Former Haynesville Town Clerk Goes Free
Again
Marilyn Bush free on $15,000 bond,
District Attorney to appeal latest
ruling
As of Monday, July 16, former Haynesville Town Clerk
Marilyn Bush is a free woman – again. Second Judicial District Court Judge
Jimmy Teat signed a judgment granting post-conviction relief and allowing Bush
to post $15,000 bond. The 10-year sentence imposed on Bush has been dropped,
placing her case at pre-trial status.
The judgment was ordered following an application for
post conviction relief based on three constitutional violations. The
application states that these violations as “(1) violation of due process
rights resulting from an impermissible conflict perpetuated by the district
attorney’s office; (2) ineffective assistance of counsel; and (3) trial court
error by participating in plea negotiations and failing to consider the
sentencing guidelines as required by La. C.Cr.P. Art. 894.1.”
“I respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and we
will again appeal the judgment, and see if another court upholds or reverses
the decision,” said District Attorney Walter May. “It is the position of the
district attorney’s office that the sentence was legal and proper. The DA’s
office believes that the original sentence should not have been modified.”
Legal Battle Ends Over Homer’s Finances
By Michelle Bates, Editor,
The Guardian-Journal
A case has finally come to a close for the Town of Homer.
During their regular monthly meeting, council members voted to pay the legal
bills of Attorney Bobby Culpepper in regards to the case of Billy Kirk versus
the Town of Homer and First Guaranty Bank. “What we had was roughly a $2,000
bill to pay, which I feel should have been paid,” said Homer Mayor David
Newell. “Had it been a seriously contested issue, I think the Town of Homer
would have been ordered to pay it.”
The legal bill Newell is referring to stems from the
attorney Kirk hired to stop former Mayor Huey Dean from depleting the town’s
funds to pay down a long-term debt owed to the USDA Rural Development.
According to town records, in September 2006, the town owed more than $2
million in long-term debt. Dean called the Louisiana Municipal Association and
the State Attorney General’s Office to find out the legality of using some of
the surplus funds to pay off a portion of this debt.
At Dean’s request, Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Carlos Martin reviewed the town’s finances and identified approximately
$390,000 from the general funds and approximately $454,000 in restricted
sinking and reserve funds could be used. He also identified roughly $208,000
from Industrial Funds to the add to the approximate $850,000.
“There’s nothing brought to me,” the former city attorney
said. “I’m not told about anything, but at that November (2006) meeting, they
voted to spend roughly $1 million on long-term debt. I had seen the town’s
financials, and I’d seen the account that was over-drafted by $300,000, and I
was concerned.”
When Newell found out what the council had voted to do,
he personally went to Dean and told him that there were legal avenues
concerning what the council had voted to do. Newell said Dean basically
ignored his recommendations -- recommendations written in a letter stating the
requirements of spending this money -- and had the checks written and mailed
anyway.
“I’m stumped at this time, because my issues were not
political at the time,” Newell said. “I’m not trying to get on Mr. Dean because
I believe he had the Town of Homer at heart and I believe he can legitimately
argue that paying down the long-term debt is a good thing for the Town of
Homer. But, for me to make that kind of decision, I’d want to go to the
experts. And that’s what I did.”
Once the checks were mailed, Kirk, town councilman at the
time, hired Culpepper and filed suit against the town, stating it had violated
several laws leading town government and laws violated under the Open Meetings
and Public Records Statutes, stating that “the citizens be advised of and aware
of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that
go into the making of public policy.”
The suit went on to say, “that the statement that the
Town Council would ‘Discuss Town Debt’ does not in any manner inform the public
that they are considering depleting all reserve funds in the Town, depleting
all available cash, using restricted funds, and spending outside the Town of
Homer budget, adopted at the beginning of the year.
“That the Town Council voted to pay $1,052,000.00 on the
Town of Homer Long-Term Debt without notice to the public,” the suit continued,
“without amending the budget, without consulting the City Attorney about the
legalities of this, and without the approval of the Town CPA, Carlos Martin,
the Town Engineer, James A. Hagan Jr., and without submitting the matter to the
Town of Homer Finance Committee.”
The suit also asked for an injunction and restraining
order to stop First Guaranty Bank from honoring the specific check written.
Also, according to the suit, a lien had been placed on
the Town of Homer by McInnis Brothers Construction, and the Enterprise Fund
(the sewer and water account) was left with a negative balance of approximately
$264,000.
On November 22, a court order was issued placing a
restraining order on First Guaranty Bank from honoring the check mailed to the
USDA Rural Development. A restraining order was also placed on the former mayor
and the council keeping them from allowing the bank to honor the check.
“This is why I’m saying that if that (the suit) had gone
through and the judge had made a ruling on it, I think the town would have been
ordered to pay his legal fees,” he said. “He was following my legal opinions
and he was following the CPA’s opinion, and he was also following the town
engineer’s opinion. There was no expert dealing with the town that was
supporting it.”
Culpepper went to the town and told them that if they
would not honor the check and keep the funds where they were supposed to be,
then he would drop the suit, Newell said. The suit was dropped the the check
was not cashed.
“The mayor set about doing it legally,” Newell said, “but
it was too big a burden. The town’s finances are like a huge ship rolling. You
can make minor modifications, but you can’t make the decision to pull $1
million out of the town and leave an account over-drafted for $300,000 and
think that’s going to be beneficial to the town, because it’s not.”
That means that Dean and the councilmen paid the monthly
loan notes that were supposed to be paid, and the money Martin identified as
surplus was reverted back to their respective accounts.
Newell said he’s glad the whole thing is over because
there was no doubt that it was not properly handled, and the town didn’t have
to spend that kind of money for attorney fees in the first place.
The amount of Culpepper’s bill was roughly $1,800. The
amount of the bill the town’s attorney sent was approximately $16,000 to
$17,000.
“He didn’t have to do any legal research,” newell said of
the town’s attorney. “All he had to do was read the statutes. he should have
gone to the town and told them they were in the wrong, but he did not do that
until after they went to court.”
Newell listed other charges by the attorney that he
thought the town should not have had to pay but did anyway.
He also said the former mayor’s heart was in the right
place, he just went about it all wrong.
U.S. Representative Visits Homer
To Kickoff Campaign For Senate District
33
By Michelle Bates, Editor,
The Guardian-Journal
Representative Mike Walsworth stopped in Homer on
Wednesday, July 11, to announce his candidacy for Senate District 13, and
officially begin his campaign.
He stopped during his busy schedule for a short interview
with The Guardian-Journal. In the interview, he said that he’s tired of the way
things are going for Louisiana now. Walsworth is running for State Senate
because the Senate District covers a bigger area than in the House District. He
said he wanted to reform Northeast Louisiana and make sure that the people of
the five parishes within Senate District 33 know how important they are.
He said that the people of Louisiana are taking their
dreams out of state, and he wants that to stop.
His point is, he said, that he wants people to dream, and
follow their dreams, but the reason people are leaving Louisiana is not because
they are following their dreams. People are leaving because they are not making
enough money to support their families.
“They’re having to leave Northeast Louisiana, which is a
great area, in order to make a living,” he said. “That’s what I want to stop. I
want those people to say, ‘Look, I want to open a business here, because I love
the place that I’m living.’”
The representative said he has plans to help the people
in District 33 by using ideas and plans that have worked in other areas.
Walsworth said he focused on two things in West Monroe — first, the largest
employer in that area, the paper mill. The second thing is the interstate going
through the area for sales tax revenue.
“Some other projects have gone to the wayside because we
have put all our focus on just those two areas,” he said. “I think that’s been
beneficial, and some people have been real angry because we were doing their
projects. But overall, I think that’s been real beneficial, and even though not
all people are happy, they respect that you did what you said you were going to
do. It has worked, and West Monroe is a real progressive area.”
In the history of the smaller towns like Homer and
Haynesville a lot of money comes through these areas, he said, but there isn’t
much to show for it. The reason for that is because a study has been done for
this project or a second study has been done for that project. Where has the
money gone? It went to pay for the studies or the coordinator for the project.
That’s a real problem, he said.
He said there are many ways to bring in jobs and that
comes in the way the area is marketed. If Claiborne Parish was to be marketed
as a retirement community, it would not only bring in more retail business, it
would boost health care jobs, leisure jobs and other areas of employment.
“This area is far enough away from the south to be away
from the hurricanes,” he said, “and we’re far enough south that we don’t have
to worry about the cold in the north. This is a great area right here. We have
a lot in this area to be thankful for and we need to take those things and
build on what we have.”
He mentioned Lake Claiborne, which is a big source of
revenue for this part of the region.
Walsworth spoke to several Homer citizens and the
concerns he heard over and over again were about the image of their hometown.
“I think a lot of people have been down,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of publicity about losing our Wal-Mart here, but in
business, you’ll find out that a lot of it is the mental aspect of it. If the
people are down, they don’t want to go and shop, but losing Wal-Mart may be the
best thing Homer’s ever seen.”
He said that to say that because Wal-Mart is not in Homer
now, the local businesses have a better shot at selling their products. For example,
the local drug store can now carry a better variety of products that Wal-Mart
carried here, but citizens will go to the drug store and spend money instead
of spending the money to drive to other areas to save $2. The clothing shops,
specialty shops and other businesses could see better profits from sales –
sales that would have previously gone to Wal-Mart.
“I’m not going to be down on Wal-Mart, but the monies
that you spend in Wal-Mart aren’t going to stay in this area,” he said. “It’s
headed up to Arkansas (Bentonville, Wal-Mart’s headquarters). Where a lot of
people see that we lost Wal-Mart, I think we have to look at the positive side
of it. Some of the local merchants may give new life to this area, because they
don’t have to face Wal-Mart. If we can get that mental aspect back up, that’s
going to help this area.”
He commented on the Town of Homer as a whole, and
commented on many of the positive aspects, including The Square.
“It’s so neat to have the Square,” he said. “It’s
beautiful.”
He said he was coming back this week to replace the
town’s state flag to show the town how much he cares about the people and
issues of this area.
“You have to bring your physical body up so that inside,
you’ll feel better about yourself,” he said. “A lot of times, we get overweight
and we feel horrible, but we lose a few pounds and we start to feel better on
the inside because we look better on the outside. It’s the same thing with our
(state) flag. Because I’m a state official, it’s one of the first things I look
at, and I want people to be proud.”
He also made comments on the older buildings in Homer and
the rich history behind them.
“I love the old Homer National Bank building (the
Claiborne Parish Police Jury Office),” he said. “That’s one of the things I
love about this town. In West Monroe, we tore down all our old buildings. Those
are the kinds of things I look at. If we tore down this building, there’s not
going to be another one built like it. These are beautiful buildings and you
only have a chance like this once. I love The Square.”
Boating Safety Education Class
at Homer Fire Department, July 21
On July 21, 2007 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the LA
Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries will host a Boating Safety Education Class. The
class will be held at the Homer Police Department, 400 East Main St., Homer,
LA. These classes are free to everyone.
All
persons born after January 1, 1998 must complete a boating education course and
carry proof of completion to operate a motorboat in excess of 10 horsepower. The
person may operate the boat if accompanied by someone over 18 years of age who,
if required, has completed the course.
It is also illegal for anyone under the age of 16 years
to operate a personal watercraft (PWC). However persons who are 13 years of age,
or older on January 1, 2005, may operate a PWC if they have completed and
approved boating safety course and carry proof of completion of the course with
them while engaged in operation of the PWC.
Please Call (318) 371-3049 to Register.
This Film by Michael Haynes Productions was created in conjunction with 
