Month: January 2017

Councilman Lonnie Falgout has released a statement regarding the incident with local businessman

As most of you are aware I have been and will continue to be a critic of the lack of code enforcement, ADA Compliance Laws, architectural protocol and controls by The City of Bay St. Louis’ Code Enforcement within our Bay St. Louis Building Department.

Since 2005 many governments, organizations and especially our citizens have been “bilked” out of hundreds of millions of dollars by unscrupulous “contractors and individuals” that promised “we’ll help your recovery” giving “trust me” assurances. We should have learned a valuable lesson! But unfortunately folks, the problem is still thriving and hurting our constituents. We as legislators from Jackson to local Council and Alderman board rooms must put in, enact and pass laws to protect our citizens. From simple jobs to building homes, our expectations must be of the highest standard of accountability for all. Constractors should be licensed, bonded, insured and in good standing or we will force them and prosecute according with our laws. We should not accept anything but quality work.

This “confrontation” with Keith Marquar of L&L (Marine) Construction is a “direct” result of many constituents and vendors complaints to me regarding L&L.

As for the aggression incident on January 24, 2017, I as a Councilman and/or as a private citizen, did not knowingly or willfully place my hands on Mr. Marquar as alleged. I have and will continue to consult with our City Attorney, Police Chief, City Prosecutor and my personal attorney on the options available to me as a Councilman and as a individual to resolve this matter within the justice system.

Education Funding on my mind…….

Slabbed’s Twitter timeline tells the tale. In no particular order:

Continue reading “Education Funding on my mind…….”

Trump Administration Days 2-3: Alternative facts rule the day over by the lemonade spring…..

The new presidential administration is starting out on a worse note than I thought possible as the White House realigns the public conduct of l’affaire d’etat with the methods used by countries like North Korea:

A retweet of the above captures of history retweeted by the Department of the Interior resulted in swift retribution:

Interior Department banned from Twitter after retweet of smaller-than-usual Trump inauguration crowd ~ NOLA.com

And then the lemonade began to copiously flow:

And then some interesting analysis from Twitter: Continue reading “Trump Administration Days 2-3: Alternative facts rule the day over by the lemonade spring…..”

The gift that keeps on giving…… (Updated)

Update:
I have been able to clarify that chatter from last night. Yesterday Scott Walker did indeed go to Ocean Springs City Hall and pick up qualifying papers for municipal office but he has has not filed any papers on his own behalf to qualify. This bears keeping an eye on to see what develops.

Reader links: What y’all are talking about

RFP sent in the following interview Ryan Vlastelica of Marketwatch did with Bernie Madoff from prison that is an interesting read. Madoff is not only a rock star in the prison world he has also done well for himself (in relative terms) by being himself:

At one point, he cornered the hot chocolate market. He bought up every package of Swiss Miss from the commissary and sold it for a profit in the prison yard. He monopolized hot chocolate! He made it so that, if you wanted any, you had to go through Bernie.

Moving right along the Tweet Slabbed put out from Al.com about the new District Attorney being indicted just before he was to take office:

New Jefferson County District Attorney indicted for perjury; will face suspension ~ Kent Faulk

As usual trouble naturally follows when the little head does all the thinking:

Then at the Sept. 26 trial at which Henderson allegedly perjured himself, the issue of whether there was a romantic relationship between Henderson and the mother, Ms. Akl, surfaced.

On Sept. 28, the day after the trial ended, the mother’s attorney, Daniel Chambers, asked to withdraw from the case. Chamber’s motion included information about evidence that the “defendant (mother) and the former Guardian Ad Litem (Henderson) have been in a romantic relationship.”

So what kind of woman could cause the newly elected DA to take leave (allegedly) of his senses? Social media gives us a few tantalizing clues first up being this Youtube Channel. The connection is the product of a Facebook like of this photo from the DA elect’s Facebook page which leads to this Facebook page. Run the names through the ol’ search engine you get the YouTube channel linked above and it is clear the ladies knows their way around the Chakira and then some. To be clear none of this is conclusive but Ms. Akl’s lawyer withdrawing looks very bad. Continue reading “Reader links: What y’all are talking about”

Hancock Schools District Consolidation Study Committee Meets

By Lana Noonan – Special to Slabbed

The first meeting of the Committee to Study the Consolidation of the Two School Districts in Hancock County was held Tuesday in the Bay St. Louis City Council Chambers.

Ron Thorp, Co-Chairman of the Hancock County Alliance for Good Government put together a very well thought out and structured cost study program to provide information for the public with regard to what the taxpayers in Hancock County are spending to have two School Districts.

Each member received a packet of the subject areas to be investigated and their particular topic to gather facts on and report back next month. The subject areas to be studied are: Legal expenses, Transportation, Alternative School, Travel/Special Student Expense, Purchasing, Consultants, Administration/ Debt Consolidation, School Board Consolidation, Insurance, Maintenance, State Fees, Dues and Organizations.

Some early figures were obtained by the committee members. For instance the current Maintenance Budgets for the two Districts are:

Hancock School District Current Maintenance Budget–$3,969,883.20, which includes $820,000 insurance, with custodial services, grass cutting and lawn services out sourced to private contractors. These expenses are being incurred for a student body of 4,552 students and 7 campuses.

Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District Maintenance Budget— $2,766,136.83, which includes facility employees ( no number given), janitorial employees (no number given), supplies, equipment, and repairs for 1,865 students and 4 campuses. Bay-Waveland’s insurance cost approximately $800,000 two years ago, and was not included as part of the Maintenance Budget. Continue reading “Hancock Schools District Consolidation Study Committee Meets”