Wednesday, April 13, 2022

A lot of folks have spoken recently about what a great job Chris Tidwell has done as Sabine Parish Tax Assessor.  He is a fine young man who has taken his job to heart and is working as hard as he can to improve the operation of the Assessor’s office.  Because of all the support we are finding for him, we asked him to prepare a statement about his first months in office.  His report follows in full:

Being a First Time Assessor

Chris Tidwell

In 2020 Mrs. Cindy Manasco announced that she intended to take an early retirement from her position as Sabine Parish Assessor. This resulted in my taking of office on July 1, 2020. Like most of the country during this time, our office was already experiencing delays and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the closing of most public offices, ours included. In addition, Hurricane Laura hit in August of 2020 also affecting our parish.

After taking office, the staff and I worked tirelessly to complete the yearly requirement of submitting the tax roll, which allows for the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office to then mail out tax bills. Additional setbacks to this goal were put into place by an election to vote on a millage for North Sabine Fire District in November of 2020. The culmination of all of these challenges resulted in a delay of the release of tax bills, which were sent out after December 1, 2020.

Once my actual elected term began on January 1, 2021, I made a point to discuss with previous and currently serving assessors, both locally and across the state, to ask their advice on successfully fulfilling this position. The responses I received most all echoed the same point, which was to worry about “you” from day one going forward. I have taken this to mean that above all else, my top priority should be the Sabine Parish Assessor’s Office moving forward, not looking at the past. Over the course of this year, this is what myself and our office have attempted to do. Since taking office, over 2800 transactions have been processed and we are working diligently to discover, list, and accurately assess properties in our parish. In the event that a mistake occurs, our office will immediately begin the process of addressing the issue.

I have come to view this office as a ship. When the direction of a ship needs to change, a hard and fast right turn is not the way to go. Instead, a gradual and steady turn to the right is the best way to achieve the desired results. One of hardest parts of becoming Assessor has been learning and adapting to the use of the proper terminology. This includes [knowing] when, as well as what, words to use to best describe a situation. As a taxpayer, I always looked at the tax dollars, but now I have learned to deal with values. Every day, I find that I learn new things. I hope that this will continue to be the case throughout the remainder of my elected time in office.

I took it upon myself to set goals for my office for the duration of my elected appointment. I would like to share these goals with the public in an effort to be transparent. They include:

Goal number 1 – For our office to complete the tax roll earlier in the year which would then allow the Sherriff’s Office to mail out tax bills at an earlier date. It was our intention for taxpayers to receive their tax bills 6-8 weeks before the usual December 31 due date, thereby allowing adequate time for payment of bills.

Goal number 2 (which was accomplished during the 2021 tax year) – To complete a commercial reassessment. Although this was originally planned to be completed in 2020, due to the ongoing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this was simply not a feasible accomplishment during that time frame.

Goal number 3 – To stay current with the GIS mapping that is used by our office as we move forward. I have come to notice that there are occasions where the available mapping is delayed and/or incorrect. As these inconsistencies are discovered, our office works to correct the error.

Goal number 4 – To have the parish flown again in 2024 in an effort to keep all arial maps that are used by this office as up to date as possible.

It is my belief that our office is on track to complete all of the goals that I have set. However, I am always glad to hear of any suggestions as to how we can work to improve our office. Please feel free to contact me directly with any such suggestions.

Additionally, to give an update regarding the quadrennial reassessment, the next reassessment will be completed in the year of 2024.

In closing, I would like to remind taxpayers that I run a transparent administration and enforce an open-door policy. I encourage any citizen with questions or concerns to contact me directly. I can be reached at the office at (318) 256-3482, or by stopping in to see me in person. I am ready and willing to serve you and will do whatever I can to help you to understand our process of valuing property. I have enjoyed being able to serve the people of our parish as your assessor and I look forward to assisting you in the future.

On February 22, Joe Amos McFerren of Provencal celebrated his 80th birthday.  Folks who know call him “Joe Baby.”  Most of the time he answers, but age has taken its toll and sometimes he doesn’t hear.  His mother, Dezzie, called him that many years ago when he was just a boy and the name stuck.  Joe is the son of the late R. L. “Rob” and Dezzie McFerren who lived in the Bethany Community near Marthaville.

Joe has lived a very full and interesting life thus far, and it occurred to me one day as I recalled several of Joe’s near-fatal experiences, that he is much like a cat with nine lives.

It was Saturday morning, June 7, 1980, over 40 years ago now.  I had spent the night with my parents in Marthaville.  We were listening to KWKH radio early that morning when the announcement came over the broadcast that Joe Amos McFerren of Marthaville was in critical condition after a head-on collision the previous night on Hwy. 1 north of Armistead.  We were all shocked.

Joe has always been a very patriotic guy.  One time when he didn’t have anything else to do, he joined the National Guard. That was Joe.  When the accident happened, he was at Ft. Polk for his required two weeks of summer training.  Somehow on Friday afternoon he got a weekend pass and was headed for a good time on the Bossier Strip.  Back then, the Bossier strip was filled with bars, saloons, clubs and girls.  It was already dark when he left Ft. Polk.  Close to Armistead he started to pass a slow-moving vehicle and crashed head-on into another car.

He was rushed to Shreveport.  He wasn’t doing well.  Joe later recalled that he “died three times on the operating table.”  When he got able, Joe was transferred to Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio where he stayed for months.  He finally returned to Marthaville, with a bad limp in his left leg, but thankful to be alive.

Another time, when Joe lived on Rosebud St. in Natchitoches, he had a small Honda Rebel Motorcycle which he rode to work each morning.  This particular morning, a woman was backing out of her driveway and ran over him.  He said he went under her car.  The woman got out to look, and he told her to drive the car off him.  She obliged but ran over his leg in doing so.  The cat with nine lives got lucky again. The leg didn’t break.

As a side story:  Before he got the Honda Rebel, he had a three-wheel pedal bicycle.  He lived in west Natchitoches and each morning he would ride his three-wheeled bike across the Front St. bridge and go down Williams Ave. to go to where he worked.  He always rode in the traffic lane, rather than on side of the highway.  Traffic would be backed up for blocks.  Every morning, the Natchitoches Police would have to go find Joe to untangle the traffic jam.  They always knew what the problem was.  They would tell him, “Get off the road and let the traffic go by!”  Joe always did, but the next morning he’d be right back in the traffic lane with his bike.

On Oct. 14, 1974, when Joe was 32 years old, he was working for Junior Hayes at Marthaville raking hay.  The tractor turned over on him and he suffered head and chest injuries.  Chief Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Deputy at the time was Herman Bridges, a native of Sabine Parish, said Joe was taken to Confederate Memorial Medical Center in Shreveport.  Once again, he survived.

Another time, Joe was riding his horse, “Ole Maude,” on Hwy. 1221 near the entrance to Rebel Park.   He said Terry Gene Hendricks was driving too fast and ran his car into the horse killing it.  Joe was thrown off the horse and survived.  He reported he wasn’t hurt “too bad,” but he sure hated to lose his horse.

And he had another accident on his motorcycle.  He was sitting at a stop sign one time in Robeline and a car came from behind and hit him.  He was thrown off to the side of the road but was not injured terribly. The motorcycle was another story. It was a wreck.

For some reason he was riding on the hood of a truck in Mansfield once.  At this point in time, Joe can’t recall why he was up there.  But he does remember falling off as the truck went down the road.  Again, the Lord was not ready for him.  He was not hurt badly and again kept on keeping on, but he didn’t ride on any more hoods from then on.

Joe used to go to the wrestling matches held at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium each Monday night.  He would catch a Trailways Bus in Natchitoches, ride to Shreveport, watch the matches and then catch the bus back to Natchitoches.  On this night, after the wrestling event, he was walking up the street near the Municipal on his way back to the bus station.  A thug stepped out from between two buildings on Milam St., pointed a pistol at Joe’s head and forced him into the alley.  The guy demanded all his money, which Joe gladly gave up in exchange for his life.  Good thing he had already purchased his bus ticket back home. Another close call that could have turned deadly.

And only recently, Joe was leaving Bethany Community near Marthaville one night headed for his home in Provencal.  When he got to Hwy. 120, instead of turning left toward home, he turned right and ended up in Zwolle.  When he got to Hwy. 171, he was confused and did not realize it was a four-lane.  Rather than driving across to the median and then turning left, he turned left onto the first road he saw, which was the wrong way. It put him directly in the path of two lanes of oncoming traffic.  The Good Lord was with him again. It could have ended disastrously, but luckily, he had only a little fender-bender with an oncoming vehicle.  He wasn’t hurt much, but his truck was – somewhat.

And he just keeps on keeping on.  This past Feb. 12 we were at my place out in the country near Marthaville.  We have a big 5′ to 6’ round fire pit, it was cold out, and we sat around the fire all day.  For some reason that day, Joe drove into the yard and ended up parking his truck on the far side of the fire pit, several feet away but facing the pit. When it came time to go, we said our goodbyes and the rest of us went inside the house thinking Joe had driven off.  I walked outside a short while later and heard something pop at the fire pit.  I looked and Joe had driven his truck right into it.  In an unbelievable stroke of good fortune, not thirty minutes before, we had rearranged the burning wood in the pit so that by the time Joe drove into the fire pit, most of the flaming fire was on the opposite side of the pit from where his front right tire and the front passenger side of his truck now rested.  Joe was just sitting there with his head down as if he was asleep.  My nephew, Caddo Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Jennings, was there with us and I called him to come help. He got Joe out of the truck, then drove Joe’s truck out of the pit to safety.  Joe survived another one.

And as a strange preamble to a life of near death experiences, when Joe was just a young lad, he fell off his Daddy’s mule.  That was only the beginning, and he hasn’t stopped yet.

So, you can easily see why we call him “The Cat With Nine Lives, Plus One.”

Today, he lives the part of a 80-year-old man, but he still tries.  Sometimes he can hardly walk because of the pain from past injuries.  But he keeps trying.  His hearing is fading fast, but he keeps trying.  He’s always had a good heart.  And he still does.

One of our very own was honored recently by KTAL Channel 6 out of Shreveport. Our longtime friend Louise Thaxton was featured in the TV station’s “Remarkable Women of the Arklatex” series during March, International Women’s Month. This month is set aside to honor the influence that women have had on public policy, social progress and the quality of life.  

“Louise Thaxton [of Florien, LA] is a remarkable woman for many reasons,” KTAL shared in their highlight. “She co-founded a nonprofit called the American Warrior Initiative which assists military and first responders with their needs.”

Louise is not only a co-founder, but also the CEO and Director of the American Warrior Initiative (AWI), a nonprofit initiative of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation.  The mission of AWI is to bridge the military-civilian divide by inspiring and educating Americans to give back to United States service members and their families.

She has been in the mortgage business for 25 years, 21 of those years with Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, as a producing regional manager, with offices across Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Colorado. 

Louise is also the founder of the “Military Mortgage Specialist” division within Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, one of the largest mortgage banks in the nation.  This designation was created to train and equip loan professionals within Fairway to handle with excellence the mortgage loan needs of active duty and former military clients.  Thousands of mortgage professionals have been attended her boot camps over the past 9 years to receive this designation, and she is trainer of the National Director of this division.

Louise was named one of the Top Women Originators in America by Scotsman Guide, has been included in the top 100 Minority Mortgage Bankers of America (NAMMBA) and was named by National Mortgage Professional Magazine as one of the “Best Military Lenders and Originators.”  Louise has been a national speaker and business coach for over 10 years, teaching mental toughness to thousands of sales professionals across the country.  

She is author and instructor of the course for real estate agents, the “American Warrior Real Estate Professional.”  This course has been approved and taught as continuing education courses for real estate agents in 34 states, and over 30,000 real estate agents have attended these Boot Camps to receive this certification.   She is also the author and instructor of the course “Military Financial Professional,” a course offered to financial professionals, including financial planners and insurance agents.

Louise continues to demonstrate high-integrity leadership in the mortgage industry and champions the commitment to the highest of standards in her industry, with special emphasis on assisting our military.

Congratulations to Louise Thaxton on a full and meaningful career, and on her recent recognition from KTAL. She is truly a “remarkable woman,” and we are awfully proud of her good work and to call her our friend.

Sabine Parish Sheriff Aaron Mitchell announces the arrest of two individuals on April 7, 2022, Jose Valdez of 1437 Kane St., Zwolle, and Larry Collier of 510 Nicole St., Many.

This investigation began in September 2021 by Sabine Parish Tactical Narcotics Team.  As a result of the investigation, both Valdez and Collier were arrested on three counts of Distribution of Methamphetamines. The FBI also obtained federal search warrants for both addresses.  Officers executed the search warrants in the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 7.  Illegal narcotics along with firearms and ammunition were also located.  Sheriff Aaron Mitchell as well as Chief Deputy Brad Walker assisted in the execution of the search warrants, and they thank all deputies, FBI, Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Office, Many PD, and Zwolle PD for their efforts in assisting in the investigation.

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