Yo Quiero Taco Bell

This video has been making the rounds on social media. What makes it interesting is that it is based in Shreveport/Bossier. 

As one commenter on the video said, it is like robbing a bank to steal a roll of nickels.

Another couple of commenters on Facebook said that he had gone in and paid for the food, but no verification on that. I hope it's just a prank, the guy can obviously afford a meal from Taco Bell.

What do you think?

Language warning.

Clerk of Court Candidate Monica Hudson

Monica Hudson, Victim Advocate for the Bossier Parish District Attorney, has announced her candidacy for the Bossier Parish Clerk of Court. She is a lifelong resident of Bossier Parish and earned an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Bossier Parish Community College.  She continued her education and earned a B.A. from Minot State University. 

Hudson began her career in August 1982 with the Bossier Parish Clerk of Courts Office and continued with that office until May 1990.  Her duties there included: running Mortgage Certificates for sheriff’s sales, lenders, and the general public, issuing marriage licenses, assisting in the indexing of Mortgage and Conveyance records, microfilming mortgage and conveyance records, typing court minutes for civil and criminal cases, and training COE workers.

Hudson worked for The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for three years after leaving the Clerk of Courts Office.  At the FDIC she started in the file room and within three months moved to records management where she handled released mortgage notes and cancelled them at the various clerks offices.  She also maintained a data base with all closed files.  She then moved to Asset Management Department and performed various special projects as well as ordering appraisals, insurance, asset lien searches, and credit reports. She paid bills and re-inscribed mortgages at the clerk’s offices.  One year later she was promoted to the job of energy technician for the site.  There she wrote and implemented procedures for the oil and gas department and prepared monthly reports for upper management.  Her duties also included tracking all oil and gas revenue and expenses, keeping up with all accounts receivable and accounts payable records on each oil and gas asset, and researching and issuing division orders. 

Hudson’s experience also includes having been a legal secretary and paralegal for attorneys which involved the preparation of legal documents and filing them in the parish and federal clerks offices. 

Still employed at the Bossier Parish District Attorney’s Office, she began her career there in the incoming area and was quickly moved to the misdemeanor department where she worked cases and assisted attorneys with legal documentation,

subpoenas, motions, discoveries as well as other legal documentation. Her duties also included working with attorneys in trial preparation. 

Hudson has been the victim advocate for the past 12 years of her 15 years she has been employed in the District Attorney’s Office. She works with victims of crime ranging from domestic violence, sexual assault, robbery, and murder cases just to name a few. She works with attorneys in trial preparation and obtains certified medical records when needed. She assists victims in obtaining counseling and restitution. She assisted Representative Billy Montgomery in writing legislation to assist victims in obtaining restraining orders. She accompanies victims to court, prepares legal documents, and helps with statistical data for grants.

She is civic minded and has served as president on several non-profit boards. Her unique combination of career experiences has provided her with insight into the functioning of the Clerk of Courts Office as well as providing insight into needed enhancements to the services it offers by implementing streamlined procedures that increase efficiency. Her first priority is to ensure the integrity of the records as they are reported and expand currently limited online documents. She will begin to work backwards from 1982 to the present microfilming documents so all documents will be online. Another enhancement to services will be the ability to pay for services using debit or credit cards. She believes that a satellite office in Bossier is long over-due. She intends to save taxpayers money by making cuts in the budget without cutting services. She plans to expand technology and add more forms on the website. She will seek legislation to help with making e-filing a reality. She will seek grants to expand services for victims. She intends to implement records management procedures that will ensure a suit does not get lost or sit on a desk too long. In addition, she will have a transparent office and an open door policy. She will implement procedures tol meet attorney’s needs in 24 hour filing.

She is a Notary Public and with more than 27 years of legal experience. She wants to serve you. She is for the people and would like you to Hire Her for your Clerk of Court.

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.

A Different Kind of Election

I’ve been deliberately holding off but it’s time to get busy. It’s election year, and a lot of offices are up for grabs.

Today I want to talk about the race for Bossier Parish Clerk of Court. A lot of people are a little unclear as to the duties of the Clerk of Court and they are manifold. This is one office that will definitely affect you if you live in Bossier Parish.

Do you vote? The Clerk of Court is the chief election official for the Parish. The Clerk is responsible for making sure those precincts are staffed and equipped, that they operate as prescribed by law for the hours prescribed. The clerk also tallies the totals to report to the Secretary of State.

Own property? Your deed and mortgage are recorded with the Clerk. The office has all property records from the inception of the parish in 1843, so the Clerk is also an archivist.

Getting married? Guess who issues your marriage license.

Getting Divorced? Guess where you file that lawsuit.

Need a Protective Order to deal with an abusive household member? You go to the Clerk of Court to get it in motion.

Criminal cases, ditto. Staffing each Civil and Criminal Courtroom and issuing subpoenas? The Clerk’s office.

Been summoned to serve on a jury? That too.

It goes on and on, and there is a lot of responsibility involved. My esteemed friend Marty Carlson had an article in the Bossier Press Tribune that also enumerates some of these duties. Marty is of the opinion that experience is a prerequisite to the office, and thus the title of this blog post. It is a different kind of election.

Before I get into it, please understand that I do not know at this point who I will support. This is a heads up election with three people whose qualifications are pretty well matched. In the past, this was a hand-me-down office. Since the 1930’s, in fact, the person elected had experience in that office.

Wilna Mabry was Chief Deputy to Mrs. Broussard, who was elected after her husband, the Clerk, passed away. By the time Miss Mabry ran for Clerk, she had decades of experience and had served for years as Chief Deputy.

Joan Carraway succeeded Wilna Mabry. Mrs. Carraway had decades of experience and had served for years as Chief Deputy.

Cindy Johnston, our current Clerk, ditto. Decades of experience in the office and years as Chief Deputy.

This is where the chain ends. There are three announced candidates for the office, and they are all good, capable people.

Cindy Johnston, for whatever reason, would not appoint a Chief. The current Chief Deputy, Jill Sessions, was just appointed in February at the time that Mrs. Johnston announced her retirement. She only has 8 years with the office, and has served in limited capacities, so it is not the level of experience that people have expected in the past.

Monica Hudson, who currently works for DA Schuyler Marvin as a victim’s rights advocate, also has almost 8 years experience with the Clerk of Court’s office, albeit in the past. She worked in the mortgage/conveyance end of it, and in the Civil and Criminal Departments.

The third candidate, Jimmy Franklin, is an attorney. He knows the functions of the Clerk’s office.

The experience that counts comes from the 35 deputy clerks who work in the office. For the most part, they are capable and some have the decades of experience that really does matter. These are the people who will make a new Clerk, whomever is chosen, a success.

I’ll be going into a lot more detail on the candidates, as well as candidates for the other offices that are in play, as time progresses.  In the meantime, I’ll keep an open mind. I hope you will too.
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.