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Feliciana Explorer • Tuesday, January 20, 2015 • Vol. 5, No. 3 • Published Weekly • Circulation 17,000 • felicianaexplorer.com • © 2015

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Dr. Thomas Trahan Named Medical Director of Lane Wound Center

Thomas N. Trahan, M.D. has been named Medical Director of the Lane Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center, 4917 West Park Drive, Zachary.

Dr. Trahan has more than 26 years of experience in Emergency Medicine and replaces Dr. Howard Martin who recently retired. Prior to this positon Dr. Trahan was Med-ical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lane Re-gional Medical Center.

Originally from Maurice, Louisi-ana, Dr. Trahan graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisi-ana in Lafayette, earned his medical degree at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, and completed his residency train-ing as Chief Resident in family medicine at Earl K. Long Hospital in Baton Rouge.

He and his wife of 25 years, Su-san, live in Clinton and have three children, Alex, Claire and Madeline. In his free time Dr. Trahan enjoys playing golf, reading and following LSU sports.

Pausing to compare notes after the January 12 Town of Jackson meeting are, from left, East Feliciana Parish Manager J. R. Rouchon, Jackson Alderman Jim Parker, and ELMHS Chaplain Alonzo Young. Photograph by Patricia Stallman

Jackson Aldermen Look to DiversifyBy Patricia Stallman

At the Town of Jackson regular meeting Monday, January 12, the Rev-erend Alonzo Young, a chaplain at the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health Sys-tem, discussed several of his concerns. First, Young inquired about the town’s plans to mark Martin Luther King, Jr., Day January 19, the following Monday. The Town of Jackson, he learned, has no plans for a march or other event to honor King. A member of the audience remarked, however, that while marches and other gatherings have taken place in the past, in recent years individual churches have marked the day with their own celebrations. An audience member noted after the meeting that the East Feliciana schools hold many edu-cational activities to celebrate the man

whose work continues to bring about change for everyone.

In a telephone interview after the meeting, Young noted that in Jackson, while people will indeed celebrate the occasion, they will do so “individually; they are not coming together as a whole, as one town, like other communities.” Elsewhere, he said, it is common for people to “pull together,” celebrat-ing with a program that includes, for example, “prayer, a march, speakers, and choirs, and with everyone—black, white and Hispanic—taking part.”

Young’s second question involved the absence of African American mem-bers on the Town Council. In fact, town officials and others say that neither an African American male nor a woman

Annual Symposium and Writers Workshop Offered in FebruaryThe Eighth Annual Writers and

Readers Symposium and First An-nual Writers Workshop will be of-fered in February by A Celebration of Literature and Art, Inc., a non-profit group sponsored by the Town of St. Francisville. The Writers and Readers Symposium, which will be at Hemingbough on Saturday, Feb-ruary 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., is featuring the following authors: Abigail Padgett, award-winning au-thor from San Diego whose latest book is set in St. Francisville; Ava Haymon, Louisiana’s current Poet Laureate; Moira Crone, noted New Orleans short story writer and nov-elist; and Richard Sexton, nationally acclaimed photographer and author. These authors will discuss their writ-ing and their creative process at this event, and participants will be able to ask the authors questions about their writing or the writing process. Tickets through January 31 are $40; beginning February 1, ticket prices will be $50. At the door, the price will be $60. Included in this price is a lunch of either jambalaya and gumbo or a vegetarian plate. Books by these authors will be on sale that

day, and people can get their books autographed as they chat informally with these authors. There is limited seating for this event.

The Writers Workshop will be on Saturday, February 28 at Butler Greenwood Plantation, and will be led by novelist Abigail Padgett and poet Ava Haymon. Both aspiring and experienced writers are wel-come to participate in this all-day event, which is from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and includes lunch and re-freshments. Tickets are $125 for this event, and a maximum of 20 people

Richard Sexton Moira Crone Ava Haymon

Abigail Padgett

2 Tuesday, January 20, 2015

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West Feliciana Parish Council Looks to Change CharterBy JameS ronald SkainS

At the January 20, 2015 meeting of the West Feliciana Parish Coun-cil meeting, 17 proposed amend-ments will be considered by the Council members. It will take five “yes” votes by council members to place that particular Amendment on the May 2015 voting ballot to be ad-opted under the Home Rule charter under which WFP has been operat-ing for the last 12 months.

Actually, one proposal, Amend-ment #17 by Council Member Lea Williams of St. Francisville would allow the question of revoking the Home Rule Charter in its entirety and returning West Feliciana Parish to a Police Jury form of government to be voted on by the registered vot-ers in that parish.

In looking at the 17 proposed Amendments to the WFP Home rule charter form of government, it is ob-vious that a lot of time, effort, deep thinking and communication with constituents have gone into the pro-cess of developing these proposals. Council member John Kean was the most active member in developing and presenting eight of the Amend-ment proposals to the full council.

Council member Heather Howles was the second most active council member in developing proposals, with four proposals. Parish Presi-dent Kevin Couhig has presented two proposals, Otis Wilson one, Lea Williams one, and one proposed Amendment was developed from council discussions.

The first three Amendments, which are proposed by John Kean, deal basically with qualifications

for holding office. Amendment 1 sets an age requirement of at least being the age of 22 years to hold of-fice on the Council. Amendment 2 sets a base salary for Council Mem-bers of $1,200 per month with no benefits.

Number three zeros in on causes of forfeiture of office for non-per-formance and attendance at meet-ings.

In proposal 4, Council Member Kean is concerned about how con-tracts of $50,000 that are not in approved budget are handled. Pro-posal 5 by Kean outlines a plan of action to fill a vacancy in the office of Parish President.

Council person Heather Howles in proposal 6 is outlining terms and times of Council adopted resolu-tions, signing by the Parish Presi-dent and the date said action is implemented. Howles’ second pro-posal (9) deals with the elimination of Personnel Boards within the Par-ish Government

Howles also is proposing Amendment 10 which would elimi-nate geographical residency for members of Boards and Commis-sions established by Home Rule Charter provisions. Howle’s last proposal defines the “official Jour-nal of WFP as a newspaper that has a paid circulation within the WFP.”

Proposed Amendment #12 is by Council Member Otis Wall. This proposal deals with the alignment and fine tuning of the seven Parish Council Districts.

Parish President Kevin Couhig has proposed Amendments #13 and #14. Amendment #13 focuses on the failure of the Parish Council to take

action on a formal annual budget proposed by the Parish President. If Council action is not taken on a pro-posed budget within a certain time frame, then the budget is considered to be officially adopted as per time line specifications.

Proposed Amendment #15 gained its way onto the January 20th Council Agenda by the mer-its of Council discussion. Proposal #15 would eliminate certain sub-sections of Article IV Section A of the existing Home Rule Chartered originally approved by the voters in WFP.

Proposal #16 by Councilman John Kean zeroes in on Article III Section 3b concerning the structure of veto power now in the hands of the Parish President under Home Rule Charter. Kean’s proposal #8 also deals with the terms, condi-tions, and votes required by the full Council to override vetoes by the Parish President.

Other than Council member Lea Williams’ proposed amendment #17 which would give the WFP voters a yes or no vote on continuing or revoking Home Rule Charter, most proposals deals with technical is-sues that perhaps needs tweaking. The proposed amendments that deal with veto power of the Parish Presi-dent probably deserve in-depth dis-cussions, and perhaps a clear deci-sion by the voters of WFP.

Proposal # 14 by the Parish Pres-ident is undoubtedly a serious is-sue as other seats of government in the state of Louisiana have become deadlocked over similar issues plac-ing those governmental bodies in a holding pattern.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 3

comPiled By Patricia Stallman

Amendments include repealing the Home Rule Charter form of gov-ernment, removing the Parish Presi-dent’s veto authority and the Person-nel Board, and increasing the Council members’ salary by 50 percent.

Submitted by the West Feliciana Parish Home Rule Charter Commis-sion at its January 20 meeting, the Parish Council will consider whether to place, on a May ballot, the follow-ing 17 amendments to modify—or, in one case, abolish— the Home Rule Charter form of government. The “(p_)” in the text is the page number in the current Home Rule Charter where citizens can find the section or subsection that a proposed amend-ment would change.

Proposed West Feliciana Home Rule Charter Amendments with Explanations and Comments Those proposing the amendments

are: Council Member John Kean (8), Council Chair Heather Howle (4), Parish President Kevin Couhig (2), and Council Members Lea Williams (1) and Otis Wilson (1). One resulted from Council discussion.

The following article provides the proposed change, followed by the Home Rule Charter Commission’s explanation and comment.

The Council will consider adop-tion of each of these proposed amendments individually; to pass, and thus appear on a May ballot, each will require five (5) affirmative votes.

1. Proposed amendment: Article III, Section A 1 b shall read: "All

Council members must be at least twenty-two (22) years of age."

PROPOSED BY: John Kean—Explanation: Amends Article

III, Section A 1 b (p. 5). Changes qualification of Council member age from 18 to 22.

—Comment: Self-explanatory. This means that all voters below age 22, perhaps a serviceman or woman, cannot qualify for the Council.

2. Proposed amendment: Article III, Section A 2 a shall read: "The members of the Parish Council shall receive a monthly salary in the amount of $1,200.00 with no eligi-bility for benefits or retirement under Parish personnel resources."


III, Sec. A. 2. A (p. 5). Changes pay of council members from $800 to $1,200, but does not change the pro-vision saying no benefits or retire-ment.

—Comment: Authorizes a 50 per-cent increase in Council members’ pay.

3. Proposed Amendment: Article III, Section A 7 b. shall read: "Forfei-ture of Office: Whenever any mem-ber ceases to be a qualified elector of the Parish, ceases to be a resident of the district he represents, or fails to attend four (4) regular meetings without good cause within one (1) calendar year, or is convicted of a felony, he shall immediately forfeit his office."


III, Section A 7 b (p. 8). Changes for-feiture of council office by provid-

ing that council member must miss 4 REGULAR meetings without good cause to lose office.

—Comment: Self-explanatory.

4. Proposed Amendment: Article III, Section B 3 ix. The following sentence shall be added at the end of the present provision: "All contracts for items not approved specifically in an existing budget in excess of Fifty Thousand ($50,000) Dollars shall be approved by the Council."


III, Section B 3 (p. 13—14). This provision now says that only the President shall sign contracts for the purchase of material and services provided the Parish for operation of the departments under the President’s scope of authority. It further provides that contracts must fall under a bud-geted account. It then provides that contracts for items NOT included in the budget require Council approval. The amendment adds a new sentence, which says that the Council shall ap-prove ALL contracts for items in ex-cess of 50 thousand dollars, not spe-cifically those in an existing budget.

—Comment: The Home Rule Charter now provides that the Presi-dent, who is the CEO of the Parish, sign all contracts. This amendment reduces that authority and gives this executive authority to the legislative branch, that is, to the Council.

5. Proposed Amendment: Article III, Section B 5 b. The first sentence shall be amended to read: "Any va-cancy occurring in the office of Par-ish President shall be filled within fourteen (14) days by a majority vote


of the Parish Council."PROPOSED BY: John Kean—Explanation: Amends Article

III, Section B 5 b (p. 14). It would change the provision that allows a vacancy in the Parish Presidency by a majority vote of the Council IN 10 DAYS, changing the time period to 14 DAYS.


6. Proposed Amendment: —Article IV, Section C 1 shall

read: "Every ordinance and resolu-tion except those hereinafter enumer-ated, adopted by the Parish Council, shall be signed by the Council Secre-tary and the Chairman of the Council and presented to the office of the Par-ish President within three (3) busi-ness days after adoption."

—Article IV, Section C 2 shall read: "An ordinance shall become ef-fective and enforceable following its promulgation, according to law, un-less the Parish President vetoes the ordinance within seven (7) days after the date on which it was presented."

PROPOSED BY: Heather Howle—Explanation: —Amends Article V, Section C 1

(p. 6). The present provision says that an ordinance or resolution adopted by the Council shall be signed by the council Secretary and Chairman and presented to the President within two days after adoption. This changes the article by providing the presentment “within three (3) business days after adoption.”

—The amendment ALSO amends Section C 2. The present provision gives the President authority to veto “within seven (7) days.” The amend-ment reads “within seven (7) days after the date on which it was pre-sented.”

—Comment: Clarifies the start of the presentment period.

7. Proposed Amendment: Article V, Section F 4 shall read: "Transfer of Appropriations: During the fiscal year the President may transfer part or all of any unencumbered appropri-ation balance among programs within a department or office of the Parish. However, any such interdepartmen-tal transfer which exceeds Seven Thousand Five Hundred ($7,500.00) Dollars or is greater than ten (10%) percent of the annual budget appro-priation for such department shall be approved by the Council as a budget amendment. Upon written request by the President, the Parish Council may transfer part of or all of any un-encumbered appropriation balance from one department or office to an-other."

PROPOSED BY: John Kean—Explanation: Amends Article V,

Section F 4 (p. 30). The present pro-vision allows the President to trans-fer part or all of any unencumbered appropriation among programs with-in a department or office. If requested by the President, the Council may transfer an unencumbered appropria-tion balance from one department or office to another. This amendment limits the President’s ability to make such a transfer by providing that if the transfer is more than $7,500 or 10 percent of the department’s budget, the Council must approve it as a bud-get amendment.

—Comment: This amendement inhibits the President as CEO of the Parish to work within the approved budget, complicating and delaying operations and, once again, transfers executive authority to the legislative branch, the Council.

8. Proposed Amendments: A. Article III, Section A 6 d shall

be amended by deleting therefrom the following language:

" . . . except where at least four (4) favorable votes are identified as necessary by this document."

B. Article III, Section D 3 c shall be amended by deleting therefrom the following language:. . .

“and with four (4) votes in favor of removal by the Parish Council."

C. Article IV, Section B 3 b. The following language: “ . . unless it is rejected at the same meeting by the affirmative vote of not less than four (4) of the Council members . . ." is amended to read: “. . . unless it is rejected by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the Council . . . "

D. Article IV, Section B 3 _ shall read: "An ordinance shall be enacted at a public meeting, when voted upon

affirmatively by majority of the Par-ish Council."

E. Article V, Section E 3 shall read: “Ordinances vetoed by the Par-ish President shall be presented by the Secretary to the Council at its next meeting and should the Council then or at its following regular meet-ing override the veto by an affirma-tive vote of a majority of the Coun-cil, said veto shall have no effect and said ordinance shall be adopted.”

F. Article VIII, Section A, shall read “Origination: An amendment to or the repeal of this Charter may be proposed by a simple majority of the Parish Council after holding a public hearing or by petition.”

PROPOSED BY: John Kean—Note: Because #8 is more than

one amendment and is confusing and contradictory, the HRC Committee will address each section or part.

—Explanation: A amends Article

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III, Section A 6 d (p. 7). Presently the Subsection provides, among oth-er provisions, that no action of the Council is valid or binding unless ad-opted by an affirmative vote of three members “except where at least four (4) favorable votes are identified as necessary by this document.” The amendment deletes the section in quotes.

To understand the impact of the proposed amendment, residents must understand that the provision applies to a five-member council. Thus three constitutes a majority. By deleting the provision referring to occasions wherever 4 votes are necessary, you must first go to the Charter Article IV, Section B, “Enactment of an or-dinance.” Subsections b. and h. both have instances when 4 votes are re-quired. Subsection b. provides that the President or a Council member can introduce an ordinance and that unless rejected by an affirmative vote of four council members it will be published, heard, and go on for possible passage. The amendment by implication deletes the right of 4 members to stop the movement of the ordinance.

Next, Subsection H now requires four members to pass an ordinance to increase a tax, service charge, oc-cupational license fee, or special fee. The amendment now makes it pos-sible to take these actions with only three votes.

—Comment: The HRC commis-sion thought it very important that if the Council wanted to increase a tax or create a service charge, occu-pational license fee, or a special fee, that 4 out of 5 members would have to vote on it. This amendment makes increasing taxes and making other

changes substantially easier by re-quiring only three votes.

—Explanation: Article IV, Sec-tion C, Subsection 3 is also implicat-ed by the proposed amendment. Sub-section 2 says the President can veto an ordinance and Subsection 2 al-lows the vetoed ordinance to go back to the Council for an override with four votes. The proposed amend-ment would take the President’s veto authority away completely.

—Comment: This takes away veto authority of the President. It does away with an authority now found in every Home Rule Charter, state, and national governments.

—Explanation: Article IV, Sec-tion E. “Emergency Ordinances” is also implicated. The current provi-sion allows for an emergency ordi-nance affecting life, health, property, and public safety to be passed and become effective immediately with 4 Council votes. The proposed ordi-nance would allow this action with only 3 votes.

—Comment: An “emergency or-dinance” could now be passed by a group of three Council members. This authority does not exist in other Charters.

A. This is the second part of Amendment 8. It amends Article III, D 3 (p. 23). That provision allows for the Council to remove a member of a board or commission for cause with 4 votes. The amendment would al-low removal with three votes.

—Comment: This makes it easier to remove a board member.

A. This is the third part of Amendment 8 (p. 25). It would amend Article IV, Section B 3 b.

This proposed amendment im-plicates the very same portion of the

Charter provision which proposed Amendment 8 A above does. Article IV, Section B 3 b is the provision al-lowing the President or a Council member to introduce an ordinance and move it on UNLESS four mem-bers reject it. Under this proposal a simple majority could reject an ordi-nance proposed by a fellow Council member or the President.

—Comment: Redundant.A. This is the fourth part of

Amendment 8 (p. 26). It would amend Article IV, Section B 3 h.

The provision now provides that the Council shall enact an ordinance by an affirmative vote of at least a majority of the Council except that to increase a tax, service charge, oc-cupational license fee, or special fee, 4 votes are needed. This proposal would allow ALL ordinances, even those increasing taxes and fees, to be approved by a majority of the Coun-cil, which could be only three mem-bers.

—Comment: Like 8 A, this again allows 3 Council members to in-crease a tax, levy a fee, and so on.

A. This is the fifth part of Amendment 8 (p. 26—27). It would amend Article V,

Section E 3.The current provi-sion allows the President to veto but the Council to override with 4 votes. The proposal would allow an over-ride with an affirmative vote of only a majority. This basically deletes the President’s veto authority. Since only a majority can pass an ordinance and a majority could override a veto, the proposed amendment makes no sense.

—Comment: Poorly written. If there is no veto authority, there is no “override.”

A. This is the sixth part of Amendment 8 (p. 36). It would amend Article VIII, Section

A. Under the present section (and with a five-member Council), four votes are required to try to amend or repeal the Home Rule Charter. This proposal would reduce the require-ment to a simple majority of three votes.

—Comment: Once again, this lessens the vote required on an im-portant issue.

9. Proposed Amendment: Article III, Section Q, paragraphs d, e, and f are deleted in their entirety.

PROPOSED BY: Heather Howle—Explanation: Amends Article

III, Section C 6 (p.19—20) by delet-ing subsections d, e, and f entirely. Section C of this article refers to Administrative Departments, “Of-fices and Agencies” which created a Personnel Board that would hold hearings on dismissals, demotions, and disciplinary measures. The Sub-sections also say who will serve on the Board and what the term of of-fice will be. The proposed amend-ment, by deleting these provisions, removes the Personnel Board and its function.

—Comment: This amendment does away with an employee’s ap-peal rights if he or she is dismissed for cause.

10. Proposed Amendment: Ar-ticle III Section D 2 b shall read: "All Board/Commission members shall reside in Feliciana Parish."

PROPOSED BY: Heather Howle—Explanation: Amends Article

III, Section D 2 b (p. 21). Under the Charter a member of a board or


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commission must reside in the geo-graphic area over which the board or commission has authority. This pro-posal would allow a person to be a member even if not in the geographic jurisdiction of the board or commis-sion as long as he or she resides in West Feliciana.


11. Proposed Amendment: All references in the Charter to the "offi-cial journal" shall be changed to "any newspaper in general paid circula-tion in West Feliciana Parish."

PROPOSED BY: Heather Howle—Explanation: This proposal

purports to change “all references” in the Charter where it says “official journal” to read “any newspaper in general paid circulation in West Fe-liciana Parish.”


12. Proposed Amendment: --Article III, Section A 1 a shall

read in its entirety as follows: "The name of the governing authority shall be the West Feliciana Parish Council, in the form of Council/President which shall consist of sev-en (7) members elected from single member districts as established by the Council."

--And Article III Section A 3 a shall read: "There shall be seven (7) Parish Council districts."

PROPOSED BY: Otis Wilson

—Explanation: Amends Article A1 a and Article A 3 a (p. 5). Under the Charter there are 5 Council dis-tricts, 4 single members, and 1 at-large member. This proposal would increase the member districts to 7 rather than the 5 in the present Char-ter.

—Comment: Self-explanatory. The majority of the HRC Commis-sion felt that in a Parish as small as West Feliciana, 5 members on the Council was sufficient.

13. Proposed Amendment: Ar-ticle V, Section D 1 The last sen-tence shall be amended to read: "...If the Parish Council shall fail to adopt either budget within the time limit as provided in Section C of Article IV, it shall be deemed ad-opted as submitted by the Parish President."PROPOSED BY: Kevin Couhig

—Explanation: Amends Article V, Section D 1 (p. 29). The current last sentence of this Article regard-ing action on the budgets provides that if the Council doesn’t act on the budget within the time provided in the Section “it shall be adopted as submitted by the Parish President.” The proposal changes the wording to say “it shall be deemed adopted as submitted”…by the President. This change clears up whether a budget not acted on by the Council must be acted upon in order for it to go into

effect. The Amendment proposes that no further Council action would be necessary.

—Comment: Clarifies that if Council doesn’t pass a budget sub-mitted by the President within the time allowed the budget would still go into effect, thus allowing Parish operations to continue.

14. Proposed Amendment: Article III, Section B 3 x. The first sentence shall be amended to…read “Except as otherwise provided by this Char-ter, the Parish President may veto any line item to reduce or restore an item in the budget ordinance as sub-mitted by the Parish President."

PROPOSED BY: Kevin Couhig—Explanation: Amends Article

III, Section B 3 x (p. 14). Current Subsection allows the President to veto “any line item in a budget or-dinance.” The proposal would allow the veto of “any line item to reduce or restore an item in the budget ordi-nance as submitted by the President.” This would allow the President to re-store an item taken out of the budget by a simple majority of the Council.


15. Proposed Amendment: Ar-ticle IV, Section A shall be amended by deleting sub sections 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 14 and by renumbering the remaining sub paragraphs 1 through 8 consecutively and by adding those sub sections to Article IV, Section H. Resolutions as sub sections 5 through 12 consecutively.

PROPOSED BY: Council Discus-sion

—Explanation: Amends Article IV, Section A by deleting Subsec-tions 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 14 and by renumbering the remaining para-graphs 1 through 8. Also the amend-ment adds “those” subsections to Ar-ticle IV, Section H, numbering them 5 through 12. (p. 23—24 and p. 28) This amendment would provide that certain actions which now require an ordinance—which has the force of law—for passage into law would require only a resolution. Those are actions that: 3. appropriate funds or adopt a budget; 4. grant, renew, mod-ify, or extend a franchise; 6. regulate the rate or other charge for service by the Parish; 8. abandon any property owned by the Parish; 9. convey or lease or authorize a conveyance or

a lease; 10. acquire real property on behalf of the Parish; 14. create, abol-ish, or consolidate any Parish depart-ment, office, or agency, or provide for the consolidation and transfer of any of the functions of such department, office, or agency; or….” By means of the proposed amendment, these extremely important acts no longer need to be passed by ordinance. They are lopped in with items that can be passed by resolution under only Ar-ticle IV, Section H (ex. establishing a “commemorative day,” Section H.1.) Furthermore the 7 subsections (3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 14) being moved from Article IV, Section A to Section H are supposed to be numbered 5 through 12, which is 6 subsections, not 7.

—Comment: In addition to the technical deficiencies in the pro-posed amendment, several important items would no longer require pas-sage by ordinance. This means that the changes would also not allow the public to see what is happening. The ordinance system in the HRC and all similar Charters was intended so that actions on important items would be transparent to the public and afford the public to be heard. This would defeat that purpose.

16. Proposed Amendment: Article III, Section B 3 b x shall be deleted in its entirety


III, Section B 3 b x (p. 14). The cur-rent Subsections give the President veto authority with the possibility of an override by the Council. This proposal deletes the veto authority. The proposal also conflicts with the amendments that propose amending the Subsection.

—Comment: This is yet another attempt to void the President’s veto authority.

17. Proposed Amendment: Shall the Parish of West Feliciana be re-stored as of the 1st day of January, 2016 to the Police Jury form of gov-ernment provided in Article VI of the Louisiana Constitution.

PROPOSED BY: Lea Williams—Explanation: This puts the

question to the Parish as to wheth-er the Parish should go back to the Police Jury form of government as of January 1, 2016, and repeals the Home Rule Charter form of govern-


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JACKSON continued from page 1

has ever served on the Council.Young emphasized that an African

American alderman would provide “a cultural balance within the community and help bring people together.” Noting the recent sad occasion of an alderman’s death, Young asked that Mayor Charles Coleman clarify the process he had fol-lowed for naming a replacement.

Dianne Wilson, a community vol-unteer and involved citizen, remarked that as African Americans make up a large percentage of the town, perhaps more than half, they should enjoy rep-resentation on the Board. In the past, she noted, when town meetings took place at the Town Hall in a “hole” hardly large enough to hold the alder-men’s seminar table, many residents were unaware of the meetings or of what transpired during them and would therefore have been unlikely to “come forward” to serve. Now that the meet-ings have moved to the fire station, Wilson said, many people attend and take part. And now residents must take it upon themselves, she said, to become further involved in their town. “It’s not the mayor’s fault,” Wilson said. “If we don’t come to the meetings now, that’s our fault.”

Mayor Charles Coleman answered Young’s query regarding the process for replacing an alderman, saying, “State law says the mayor and the Council must appoint a person to fin-ish the remainder of the term.” Usually, Coleman said, the town approaches the spouse to complete the term, but in this case the spouse was not able to serve.

That, Young said, is the point at which he would like to clarify the pro-

cess.Alderman Rafe Stewart, who, like

others, agreed that an official proce-dure should exist, began searching his policies and procedures notebook, and promised to determine whether the town has a procedure for replacement.

In a telephone interview after the meeting, the Mayor explained that the town has only 20 days to fill a vacant seat, and that if it fails to do so, “the Governor steps in and names the re-placement. We figured we knew better than he did,” Coleman said, the people who live in Jackson. The town named former State Representative John Tra-vis to complete the term. Other alder-men are Jim Parker, Rafe Stewart, Mike Harrell and Don Havard.

When resident Elizabeth Hulbert added that the meetings needed to be more informative, East Feliciana Cham-ber of Commerce President Martin Macdiarmid, citing a recent $200,000 grant to revive the airport south of Dix-on Correctional Institute on McMurray Road, promised to contribute to future town meetings and update the residents on the area’s various projects and goals. “We’ll do a better job of letting you know what’s going on,” Macdiarmid said.

In the interview after the meeting, the Reverend Young said that he is moving to call a meeting of all local pastors “to see what we can do, as pastors and lead-ers, to create a multicultural coalition to deal with the present and the future of all the people here in Jackson, where we’re not focusing on things that oc-curred here in the past and that produce a certain animosity.” Young cited as an example of work that would benefit all in Jackson the creation of a facility for the area’s young people, a center where they can “come together for education

and recreation, a place where they can express themselves” and contribute to positive change in Jackson. The young people, he said, can “contribute their ideas to help us build the Town of Jack-son and can perform community ser-vice work as well.”

In the interview, Young also dis-cussed Black History Month, which is February, saying, “It would be nice for people to know the contributions of Af-rican Americans locally, to the Town of Jackson, as well as their contributions to the nation.”

During the meeting, Alderman Stewart reminded those in attendance of the town’s Founders Day Bicentennial Birthday Bash Saturday, January 31, when Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne will be the guest speaker. In the historic dis-trict, Stewart said, residents and visitors will enjoy free guided trolley tours and free admission to the museum and the model railroad exhibit. Centenary State Historic Site will host historic children’s games and free tours. Whistles and Strings will provide music of the period at the Professor’s House on the grounds of Centenary, and the East Feliciana High School Band will also perform. Visitors will enjoy contests, prizes, a family poker run, and open houses at Jackson’s shops. In addition, those in at-tendance can take part in wine tasting at Jackson’s winery and explore restaurant Bicentennial specials.

The event will end with birthday cake, cider, and coffee for all.

In addition, Stewart said after the meeting that a major Jackson tourism event, the Battle of Jackson Crossroads, will take place at the end of April.

For more information, call the East Feliciana Chamber of Commerce at 225-634-7155.

will participate.Tickets for both events are avail-

able on both www.brownpapertick-ets.com and www.outreach.lsu.edu/olli.

Further information is also avail-able at www.literatureandart.com. Brochures about the event are avail-able at the West Feliciana Historical Society, the West Feliciana Parish Library, and all libraries in East Ba-ton Rouge Parish.

LITERATURE continued from page 1

Feliciana Area Students Make LSU Chancellors

Honor Roll ListStudents who earned grade-point

averages of 4.0 during the 2014 Fall semester are listed on the Chancel-lor’s Honor Roll.

East Feliciana

Maegan Abigail Manning, Jackson

Lindsey Michelle Simon, Ethel

Claire Catherine Trahan, Clinton

Daniel Christopher Bourgeois, Norwood

Grace Elizabeth Melson, Jackson

Joshua Daniel Gosserand, Clinton

Phoenix Austin Harris, Slaughter

West Feliciana

Emily Lauren Pate, Saint Francisville

feliciana explorer jan 20

Documents

town of jackson meeting

thomas trahan

town council

town officials

family medicine

medical degree

gional medical center

jackson alderman jim