Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Conrad Cathey, former Sabine Tax Assessor, successful businessman and proponent of seeing that taxpayers’ monies are spent wisely, is asking the Sabine Parish Police Jury to postpone the calling of a property tax to fund the Sabine Parish Library system. He is joined by popular BDC Radio host Tedd W. Dumas. The Jury met May 18 and heard discussion on the proposed Library tax and also the tax for the Health Unit.

On Saturday, Nov. 5, taxpayers voted down the Library tax of 5.05 mills that would have run 10 years. In addition, the voters turned thumbs down on a Health Unit Tax of 1 mill for 10 years and a 13.88 mill tax for Road District No. 4, Ward 7. The Jury will vote on whether to put the propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot again at its June 15 meeting. Last go around, Cathey put together a coalition of businessmen to help him inform the public about the tax renewals.

At a meeting on Jan. 20, the Library Board discussed the failure of the renewal and voted to request the Police Jury to put the proposition on November’s ballot. 

According to the minutes: “A number of strategies for increasing awareness of the nature of the tax and the fact that it is a renewal of the Library’s operating budget were discussed. It was decided that the Director will explore the possibility of reopening the Pleasant Hill Branch and meet with Library staff to discuss methods and educational materials concerning the history and role of the Library in the community.”

Members of the Board are President Donna Ammons, Librarian Deborah Anderson, Lorene Jones, Diann Migliore, Paula Hardee, Bonnie Miles, Kenneth Ebarb and Sally Maxie.

Cathey attended the May Police Jury meeting and said Mrs. Anderson reported the Library has in excess of $5 million and has hired an architect to design a new library at an estimated cost of $3.5 million. Cathey said the architect is working on a 10 percent contingency. He said Kenneth Ebarb said it would cost about $400,000 to furnish a new Library

Cathey said the Library’s operating budget averages about $660,000 annually and instead of asking taxpayers for 5.05 mills, he thinks it should be reduced to 3 mills.

In the Nov. 5, 2021 election, the Library tax was overwhelming defeated by a vote of 76.37 percent against and only 23.37 percent in favor. The vote was 1,695 against and 517 in favor. Cathey has always contended that he is not against the Library but opposes the 5.05 mills tax because it would bring in more money than the library needs to operate. The Library Board, which operates under the direction of the Police Jury, has saved over $5 million and now proposes to build a new Library. Trouble is Sabine voters turned thumbs down on a tax to build a new library some years back, and the current tax is for operation. 

The Library Board now proposes to provide the public with more information about the functions of the Library. Before the last election, Cathey and Dumas both called upon the Library Board to be on radio programs to talk about the tax renewal, but found no takers.

“Our economy is crashing,” Cathey pointed out. “I am urging the Jury to postpone putting the Library tax on the ballot this year. They’ve got enough surplus to operate several years.”

Cathey contends that no information has been forthcoming about how many people use the Library. “Do we need all the branch Libraries?” he questions, adding, “I think the Library needs to spend some money and hire an unbiased consultant to analyze our needs.” He continued, “Is there enough need to build a new Library?”

He continued, “How many people actually use the Library? They don’t know, and we don’t know. Could we have a joint venture with the Council on Aging and use their buildings across the parish as branch libraries and save money? I question the usage and need of the branches at Pleasant Hill, Converse, Florien, Zwolle and Toledo Town.”

Cathey stated, “The Sabine taxpayers have always been generous. Let’s give them something back. The Library should spend the surplus and then put it back on the ballot. I am going to wage a strong effort to inform the public about this matter. Before the last election, we wrote the Board three or four letters urging them to put out information. Not one time did they respond. We support a Library in a reasonable manner.”

Explaining, Cathey said there are two kinds of taxes, and they are sales taxes and property taxes. “Sales taxes are the fairest because everyone participates directly,” he said. “Property taxes are paid by individuals, and they are passed on to the public by business owners. In the next few months, we may be looking at our economy to crash. We could possibly be looking at hard times. If the economy drops, so will sales taxes, but the property taxes will remain the same. The Library tax is a luxury tax.  We’ve got to have law enforcement and a landfill, and that’s why [those taxes] passed by a 70 percent majority in the recent election.”

Concluding about the Library, he stated, “I urge the Police Jury to postpone the Library tax until we get more information and see what the economy is going to do.”

Cathy said at the May 18 meeting that Dawn Vincent Leone represented the Health Unit and proposed reducing the amount of property tax from 1 mill to .25 mills. The Health Unit has a $2 million surplus and an operating budget of $70,000 annually for maintenance of grounds and building. Last year the tax brought in $279,000.

“Mrs. Leone and the Health Unit are going about it in the right way,” Cathy said.  “They have reduced the millage because they don’t need it.”

Cathy said he would not be opposing the Health Unit Tax nor the Ward 7 Police Jury road tax.

In conclusion, he said, “I am urging the Jury to postpone the Library tax until we get more information, have some real information and see what the economy is going to do.”

NOTE:  There will be those who again say Observations is “against the library” because we have covered this matter at all. Let the record reflect that we are always for libraries and their users and for the wise use of taxpayers’ monies. Let it also be known we will always cover a concerned citizen’s questions about the prudent use of taxpayer funds. The ability to question governmental decisions and vote on the matter is what sets democracy apart from governments who would rather not be questioned.

It was nice to receive a letter recently from former Many resident Hoyt Curtis who is now living in Pineville.  He sent a nice article from The Smithsonian magazine about a small-town newspaper in Colorado that is still printed by the letterpress method. The paper is The Saguache Crescent printed in the 500-resident town of Saguache.

I first met Hoyt when we stayed in the West Caspari dormitory at Northwestern when we were both in college. He came on to Many and was a very successful businessman. Hoyt ran Sabine Life Insurance Co. and worked at Peoples State Bank.

He seems to be doing well and it was good to hear from him. By the way, he is a regular reader of Observations and we appreciate that.

Hats doffed to Crystal Hable, wife of Many Mayor Robert Hable, for the great job she did in the planters along San Antonio Ave. They are lovely. The flowers are blooming, and the vines are growing. It’s a beautiful, great addition to downtown Many. Thanks, First Lady.

It was with sadness that we learned last week of the passing of highly respected Sabine resident Carroll Dean Ellzey. We extend to his wife Helen, his daughter Carla, his son Cody and other members of the family our deepest sympathy.

Early on in his life, he was involved in an accident that took both of his arms. He did not let that deter him, although it must have been a difficult burden to overcome. He persisted and went on to be very successful in his endeavors.

Carroll Dean was a member of the Plainview Baptist Church where he served as a deacon for 27 years. He was an Air Force veteran and served as District Chief, Board Chairman and a volunteer fireman for the South Sabine Fire District. And he served as Sabine Parish Tax Assessor. Just weeks ago, the Fire District honored him with a presentation. It was so good to see him get his flowers while he was living. A post from the Fire District read: “He was a great mentor to so many young firefighters and people all across the parish looked up to him. He will be remembered by the hundreds for his kind words and his leadership roles he held.” After retiring, he enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his five grandchildren, hunting, farming and bird watching.

The Corey Ledet Zydeco Band performed May 14 at the Many Community Center, thanks to a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council. Mayor Robert Hable, shown above at right, and Grant Writer Suzanne Williams, left, spoke about the grant and upcoming events at the theater prior to the performance.

Just after Observations published online last week, we received notice of two nice proclamations made recently by Many Mayor Robert Hable. He presented the proclamations at the Town of Many council meeting held on Tueday, May 17.

One was to proclaim June as Shriners Month in “celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Shriners Children’s Hospital and to offer hope and healing to children and families around the world.” 

The other was to proclaim “May 15-22, 2022, as National Police Week in commemorating police officers, past and present, who by their faithful and loyal devotion to their responsibilities have rendered a dedicated service to their communities and, in doing so, have established for themselves an enviable and enduring reputation for preserving the rights and security of all citizens.”

Community Bank of Louisiana announces its new Many location at 540 San Antonio Ave. is now open for business.

“You have all been very patient throughout this process while we operated out of our temporary location, and we thank you for that,” Community Bank shared in an announcement just before the move.

The bank’s temporary location closed at the end of the business day on Wednesday, May 25. Head man J.J. Blake III and his hardworking staff used the rest of last week to make the move and get ready to open at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning, May 31.

Observations got a sneak peek at the new building recently, and it is a beauty. In addition to a generous lobby and downstairs offices, it has a nice conference room upstairs and a Community Room that opens onto the second-floor balcony. An elevator takes customers to the mezzanine from which the second-floor offices, Community Room, staff break room, etc. are accessed.

In addition, some three dozen or more canvases featuring images of historic Sabine hang throughout the new bank. Some are familiar scenes of parish landmarks, and some have rarely been viewed by the general public. We thank J.J. Blake and Community Bank for this tribute to our local culture. It is much appreciated. We imagine it will draw lots of visitors to the bank who may or may not have banking business to conduct. We also have it on good authority that a little guide will soon be available to provide more information about all the bank’s interesting canvas décor.

No doubt about it, the new Community Bank building brings lots of added value to downtown Many. We expect many events to be held there and hear the bank is really into celebrating Christmas as well, so we look forward to seeing what they do for the holidays.

An official Grand Opening is planned for later this summer. Please watch Observations for an update.

DRIVERS BEWARE:  The Many Police Department recently received a special wave enforcement grant from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission to write tickets for not wearing your seat belt.  It started May 23 and will continue through June 6.  Many Police will be checking to make sure everyone is properly secured in their vehicles – drivers and passengers alike.  Extra patrols will be on duty.

Sabine businessman Jamey Johnson of Fisher has written the Federal Aviation Administration about “Based Aircraft reported at Hart Airport in Many.” He wrote that he complained to Many Mayor Robert Hable that the based aircraft reported in November 2021 was “wildly overstated.” He said he requested the content of the Nov. 16, 2021 Based Aircraft report and received it on May 20.

He wrote, “After researching the Aircraft in the report, I’m only able to verify three that should have been reported in November 2021. The remaining aircraft have either been sold from the local area, or never actually based at Hart Airport [based on the FAA’s definition of based aircraft].”

Johnson’s letter was in response to a May 6, 2022 email to Lee Woods from a Mr. Velayos with the FAA. He said Velayos’ report to Woods inquiry “…was clear in stating that the FAA asks the airports to be diligent and accurate,” adding, “My problem with Hart Airport’s Nov. 2021 report is that doesn’t meet either of these requirements.”

Johnson then listed nine aircraft that he felt should not have been on the list. He concluded his letter to the FAA, “I respectfully request your assistance in clearing up our reporting issue.”

And last, but not least, we have heard from more than one person recently who is under the erroneous impression that my wife Laurie now writes Observations. They see her name on the web site “Posted by/Author” credit and take it to mean she has written it. On occasion, Laurie provides an article or covers an event I cannot make, and at those times, yes, she helps provide content. But as a general rule, no. Yours truly still writes all the “news, views, facts and opinions.” I very much appreciate Laurie taking my writings and photos and posting it all online each week to the BDC Radio web site. She provides the much-needed tech assistance to post each week’s column. The web site automatically recognizes her log-in credentials and shares her name as the one posting the content online as ”Author.” Lord knows I don’t have sense enough to do it.

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