October 9, 2019
Kyle Ardoin served as First Assistant Secretary of State for eight years before becoming Secretary in May 2018. He knows the inner workings of the office from business services, to notarizing and certifications, to election services and more. He is the most qualified candidate in Saturday’s election to lead this office into the future.
As Secretary of State, his number one priority is protecting the data on file. Said he, “I am proud of the work we’ve done to safeguard the people of Louisiana’s private information and I will continue to work hard to guarantee that nobody can get access to it.”
Future plans are to introduce new voting machines across the state. Of course, with the great promise of new technology comes new challenges. Sec. Ardoin said, “My nine years in the Secretary of State’s office make me uniquely qualified to guide Louisiana through this new era.”
And finally, today we hear all the stories in the news about those both inside and outside our country who work to hack into our elections. Kyle has the experience and knowledge to stop any attempts to compromise our democratic process.
We are happy to recommend to our many readers that they cast their vote Saturday to re-elect Kyle Ardoin as Secretary of State. And by the way, our own Joe R. Salter of Florien is his First Assistant Secretary of State. That alone is a good reason to vote for Kyle.
At a recent meeting of the Many Town Council, they voted to purchase a garbage truck and get back into the garbage business. A low bid of $141,780 from MHC Kenworth of Little Rock was accepted.
Mayor Ken Freeman said three employees will be hired for the job, and the town will start collecting waste on Nov. 1. He said a used truck will also be purchased for about $60,000 to be used as a back-up.
“Our opinion is that Waste Management has priced itself out of business,” the Mayor stated.
Candidate for Sabine Clerk of Court Pollie Brandon was on Tedd Dumas’ “Open Line” program Monday morning. She did a great job explaining the strange events of Monday, Sept. 30, when someone from Election Compliance traveled all the way from Baton Rouge to Sabine to check a small proofreading error on the sample ballot Brandon enclosed in a campaign mail out over the weekend. She was also threatened over the phone that day with the full extent of the law, including a sky-high fine and felony charges over the simple printing mistake.
Can someone say “heavy-handed?” For the applicable code to be violated, the person at fault must have “malicious intent.”
On Brandon’s sample ballot the text “Commissioner of Insurance” was accidentally left off, but the candidate names for that office were listed, as were all others.
“Do you have something against the Commissioner of Insurance?” Dumas teased on his program Monday. “No, absolutely not!” Brandon laughed. “If I’d had ‘malicious intent,’ I would’ve left off my opponent’s name!”
The person who came from Baton Rouge was an Election Compliance Investigator. While he was in Many, according to information received by Observations, a call was made to the officer that a car with a “Pollie Brandon for Clerk of Court” magnetic sign had driven by outside the courthouse during Early Voting hours. A few moments later, the guy stopped Brandon using an unmarked car and questioned her about the errands she had just run on streets near the courthouse. He explained the sign on her car was “too close” to the location of Early Voting.
Methinks somebody must have known somebody because there were just too many coincidences for all that to be a coincidence.
It was pointed out later by respected journalist Shannon Hall that during Early Voting on Saturday, Sept. 28 and again on Monday, Sept. 30, multiple stacks of a regional paper lay in clear view inside the courthouse promoting local candidates on its front page.
She noted the free-for-the-taking papers were displayed on a counter “just outside the door of the Registrar of Voters’ Office,” where voters had to pass on their way to vote. It has “…misleading candidate lists,” Hall further explained, “whereby only candidates who pay for their names to appear are included…. It was basically election propaganda within 25 feet of the precise place you vote,” she said.
It is also our understanding that candidates for office who work at the courthouse had been leaving their magnetic campaign signs on their vehicles regularly as they parked around the Courthouse. But we’ve seen nary a one since Observations came out last week, and the public became aware that somebody called the Election Compliance people on Pollie.
Regarding strict adherence to election laws, this might be a good time to quote that old scripture about removing the log from your own eye before trying to remove the speck from somebody else’s, but we won’t.
A public meeting of the Sabine Parish Police Jury will be held in the Courthouse on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 9 a.m. to levy 2019 Ad Valorem Taxes, to adopt the adjusted millage rates after reassessment, to roll forward millage rates not to exceed the prior year’s maximum, and to levy additional or increased millage rates without further voter approval. The meeting will be held in accordance with the Open Meetings Law, including a public comment period before taking a vote to adopt ad valorem tax millage rates for the 2019 tax year.
Mr. and Mrs. Willie Stewart of Hornbeck got to meet one of their musical heroes, Jimmy Fortune, who was in concert at Tyler, TX last week. The singer sang for many years in the Statler Brothers, and has had a solo career since the band’s retirement in 2002.
VOTE
Saturday is Election Day, so be sure to let your voice be heard by voting. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
The run-off will be held Nov. 16. The last day to register in person or by mail to vote in the run-off is Oct. 16. The last day to register online is Oct. 26.
Shelly Salter is shown in the recent Marthaville Good Ole Days Parade. She also rode in the Sabine Parish Fair Parade later the same day in Many.
A candidate for Sabine Parish Clerk of Court, she is the Chief Deputy and has worked in the Clerk’s office for many years and has handled all duties.
A welcomed visitor to Sabine Parish last week was former businessman and community leader Joe Lowrey. He was accompanied by his lovely wife of five years, Vicki. They live in Jacksonville, FL where he retired after several years of managing an automobile dealership there.
Joe is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Bob Lowrey. The family operated Lowrey Chevrolet in Many and also had the controlling interest in Sabine State Bank and Trust Co. at one time. It was a pleasure to see Joe and Vicki.
Don Murphy of Negreet is one of the most talented artists I know. Recently he visited and brought a beautiful pen-and-ink piece he made of a Native American. It is always a pleasure to see Donald and we appreciate his kindness in giving us some of his fabulous artwork.
$$$
Sales tax collection in Sabine Parish during September amounted to $1,932,684, which is $168,025.91 more than was collected in September 2018, according to Nolan Rivers, Sabine Tax Collector.
Total collected for the School Board was $743,424.11, representing $67,198.30 more than collected in 2018.
The Police Jury collected $374,000.70, which is $35,691.66 more than the previous year.
Collections for the Town of Many was $131,922.96, being $20,910.89 more than last year.
And the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office collected $278,784.16, representing an increase of $14,396.02 over last year.
“You can tell it is election time, since some of the roads are being dressed up and by that I mean, they want them to look good, but not to fix the problem.”
Thus wrote Kathy Isgitt of Many.
She related recently that Pump Station Rd. got graded and received “an attempt” to pull the ditches. Right in front of Warren Church white rock was dumped. Then, the area in front of the dumpster on Middle Creek Rd. was blacktopped.
She concluded: “What is so sad with the roads is that when the election is over, it will go back to very little being done. I suppose the jury members get well paid because when they get elected, they want to stay.”
Dr. Greg Lord and his family are all campaigning hard in the final days before this weekend’s vote as he works to become the next Dist. 24 Representative. “Your support and your prayers are appreciated as we come down the home stretch in this election,” Lord said.
“I am responsible and dedicated and I want to represent the people of District 24 in the Louisiana Legislature because I want a brighter future for my children and yours,” Lord stated. “I know I can make a difference!”
He has shared on the campaign trail recently that it is beneficial to serving the public and staying in touch locally to continue his profession as a doctor as he represents our district.
“Did you know that some of the most qualified Louisiana legislators have demanding professions back home?” Lord asked. As examples, he mentioned the following.
Sen. Fred Mills of Breaux Bridge, who was selected as “Legislator of the Year,” is a pharmacist who owns and operates his own pharmacy and serves as president for a local bank.
Rep. Lance Harris, often called the “most powerful” Republican in the House, owns and operates a chain of convenience stores in addition to serving in the Legislature.
Speaker of the House Taylor Barras is an accountant and banker in New Iberia.
There are more examples one could cite, but suffice to say, the Louisiana Legislature only meets for 8 weeks out of the year and Dr. Lord plans to use the remaining 44 weeks of each year to make sure he stays in touch with and meets the local needs of the people he is representing back home.
“Elect a working man!” Lord said. “Running a busy business back home helps our legislators stay in touch with working people,” he noted. During the eight weeks he would be at the Capitol, Lord says, “I have several other great providers working in my clinic, and my phone still works in Baton Rouge.”
Lord recently unveiled a number of solutions to address voters’ biggest concerns. Below are selected excerpts lifted from plans recently shared by Lord for Louisiana on Facebook. For the full text, please visit his page.
Roads & Bridges: “We don’t need more taxes – we actually need fewer taxes. So how do we improve roads and not raise taxes? It’s simple. Run the budget of the state like I run my own businesses – by getting our priorities in line. Stop building golf courses, sports complexes, etc. And, discontinue wasteful government contracts and spend the money on the roads.”
Healthcare: “As a physician, I see the disaster created by a Medicaid program filled with waste and abuse. If you qualify for Medicaid, you should get Medicaid. If you don’t qualify, you shouldn’t be receiving it! There’s also fat to be cut on what Medicaid actually funds and how it is administered. Medicaid fraud must be stopped!”
Education: “Our legislators continually complain about being 48th in the nation in education, but they do little to solve the problem. I have a plan – start by returning classroom authority to the teachers! Use technology to keep the parents informed. …inspire the kids by offering more dual credit classes while in high school for the trade professions, instead of only for the college bound kids.”
More Freedom, Less Government: “Politicians like to always find ways to spend more of your money on the things they want you to have – things that you have no interest in! Full-time politicians grow government. They line up readily with powerful PACs and are led around like a pig with a nose ring.”
Voting: “If you’re tired of the government wasting your money, please vote #75, Greg Lord, on Saturday, October 12.”
We think the good doctor makes a lot of sound points.
Congratulations to hometown hero Gary Dillon Matthews for his advancement to Petty Officer on the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf. Matthews’ ship deployed on April 1 of this year and will be home very soon. We salute Gary, who made the top score in his division, and all of our military personnel who fight the good fight to assure the freedoms we enjoy here in the U.S. Petty Officer Matthews is listed eighth from top in the right column of the Congratulations shown above.
The Many Community Center is going to the dogs this Saturday, Oct. 12.
That’s because it’s hosting a fundraiser for the Sabine Humane Society and the Sabine Parish Animal Shelter.
“A Dog’s Way Home” is the special movie they’re showing to raise money to help homeless dogs, and the movie is guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings. It starts at 7 p.m.
The PG movie is about abandoned animals, veterans with PTSC, a hero who adopts a motherless half-pit-bull puppy in a town where the pit bull breed is outlawed.
The dog, Bella, and her owner are devoted to one another, but somehow the two get painfully separated. And so Bella must make a difficult journey of over 400 miles, as she tries to find her way home to hopefully be reunited with her owner.
Along the way, Bella, who is played by a real dog, “adopts” a young cougar that has expressive eyes. The pair has to fend off wolves more than once.
“A Dog’s Way Home” serves up a one-to-two hankie finale that will leave your entire family happy with the ending.
There is no admission charge to see “A Dog’s Way Home,” but all donations are appreciated since the Sabine Animal Shelter needs funds to buy treats, blankets, towels, cleaning supplies, and especially toys for the dogs and cats who find themselves without homes and are residents of the animal shelter until they are, hopefully, adopted into loving homes.
There will be door prizes and the evening promises to be lots of fun for the entire family. You are encouraged to bring not only financial donations, but towels, blankets, treats and toys for the dogs and cats that live at the shelter.
A membership drive is also underway by the Sabine Humane Society and membership applications are going to be available at the Community Center.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and this Sunday, Oct. 13, is “Worship in Pink” at First United Methodist Church of Many. All breast cancer patients and survivors are invited to attend worship services at 10 a.m. Everyone attending church is encouraged to wear pink to show their support.
During the service, a short video will explain about the importance of supporting those who have breast cancer, and information about Pink Sisters of Sabine, a new local non-profit, will also be distributed.
The church is located at 1000 Main St. in Many. Worship services are from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
As of yesterday, my wife Laurie and I have been married thirteen years. As they say, “time flies when you’re having fun.” Seems like only a short time ago we were at Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, AR to make our vows.
I love to hear your ideas and thoughts for future articles. Please call me at (318) 332-8653 or write an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. To read Observations of the last year, please follow the pages below. To see older ones, please visit our Facebook page. To save, send or print this week’s column, click on the appropriate icon. Thanks for your faithful readership.
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