200 Attend Jindal Town Hall- Governor Says He's Making Progress
by Sandra Barbier - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Gov. Bobby Jindal's town hall meeting Friday in LaPlace might easily have been mistaken for a holiday party.

At least 200 people, including local elected officials and others who said they got word of the meeting Thursday via an automated telephone call, filled a small banquet hall at the Bull's Corner restaurant. There was a cash bar dispensing soft drinks, beer, wine and whiskey, and only about a dozen chairs set out for the standing-room-only crowd.

For Jindal, it was a receptive group, many of whom welcomed the opportunity to have their photograph taken beside him.

Jindal spoke for about 40 minutes and concentrated on the state's progress toward reaching some of his political promises, including ethics reform and job creation. He canceled a question-and-answer session during the event in favor of talking individually and posing for pictures with audience members.

Jindal did not discuss the pending cuts to the state budget, which is expected to fall $341 million short this year and $2 billion short next year in large part because of declining oil and gas severance taxes, and tax cuts and higher spending enacted by the Legislature in recent years.