Friday, March 30, 2012

Bossier City Councilman Tim Larkin's gift from Mayor Glover

by Elliott Stonecipher
Let me say something from the jump: the reader must suspend disbelief to read and understand this piece. It is very difficult to believe. In fact, if this one doesn’t anger you pretty seriously, then you know something about how government is supposed to work in America that I don’t, and I hope you’ll share it with me.
Armed, now, with documents obtained in a Public Records Request to the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development (LA DOTD), we revisit and reconsider a key 3132 Extension issue from last summer:
How was Tim Larkin able to design and engineer the road from his bridge into Flournoy-Lucas Rd. on city-owned land? (MAP)
[For readers who may not remember these incredible facts, read my June 7, 2011 original article on this subject: “The 16 acres Shreveporters own right where the 3132 extension must begin … and the surprise ‘Benefactor’ who cleared it for us.”]
This 16-acre tract of land was bought by Shreveport taxpayers in 1999 after we approved and set aside $3,500,000 for such 3132 Extension purposes in a 1996 bond issue.
As incredible as it seems, Tim Larkin was able to somehow “secure” his private use of the tract for the building of his Esplanade road into Flournoy-Lucas at its intersection with 3132.
When I, in a public meeting last summer, asked Mayor Cedric Glover if he / the City of Shreveport gave Larkin a permit to clear a portion of that tract, he said — into the public record — that the clearing was so the City could install “water lines.”
Now, from the Coalition’s latest PRR, we have a brand new document — the second item — which is a diagram from Larkin, submitted to LA DOTD in January of last year, clearly showing the northern end of his Esplanade road passing through the city taxpayer-owned land. In the circled area, at the top-right of map/diagram, that portion of Larkin’s road is passing through the city-owned 16-acres, inside its bolded, western boundary.
Let’s remember, this was submitted to LA DOTD on January 18, 2011, months before the April 7, 2011 NLCOG meeting in which the 3132 Extension was killed by Mayor Cedric Glover, Larkin and various accomplices, most notably NLCOG:
Larkin had not purchased / did not own the land, Larkin had not leased the land,the City Council, NLCOG, MPC, DOTD, etc., etc., etc., did not so much object, even privately, to such use of the land, yet when he was stopped by a storm of public awareness and reaction, Larkin was days away from building a road through the land owned at the time by Shreveport taxpayers, dead into the 3132 terminus with Flournoy-Lucas.
Let’s also remember:
what you’ve viewed is a public document, in the LA DOTD record, but never produced by anyone in city government for public review and consideration, even after the entire, sordid affair broke into the public’s awareness, and the Coalition has been researching and working on the matter for nearly a year.
Let’s finally remember:
all of Larkin’s protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, the diagram shows the streets and cul-de-sacs to be used in his building-out with houses on the 36.99-acre tract largely surrounding the 16-acre tract. This is the 36.99 acres we the people were promised would be “preserved for the 3132 route” when Tony Janca succeeded in its rezoning in 2005, then turned around and sold it — with no official objection of any kind — to Larkin in 2007.
Ladies and gentlemen, what’s going on around here will have real difficulty getting any more bizarre, incredible, ludicrous and outside the law than it is. Anyone care to guess how many supposed laws and other regulations are violated in such a good ’ol boy, insider’s dream deal?! Anyone care to guess how many public officials had to be in on this deal?
Perhaps the worst of this news is
… no one in officialdom — Shreveport officials, Caddo Parish officials, state or federal officials, etc. — has lifted even one single finger to do anything about any of this.
For those who didn’t attend the LSU-S public hearing about this outrage last May, it is more and more notable that it began with those of us in attendance being warned by Councilmen Jenkins and Corbin not to bring up anything about the issue from the past. Thank Goodness — wayward taxpaying children we are clearly viewed to be — we have refused to drink their fact-, truth- and accountability-killing poison.
Does anyone doubt — now — why our loud pleas for a full investigation by the City into this foul enterprise elicited no response?
Forward Now
Elliott Stonecipher
Elliott Stonecipher’s reports, essays and commentaries are written strictly in the public interest. No compensation of any kind has been solicited, offered or accepted for this work.

11 comments:

  1. The word on the street is big ced was given a lot in larkin's new neiborhood

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nothing in Caddo Parish real estate records to indicate that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nobody is listening because Stoncipher is widely viewed as a nut. If his claims are legit, he is a tainted messenger.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unethical dealings involving a Bossier Politican? Never happen. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Can't comment. But I just MUST subscribe.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have been very critical of our city government. Especially when it comes to our Mayor and City Attorney. To be fair however, in this case, I don't believe Larkin did anything wrong. I believe he went through the proper procedures and if there was a violation it would be at Shreveport City Hall. Larkin has attended every meeting and has very open about the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Don't know if I blame Larkin, he was in it for the money. I think the question is was the Shreveport people in it for money too? Some strange happenings here.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eliot is suffering from pure envy in every sense of the word. He begged bossier to hire him to challenge the census and challenge the congressional redistricting - in that lunch where he begged that he be hired at Kobe steakhouse - he promoted bossier as the most progressive entity in Louisiana - and that it was the envy of all local governments - of course the self important boob was not hired - then he started on a personal vendetta to vilify everyone that would not hire him - much like John settle and artis cash - they seek publicity for their own self aggrandizement - although Eliot has the ability to convince people that the world is flat - he is constantly reminded of his own personal failures everytime he brushes his teeth

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for the enlightening opinion , it will be duly noted.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 12:59 is right on spot on that one. That was not the first sales call he made at Bossier and was told "no thank you."

    ReplyDelete
  11. My reply is not about Larkins trouble, but about BCs trouble. I just heard that sewer rates are going up AGAIN. I WROTE YOUR MAYOR WHO IS OVER DUE TO OCCUPY HIS ROCKING CHAIR, LAST TIME RATES WENT UP AND HE SAID " you just don't understand how government works. Yes I do. Government needs money and government takes it from my pocket. I left Bossier after living there over 40 years. My utility bill is anywhere from 18 to 22 dollars monthly. How does that compare with BCs utility bill.

    ReplyDelete

Rules of the road:
1. No personal attacks or insults.
2. No accustory statements about wrongdoing or criminal acts against anyone.
3. Say all you want about the pros and cons concerning the candidates and the issues, or the general subject of the blog post, just follow Rule #1 and Rule #2.