to be addressed via a future hearing entailing NOAG officials and Jean Vidos.

 3:18 - 3:24 Anna Dow brushes off the Pouratian and Pun complaints referenced above as merely "purchasers who didn't understand what they were buying."
That's sure ONE way to categorize it all right!!!!!  How's that for a soft pedal?

3:38 - 7:32 Former LALB Executive Director Sherrie Wilks, LAPA President Rev. Freddie Phillips, and Board Member Darlene Jacobs all express bafflement
at how Jean Vidos license has been declared null (Dow later relayed, after conferring with Greg Bordelon, they made the decision to DENY Vidos' 2012 renewal)
and yet NOAG can be operating with no auctioneer held accountable.

O. K.  The above audio file is quite interesting and revealing; however, there's nothing like a video file!!!!  Why can't LAPA provide a video file?  Simple.  At the outset of the meeting, Tessa Steinkamp, LALB Chairman, and who served as Vice President, Director, and Treasurer of NOAG up until 11 days before bankruptcy, in coordination with all LALB Members (with the exception of Hal McMillin) ordered a video blackout by denying the mere use of an electrical outlet as depicted below: 

 
LALB Chairman Tessa Steinkamp and crew mandate
 VIDEO BLACKOUT at 3/19/12 LALB Meeting 

O. K.  Does the above video depict a regulatory body interested in transparency and openness, or what???????

September 17, 2012:

LALB Meeting:  9/17/12
LALB Attorney Anna Dow:  "Ms. Vidos is not sure she wants a hearing." 

O. K.  The first audio link above indicates a clear intent on the part of the LALB to schedule a hearing to investigate all of the problems of NOAG and those responsible for it and/or covering it up, right?  Did they?  Of course not!!  Instead, all the LALB opted to focus on was THIS HEARING entailing LAPA Vice President Robert Burns for exposing so many of the problems of NOAG and forcing the LALB as a body to at least acknowledge them!!!!!