Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Donnie Wooley, candidate for Sabine Tax Assessor, really got the public’s attention when he posted big campaign signs in front of his office on San Antonio Ave. in Many. Wooley said he is working hard to see the folks and that his campaign is looking good.

Dr. Greg Lord of Leesville, candidate for State Representative, Dist. 24, is one of only three physician Louisiana State Medical Society (LSMS) member political candidates endorsed by the Louisiana Medical Political Action Committee (LAMPAC) over the weekend.

“LAMPAC is pleased to offer our support to these endorsed candidates, three of whom are LSMS members and physicians,” said Robert Bass, MD, LAMPAC’s chairman. “It’s been a number of years since we decided to take a position in the Governor’s race, but we have one of our own running, Ralph Abraham, MD. We believe that physicians supporting physicians is important, and when you have a candidate like Dr. Abraham, it’s very easy to make this decision. Dr. Abraham has a wealth of knowledge that is critical to helping Louisiana improve healthcare outcomes. Joining, Dr. Abraham as LSMS members and candidates are Drs. Greg Lord and William “Beau” Clark. LAMPAC has endorsed all three candidates and looks forward to having additional physician voices to highlight healthcare issues in Louisiana.”

In its first round of endorsements, the PAC has endorsed in the Governor’s race, 33 Legislative races and in the race for East Baton Rouge Coroner. The PAC is continuing to review other races and candidates for viability in alignment with its goals and objectives.

“Angelle and I feel so very blessed,” Dr. Lord shared late Saturday of LAMPAC’s endorsement of his campaign. “[We hear] more endorsements are coming,” he said.

Not only will his physician background bring a fresh perspective to the House of Representatives Dr. Lord feels, but he also says his long medical career has taught him the principles of how to diagnose root problems, not just treat symptoms. “I know how to put together a team of specialists, when needed, to solve problems. That’s what Louisiana needs right now,” he has shared on the campaign trail.

“LAMPAC’s board members take their charge very seriously,” said Dr. Bass, “We spent several hours discussing every race that is contested in Louisiana. We will continue to compile research and information and plan to meet again multiple times in order to determine which candidates best align with physician’s beliefs and our efforts to protect our right to practice medicine in Louisiana.”

In addition to endorsing Dr. Ralph Abraham for Governor, Dr. Greg Lord for Dist. 24 Representative, and Dr. William Clark for East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner, LAMPAC has endorsed 13 candidates in Senate races and 19 candidates running for Representative.

The Town of Zwolle, the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission, and the Friends of Toledo Bend/Zwolle Historical Museum have joined in an effort to complete renovation to the historic KCS depot in Zwolle and develop the museum exhibits. Fundraising efforts will run through October. Construction is planned to begin in November 2019, and the board of the Friends group hopes to have the project completed in late 2020.

“The preservation of our local and regional history is important for the residents of our area in order for them to have an understanding of their surroundings and to take pride in where they live. It can also be utilized as an economic benefit from the many tourists coming to Toledo Bend Lake,” the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission shared. “To meet this preservation purpose, the Friends of the Toledo Bend/Zwolle Museum was formed as a 501(C)(3) nonprofit to renovate the historic KCS Depot to house a museum in which the story can be told,” they explained.

Chris Loupe, President of the Friends group will work with Edith Palmer, fund raising chairperson, and other board members to reach out to businesses and residents who may share their desire to preserve and share the area’s history. Others serving on the fundraising committee are Bonnie Fox-Miles, Kyle Martinez, Zwolle Mayor Pie Martinez, Judy Myers, Martha Henderson, and Linda Curtis-Sparks. Other members of the board include Anna Garcie, Vice-President; Becky Anderson, Secretary; Chief of Police Daniel Thomas, Allen Rivers, Sam A. Rivers, Jr., Cody Bruce, Gary Moore, and Warren Founds.

“In this year of the 50th Anniversary of Toledo Bend Lake, much history needs to be preserved before it is lost. It will include those who persevered to get Toledo Bend built, the families and timber companies that gave up their land, the history of lake development, and the story of how it became the number one bass fishing lake in the nation,” the Commission noted. “The museum will be used to tell this story plus local and regional history, how Kansas City Southern Railroad helped develop the parish, and the evolution and importance of timber and logging to the region and specifically to the Zwolle area. It will cover the Sabine River as a transport of logs to the southern mills and markets, the period of family and company sawmills, and the current period of Boise and Weyerhaeuser and their relevance to the community. A broad overview of the topics to be included in the museum has been developed.”

Research for the museum began in 2018 and is on-going. If residents have items or knowledge of historical interest, they can contact the Sabine Parish Tourist Commission at (318) 332-8240. If you would like to make a donation, please contact Edith Palmer at (318) 256-2036.

It was a surprise to see two newcomers take the lead in the Sabine Tax Assessor’s poll conducted by Baldridge-Dumas Communications on Facebook. The poll was conducted from Wednesday to Friday of last week. A total of 427 persons participated. Only one vote was allowed per computer.

Chris Tidwell led the pack with 153 votes for 35.8 percent. Coming in second was Donnie Wooley with 129 votes for 30.2 percent.

Former Tax Assessor Carroll Ellzey ran third with 56 votes representing 13.1 percent. Police Jury President Ronny Bison ran next with 36 votes for 8.4 percent.  Deputy Tax Assessor Carl Chance garnered 30 votes for 7 percent and Patrick Johnson got 23 votes for 5.4 percent.

Wooley told Observations that he was “very pleased with the results.” In view of the fact that he only announced a few weeks ago and recently started his campaign, he commented, “I am very satisfied.”

Some of what we’ve heard from the Assessor’s race leaves a person scratching his head, though. Word on the street says Chris Tidwell is encouraging folks to vote for the young guy. Tidwell and Wooley are close to the same age, so we wonder if he’s actually encouraging support for Patrick Johnson – the young guy.

Starting Wednesday, Baldridge-Dumas will conduct a poll for State Senate, District 31, on its Facebook Page. The poll will continue through Friday and each computer or device will be allowed only one vote. You can get to the poll by going to bdcradio.com and clicking on the Facebook icon.

In the race for State Senate are Louie Bernard of Natchitoches, Douglas Brown of Cheneyville and Trey Flynn of Alexandria. Results of the poll will be carried in next week’s Observations.

Mark it on your calendar. The Marthaville Heritage Society and the Good Ole Days Festival are sponsoring a big Political Forum on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 6-9 p.m. at the Marthaville School gym. It is for all candidates, including those running in both Sabine and Natchitoches Parishes. It is being billed as “The 2019 Biggest and Best Meet the Candidates West of the Red River.”

Candidates are invited to bring yard signs, banners, and literature to display, and the public is invited to meet all the candidates on hand, pick up their bumper stickers and yard signs and get ready to vote!

There will be boxes for Peoples’ Choice Awards, cake sales, T-shirts for sale and other fundraiser items for the Heritage Society which needs a new roof on the Marthaville Heritage Building.  Voter admission is completely free!

A Sabine Parish man who sold methamphetamine from his home will spend the next 12 years in a federal prison. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote sentenced Marvin Ray Loucious, 54, of Many Friday. He pled guilty in February to possession with intent to distribute. 

Loucious was arrested after agents watched him sell 11 grams on two different occasions in July 2018. In a raid on his home a month later, Agents found 160 grams, digital scales, plastic baggies and about 100 glass smoking pipes. Agents also recovered 55 firearms.

We get letters. This one is from a very reputable Many citizen who asked that his name be withheld. His letter shows that are two sides to every story:

“I listened to some of Mr. Dumas’ show this morning, when he had Mr. Cathey on.

“The discussion and callers appeared reasonable, as though most people now understand the reassessment issue and are willing to pay their fair shares. However, some still seem to believe that agencies which elect to roll forward are practicing taxation without representation. As I wrote before, this simply isn’t true because there is no new tax. The citizens of Sabine Parish have already approved the millages.

“I’ve already commented on that, so it isn’t the main point of this letter. I had this thought on the way home to lunch this afternoon. It might be a little complicated to follow.

“If agencies accept the downward-revised millages, in other words, if they do not roll-forward, they will very likely receive even less ad valorem tax revenue then they did previously, because of the 25%/year phase-in option available to taxpayers who have homestead exemptions.

“If taxing authorities chose not to roll-forward and everyone had to pay based on their full revised assessments, then the effect of the reassessments would be to simply redistribute the tax burden more equitably. From what I heard this morning, most people would have no problem with that. Most participants said they were willing to pay their fair share and were willing to admit they thought their properties were fairly assessed.

“However many homeowners will not have to pay their full increases until the fourth year, whether the millages are rolled forward or not, because the increased assessments come from residential properties which had not been fairly reassessed over time. Many are homestead-exempt, which allows them the four-year phase-in right. Thus, some of the taxes supposedly generated by the new assessments will not be collected. Since the maximum available to collect will be limited by the downward-revised millages and homestead-exempt property owners won’t have to pay their full assessments, the taxing authorities will receive less revenue than they ‘should.’

“The assessor’s office has not yet been able to provide us with specific information about the total dollar increase in assessments and how many dollars relate to how many homestead-exempt properties, so we cannot estimate how much increased revenue we could expect. I can figure out the math involved, but I don’t have data to apply the math to.

“So, let’s make up an example. It’s just to illustrate a point, so don’t think it applies to any specific property, or even that the estimated millages are accurate. Feel free to use your own assumptions.

“Let’s say a property was previously assessed at $100,00. After the homestead exemption, it was taxed on $25,000 of assessed value. Let’s say that the tax rate was 10 mills, or 1%, so the total tax was $250.

“Let’s say the house hadn’t been properly reassessed for years, so it is now assessed $150,000, or a 50% increase. The new taxable value after the exemption is $75,000. At the old millage, the tax would become $750. However, if the taxing authorities do not roll-forward, their millages will decrease by 18.72%, so the new tax would actually become $609.60, an increase of $359.60. That wouldn’t be so bad if authorities could get it all and live with it. However, since the law allows a four-year phase-in option, the taxpayer would then have the option to pay only $339.90 [$250 + ($339.60/4)] in the first year, or an increase of only $89.90. The catch is that the rolled-down millage assumes all new assessed taxes will be paid in full! It does not contemplate the phase-in option!  Instead of collecting the full amount of projected taxes at the rolled-down millage, the authorities would get less…probably much less!

“If we had actual data to analyze, we could make intelligent forecasts of revenues. Without appropriate date, any decision is a shot in the dark, and it would be insanely foolish not to roll-forward. I believe any agency that does not roll-forward will be in for a very unpleasant surprise after it finds it has shot itself in the foot and its revenues have decreased! I believe that any agency that does not roll-forward will simply not have fully analyzed the issue.

“It would be nice if those who are so virulently opposed to roll-forwards would take a serious logical look at the issues instead of simply exhibiting knee-jerk emotional reactions.”

While the writer of the letter says it is not a new tax, we continue to disagree. When the millage is rolled forward there is new taxpayer money involved. It’s probably not considered a “new” tax to most governing authorities, but it is to the poor ole overworked taxpayer.

On Aug. 21 Jonathan Y. Enriquez, 26, of Anacoco, was discovered missing from the Sabine Parish Detention Center. It was later found that he squeezed through a locked gate. He used his status as a trustee to gain access to the gate.

Enriquez is 5 ft. 11 inches tall and weighs about 180 lbs. He has short brown hair and a short beard. He was serving a two-year sentence on a drug violation and was scheduled for release in October. 

Word has it that he was so hot on the outside that he broke back in so he could take advantage of the Detention Center’s air conditioning

On August 22 Melody Denis Sims, 37, was arrested on charges of assisting an escape. Kristi Leatrice Mitchell, 41, was arrested on charges of accessories after the fact of simple escape. Judge Stephen Beasley set their bonds at $5,000 each.

In another matter earlier this year, Jailor Joe Jett was fired after a video of him throwing a prisoner to the floor in the Detention Center was posted on Facebook.

It was a meeting for the ages – the meeting of the Sabine School Board on Monday night of last week. Dale Skinner of District 9 had so much going it would have taken a Philadelphia lawyer to keep up with it. It would take page after page after page to cover it all.

Skinner had four items on the agenda. He presented them and many times was called out of order by President Terrell Snelling of District 7 and a couple of Board Members cut Skinner’s responses short as they called for a point of order.

The first matter he brought up was discussion of plans to assist C-rated schools during the 2019-20 school year. “Where is the problem and what are we doing about it?” Skinner asked. “The test scores are not up where they should be.”

In order for the reader to understand what Skinner was asking, we asked Sabine Supt. Sara Ebarb to explain how each school is graded. Her statement follows:

“The state has a formula that is used to grade each school. Sabine has worked very hard in the past years to improve our schools. We now have no D or F schools and presently we have only 3 C schools. The rest are A and B schools. Our District has the Grade of B. The C schools are Many Elementary, Many Junior High and Zwolle Elementary. We do have a plan to address the needs of every school. The schools that have high school grades have more components in the formula to pull up the scores. Schools with no high school students are, for the most part, graded on assessment scores in Grades 3-8,” Ebarb explained.

At the meeting, Debra Lee, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, presented a summary of the plan in answer to Skinner’s question. The information she presented was:

The A schools in the parish are Many High, Zwolle High and Negreet. The B schools are Converse, Ebarb, Florien and Pleasant Hill. The C schools are Zwolle Elementary, Many Elementary and Many Junior High.

Summary Of Plan

• Closely Analyze Student Assessment Data and Plan Accordingly
• All School Administration Teams met (during summer) with Superintendent and Staff to discuss data and plans for school improvement
• Provide High Quality Curricula- meaning the curricula has been vetted and determined to be Tier 1 by the state DOE
• High Quality Teacher Training on Curricula
• Jump Math will be implemented at Ebarb, Many Jr High, and Pleasant Hill; Eureka Math at other sites (Elem through Jr High
• New Reading Program in Grades K-2 – called EL Education, more focus on phonics and phonemic awareness
• Administrator Training on Providing High Quality Feedback to Teachers as they observe instruction
• Common Planning Time for teachers to collaborate and share ideas
• Increased emphasis on Response to Intervention for students who struggle in English, Reading or Math
• Leader in Me Program implemented at SPARK and Zwolle Elementary (teachers were trained this summer)
• ACT Preparation Program for High School Students
• All schools write and implement School Improvement Plans
• All teachers and administrators write Student Learning Targets that are rated when assessment scores arrive
• Focus on High Quality Instruction for Students with Disabilities
• Improve Quality of Classroom Assessments to better prepare students for State Assessments
• High Quality Training provided to Instructional Coaches (summer) to provide strategies to teachers improve classroom instruction
• Individual Academic Plans for students who struggle to master grade level skills
• Universal Screening for students who struggle with fluency, accuracy, comprehension in literacy and fluency, accuracy and problem solving in math
• Progress Monitoring to assess student performance over time and to quantify rate of improvement or responsiveness to instruction
• Close monitoring of instruction by administration and curriculum staff

Skinner then brought up about the additional pay principals receive for coaching duties. “The principals will not apply for supervisor jobs because they will have to take a cut in pay and work a month more,” Skinner stated.

Donald Garcie, District 6, called for a point of order because Skinner was off the subject and told Skinner he was “out in left field.” No action was taken on the matter, as Snelling moved on to the next item.

Skinner asked that a discussion of qualifications, salary and assignment of School Resource Officers (SRO) be had.

During discussion, it was pointed out that the School Board had entered into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with Sheriff Ronny Richardson for him to supply SROs. It was pointed out that the entire School Board adopted the agreement, with Skinner voting for it. It was noted the agreement was discussed several different times and Sheriff Ronny Richardson was involved in discussion.

Supt. Ebarb said Attorney Neal Johnson moved forward with the agreement. She said, “The School Board can’t insure and train law enforcement officers.” The attorney cautioned that the Board is not in the law enforcement business, but education.

Skinner remarked, “We don’t know how many hours they are going to work or how much they are going to be paid.” He said the SRO at Pleasant Hill will work many unnecessary hours, plus be paid $68,000 under the program. Skinner said he could get the job done for $20,000.

He went on to ask why Negreet has had a full-time officer for two years and Donald Garcie said he has had one. Sheriff Richardson said up until last school year, he had three DARE/SRO officers. He said the officer at Ebarb was not full-time. Skinner said the most dangerous school is SPARK, and it did not have an officer. The Sheriff said the officer at Negreet also worked at Converse, and Skinner said he asked the officer and the officer had said he had been at Negreet for two years.

“If Negreet had one, I don’t see why we can’t all have one,” Skinner remarked. Supt. Ebarb pointed out that the communities of Negreet and Ebarb do not have police departments.

Donald Remedies said the Zwolle Police Department has served as the SRO there. “The millage we tried failed,” he remarked, adding, “I, as School Board Member did not want to pay for it, truth is. The B&E is paying for it, but the people are still paying.”

Skinner said the plan is to pay for the SRO for 365 and not just the 180 days of school and he couldn’t understand this. “We need one at Pleasant Hill only eight hours a day,” he remarked

Skinner said the Board never decided how many hours the SRO would work or how much they would be paid. Snelling said the Board has had an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office for a year and it is based on the Sheriff’s salary schedule. Daron Chandler of Florien said he thought it should be up to the principal as to how much the SRO will work.

Sheriff Richardson said the SRO pay is determined by experience. He said deputies have to be certified. He indicated he had tried to please Skinner with the SRO at Pleasant Hill, but could not.

The Board took no action on the SRO question. Also on the agenda was Skinner’s request that the Board consider allowing Pleasant Hill to hire an officer to work at that school. Skinner did not make a motion for such and no action was taken.

In a final matter, Skinner asked the Board to discuss the policy relative to discipline of student conduct after school hours or when school is not in session and for bringing weapons on campus. Skinner questioned about a student doing something when school is not in session and ending up in SPARK for it. Snelling cautioned him that he could not discuss a student in the meeting.

Supt. Ebarb said if a student does something that is a felony, that student can be place in the alternative program. 

There was a lengthy discussion about the matter, but in the end, the Board took no action.

It is interesting to note that Sheriff’s Deputy Palmer was sitting in the back of the room prior to the meeting starting. As starting time approached, he moved to a chair immediately behind Skinner. I wonder if someone thought Dale might go on a rampage.

Reports reaching Observations is that the School Resource Officer (SRO) at the Alternative School in Many had an issue with a juvenile female who would not obey orders, refusing to get out of a chair. Word has it the officer called the Sheriff’s Department for help and the call ended up at the Many Police Department. Patrolman Stanley Cook got the call, was busy and couldn’t answer it.

Sometime later, Many Chief Roger Freeman and Detective Phillip Cutrer answered the call.

It is reported the SRO used her cell phone to call for help, not a radio, which would have gone out to all law officers in the area.

A veteran law enforcement officer who asked to remain unnamed said he thinks the SRO is not well trained, “is in way over her head” and “is in a place to get hurt.”

Turns out the juvenile was 10 years old.

In a related matter, word has it that the SRO at Many Junior went to the faculty bathroom and when finished, the officer left a gun on the sink counter and had to go back and get it. Thankfully the wrong person didn’t find it.

Many now has a flagpole at the Many Depot and a large, brightly lit American flag will be flying there soon.

The best news? It didn’t cost the town a penny. MidSouth Bank donated the flagpole, Crittenden’s Garage is donating the flag, and Hurd Electric is donating the nighttime lighting.

Many’s Alderman at Large Mary Brocato is thrilled about how donors stepped up to make the patriotic display possible. Brocato said, “We’ve worked so hard to restore the historic old depot, and we wanted a flag flying in front of it so badly. It was going to be expensive, but our donors took care of that problem and gave us everything we need. Our city street crew, under the supervision of Mike Moore, worked hard to remove the flagpole at Florien’s MidSouth branch, bring it to Many, and then installed it last week. The heat was terrible, but they never stopped until that flagpole was standing tall.”

Brocato continued, “I was so excited and posted pictures on Facebook of the installation. I didn’t even ask for anyone to donate the flag. But Debbie Crittenden of Crittenden’s Garage immediately responded and wrote, “Crittenden’s Garage would be honored to give the U.S. flag.”

“Then Wade Springer asked if we were going to light the flag at night or take it down each day. I hadn’t even thought about that. But Fred Hurd of Hurd Electric quickly offered to gift the town with a 400W LED light and the wiring and installation,” Brocato shared. 

She said, “Now the United States of America flag will shine brightly every night so passersby can see it and know how proud people in our town are of our country.”

Many Mayor Ken Freeman said, “I want to say a special thanks to MidSouth Bank, Crittenden’s Garage and Hurd Electric for their generosity. I also want to thank Many’s hardworking street crew for doing such a good job on installing the flagpole. It takes good people working together and they will accomplish good things. We are fortunate to have so many good people here in Many.”

The renovation and restoration of The Sabine Parish Historic Depot Museum in Many is finally complete, and The Town of Many, The Cultural District Committee, and the Sabine Historical Society are now seeking items to exhibit in the museum.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman said the first stage of renovating the depot began in 2016 with a new roof.  The second stage started in November 2018. “Now that’s all done, and we can move on to making it a museum,” the mayor said.

“We are especially interested in things from the period when Sabine Parish was part of No Man’s Land,” Mary Brocato, Alderman at Large and Chair of the Cultural District Advisory Committee said. “No Man’s Land or the Neutral Strip existed in Sabine Parish during the years from 1805 until around 1821. We hope that descendants of families that lived here during that time period may have items stored in their homes that may date back to the 1800s, and we would love to see those items and perhaps display them in our museum.”

Mayor Freeman asked that people who have something that may be of interest to call Sandra Neel, the mayor’s executive assistant, at (318) 256-3651. “Sandra will set up a time frame for you to bring those items by the office or arrange for someone to go out to see the items. We have both donation and loan forms if you want to share these items in the No Man’s Land portion of the museum,” said Freeman.

Freeman continued, “We’re very pleased that we were able to save the historic depot, and now we are going to ‘build a museum’ that will be an exciting addition to our town’s cultural district.”

Brocato, who has spearheaded the renovation and restoration of the old building, said she is working closely with Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser to obtain some interesting artifacts from the Louisiana State Museum. She has also visited with Becky Stoker Kyle, who has a number of historic items to lend the museum. Mrs. Kyle shared that her grandfather shot and killed the notorious outlaw John Wesley Hardin.

Gayle Fisher generously donated five church pews which date back to the mid-1800s and came from an old church on property she owns deep in Kisatchie Forest. They will be used for seating in the exhibit rooms. Other families who have donated historic items include the Georg Boyens family.

Brocato and Mayor Freeman are now brokering a partnership agreement with Northwestern State University to provide assistance with the creation of the museum itself.

Brocato said, “The depot is just beautiful after our renovation efforts, and now we’re moving on to the exciting part:  finding interesting, historical things to go on exhibit.”

“I hope that people will call the mayor’s office and speak with Mrs. Neel about any items that they think may be of interest,” concluded Mayor Freeman. “I have a feeling that we’re going to have some really neat discoveries.” 

And last but not least, in a few weeks the First United Methodist Church of Many will host their annual “Great Giveaway.” Gently used clothing and homewares will be available completely free of charge to anyone in need on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 8 a.m. until…

Those who wish to donate items may bring their donations during the donation times noted below on the flyer. Thanks in advance for helping others.

I love to hear your thoughts, suggestions and ideas for future articles. Write me at robertrgentry@gmail.com or call (318) 332-8653. Recently archived Observations are presented on the following pages; older ones are archived on our Facebook page where they are listed by date under Photo Albums. To send, save or print this week’s column, click on the appropriate icon below. As always, thanks for reading.

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