Bobby Edmiston for Tax Assessor

I said that I might be making an endorsement, so consider this the first one.

Bobby Edmiston is a lifelong resident of Bossier Parish and a graduate of Airline High School. He has a BA from Louisiana Tech University. Bobby has been Bossier’s Tax Assessor since 1998.

I like Bobby, he does a good job running the Assessor’s office. He has also served his country in the National Guard for years, and was deployed in 2010. He’s a nice guy.

Let’s remove the elephant in the room before we proceed. Bobby got a DWI ticket earlier this year. If guilty, he used terrible judgment in driving while he was drinking. At worst, he could be described as an occasional social drinker. The case hasn’t gone to trial yet, and he has the capable counsel of H. Lyn Lawrence, Jr. If he is found guilty, he will be sentenced. For a 1^st DWI that would likely be a fairly hefty fine and some probation, and he would serve it. He was not serving in an official capacity at the time of the alleged offense.

In summary, he has served for the last 17 years and discharged his duties well. He also discharged his duties to our country in honorable fashion.

He wants to keep his job. I believe that he should. I have no reservations in urging your support of Bobby Edmiston for another term as Bossier Parish Tax Assessor.
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.

Council says farewell to Jones, Hanisee

Tommy Harvey was sworn in to replace Larry Hanisee on the Bossier City Council. Harvey replaces Hanisee on his 2nd attempt at the office. Hanisee served previously and was elected the last time to fill the term of Chubby Knight. I have every confidence that Councilman Harvey will serve his consituents well.
Jeff Free has some big shoes to fill. He replaces David Jones, who decided to step down after 16 years. I believe he will do well.
Bossier City is all about growth and infrastructure, and the council has done the job. There have been criticisms for some individual projects, but on the whole the city is not only keeping up, but is ahead of the curve.
David Jones has been a key player in infrastructure, probably more so than any other individual council member. He also fought hard to keep Public Safety funded at a good level, and tried to get raises for unclassified city employees. Well deserved raises, by the way.
He deserves a thank you from the citizens of Bossier City for a job well done.
I'm not ignoring Larry Hanisee, he also deserves thanks for serving, he just didn't have the time to achieve very much in this abbreviated term.
It hasn't been all roses and rainbows, however. What I consider to be the council's biggest mistake was the Walker Place debacle. I think it could have worked out early and amicably, but pride and egos got involved and it ended up in a (pardon my language) pissing contest that the council was destined to lose. Maybe if faced with a similar situation in the future, the council will act in a more prudent manner. 
As Kenny Rogers said, 'you have to know when to hold them, and know when to fold them'.
Overall, the City is in good hands.

Two Caddo ADA's resign

Looks like a political staredown in Caddo Parish between Sheriff Steve Prator and DA Charles Rex Scott ended today when Scott blinked.
Top prosecutors Hugo Holland and Lea Hall have apparently resigned in lieu of being fired over the acquisition of surplus weapons. 
Both were accused of not being truthful on an application for the weapons, an application which Scott himself signed.
Wonder where two seasoned prosecutors could find a job in the area? 
Hey Schuyler . . . . 
Story from KTBS

City Council will investigate payroll problems

The Bossier City Council voted today to launch an investigation into the Fire Department payroll situation.
David Montgomery was authorized to employ Cook & Morehart CPA's to look into the problems.
According to a Times article:
The firm will be tasked to establish if the city legally owes the firefighters money; determine if redundancy in payroll preparation exists; identify liabilities; and supply recommendations on procedural changes that need to be instituted to employee the best common business practices, among other things.
The underpayment, which the city administration has estimated at $614,000, was brought up by Councilman Don Williams two weeks ago when he asked that it be put on the council agenda for that day.
It takes a unanimous vote to add it to the agenda, and Council members Tim Larkin and Larry Hanisee objected, so it was postponed.
Hopefully we'll have more information soon on how long this process will take. We will also try to find out what the council plans to do in the meantime to advance the investigation.

The City Payroll and the Inconvenient Truth

I’ve been doing a little digging trying to find out what the payroll situation is at City Hall that could have led to some of the problems that they have been having.
First, to define the problem.
In 2008 the City Council voted to give firemen a $400 raise to put them on par with the Police Department. There are Civil Service requirements to consider when calculating these raises.
Louisiana RS 33:1992 says:

• (1) A fireman shall receive a minimum monthly salary of four hundred dollars per month.
• (2) Engineers shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than ten percent above that of a fireman.
• (3) Lieutenants shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than fifteen percent above that of a fireman.
• (4) Captains shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than twenty-five percent above that of a fireman.
• (5) Battalion chiefs and district chiefs shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than forty percent above that of a fireman.
• (6) Assistant chiefs and deputy chiefs shall receive a minimum monthly salary of not less than fifty percent above that of a fireman.

The City administration is alleging that former Fire Chief Sammy Halphen ordered the payroll clerk to make the raise $400 across the board for everyone.
Now it would seem that calculating raises and payroll should be the bailiwick of the city’s Finance Director, but apparently the Fire Department has a payroll clerk who does the calculations.
As I understand it, each station keeps a log of each employees time and after it is verified by a ranking fire official, it is turned over to the payroll clerk. She then forwards the information to Finance Director Joe Buffington’s office, where the checks are cut.
I’m not sure of the procedure in the Police Department, but from what I can tell each division turns in the time for their employees. I’m not sure if they actually figure the payroll or not.
This is a huge, screaming gap in the system.
An approved raise is implemented as approved by the council, is incorrectly input into the payroll system, all with no oversight whatsoever.
Payroll is sent to the Finance Director for the checks with no verification or oversight at all.
KPMG comes in regularly and audits, but apparently doesn’t even look at payroll.
Don Williams, David Montgomery and David Jones are expected to be appointed by the council to oversee an independent professional to oversee an accounting of what is actually owed.
Sean Green has a good account of the whole affair in the Bossier Press-Tribune.
The inconvenient truth of the matter is that, whether or not Sammy Halphen incorrectly implemented the raise, there are a lot of people who should have been double checking and making sure that everything was done properly. You know the old saying, when you are pointing a finger, you have three pointing back at yourself.
I think that trying to blame it all on Sammy Halphen is about as phony as Milli-Vanilli.

Bossier City Firemen underpaid $1,000,000+ since 2008

A controversy was stirred up at last Tuesday's City Council meeting when Councilman Don Williams asked for an investigation into the fire department payroll.  Williams had been approached by several firemen who reported discrepencies in their pay since 2008.
The council voted no but agreed to take the matter up after next Tuesday's regular meeting.
Yesterday, it was announced that the special meeting dealing with the pay issue had been cancelled.  I was told it was due to a couple of people not being able to attend next week.
After talking to a couple of people, I have been able to learn that the problem arose in the way the 2008 pay raise was implemented.  Civil Service has strict rules regulating the way it is to be handled and apparently these rules weren't followed, resulting in short checks for virtually the entire department.
I was told by one source that the amount being looked at is over $800,000, and by another source that it is more likely between $1,200,000 & $1,400,000.
I have also learned that Mayor Lo Walker plans to ask the council for $700,000 at next week's meeting.
Depending on the amount that is finally determined, that might well be short of the total due.
This brings a lot of questions, not the least of which is why the City was not aware of the rules governing pay.
It also raises the same question that the incorrect report of Deputy Sheriff's income last year.
That question is, doesn't anyone double-check and assure that things are being done properly?  Isn't the city audited?  If so, why wasn't this caught?
if not, why not?
I'll have more next week as this begins to flesh out.

Bossier Councilman questions Fire Department payroll

Councilman Don Williams offered a resolution at Tuesday’s meeting of the Bossier City Council to investigate discrepancies in firemen’s pay from 2008 to the present time.
The resolution was defeated, but a special meeting will be held after the next regular meeting. Meanwhile, city officials are looking into the charges.
Williams wasn’t specific as to details, but said that several firemen had approached him about the problem.
This brings to mind last August, when Max Fletcher had to be paid $41,000 in overtime which the city had failed to pay for a three year period.
It also brings to mind the fiasco with the Sheriff’s tax reporting, where taxes were incorrectly withheld for a number of years.
I have no idea what the situation is, but if one employee had to be paid $41,000 for three years of incorrect payroll, it is scary to think of the cost if employees of the Fire Department have indeed been underpaid.
We’ll stay on top of this and hopefully have some more facts next week.

Bossier Deputies deserve better

I have been trying to understand exactly what happened in the "under-withholding" that the sheriff reported, and the ensuing confusion over repayment to the IRS.
The official explanations were as clear as mud, and in fact misleading.
Nothing was "under-withheld". Income was incorrectly reported on Sheriff’s employees pay stubs and W-2’s for 10 years. Ten years until an employee looked at her pay stub and realized that it was incorrect.
Ten years without, apparently, any oversight that would have caught this error.
From what I am able to gather from people in the know, the sheriff agreed in 2002 to start paying 2% that employees had been paying toward retirement. The problem was, that although the sheriff paid the retirement system, employees’ pay still reflected that 2% as deferred income, rather than as taxable income. The result of this, of course, was that when these employees filed their yearly return, the income they reported was actually lower than it should have been.
The IRS only has records, according to the sheriff, for the last 3 years. The cumulative total of what is owed for 2008, 2009 and 2010, and I would assume that this would include interest and penalties, is $689,000.
Employees were given the option to pay their share by December 5^th, or alternately to have 2% deducted from their pay until it is paid. This, supposedly, was part of an agreement reached with the IRS. How it will be credited to each individual employee, I have no idea. Why the sheriff couldn’t just issue corrected W-2’s and let each employee deal with it at tax time, I have no idea.
Of course, to add insult to injury in a manner that only Larry Deen could come up with, was his ‘joking’ statement to deputies that their paycheck would have a bonus included. Just joking.
Wow.
Oh, and they won’t get that raise next year. Although they are paying their part of the money owed, someone has to pay the interest and penalties. That will be offset by deputies not receiving a raise.
Meanwhile, Larry Deen is sitting on almost half a million dollars in unused campaign contributions. The law closely governs how he can disburse that money to certain non-profit and charitable donations.
Shame he can’t donate it to the Sheriff’s office or to a non-profit set up for that purpose, and relieve the employees of about 2/3 of their burden.

Sheriff’s ‘computer formula error’ raises questions

An error in the sheriff’s payroll computer system is causing all sorts of problems, some of which are a little hard to understand.
The error in computing taxes caused Federal & State taxes to be withheld at an improper, lower rate, than required. Employees are being required to kick in the difference for their 2011 taxes.
The question I have regards the (quoting from the times) ‘taxes owed from 2008 thru 2010’.
Haven’t the individual employees filed their tax returns for those years and paid any taxes owed, or in some cases, received less of a refund than they otherwise would have received?
How can the sheriff owe $689,000 to the IRS or to the State for ‘taxes’ for a three year period when those taxes have already been paid by the employees?
What is the $689,000 for?
We will get into this more next week.
And So it Goes in Shreveport
The Times

Bossier City Building Maintenance Part I

KTBS has a good story up on the Bossier City Building maintenance brouhaha. In case you are not familiar with it, according to the article “Discrepancies have surfaced of three employees not being paid tens of thousands of dollars worth of overtime. Building maintenance director Charles DuBois has resigned and the city has agreed to pay the employees.”
That is bad enough in itself, but it appears to just be sympomatic of an endemic problem in the department. The City website describes the department thusly:
Department of Building Maintenance
This department is responsible for, but not limited to, in-house repair, renovation and maintenance of city owned buildings and other approved facilities. DBM also does the grounds keeping for the Municipal Complex and Civic Center.
This department employs electricians, heating and air conditioning technicians, carpenters, maintenance mechanics, laborers, locksmiths, and clerical personnel to meet the City's needs.
Yet despite having 6 full time employees and a budget of 1.8 million dollars, the city has already spend $200,000 this year on outside contractors.
District 3 councilman Don Williams has proposed that the city consider privatizing the entire department.
The mayor said that it is ‘too early’ to comment and that this would have to be covered in the budget talks this fall.
I contacted Councilman Williams and asked him just two questions:
1. Do you think the council will get behind you on this proposal?
2. In addition to increasing efficiency, do you think that the city would save money through privatization?
This was his response:
“I really believe this will get some traction by the council. I will start talking to other council members about going ahead and sending out RFP's so we can have an idea of contractor cost before the budget starts and then we can make an informed decision. I think we could definitely save anywhere from $500,000 to 1 million dollars a year. I have some ideas already on how to approach this situation.
I know the average person changes light bulbs in their house, unplugs toilets, fixes leaking faucets or changes toilets seats. I know I do everything I can to save a buck. This was the kind of stuff the city was paying contractors to do. As you can see I truly believe what I'm doing is the right thing. Not saying it will happen because I'm still looking into it and will do what's best for the city, but I will guarantee there will be changes in that department.
Really, if the Mayor would pull his head out of the sand and look at what is going on and take care of business, things like this would not occur.”
You will notice that I titled this ‘Part I’. The reason for that is simple; as this develops, for every question answered five more pop up. I am planning to look deep into the background of this situation and see how it was allowed to develop to the point that it has.
I’ll have more soon.

Police presence at Louisiana Boardwalk Part 2

In December I did a blog post on the police presence at the Boardwalk.
The blog post went into the question of Bossier City providing regularly assigned officers to assist private security.
It appears that is about to change.  Effective July 10th, according to my sources, the officers will be reassigned to street duty and only one full time officer, a sergeant, will be assigned to the Boardwalk as a liaison officer.  Other officers, of course, will be available for backup as needed, as they would in any other situation.
I'm told that members of the city council suggested the change in order to get more officers on patrol in the city.
I'm also told that John Good has a meeting scheduled with Mayor Walker to discuss the situation.  Obviously, from what I hear, he is not a happy camper.
My information is from a couple of second hand sources.  As with most announcements that come out on a Friday, particularly on a three day weekend, it is difficult to verify until the following week.  That's why they release it on Friday.
I will attempt to verify this and get complete information on Tuesday.

Adley: Good governance or revenge?

State Senator Robert Adley says that he has citizens who are concerned because, apparently, there is a law that says that in areas of the state not governed by a home rule charter (that would include Bossier and Webster), the District Attorney is to serve as General Counsel to the parish school board and governing authority.

Patrick Jackson, however, serves as the Parish Attorney for both the Bossier and Webster Police Juries, and as attorney for the Bossier School Board. According to Adley, if Jackson is paid by these bodies to represent them, then they are in violation of the law.

The law says that these bodies may hire ‘Special Counsel’ only after a resolution that is passed by the appropriate body and approved by the attorney general. Adley says that this has not been done.

He introduced SB 174 to remedy the situation. Of course, he didn’t actually name Patrick Jackson as the problem he was addressing, but it is obvious, particularly after the bill was amended to make the new law applicable only to the 26th JDC, comprising Bossier and Webster Parishes.

26th JDC District Attorney Schuyler Marvin appeared at a hearing of the Judiciary C committee on Tuesday to oppose the bill.

Evodna Springer has a vlog on the NWLTPA website discussing the bill, and has a link to the hearing.
One of the problems appears to be defining what constitutes ‘general counsel’ as opposed to ‘special counsel’. An example given would be that special counsel are always hired to deal with bond issues and the like. This could use some clarification.
Although Adley has served in the Senate since first being elected in 2003, apparently he has just recently had constituents approach him who are concerned at the way that the law is being carried out, and particularly that their only recourse seems to be to complain to the DA.
The question that comes to mind, of course, is whether Adley has suddenly become aware of this situation, or whether he has become aware of it only since Patrick Jackson’s father, Richey Jackson, has announced his intention to run against Adley for the 36th District seat?

Richey Jackson

Richey Jackson, a retired educator, currently serves as truancy officer for – you got it – the 26th JDC District Attorney.

Whether a good bill or a bad bill is up to the reader to decide. This blog post isn't intended to influence one way or the other.  Rather I am just looking at the political ramifications of what is happening, whether Adley’s motive is good governance or revenge against the Jackson family and the DA.

I didn't have much trouble coming to a conclusion.

Wakeup call to Bossier City Police Department

I won’t give a bunch of links to the stories and editorials, I think everyone is aware of the situation which arose about the Bossier City Police Department giving out what they called ‘misinformation’ about the suspected triple killer in the Bill Norris shooting case.
The police spokesman, Mark Natale, told the press that they were looking for a hispanic or dark skinned caucasian, when in fact they already had a suspect, Gerald Needham. The reason ultimately given for their misleading information was that they did not want Needham to know that they were considering him a suspect.
I have mixed feelings about this. First, I’m not in favor of the police lying in any case, for any reason. I don’t believe that the government or any agency thereof has the right to lie to the people, even with good intentions.  It's a very slippery slope.
That being said, they weren’t lying to cover up something nefarious, such as the New Orleans PD did in the case of the people who were murdered by police on the bridge after Katrina.
I understand their reasoning, but personally I believe that if you have to lie, even a white lie, it is probably better to say nothing.
The attention that this is getting should be a wake-up call to the police department. Some local media people are very unhappy about this, and I can’t say that I blame them. They do try to assist the police by putting word out on major cases, and when they find that what they have been reporting to the people isn’t true, it is gives them pause and makes them doubt any future information.
I’m not outraged at this, or even terribly upset. I believe that it was a case of bad judgment, well intentioned. 
Hopefully the next time they are tempted to do this they will realize that it is a matter of principle that they be completely honest with the people they serve. The Bossier City Police Department has a great amount of goodwill and support from the people of the city, and they don’t need to do anything to jeopardize it.

Wrap Up on EMS, Duxie Scott and Sammy Halphen

Here is the most complete recap I can offer into the dealings of the EMS Board of Commisioners and the Police Jury concerning the hiring of Sammy Halphen and the subsequent resignation of Duxie Scott as Director.
Board Vice-President Robert Berry gave the Police Jury a list of charges against Scott which you can view here.
Board President David Brian and Berry resigned their positions, and the Police Jury asked the remaining three board members for their resignations. An interim board made up of five Police Jurors was appointed to act in the meantime.
The Police Jury obtained the services of attorney Price Barker to investigate the charges. This is a summary of the results of Barker’s investigation.

The Allegations
New Areas of Concern
1. Biloxi Trip: March 15 – March 17, 2011 Southern Regional EMS Conference. Concern was that Scott paid for Duke Scott’s room and meals. The City of Bossier City has since reimbursed Bossier Parish EMS for the room, and Duke Scott has reimbursed the meals.
2. Also on the Biloxi trip, alcoholic beverages were purchased with meals and charged to the card.
3. $40 ad in the Press Tribune for Meschelle White on Administrative Assistant’s day.
4. Paid for flowers for his mother-in-law’s funeral in April using the credit card.
5. Credit card usage by Richard Gray, a mechanic employed by Bossier Parish EMS with no explanation as to what was purchased. Charges were $57.69 at Sears in Bossier and $479.98 at Best Buy in Bossier.
6. The credit card was also charge for $45 at a Dallas hotel and a $140 charge on PayPal.
Charges made by Mr. Berry
Unauthorized Raises
1. Unauthorized Raises included an 11% raise for Richard Gray, bringing his bi-weekly pay from $2,430.30 to $2,703.91.
2. A 6% raise for Ronnie Hall, bringing his bi-weekly pay from $2,497.63 to $2,647.59.
3. A 6% raise for Stephen Braidwood, bringing his bi-weekly pay from $2,430.46 to $2,579.07.
4. A 101% raise for Stephen McManus from $1,315.97 to $2,658.25. McManus went from part-time to full-time. Mr. Barker says that this was not approved by the board, but it was at least discussed in one meeting, according to the minutes.
The individuals received the raises for 4 pay periods from January thru March, at which time they were rescinded.
Mr. Barker says that Scott’s actions in giving the raises was inconsistent with the authority given to the Board to set the EMS budget every year.
Duxie Scott says that raises never required approval of the board previously, that the board set his salary and the budget. He, as director, set the salaries of employees and as long as payroll was within the budgeted amount, this was considered to be board approval.
Questionable Hiring
1. Mr. Scott hired two mechanics, Richard Gray and David Ham. Richard Gray is paid $59,494 and David Ham $22,439. The report notes that there is no evidence that either of these mechanics is certified. Another concern is that David Ham is a convicted felon.
2. Meschelle White was employed as an EMT and later as a paramedic. After an ankle injury in 2009, she was brought into the office to do secretarial work. Mrs. White’s salary is $48,188. The secretary who preceded Mrs. White was hired at $26,250. There is no documentation that says that Mrs. White can no longer work as a paramedic, so the question is why she is being paid a paramedic’s salary to do office work if she is capable of doing the paramedic job.
3. This appears to be at odds with past practices, where background checks have been run and applicants refused because of convictions. David Ham is Meschelle White’s son.
4. The report notes that in March 2009, the Louisiana Ethics Board fined Superior Motorsports and Auto Repair LLC for doing $19,199.32 in business with the EMS board. Superior is owned by the wife of Duxie Scott’s brother. The company paid a $2,500 fine. The board noted that Duxie Scott was not in violation because he did not make the decisions as to where to send the vehicles for work and maintenance.
5. It has also been reported that there were ethics violations due to nepotism. There are no records dealing with this, however, because ethics complaints are not public record. One of the individuals named was Duke Scott (Duxie Scott Jr, who is currently on the BCFD). The finding of the ethics board in this case was released by the Scott family, and shows that no violation occurred.
Missing Construction Material
1. Questions were raised regarding metal roofing materials that were allegedly missing from the yard of the EMS facility on Shed Road. They were materials from the temporary roof that was placed on the building after the tornado. The materials have been found, but the question raised in the report is why weren’t they sold for scrap rather than just being hauled away.
Purchases
1. In late 2010 a new ambulance was purchased. The report states that questions have arisen about the bidding process, but doesn’t elaborate. The generator on the ambulance was upgraded, but the old one was not turned in for credit. Richard Gray stated that he likes to keep extra generators around. He did admit that he used the old generator in constructing a deck at his church. Gray also returned some items that he said he was storing at this house. The report says that this brings into question the supervision of EMS equipment by Director Scott.
That concludes the information from the report.

The Conclusion
The board met on May 11 and accepted Duxie Scott's resignation.
Evodna Springer addressed the board in the meeting and noted in her statement that “It was as if you did major surgery on a problem that needed only a bandage.” You can read her entire statement here.
It was announced last December that Sammy Halphen would be accepting the job of Homeland Security Director for Bossier Parish. Nothing I write here is a reflection on Halphen in any way, he is a highly qualified professional.
Peggy Hayes addressed the board at the meeting yesterday, and asked about allegations made by a previous board member in a special meeting that was held in March. The former board member said that the board was ordered to hire Halphen.

Halphen was hired to replace Duxie Scott. Bill Altimus said as much in the video above. He came to work for the parish as Homeland Security Director, but his pay was to be $65,000 from the EMS Board and $15,000 supplement from the parish. The EMS board was charged monthly for his salary as a consultant.
In the meantime, all of the above charges and investigation played out and Duxie Scott offered his resignation. It was certain that he would have been terminated at the May 11th meeting had he not done so.
Bill Altimus said that the EMS Board came to him about hiring Halphen, and that it was done at their behest. He stated that at no time did the police jury order the EMS Board to hire him.
I have been unable to find any minutes of a meeting where the Board authorized anyone to approach Halphen and offer him the position. Perhaps I have just missed it, if someone can point me to them I would be appreciative.
I think the biggest puzzle in the whole thing is why the EMS Board or the Police Jury, since they thought they had cause, did not just terminate Scott and replace him with Halphen at the first of the year, as that was clearly their stated intention. Had they just done it in that straightforward manner, they could have accomplished their goal without all of the fanfare and brouhaha that resulted.

City council to address street maintenance questions

David Jones

The Times has a good article this morning about streets in Bossier City, and the situation being faced by some residents who have discovered that their street is their expense.
Streets in subdivisions, if they are not dedicated to the city, are the responsibility of homeowners.
In practical terms, this means that if your street needs repairs or paving, guess who has to pay for it? Not the city.
Very few people, when buying a house, would even think to check to see if the streets were dedicated. It’s just not on people’s radar.
Bossier City Council President David Jones said "I know by the letter of the law we're supposed to tell them tough luck, but I don't know if that's the right answer on this," he told the council.
Jones proposes that no more private streets be built in the city, and agreed with Councilman Scott Irwin that the city conduct a study to see how many private streets exist in the city limits and how the city can address the problems.
Hopefully, there won’t be too many and the city can move to help the homeowners.
Read the Article in The Times

Zagone, McWilliams were both good appointments

The blog post I put up about Brad Zagone being appointed fire chief was hijacked by commenters talking about the Masons.  That's okay, I let the comments flow pretty freely, and sometimes a blog ends up being about something entirely different than the subject that was posted.
In this case I want to clarify what I think.
I believe Mayor Walker made good appointments both in the police department with Shane McWilliams and in the Fire Department with Zagone.
Both are younger men and from what I can tell, very dedicated to their professsion.  I don't think that they qualify as part of a 'good old boys' network.
Kudos to Mayor Walker on both of these key appointments.

Why the City Council special election must wait until October

Several people have asked me why the special election for Bossier City Councilman couldn't be held in the election on April 2nd.  Here is the law regarding that.

RS 18:402

E. Special elections to fill newly created office or vacancy in office. An election to fill a newly created office or vacancy in an existing office, except the office of state legislator or representative in congress, shall be held on the dates fixed by the appropriate authority in the proclamation ordering a special election as follows:
(1) A special primary election shall be held on the first of the following days that is not less than eleven weeks after the date on which the proclamation calling the special primary election was issued:
(a) The second to last Saturday in October, when the special general election is held on the fourth Saturday after the second to last Saturday in October.
(b) The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, when the special general election is held on the first Saturday in December.
(c) The first Saturday in April, when the special general election is held on the fourth Saturday after the first Saturday in April or on the second or third Saturday in February during the presidential election year, if the statewide presidential preference primary election is scheduled on the second or third Saturday in February of the presidential election year; however, commencing in 1986 and every fourth year thereafter, this date shall not be applicable in a parish containing a municipality with a population of four hundred seventy-five thousand or more.
(d) The third Saturday in October, when the special general election is held on the fourth Saturday after the third Saturday in October of 1985 and every fourth year thereafter.
(e) The first Saturday in February of an election year for parish and municipal officers in a parish containing a municipality with a population of four hundred seventy-five thousand or more.
(2) A special general election shall be held on one of the following days:
(a) The fourth Saturday after the second to last Saturday in October of 1983 and every fourth year thereafter.
(b) The first Saturday in December of even-numbered years.
(c) The fourth Saturday after the first Saturday in April of any year unless the primary election is held on the second or third Saturday in February; in such case the general election shall be held on the fourth Saturday after the second or third Saturday in February, as the case may be; however commencing in 1986 and every fourth year thereafter, this date shall not be applicable in a parish containing a municipality with a population of four hundred seventy-five thousand or more.
(d) The fourth Saturday after the third Saturday in October of 1985 and every fourth year thereafter.
(e) The fourth Saturday after the first Saturday in February in a parish containing a municipality with a population of four hundred seventy-five thousand or more, when the special primary election in such parish and municipality is held on the first Saturday in February of an election year for parish and municipal officers.
(3) The secretary of state shall not include the name of any candidate on any ballot for a special election to fill a vacancy in any office to which this Subsection is applicable unless such special election has been called in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection and scheduled on one of the dates provided herein. Any elector who is eligible to vote in any such special election may apply for injunctive relief to prohibit the placing of the name of any candidate in an improperly called election on the ballot. Venue for such application shall be in any parish in which the election is called, and the secretary of state shall be the proper party defendant.

Sammy Wyatt: I love Bossier City!

Sam Wyatt held his formal announcement for the office of City Marshal on Wednesday.  Here are excerpts dealing with his experience and qualifications.

While on the Bossier City Police Department, I continued to pursue (a) higher level of education to prepare myself for the future by obtaining an Associate of Criminal Justice Degree at Bossier Parish Community College in August 2002, a Bachelor of Criminal Justice Degree at Louisiana State University at Shreveport in December 2003, and Master of Business Administration Degree (M.B.A.) at Centenary College of Louisiana in May 2008.

In 1992 I started my law enforcement career at the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office after serving in the U.S. Navy. In 1993 I had the honor of joining the Bossier City Police Department, which is one of the proudest moments of my life. During my career with the police department, I served in several different divisions / units including S.W.A.T., Patrol, Special Investigations, Crime Stoppers, and Criminal Investigations. I also served as the supervisor over the Vice Unit, Crime Stoppers, DWI Task Force, and Evening Patrol Shift. While assigned to Criminal Investigations Division, I served almost 9 years as an investigator in the Juvenile Unit investigating 1311 cases of crimes against children such as homicide, physical and sexual child abuse, child neglect, child pornography, and the sexual exploitation of children. My passion has always been “protecting those who cannot protect themselves.”
During my career with the Bossier City Police Department I was honored with several awards which include the Unit Citation from the Chief of Police in 1994, 1998, 1999, and 2001; Investigator of the Year in 1999 and 2004; the Clyde “Hoppy” Pearson Award for Educational Achievement in 2002; and the Meritorious Service Award in 2002.
In 2006 I was elected to serve as a Trustee on the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System Board of Directors, a 1.6 billion dollar retirement system made up of over 10,000 retired and active police officers. In 2009, I was elected by the members of the board of directors to serve as the boards Vice President.

Sheriff settles suit for $160,000

Robert Clay Hilman was a thirty year old deputy with the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s office at the time of his death in 2008.
A suit was filed against the Sheriff and several named deputies in 2009 by his wife, Kim Hilman, on behalf of Hilman’s two minor children. I’m not including the names of the deputies involved because it is not necessary to do so.
The suit alleged that:
• Hilman had been suffering from depression over the death of his mother, and was taking Effexor, an anti-depressant that had been prescribed.
• On January 30, 2008, a deputy was called by Hilman’s wife. The deputy called Hilman who said that ‘he was going to kill himself’ if his wife didn’t confess to an alleged affair. He also admitted that he was drinking for the first time in six weeks. The deputy did not report the suicide threats to BPSO and did not call Bossier Parish EMS to check Hilman.
• An EMS employee, who was on duty for Bossier Parish EMS, received a phone call from another BPEMS employee who was a friend of Hilman’s. According to the other EMS employee, Hilman had told her that ‘he had the house barricaded and it’s over’.
• Several deputies went to the house and observed that it was barricaded by a tractor against the front door with a chain attached between the bucket of the tractor and the front door. The back door was barricaded by a four-wheeler with the winch cable attached to the door knob. This meant that neither the front nor back door could be opened by ordinary means.
• The deputies contacted Hilman by phone and he came out through the garage to talk to them. Hilman told them that he was ‘sick’ and he had barricaded the door to keep his wife out of the house. The suit goes on to say that the deputies were aware that he was an abuser of alcohol who had been drinking. The deputies, after consulting with their superiors, decided that if ‘he would go stay with someone or have someone stay with him’ that they would leave and check on him later in the day, rather than taking him into custody or calling EMS. The deputies got a neighbor to come stay with him, but they did not mention the suicide threats. The neighbor subsequently left the home.
These were some, but not all, of the allegations detailed in the suit.
What is fact is that in the early hours of January 31, 2009, Hilman shot and killed himself with his department issued firearm.
The suit was filed by Shreveport attorney Kenneth Craig Smith, Jr.
The firm of Cook, Yancey, King and Galloway initially represented the defendants in the case, but in October of 2009 they withdrew and the firm of Tutt, Stroud & McKay took over the case.
There was no activity noted on the suit until December 23, 2010 when the plaintiffs accepted a settlement of $160,000 from the defendants; $80,000 for each child.
I take no pleasure at all in writing this, but I do feel that the people have a right to know what is going on with their elected officials, the good, the bad and the tragic.

Seaton Sacked

I didn't rush into this one because I thought it was better to wait until more information was available.
Now it appears that Shreveport Assistant CAO Rick Seaton did indeed engage in sexual acts with an 18 year old high school student from Georgia who was in town for the Independence Bowl.
In the mayor's office, on the mayor's sofa.  She later called police and told them that she had been raped. Mayor Glover fired Seaton.
The girl apparently was at the game where her boyfriend was arrested for creating a disturbance.  Seaton heard her trying to get money to bail out her boyfriend, and since she didn't want to ride the shuttle bus downtown, he gave her a ride.
Shreveport police will complete their investigation and determine whether charges should be brought against Seaton.
What was he thinking?
The story is also hitting the media in other states, as well as throughout Louisiana.  AP and CNN have picked it up.

Georgia Daily News

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WXIA Atlanta

WBIR – Knoxville