Team Cade benefit raises $36,000
This year’s Team Cade Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser
brought in $36,000. With a day full of events, food and fun, the community came
together in the name of one little boy, Cade Liles, to help raise funds to find
a cure for him. The winners for this year’s raffles include: ExMark: Don
Kennedy, Grill: Ken Farrell, Fish Fryer: Ron Payton, and Delta: Navdia
Washington. Pick up this week’s edition of The Guardian-Journal for more from
the fundraiser.
Councilwoman, chief hit standoff regarding records
request
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
One town council member and Homer Police
Chief Russell Mills came to a standoff regarding records she requested nearly
two months ago in the monthly meeting for the Town of Homer.
Town Councilwoman Linda Mozeke sent a letter
to Chief Mills on March 19 requesting several items from the chief, saying in
the meeting these records were for the purposes of the police department hiring
committee. In the letter, she requested certifications of all officers,
including the chief, training certifications of all officers including the
chief and the dispatcher, academic diplomas including high school, college,
technical college, etc., of all members of the Homer Police Department, yearly
clocked hours of all officers, the chief and dispatchers from 2008 until
present, hiring practices within the department, all disciplinary actions taken
with any officer from 2008 until present and special recognition of any
officers.
This request amounted to more than 1,800
pages of documents for roughly 20 officers that are still currently employed
with the department or have worked for the department in the last five years.
“Chief Mills and I have had several
conversations concerning this request,” Mozeke said, “and I do not have this
information. The reason I do not have this information is because he told me
that I have to pay $418 in order to receive the information. This was an
official request from a council member and also among the police hiring
committee, we are constantly asked if the police officer can be hired if we
don’t know the type of certifications the police officers already have. How do we
know what to look for in respect to employees?”
She said because she is a council member, she
does not have to pay for those requests.
“As a member of this council and as a member
of the police hiring committee, I don’t have to pay for anything that I request
from the chief of police,” she said. “I brought this to the council, so that
maybe if the council requests it, maybe I’ll get it.”
Chief Mills took issue with the request in that some of
the records she asked for are not public record. He perceived the letter he
received from her as a public records request, and as such, an invoice was
produced in order to pay for the cost of the records.
“As far as this request, I’ve gotten with the
city attorney and he told me not to give you the records nor the other lady the
records until he reviewed them to see what this was about,” Mills said. “He
reviewed the records; I told him it was a public records request. You are no
different than I. I paid over $500 at 25 cents per page. I’ve got your
documents. I got them within the 72 hours. If you’re telling me within 72
hours, that’s a public records request.
“I [have] the law that says what public
records are, and if you don’t want to pay for them, then you need to get them
from Lisa Foster (Homer Town Clerk),” he continued. “I’m the custodian of my
records. She’s the custodian of records for the Town of Homer. If nothing else,
we have to pay the copy machine (company) through the police department to copy
those pages, and I feel like what I told you and the mayor that if you
reimburse me for my public records, I’ll go get them right now.”
Mozeke said she wasn’t going to argue with him.
“I requested that information as a member of
this council,” she said. “You requested your records as a private citizen. I
have requested the information, and the only reason I haven’t [moved forward
with consideration of hiring a part time police officer] is because I don’t
know what we have already.”
However, The Guardian-Journal has obtained
copies of several of the public records request letters made by Chief Mills,
and he in fact, requested those records in his capacity as chief.
Mills said during the committee meetings,
he’s provided all the information asked for concerning the officer he wants to
hire. Mayor Alecia Smith read minutes from the May 3, 2010 meeting in which the
hiring committee was formed and what was to be given to the committee for
consideration. The discussion then turned into an argument over whether
background checks of police officers were public record, and according to
Mills’ attorney, Pam Breedlove, they are not. Discussion followed about whether
those background checks should be turned over to the hiring committee.
Breedlove said disciplinary actions are also
considered private record. Mills explained further that the part of the law the
mayor did not read says officers have the right to deny anyone from seeing his
or her disciplinary records. The officer also has the right, within one year,
if he hasn’t been written up, to have his disciplinary record cleared.
“Giving that information out to the public or
giving it out to a council member where it can be put out to the public is detrimental
to the police officer, and we do have a private rule on that,” Mills said. “Mr.
Patillo knows that and Ms. Breedlove knows that. Those things are private.”
District 3 Councilman Don McCalman spoke up
at that time, praising Mills for his thoroughness in presenting an applicant to
the hiring committee.
“Russell Mills provides us with detailed, [descriptive]
information on these prospective officers,” McCalman said. “We call them,
interview them, we get back with Chief Mills. We review the information he has
on them before we make the decision yea or nay. So, I think under the
circumstance, Homer is doing a good job of recruiting police officers.”
Even District 5 Councilwoman Patricia Jenkins
said she’d gotten information she requested from Chief Mills, but did say that
information is taken up after the meeting.
Town Attorney Marcus Patillo spoke up with regards to
disciplinary actions and background checks saying the question was whether it’s
still a “public” records request when it is asked for by the council or the
hiring committee.
“As a council person, or a person on the
police hiring committee, that is not a public records request,” he said. “As
the hiring committee, they do have the opportunity to review those officers
that are currently on right now. The council also has the authority to get rid
of officers.”
According to law, the council only has the
authority to terminate an officer at the recommendation of an elected police
chief.
Breedlove still hammered at the motion made
by Mozeke and seconded by District 2 Councilman Michael Wade to make the letter
sent to Chief Mills by Mozeke a request by the council instead of just the
individual. The motion puts Chief Mills in the position of violating officers’
rights by asking for the disciplinary actions, she said.
“The request is asking him to violate his
officers’ rights,” she said, “and if Russell turns them over, then that opens
the town up for suits by the officers for violating the Police Officers Bill of
Rights. The other issue is that the first time he talked to you (addressing
Attorney Patillo), it was a public records request, and now he’s being told
that he has to produce them anyway.”
“If she was requesting these records as an
individual, then it becomes a public records request,” Patillo answered. “Now,
if you need another letter to clarify that, the council can sit down and do
that if they want to, and that will clarify the whole issue.”
Mozeke said she wasn’t rewording or changing anything
about the motion, because she felt there was nothing in the motion that was
“unreasonable.”
“It’s interesting to me that every time
something is asked of Chief Mills, it becomes a big issue,” she said. “There is
nothing unreasonable in this request. You can take anything and make it what
you want it to be. When all this started, Chief Mills said he would work with this
council. He has not done anything to work with this council, and I would like
for the record to show that. I do not want to strike anything from this
request, because there is nothing in there that is unreasonable.”
The motion was passed, four to one, with
McCalman being the lone vote against.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Mills,
in short, said he has attempted to work with them by doing what was asked of
him by the mayor. He said he was told by the mayor to start bidding out car repairs,
and he did. Then the mayor told him he had to go to the town treasurer.
“Also, there’s a question about my POs
(purchase orders), so I can get my work done,” he said. “I bring it to the lady
up front and she gives me a PO. I’ve been taking it to the garage of my choice,
wherever it may be.”
On Monday, when the battery died in Sgt. Van
McDaniel’s patrol unit, two purchase orders were turned in -- one for $129.50
from McKenzie Bros. and one for $125 from Gordon’s Service Center. According to
Mills, the one for McKenzie Bros. was approved.
The same day, Mills turned in a PO for a
battery for his unit.
“I go see Lisa (Foster, Town Clerk) to get a
PO, because the lady that normally does my PO is not in, and Lisa gives me a
note that says the mayor said to hold my PO request for a battery,” Mills said. “I call
you because I see you walking out the door, and you said I had to go before my
review committee before I can get a battery. You approve Van’s but you held
mine. You approve one that’s $4.50 higher, but you tell me I need to save money.”
Earlier in the meeting, District 4
Councilwoman Carlette Sanford said it was time for everyone to start working
together for the Town of Homer.
“I think we need to have all the
information,” she said of Mozeke’s request, “but we have got to quit nit-picking
everything in the Town of Homer. United we stand, divided we fall. “Everybody
needs to help everybody get what they need. Let’s all get together and quit
nit-picking everything. Yes, I think we ought to have certain things, and in
May 2010, we passed this to have this (hiring committee). We’ve already got
this, and it’s kind of like having a rule and you don’t follow the rule. Let’s
get this thing together. Everything that Russell needs, let’s give it to him,
and everything that we need, let’s get it to us, because we’re not going to get
anywhere going the way we’re going.”
Mayor Smith and Chief Mills have been at odds
since February, when Mayor Smith attempted to disband the police department. An
injunction was filed by Chief Mills within hours of the council’s vote, and a
court hearing was held in March to that effect. The court decided in favor of
the police department, saying it had violated open meetings laws and the town
could not enforce the vote. Four days after the March hearing on the police department,
Chief Mills, in his capacity as a voter in the Town of Homer, also filed suit
against the town for attempting to do away with term limits for the mayor and
council members. That too was rendered unenforceable because they voted on that
improperly as well. In both cases, the judge ruled the town would have to pay
Chief Mills’ attorney’s fees and court costs associated with these two suits.
On Thursday, May 16, the chief and the mayor
will again go before a judge on an amended petition filed the day of the
injunction hearing because the council introduced an ordinance that, he
believed, would have slashed his budget to the point of making the police
department inoperable. In all three cases, the council has withdrawn its vote
before the hearing dates. However, the amended petition argues the council and
the mayor continue to violate not only open meetings laws but budgetary laws
with regards to the police department.
That hearing will be at 9:30 a.m., in the
Claiborne Parish Courthouse.
Questions arise regarding town’s healthcare coverage
The Guardian-Journal
Several employees of the Town of Homer just
recently learned they no longer have healthcare coverage -- and there’s still
some question as to whether it’s been reinstated.
In Monday night’s town council meeting, Linda
Dean, a former employee retired from the Town of Homer, approached the council
during the public comments portion of the meeting asking why her healthcare
plan had been terminated.
“This morning (Monday morning), my husband went
to get a prescription filled, which was a cholesterol medicine, and a blood
pressure prescription, and we were told that our insurance had been
terminated,” she said. “So, I called the town office and talked to Shenovia,
and she told me she didn’t know what happened, and she would look into it.”
She asked Shenovia if she would call her back
by noon and she said she would, according to Dean.
“I have yet to be called by anyone in the
office,” she said. “So I took it on my own to call the insurance company and
asked if my insurance had been terminated, and they said yes as of March 31. We
pay our premiums every month. My husband and I -- he’s under my insurance --
and we pay $822.09 a month. I paid it in April, our insurance was terminated in
March. Y’all took my money. Nobody has informed me that the insurance was
terminated, and it’s time to pay it again.”
Mayor Alecia Smith told her the insurance
premiums had been paid and she would look into it.
“I have a letter from human resources (at
Blue Cross Blue Shield), and our insurance is not cancelled,” Smith said. “As a
matter of act, we had an employee go to the doctor today and get a prescription
filled today.”
Dean countered that the person she spoke with
at the insurance company told her it had been cancelled as of March 31.
“I have the cancelled check, so we paid it,”
the mayor responded. “I don’t know who you spoke with, but I’ll get in contact
with [them].”
“I talked with someone today at Claiborne
Pharmacy, and they told me that our insurance was cancelled,” Dean said.
“Someone else said he checked his and his had been terminated.”
Mayor Smith asked if it was the new card or
the old one when another said his insurance had been cancelled as well. It was
the new card, he said.
“Three of us have been terminated, and we
talked to the insurance company, so I don’t know who y’all talked to other than
who we talked to,” Dean said.
“The matter has already been clarified,” the
mayor said forcefully. “They do have it and I don’t know what’s going on. I do
know that y’all (retirees) are in a separate group, and I’ll have to look at it
again in the morning.”
Lt. Roger Smith, a Homer Police Officer,
spoke up as well, saying he contacted the insurance company as well, and was
told his had been cancelled as of March 31.
With their permission, The Guardian-Journal
received three letters addressed to Chief Mills, Patsy Bailey and Roger Smith,
asking the company to verify their coverage. All the letters say the same
thing: “Our records indicate that your healthcare coverage effective date is
01/01/13 and cancellation date is 03/31/13. Your policy is currently inactive.”
The letters were dated Monday, May 7, 2013.
DWI checkpoint in Claiborne Parish this weekend
In an effort to combat impaired driving in
our area, Louisiana State Police Troops G and F will be joining forces with the
Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office to
conduct a multi-agency DWI checkpoint on Friday, May 10, 2013, from
approximately 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at an undisclosed location in Claiborne
Parish. Our mission will be to find and remove impaired drivers from the road
before they can cause injury or death to themselves or others.
Last year, Troop G investigated 27 fatal
crashes. Of those 27 crashes, 6 (22%) involved impaired drivers (alcohol and/or
drugs). Motorists are asked to remember to designate a sober driver before
traveling to any place where alcohol will be consumed. Drive sober or get
pulled over.
To report impaired drivers, motorists are
encouraged to dial *LSP (*577) from their cellular phone or to contact their
local law enforcement agency. Support for this checkpoint is provided by the
Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
Public records requests for water bill adjustments
received
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
In a follow-up to the story published in the
April 25 edition of The Guardian-Journal regarding the scrutiny of elected
officials’ water bills, this newspaper received the public records requests for
four adjustments made to Homer Mayor Alecia Smith’s bills in 2012 and this
year.
The explanations for those adjustments are as
follows:
• On January 26, 2012, an adjustment was made
to her account for $25.80 for sewer. The original amount for sewer was $38.70,
which put the new amount for sewer as $12.90. At the time, she was in arrears
of $174.27, making the new balance $148.47. The following day, January 27, she
made a payment of $100, which brought the balance down to $48.47.
The adjustment was made for the bill charged
on October 1, 2011. At that time, the charge amount for water was $50.40, sewer
$38.70, garbage $13.85, FMH (Sewer Fee) $6, and Safe Drinking Water Fee of 0, totaling
the $114.95 for the original bill.
The adjustment explanation was a “leak
adjustment.” In the documents requested, a plain sheet of paper states, “Please
let this letter serve as notice for repair for a leak at 686 West 4th Street
for the amount of $120.00.” A signature is affixed on this sheet, but the name
of the signer is unclear.
• On August 10, 2012, Mayor Smith’s bill was
adjusted again for $38.70, and $50.40, respectively. On the adjustment made for
$38.70, at the time, she was in arrears for $273.94, and the adjustment for
$50.40, she was in arrears $235.24.
The original bill amounts were $112.20 for
water, which was not adjusted, $87.45 for sewer, which was adjusted for $66.25,
bringing the new amount down to $21.20. The garbage fee of $14.85, sewer fee of
$7.50 and the water fee of $7.15 were all unadjusted on this bill.
The adjustment explanation was a “leak
adjustment.” According to the customer meter reading detail, handwritten on the
printout is billing error, which says, “Adjust to 13,000 gallons, $91.20
current, $93.64 arrears, with total due $184.84.”
The original consumption rate was listed as
31, but it was marked, and above it handwritten “13.”
Also handwritten is the breakdown of what it
all went from to what it went to. The water and sewer rates were adjusted from
$86.80 to $36.40 and $66.65 to $27.95, respectively. Those adjustments brought
the bill down by $50.40 and $38.70, for a total of $66.25.
• The final adjustment was made on April 5 of
this year, with the reason for billing adjustment as a “billing error.” The
adjustment was made for the March bill, which was originally $229.15. The
breakdown is as follows: water $112.20, sewer $87.45, garbage $14.85, FMH
$7.50, water fee $7.15 and safe drinking water fee at 0.
In the documents requested, a page copied
shows a question asked, “Could you please check for a leak?” and above it, a
handwritten note, initialed by “J.A.” on April 16, says, “Looks like she may
have a slow leak.”
According to Mayor Smith in an article
published in The Haynesville News on April 25, she has had several problems
with her meter “that caused me to have an outrageous bill.” According to the
customer financial detail, the only time the actual water bill portion was
adjusted was on August 10, 2012. The other adjustment listed above were only
for the sewer charges. The customer financial summary shows a steady rise in
her balances from August 2012 to April 22, 2013, when the balance of $749.58
was paid in full.
The town’s customer utility accounts policies
states that “all billing adjustments must be clearly documented on a Customer
Billing Adjustment Request Form and evidence the written approval of the mayor and/or
treasurer. And this was done with all the adjustments listed above.
According to William “Rusty” Reeves, deputy
director of the Louisiana Rural Water Association, most municipalities have
policies in place to ensure meters are being read correctly and that they are
working properly.
“Most systems have put a policy in place so
that you see that your meter is not registering correctly, then you can request
that the system have it pulled and have it tested,” he said. “For these systems
that have this policy in place, there is a fee involved. If the meter is pulled
and is tested and the meter is okay or if the meter is slow, you pay a fee. You
pay to have the meter pulled. If the meter is over-registering, the water
district or system does not charge you the fee and they adjust your bill
according to the consumption for what they feel would have been your average
consumption.
“One reason most of them have that policy in
place (is), if not, they would be pulling meters almost every week if somebody
thought their water bill was not correct,” he continued. “There has been a
meter or two that reads fast, but the majority of them actually slow down over
time. You better make sure your plumbing is good before you holler about the
meter.”
And, Reeves said, the Louisiana State
Constitution prohibits the adjustments of water bills.
“The water belongs to the municipality,” he
said. “If it’s the fault of the water system, then they can adjust it, like if
the meter is misread. If the meter was misread, they can go back and read the
meter again and go back and adjust it. Or if the meter was faulty.”
So, when does the leak or issue become the
town’s responsibility and when is it the homeowner’s responsibility?
“The system’s responsibility in a
municipality or a public district stops at the meter,” he said. “The
municipality cannot go past the water meter because that becomes private piping
to the house. The water district, or the municipality, is not allowed to work
on private plumbing.”
Simply put, if the issue is on the road side
of the meter, then it’s the town’s problem. If it’s on the yard side of the
meter, it’s the homeowner’s problem.
He referred to several Attorney General’s
Opinions which cite the law governing utilities. According to Opinion No.
03-0155, written May 1, 2003to then Arcadia Mayor Eugene Smith by then-Attorney
General Richard P. Ieyoub, “A municipality may not adjust a water bill when
there is no such evidence, because to do so would be tantamount to a donation
of public funds, which is expressly prohibited by Article 7, Section 14 of the
Louisiana Constitution.”
He emphasized that a bill “should only be
adjusted if the leak was caused by the Town.”
The specific revised statute cited was R.S.
33:404.
Again, in November 2005, Opinion No. 05-0319,
for Rapides Parish Waterworks District No. 3, it states, “A water district is
authorized to implement a credit policy/adjustment for water leaks only in
instances where the damage was not the fault of a customer and the customer
documents the repair prior to receiving an adjustment.”
The town is in the process of getting new
electronic meters, which will improve the accuracy of reading meters. This also
means water department employees will not have to physically read meters
anymore, because the readings are sent directly to the town office, ensuring
accuracy. Water department employees will be free to work on other necessary
projects and duties for the town.
The new meters come as part of a grant and
loan from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality totaling $3.5
million.
Historically, the town has suffered many
problems due to aging water infrastructure. In fact, water still runs through
clay pipes in some areas of town. The water department has spent a good bit of
time in the past effectively “chasing leaks” in its system.
The Town of Homer’s rates are as follows:
• Inside city water (residential and
commercial): $3.40 per 1,000 gallons
• Outside city water (residential and
commercial): $4.80 per 1,000 gallons
• Sewer (residential and commercial: $2.65
per 1,000 gallons
• Outside sewer (residential and commercial):
$5 per 1,000 gallons
Basic fees include:
• Water Inside (residential): $7.15
• Water Outside (residential): $8.15
• Water Inside (commercial): $10.15
• Water Outside (commercial): $12.15
• Sewer Inside (residential): $7.50
• Sewer Outside (residential): $8.50
• Sewer Inside (commercial): $10.50
• Sewer Outside (commercial): $12.50
Also charged on the bills is garbage
collection fees set at $14.85 for curbside and $21.55 for backdoor service.
Potluck @ the Fair May 10
The third annual “Potluck @ the Fair”
fundraiser will be held Friday, May 10, 2013 at the Claiborne Parish Fair
Complex in Haynesville.
Tickets to the event are $20 each. They can
be purchased from any CAC member, at Haynesville City Hall, Killgore’s
Pharmacy, Carla Smith’s Cut and Curl, and from Jackie Roberts at the
Haynesville News Office in Homer.
This year’s event will begin at 6 p.m. with a
“potluck” dinner featuring a wide, delicious variety of foods prepared by the
great cooks of our town and area. During and following the dinner, a silent
auction will be held with many great items to bid on.
The silent auction will start at 6 p.m. and
close at 7:30 p.m. Then starts the evening’s entertainment. We are pleased to
have the talented “Lisemby Family Gospel Group” from New Eddinburg, Ark., as
our guest entertainers this year.
This family-oriented event will be once again
sponsored by the Town of Haynesville’s Citizens Advisory Committee and the
Haynesville Beautification Committee.
Call Keith Killgore at 318-624-1122 for more
information. Food and silent auction inquiries should be made to Linda Knox at
318-624-1606.
All ticket purchases, donations and
contributions are tax deductible and appreciated. You do not have to cook or
bring any kind of food to attend! If you would like to prepare a dish, please
contact Linda Knox at 318-624-1606.
