Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Members of the Sabine Parish Police Jury recently gave themselves a raise – a big raise – a 50 per cent raise. That’s right. From $800 a month to $1,200 a month. And remember, that’s for a part-time job. And they will tell you the justification is that it’s been a long time since they’ve had a raise.

But that’s only part of the story. The other part is how much the Police Jury pays for health insurance for part-time Jurors. It varies, I suppose, depending on how many family members are included in the policy.

Former Tax Assessor Conrad Cathey who has looked into the matter found that Jurors and employees of the Jury pay 16 per cent of the insurance costs while the Police Jury pays the other 84 percent.

Let’s look at what the part-time Jurors get paid:

Richard M. McCormic: his monthly insurance premium is $580.49. He pays 16 per cent, or $92.87, and the Jury pays the remaining 84 percent, $487.62. When you add the jury’s share of insurance costs to his $1,200 per month salary, it totals $20,244 per year.

Willes Funderburk: monthly premium of $605.59; he pays $96.88 and the Jury pays $508.71. Add that to his $1,200 per month salary and it totals $20,496 per year.

Ronald Bison: monthly premium of $970.23; he pays $155.24 and the Jury pays $814.99. Add that to his $1,200 per month salary and it totals $24,168 per year.

Charles Brown: monthly premium of $3,031.03; he pays $484.96 and the Jury pays $2,546.07. Add that to his $1,200 per month salary and it totals $44,950 per year.

Randall Byrd: monthly premium of $2,305.73; he pays $368.90 and the Jury pays $1,936.83. Add this to his $1,200 per month salary and it comes to $37,632 per year.

Kenneth Ebarb: monthly premium of $84.24, with him paying $13.48 and the Jury paying $70.76. Add that to his $1,200 per month and the yearly total is $15,240.

Eric Garcie: monthly premium of $3,115.27, with him paying $498.44 and the Jury pitching in $2,616.83. Add in his $1,200 per month and his yearly salary amounts to $45,792.

William Ruffin: monthly premium of $53.69, with him paying $8.58 and the Jury paying $45.11. Add in his $1,200 monthly salary and the yearly total amounts to $14,940.

The total pay to Jurors for a year amounts to $244,155.24. Cathey stated, “The insurance premiums total $10,746.27 per month or $128,955.24 for the year. Salaries amount to $9,600 per month or $115,200 per year.”

He continued, “The insurance premiums alone would pay for 322 loads of rock at $400 per load. The total compensation to Jurors in a year would pay for 610 loads of rock that could be placed on parish roads. And our roads are in bad shape.”

Now, another thing we learned last week. The Jury employs people to work at the dump stations. We are told their allowed hours are only 29 ½ hours per week, and some slightly over minimum wage. They are part-time employees and are not provided insurance because of that.

A double standard comes into play: The Jurors are considered part-time employees, yet 84 per cent of their insurance premiums is paid by the Police Jury. The folks who man the garbage collection stations are also part-time employees, but get no insurance.

And in a related matter, the Louisiana Public Service Commission is not pleased with the way board members of rural electric cooperatives are abusing health insurance payment. In 2017, health insurance payment accounted for about half of the $2.5 million for part-time board members.

According to our Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, regulations have been proposed that would forbid the co-ops from providing board members with health and life insurance, cap per diems at $200 per day and set term limits.

Commissioners were startled to learn that board members received an average of $26,250 in 2017 alone, while some members made as much as $50,000 in per diem payments for attending meetings. They also received compensation for travel.

A private report published in February 2018 for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, recommended against providing directors with medical insurance. The report said providing insurance for part-time board members could, among other things, increase the cost of insurance for full-time employees.

“Insurance is the most expensive benefit enjoyed by these part-time directors and in my view, any reform proposal must include this restriction,” Campbell stated.

Sabine Parish Schools Supt. Sara Ebarb said the School Board last week approved a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with Sheriff Ronny Richardson to fund eight security officers.

“Right now the sheriff provides three officers that rotate among schools, and he will now provide four,” Supt. Ebarb explained. Under the agreement, the School Board will fund four additional officers. The City of Zwolle has been providing an officer for Zwolle schools and will continue to do so.

Supt. Ebarb continued, “These officers will cover each school community and SPARK, the alternative school. One officer will be available to be where needed and cover absences. At this time the Many campuses will share an officer and the Zwolle campuses will continue to share an officer. Hopefully in the future, we can add officers for those campuses. The Sheriff is working to get officers in place and get them trained to begin the school year in August. He mentioned that he had two ready to enter the present campus rotations.”

The Cooperative Endeavor Agreement will be for one year and will be considered at budget time each year, depending on funds. The School Board has agreed to pay up to $221,204.72 the first year, which is roughly half the cost.

Supt. Ebarb said, “The Sheriff will do the hiring, training, purchase any related equipment and will invoice us for our part. Since we are not a law enforcement agency, it is necessary for us to partner with local law enforcement, and we are very appreciative of our Sheriff and the City of Zwolle for working with us to provide daily protection for our students and staff.”

She concluded, “We have been very concerned about our schools needing sustained security for several years, and it is certainly good for our community to make the protection of our children a priority.”

Sheriff Richardson told Observations, “We have been working on this agreement for a long time in case the tax didn’t pass.”

A proposed tax for school security was recently voted down in Sabine Parish. Former Tax Assessor Conrad Cathey conducted a campaign asking the voters to wait until property in Sabine Parish is re-assessed. The completed re-assessment is due in August. Cathey said under the new assessment, the tax base would probably rise and new taxes may not be necessary.

“Funny, Funny,
Where Did They Get The Money?”

That is the battle cry after word about the School Board and Sheriff coming to a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement for School Resource Officers (SROs) last week.

It is rumored that both Frankie Howard and Chris Abrahams, candidates for Sabine Parish Sheriff, are taking credit for the agreement. Word is they say the agreement came about because both had earlier proposed if elected Sheriff they would provide SROs without additional cost to the taxpayers.

Word is also out that Rep. Howard will officially announce his candidacy within the next couple of weeks.

We are sorry to report that Robert “Tex” McKnight of Florien passed on to his eternal reward mid-afternoon on Friday, Feb. 15. Laurie and I were on our way to see him at WK Hospital in Bossier City when he died.

Tex was truly one of a kind. He was a true American, proud patriot, talented artist and craftsman, and a first-class human being. I hired him many years ago to work at the Many Pawn Shop for about a week. That employment lasted for several years.

We send our deepest sympathies to his wife Carolyn, son Mike and other members of the family. At his request, there will be no services. His body will be cremated.

As of this writing, the notice of Tex’s death that we shared on the Observations Facebook page Friday night has had 64 shares, reached 6,777 people, and had 2,410 engagements. He was certainly loved and the outpouring of sympathy and memories shared online demonstrates the powerful legacy he leaves behind.

RIP, my friend.

Nancy Spiller was honored on Sunday, Feb. 17 at First United Methodist Church of Many. She was presented a Special Mission Recognition by Vicki Isgitt, local United Methodist Women (UMW) President.

Spiller works tirelessly at the church, serving as chairman of the Worship Committee, working with the youth of the church, singing in the choir and in so many other ways. Though she has faced health concerns in recent years, she has never failed or faltered in sharing her talents with the church. Spiller is the wife of FUMC-Many Pastor Emeritus Ray Spiller.

“Nancy never, never gives up,” Isgitt noted of Spiller’s work. And that is, indeed, the case.
We were so happy to see her honored in this way. She is more than deserving.

Speaking of FUMC-Many activities, our own Carolyn Dove will soon attend The United Methodist Church’s Special Session of the General Conference to be held Feb. 23-26 in St. Louis, MO, in response to Judicial Council Decision 1360, which was handed down on May 25 of last year. The special session will address, in part, “how the church might move forward around the issue of human sexuality.” Dove is one of eight official representatives attending from the state of Louisiana.

She is one of four lay leaders who will attend in addition to four members of the Methodist clergy. Also in the group are lay leaders Sarah Kreutziger, Terrel Deville and Peter Aguila. Louisiana clergy attending are the Rev. Andy Goff, Rev. Juliet Spencer, Rev. Pat Day and Rev. Bernadine Johnson.

A dozen others from Louisiana will attend, but not in official capacities, except for the Rev. Francey and Rev. Dick Hooton, who are in charge of the Marshalls for the special session.

Linda Curtis-Sparks did a wonderful job of putting together the No Man’s Land event celebrating the Bicentennial of Louisiana’s Final Frontier last Friday at Ft. Jesup State Historic Site. She is shown with Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, left photo, who was the featured speaker at the event. Looked like close to 500 or more were in attendance. The celebration will go on for three years.

Rep. Frankie Howard is shown with Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, right photo. Rep. Howard spoke on the program and also offered the benediction. More photos from the event will be carried in next week’s Observations.

Michael Wagley, musician and Spanish teacher at Leesville High School, will present his second music show at the Many Community Center [Sabine Theater] this Saturday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m.

Wagley will feature Henry Reggans and The Turn-Ups with The Turnettes, a popular area band headed by his dad, James Wagley , and Henry Reggans, talented and versatile musician from Leesville who is well known for his voice and his virtuosity on the keyboard.

The Turnettes are popular sisters Natalie Rowe and Kate Rowe Gilcrease, who provide backup vocals for the band.

It may seem like Talent Night at the Feb.23 music show because this show will also feature some talented young performers, including students from Leesville and Shreveport.

Among them are Patrick Parker, a 17-year-old who attends Leesville High School. He has played guitar and piano for 10 years now.

Sophie Elliot, 9, is from Shreveport and sings in the St.Marks Episcopal Church Youth Choir.

Jamarae Wilson, a senior at Leesville High School, will perform a comedy act.

Zara Lee, a sophomore at Leesville High School, will sing and play guitar.

Daishawn Grooms, Leesville High School sophomore, is a Hip Hop artist who will perform his original songs.

Admission for the Feb. 23 show is $7 for adults and $5 for kids under 12 years old. Popcorn and soft drinks will be $1 each, as always.

Music in Many offers music shows of a wide variety once or twice each month throughout the year. The series is sponsored by the Town of Many Cultural District Advisory Committee, Mayor Ken Freeman and the Town of Many.

I love to hear from you, so please call or write with your ideas and suggestions for future articles. Phone me at (318) 332-8653 or send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. See below for recent Observations columns, and go online to our Observations Facebook page to see older ones, where they are listed under Photos and sorted into Albums by date. To print this week’s column, right-click anywhere on the content and select “Print.”

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