Thursday, November 27, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Schuyler Marvin re-elected
Schuyler Marvin was re-elected to another 6 year term today by a heavy Webster Parish vote.
Total Vote:
Marvin - 23,791
Graves - 21,215
Webster Parish:
Marvin - 8,835
Graves - 4,315
Bossier Parish:
Marvin - 14,956
Graves - 16,900
Remember what I relayed last week about the tail wagging the dog? Yeah, that just happened.
Lo Walker came out with an endorsement for Marvin. It appears that he has longer coattails in Webster Parish than in Bossier.
Jim Whitman was easily elected Bossier City Marshal, carrying 70% of the vote.
Foster Campbell had an easy ride back to his seat on the Public Service Commission.
In the School Board races, Eric Newman had a landslide win over incumbent Eddy Ray Presley.
Frank Kelly won over Tammy Armer Smith, 2,123 votes to 2,087.
Onward and Upward folks!
Total Vote:
Marvin - 23,791
Graves - 21,215
Webster Parish:
Marvin - 8,835
Graves - 4,315
Bossier Parish:
Marvin - 14,956
Graves - 16,900
Remember what I relayed last week about the tail wagging the dog? Yeah, that just happened.
Lo Walker came out with an endorsement for Marvin. It appears that he has longer coattails in Webster Parish than in Bossier.
Jim Whitman was easily elected Bossier City Marshal, carrying 70% of the vote.
Foster Campbell had an easy ride back to his seat on the Public Service Commission.
In the School Board races, Eric Newman had a landslide win over incumbent Eddy Ray Presley.
Frank Kelly won over Tammy Armer Smith, 2,123 votes to 2,087.
Onward and Upward folks!
Monday, November 3, 2014
Frank Kelly - School Board District 3
Frank
Kelly, Current District 3 Bossier School Board Member
And Candidate for Re-election
When District 3 voters first elected me last year I ran
on the principles of transparency, accountability, and fiscal conservatism.
My opponent likes to talk about her 8 year record on the
Board. I examined her record. I have campaigned only on the issues, my
qualifications and my opponent's record.
Some of her supporters think I have been 'mudslinging' when I point out
my opponent's actions and record. Every School Board member's actions and
voting record should be transparent and we should all be able to discuss them
and we should hold them accountable.
This is how I differ from my opponent:
1. She ran as a
Democrat twice in District 4 which is 40% Democratic, 35% Republican. She became a Republican to run in District 3
which is 53% Republican. I have been a
Republican since I was 18.
2. She voted twice
for the Superintendent's $50,000 pay raise and the $1,000 per month car
allowance: on 8/13/13 in the Finance Committee and at the School Board meeting
on 8/15/13. Two problems with the raise:
1). It came at a time when no employee had a raise in 6 years. We should take care of employees before
management. 2). In my opinion, the
$50,000 raise and $1,000 per month car allowance are excessive.
3. She always
votes with the Superintendent and Administration (3 exceptions in 8 years 5/1/08,
4/15/10, and 5/3/12). Our Government and
our school system need Checks and Balances.
Only the School Board provides oversight of the Administration. I have opposed the Administration 3 times in
my first 8 months.
4. She voted for a
resolution to expand Pre-K in public schools.
This means sending 4 year olds to school. I voted against this. There is credible research that shows gains
achieved in Pre-K are lost by the 4th grade.
Adding Pre-K in Bossier would add about 2,000 4 year olds. That would require about 100 more teachers
($7m) and about 100 new classrooms ($45m).
Furthermore, Louisiana's Dept of Education has already developed
educational standards for kids ages 0-4.
Once a new 'grade' is established for 4 year olds, what do you think is
next? 3 year olds and so on.
5. She voted for
the SRO Agreement on June 5, 2014. I voted against it. I did not vote against school security, SROs,
the SRO program, or the Sheriff. In my
opinion, the Board and the Administration should have prepared a better
agreement to send to the Sheriff. The
agreement is poorly written and doesn't specify what the Board will get for the
$2.5 million we are paying. My vote was
to protect the Board and the taxpayers.
See the agreement and my letter on my web site: www.Re-ElectFrankKelly.com
6. She was President of the Board in 2012 when the Board
purchased 33 acres on Benton Road. The
adjoining land is owned by BBS Properties LLC-a commercial real estate
development company. My opponent's
husband is an owner of BBS and my opponent is an officer of the company, BBS. What do you think happens to the value of
land when the School Board buys 33 acres next to the land? Do you think BBS benefitted from her actions
on the Board?
I have confined my campaign to the issues, my
qualifications, and my opponent's record.
Furthermore, I have researched the issues and most of the documentation (deeds,
Financial Disclosure statements, etc.) is available for your review on the home
page of my web site www.Re-ElectFrankKelly.com
If you are a candidate for office and would like to address the voters with your platform for office, please send a few paragraphs to mybossier@gmail.com and we will publish it. Attach a picture if you like and we’ll include it.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Predictions Anyone?
Tuesday is election day, and while there are very few people who are undecided at this point, the candidates are pulling out all of the stops in order to get their message out until the very last moment.
I'm neither an expert nor a prophet (unless my predictions turn out to be true and then I'll claim both titles). This is how I see several of the elections, just based on what I've observed and on discussions I have had with a number of people. Please post your opinions and predictions in the comments section.
School Board
Three seats are in play.
District 3: Incumbent Tammy Armer Smith was redistricted out of her District 4 seat and is running against incumbent Frank Kelly for the District 3 seat. It's an unusual situation, but I believe that Tammy has the edge.
Winner: Tammy Armer Smith
District 4: The seat being vacated by Tammy is being contested by three people, Richard Phipps II, Elizabeth Foster and Bill Lott. It appears that all are good candidates, but I don't have enough input or intuition to make a call in this one.
District 9: Incumbent Eddy Ray Presley is being challenged by Eric Newman. This one had possibilities, Presley offended a lot of people last year with his remarks about 'the morons in South Bossier'. With lawsuits and a lot of talk about bullying in South Bossier schools, this could have given Newman a platform to work with. From what I can tell, he hasn't taken advantage of it and appears to be a 'me too' candidate.
Winner: Eddy Presley
Bossier City Marshal
Will the Fox get into the Henhouse? Carl Wayne Richard is making another run for the office, this time against Marshal's Captain Jim Whitman. In the beginning, I would have given Richard the edge simply because of name recognition. Whitman, who was not that well known, has introduced himself and presented himself well to the public. Considering that he has some powerful backing, and that Richard has some baggage, I think Whitman has caught up.
Winner: Jim Whitman
District Attorney
This is a fascinating campaign. When Whit Graves first announced, he knew it was an uphill battle. At that time I would have predicted that incumbent Schuyler Marvin would carry 60% of the vote, but there are a couple of things that factor into the race. First, this is a two-parish Judicial District, consisting of Bossier and Webster Parishes. Webster Parish, where Schuyler is from, comprises about 20% of the District. Bossier, where Graves lives, is 80%. As one person who is very familiar with the system and with both of the candidates observed, at some point the tail will stop wagging the dog. It is an interesting dynamic and one that might come into play. Second, Graves has run an aggressive campaign, and from the people I've talked to, has drawn points with his attacks on the DA's Investigator, who was convicted of a misdemeanor in the past. (I apologize for originally calling this a felony, it wasn't).
This same investigator was a close friend of confessed killer and convicted robber Larry Thompson. This has caused concern to a number of people that I have heard from and sent that race into topsy-turvy mode.
Winner: Too close to call
Shreveport Mayor's Race
A small part of Shreveport is in Bossier Parish, certainly not enough to make a difference in this election. I am only posting this because at this point I'm glad that I don't live in Shreveport and glad that I don't have to deal with it.
This race has taken a very ugly turn, with accusations of mental disabilities and a 50 year old domestic abuse/murder case coming into play.
I look forward to election night and seeing what the results are. As I said in the beginning of this post, I would love to see how you all see things. Please comment.
I'm neither an expert nor a prophet (unless my predictions turn out to be true and then I'll claim both titles). This is how I see several of the elections, just based on what I've observed and on discussions I have had with a number of people. Please post your opinions and predictions in the comments section.
School Board
Three seats are in play.
District 3: Incumbent Tammy Armer Smith was redistricted out of her District 4 seat and is running against incumbent Frank Kelly for the District 3 seat. It's an unusual situation, but I believe that Tammy has the edge.
Winner: Tammy Armer Smith
District 4: The seat being vacated by Tammy is being contested by three people, Richard Phipps II, Elizabeth Foster and Bill Lott. It appears that all are good candidates, but I don't have enough input or intuition to make a call in this one.
District 9: Incumbent Eddy Ray Presley is being challenged by Eric Newman. This one had possibilities, Presley offended a lot of people last year with his remarks about 'the morons in South Bossier'. With lawsuits and a lot of talk about bullying in South Bossier schools, this could have given Newman a platform to work with. From what I can tell, he hasn't taken advantage of it and appears to be a 'me too' candidate.
Winner: Eddy Presley
Bossier City Marshal
Will the Fox get into the Henhouse? Carl Wayne Richard is making another run for the office, this time against Marshal's Captain Jim Whitman. In the beginning, I would have given Richard the edge simply because of name recognition. Whitman, who was not that well known, has introduced himself and presented himself well to the public. Considering that he has some powerful backing, and that Richard has some baggage, I think Whitman has caught up.
Winner: Jim Whitman
District Attorney
This is a fascinating campaign. When Whit Graves first announced, he knew it was an uphill battle. At that time I would have predicted that incumbent Schuyler Marvin would carry 60% of the vote, but there are a couple of things that factor into the race. First, this is a two-parish Judicial District, consisting of Bossier and Webster Parishes. Webster Parish, where Schuyler is from, comprises about 20% of the District. Bossier, where Graves lives, is 80%. As one person who is very familiar with the system and with both of the candidates observed, at some point the tail will stop wagging the dog. It is an interesting dynamic and one that might come into play. Second, Graves has run an aggressive campaign, and from the people I've talked to, has drawn points with his attacks on the DA's Investigator, who was convicted of a misdemeanor in the past. (I apologize for originally calling this a felony, it wasn't).
This same investigator was a close friend of confessed killer and convicted robber Larry Thompson. This has caused concern to a number of people that I have heard from and sent that race into topsy-turvy mode.
Winner: Too close to call
Shreveport Mayor's Race
A small part of Shreveport is in Bossier Parish, certainly not enough to make a difference in this election. I am only posting this because at this point I'm glad that I don't live in Shreveport and glad that I don't have to deal with it.
This race has taken a very ugly turn, with accusations of mental disabilities and a 50 year old domestic abuse/murder case coming into play.
I look forward to election night and seeing what the results are. As I said in the beginning of this post, I would love to see how you all see things. Please comment.
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