Although he goes by the handle Poolman here on Slabbed everyone here in the Bay knows Poolman is Jeff Harding. His comment to Knee jerk calls for Bay tax increases making a bad situation worse speaks for itself:
Breaking News. I just played a voice mail from Tommy whom works for the City of Bay St. Louis building department. The time stamp in 3:34 pm friday. Mr Tommy just doing his job said that the City of Bay St Louis revoked the business privilege license for Gulf Coast Pools llc to do business in the city. I am going to go in on monday morning and ask the non- certified building official to READ me the violations. Isn’t a great country when the mayor can pass down the chain of his command orders to shut down a company without first a written notice!
I fear Hizzoner is writing City checks his ego can’t cash. This is the man Randy Ponder of the Seacoast Echo said we needed to give a pass on the financial crisis and just let him raise our taxes. Meantime it appears the mean streets of Bay St Louis just got meaner.
These City actions are ill advised on about 100 different levels.
UPDATE:
I have obtained the voice mail left on Mr. Harding’s phone and have uploaded it to youtube. It is embedded below the jump.
I thought we lived in America for freedom of speech.
Mr. Mayor must still be living in the days of the Wild Wild West. The Indians are scalping the White people.
The city is starving for new businesses and additional income, yet they revoke a license on a business that I am sure brings in substantial tax revenues.
How vendictive can a person be. His name should now be Napoleon and not Hizzoner. When you elect to be in public office, you have to take the good with the bad. If you can’t take the heat then get out of the kitchen. Putting people out of business and just not the way to do things.
Don’t go around punishing good people of this great town because you don’t like what they say about you. You chose to run for office and that is the way it is.
I heard he also may have had influence on getting another person fired from her position at the local newspaper. As it all turned out she now has a BETTER postion with a larger paper. But Napoleon did not want her to publish certain things. How many other peoples lives has he affected. This town is way too small for one man to have that much power.
He has to be stopped and I think Poolman is the right person for the job. His attorney is a real “pit bull”.
This City is screaming for business investment yet this is how they treat an established business. The message it sends is clear and can only be interpreted one way by the business community.
What gives you the right to post my comment to someone else on your video? If you think I was the problem or part of it you are clueless! I had nothing to do with the building Dept or Les’s decisions.i was simply commenting on a clueless person attacking me. Like I’ve said many times, you want to put out accurate information try the actual sources. As long as they aren’t the mayors friends or in fear of losing their jobs you would be surprised how much truth you get. Hopefully the new city officials will take a more active role in knowing the employees and understanding their fear of repercussions. When I was working I wouldn’t say a word because I needed my job as do all the officers.
Okay, now yall calm down!!!!!!!!!!! Is the Mayor having a meltdown, breakdown, what? And this is a business that causes people to buy a lot WATER. Remember the City Clerk saying the utility system revenue is down now because water consumption is down in a rainy summer. That’s a good move, Les. Run the Pool man out of town. I love it!!!!!!!!!
And, Disgusted, to refer to the Mayor as Napoleon?!! Do I hear Bonaparte’s Retreat in the background?
Maybe the band that is playing for Second Saturday or at the 100 Man Hall can do it as a special request tonight. Da da Dum da da Dum da da Dum Dum Dum!!!!!!!
BSL is operating the way it is because of a lack of INSTITUTIONAL CONTROL which turns into a CULTURE OF CORRUPTION. When all people have a little something on each other and they become beholden to each other it starts a viscous cycle of lies and deceptions and debt repayment with other peoples resources, in this case the tax payer. Because it becomes routine they do not feel like they are doing anything wrong. Basically you lie and I’ll swear to it because we don’t get paid enough for what we do. The lowest standard of the City Leaders will become the highest standard of all those beneath them. Hopefully we can dig our way out and all ends well for everyone.
BSL is operating the way it is because of a lack of INSTITUTIONAL CONTROL which turns into a CULTURE OF CORRUPTION. When all people have a little something on each other and they become beholden to each other it starts a viscous cycle of lies and deceptions and debt repayment with other peoples resources, in this case the tax payer. Because it becomes routine they do not feel like they are doing anything wrong. Basically you lie and I’ll swear to it because we don’t get paid enough for what we do. The lowest standard of the City Leaders will become the highest standard of all those beneath them. Hopefully we can dig our way out and all ends well for everyone.
Ah Ha! “Culture of Corruption” language. Who coined that phrase in a speech he made about 18 months ago while visiting the Gulf Coast? None other than our own State Auditor, Stacey Pickering.
On a serious note, the most serious, there is only one way out of this for the Bay. They need the same visit the officials got in Waveland in early 2011 from the State Officials demanding a “plan” to make the taxpayers whole again. I’m telling you nothing else is gonna work. People can scream at the podium, write letters ( if Randy will print them, probably not) and whatever else, but it’s going to take a little visit and a serious “talk” across the desk of you know who and the boys from Jackson to bring this to a head.
Now, Waveland’s Mayor and two new Aldermen inherited their problem, but these folks in the Bay have to own this. The illusions of grandeur have to end, reality has to set in, and they have to answer to someone other than the local taxpayers for whom they seem to have lost all respect.
“Culture of Corruption, huh?”
Pardon me, the incumbent administration and 4 of the Council in the Bay have to own this. The other 3 Councilmen must feel like the reindeer on Christmas night–worn out except the reindeer do accomplish something due to a much better leader. Ho, Ho, Ho!
I don’t see any way out of this but to own up to their mistakes and start cutting administration.
It is like an alcoholic, until they admit they have a problem, they can’t correct it.
Napoleon needs to start admitting there is a problem. Unfortunately everyone is scared and he will bring all of his troops down with him.
This is Waterloo (the Bay of St. Louis in this stand) will be his last battle !!
Did the police officer who wrote the Facebook post you just ran not have a personal vehicle of her own to get to her doctor and pharmacy? Just wondering since I don’t know all of the details.
How was this resolved by the administration and city council?
I just re-read the Sun Herald article on the issue of the city vehicle being used by Officer deBouchel.
Apparently, after the executive session on the issue, the Council and administration concluded that she was not entitled to the use of the car, and it has been returned to the city. The Mayor said that he didn’t know about the situation. Wonder if the Council knew?
Hopefully she has a personal vehicle and is not stranded now with no way to get to the doctor or pharmacy.
The action on the part of the City is just another instance on the incompetence of the administration and employees.
There must be a procedure in place to notify any business if there is a violation. Then the city would write a letter giving notice and so many days to correct any problems.
But NO, this great Leader just has one of his boys make a phone call at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon and leave a message.
What a way to Run a City !!!! No wonder we are in the mess they have created. Maybe they call their creditors on the phone and leave messages about being late paying their bills also. Maybe this is how David Kolf notified Jackson about the 132,000. He left a message, but nothing in writing.
I am so glad the city has extra money to spend on attorney fees. Handling this situation the way they did you know would create a law suit.
Someone told me over the weekend that maybe the city attorney would take an IOU. Will he have to get in line behind the ones now? Accounts payable are now at $561,000. Long line.
If I was the City Attorney I would jump ship before it sank. Have you seen any Attorney take an IOU. Usually they want money up front. And in this situation, he personally must have knowledge that city is broke so how will they pay him.??
Wonder if the city is doing a sweep on businesses to run more out of town or just picking on Mr. Harding?
Love the Video Doug.
Speaking of the video, and the Facebook posting in the background–did anyone log the mileage on that city car when the Chief gave it to the police officer to use? Just wondering. Was the tank full when she took it?
Just wondering. She said that she only used about a half tank of gas, so the city must have paid or she would have said that she filled it up. She can write the city a check now for what she used.
Yea and they can write me a check for taking pers out of my last accrued time check after my retirement was settled. Seriously folks, I was injured on the job doing something the mayor made us do that we should not have been doing. No training on lifting, no safety equipment for lifting, on and on. I worked there 15 years. I wasn’t an officer I was the Asst. police Chief. Denardo and McKay said using the vehicle was fine the plan was to heal and go back to work (but I can’t get into those details). If Les said he didn’t know I’d have to say he’s probably lying. Every other officer was allowed to use their vehicles to go to the gym etc., but hurt on the job using my vehicle makes me a bad guy. Getting up and out at every hour of the night the phone rang for no extra pay, working unpaid because I was on salary on command (try not answering your phone and see what happens). I worked hours people have no idea of and want to judge for a half a tank of gas. Not to mention the whole female thing…..Les decided it wasn’t in the budget to have Asst. Chiefs in either fire or police so I got retitled to executive officer until the council minutes showed a male was named Asst. Fire chief with a 6,000.00 a year raise. So guess what I get named properly for the job I’m doing and get 1500.00 a year raise after going many years without a raise. I’ve watched officers forced to work for comp time with 2 sets of books because the payroll clerk refused to believe comp time accrued at time and a half so the Police Dept had to keep its own records. There’s much more but people like assuming things and never go to the source that could provide accurate information.
Thank you for your service to the City, I’m sorry you got screwed.
Thank you, but everyone got screwed! No one knows because all these people care about is taking down the higher ups who are going to lie anyway. Then they throw someone like me in the middle. They don’t have a clue. Talk to people who can’t get fired and you’ll get some truth. If they really wanted to make things better they would find a way to get the truth instead of finger pointing. The mayor will never tell the truth and his Dept heads will follow suit. And so will everyone else that needs to feed their family. I’m out, they can’t intimidate me anymore but they sure do want to throw trash at me.
By the way, as thankless as you are I would have protected you anyway. It was my call and my duty. You folks ought to be greatful people are willing to put their lives on the line for peopl like you who don’t appreciate it and are the first to dial 911 when your scared.
I have to personally thank you Trixie. No one but 1 council member thanked me for 15 years of service. I was 5’2″ 107 lbs and had better statistics than anyone there. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I used half a tank of gas. Seriously folks…..put your life on the line every night and see if you think you need to pay for a half a tank of gas after being cheated out of pay for many different things. If $50 I used is worth more than the thousands I was cheated out of means more to the people posting here they really need to look more invasively into the daily ops of a police agency. Put your life on the line Mr. handshoe or Ms. Noonan,then you can throw rocks at me for protecting you.
Someone ought to ask the BSL mayor and other insiders a specific question “Do you have any knowledge of the City of BSL receiving any letters from suppliers to with the phrase “business hold” in them?”
Because if they haven’t yet, then they might in the near future, unless BSL comes up with a way to pay both Peter and Paul at the same time.
I understand they are already on a “cash only” status with one of the local big box stores. November is looming on the horizon1
Heres a new thought to follow… LES LIE FILINGAME walks away from his desk at 2:50 pm and
walks to the City clownsil chambers for a Hancock Utility meeting, he is still on the City
of Bay St. Louis payroll. He attends the meeting for 2 hours and is paid for his time. He accumulated
a check for $40.00 from the utility authority. Oh SNAP he is still on the dime of Bay St. Louis and gets his
weekly CELERY… get the pun of $38.94 x 2 hours= 77.88 from the Bay. Now the Slaw is this he bills
the City his time. Wait it gets better, He then goes to a meeting to the Hancock Solid Waste “BORED” get it
which he is the PRESIDENT for more pay… He then fills them full of BS how the Bay will Pay SOON.
And You wonder why he is trying to discredit my business and anything I have to say… More fun then
a flatulating gorilla on a bean diet, SPEAKING OF FLATULANTS see my e-mail to Wendy??? Ask Henry
about his real estate dealing with ahbetate!!! You may find dealings berry berry interesting….
Christine, Get with the Sheriffs office and document the nefarious deeds of those who screwed you. Otherwise it is just sour grapes.