With the Lincoln Parish Police Jury’s (LPPJ) show of independence last week by not rubber-stamping the Lincoln Parish Fire District #1 board recommendations, it seems a controversy has erupted, and there are misconceptions about just who is the boss.
Board of Commissioners chair Tom Thompson has dispatched another letter to jurors and board members berating a juror for his lack of knowledge about operations and suggesting that another juror should apologize for opining that maybe new blood was needed on the board.
Wrote Thompson, “I would like to suggest that when questions about the Fire District arise, it would be greatly appreciated if jurors would contact someone who knows the answers.”
We decided it was time to see who’s the boss, according to the law.
Lincoln Parish Fire Protection District No. 1 was created by the jury in April, 1991, via resolution 91-19.
See here the document.
That authority is granted via LA RS 40:1492 – Power to create.
The jury has the power to enlarge or redistrict, via LA RS 40:1493.
Further, LA RS 40:1509 seems to authorize more board members to be appointed by the jury than are presently serving.
…the board of commissioners of a fire protection district in the parishes of Avoyelles, Lincoln, St. John the Baptist, and Webster shall be comprised of at least one member from each ward located within the boundaries of the district.
Presently, only Wards 1, 2, and 3 are appointed by jurors. Two other Ward 3 members are appointed by Vienna and Simsboro, the Ward 4 member is appointed by Dubach, and the Ward Five member is appointed by Downsville.
However, the jurors in Wards 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 all represent property owners that are outside the Ruston city limits, and that are within the fire protection district, yet they have no members appointed to the board.
So if the present fire board gets too independent, it looks to us like the jury could appoint a bunch of new members and remind the district who is in charge.
06/22/2012 at 7:08 am |
It is precisely this arrogance of unelected officials that has us voters so steamed up about the current state of our government. Thompson chairs a board created by the Police Jury and has the gall to lecture the Jury on its responsibilities! The arrogance of entitlement displayed by Thompson is appalling! He answers to the Jury, not the other way around. It’s high time the Police Jury reminded these unelected “officials” just who is in charge by taking back control of these unelected boards!
06/22/2012 at 7:24 am |
Right on! Let’s take it back!
06/22/2012 at 3:00 pm |
It looks like Thompson’s Napolean complex is coming out. He’s got a little power and thinks he runs the whole parish. The fire district scheme was never needed and nothing but a waste of money. Cities have fire departments to keep fire from spreading across the city. Rural areas don’t have the problem of spreading fires because structures are spread out. Creating fire districts never made any sense for a rural parish, and the cities already have fire departments. Another wasteful boondoggle funded by the taxpayers to provide some deadhead like Thompson with an empire. Looks like Napolean is meeting his Waterloo!
06/22/2012 at 5:23 pm |
I think some people ought to leave well enough alone. Mr Thompson is right before the district rurla Lincoln Parish had an insurance rating of 10 now it is a 4. There is no other parish in Louisiana as rural as Lincoln with such a good a rating. Lincoln Parish also proudly holds the state water shuttle record. What this means is that the citizens of Lincoln Parish save a lot more money in insurance than they pay in taxes to support the department.
I noticed one person called MR Tom a deadhead. What they do not realize is he has served all this time for free. He volunteers his time on the board and recieves nothing in return. I do not think that is the definition of a deadhead. I wonder how many of the critics have volunteered their time to be on the department and help their neighbors out? HOw about it MR Tea Party Voter, would you like an application?
06/22/2012 at 7:30 pm |
Thompson got his panties in a wad because the Police Jury refused to rubber stamp his fire board selections. Does Thompson get a vehicle provided to him in his capacity as a volunteer? Does he get a gas card? When Greg Gossler’s house out in Fellowship burned down some time ago, fire district volunteers poured enough water on it to risk getting trucks stuck in the mud, but the house burned down away as they did not have the sense to punch a hole in the roof. The fire districts are worse than useless and my point was that Thompson was acting arrogantly in fuming over the Jury’s action. His reasoning was that his people were qualified because they attended the meetings. If he wants to resign, I’d be damn glad to take it over. The first thing I’d do is quash any talk of hiring professional firefighters! The second thing I’d do is start working closer with the Jury instead of running my own little empire!
06/22/2012 at 10:20 pm |
First off Thompson does not get a vehicle nor does he get a gas card. He gets nothing for his time but the knowledge that he did something for someones good. You might have your opinion of the fire district howeveer the rating bureau has a different one. One that is reflected in lower insurance rates that you enjoy. But since you are so qualified, we would welcome you as a firefighter in the department. If yo uand a few more would volunteer, we would not need to hire people.
06/23/2012 at 7:53 am |
We voters were explicitly promised back in 1991 that there would never be paid firefighters and that this would be a strictly volunteer force. The fire district has done much to drive volunteers away to create the need for a paid force. Tom Thompson may be a fine fellow and I have nothing against him as a person, but he displayed an arrogant and hostile attitude towards the Jury when they refused to accept his slate of nominees to the fire board. If he is so burdened by the rigors of volunteering for the fire board, let him resign and return to private life. I have neither the time nor inclination to volunteer for an organization I feel is not even needed. Louisiana has the highest homeowner insurance rates in the country because of Hurricane Katrina and not because of fire ratings. Also, courtesy of Katrina, we have state building codes and their associated fees imposed upon us. I’m a proponent of less government, not more.
06/24/2012 at 12:16 pm |
I heard the whole thing might be revamped by the jury, the board dissolved and a committee of the jury run it directly. Just saying…
06/24/2012 at 5:48 pm |
Anonymous has encouraged several on this thread to volunteer, given that with volunteers the district wouldn’t need to rely on paid firefighters, and this is definitely something i can agree with. One question, however. The District has been in existance for just over two decades. During the first decade of the District’s existance, the District employed very few paid firefighters and for most of the first decade it only employed one paid firefigher, the Chief. The District relied on the many, many volunteers throughout the Parish. This is not the case today, why is that?
06/24/2012 at 8:35 pm |
I have been told by more than one former volunteer that the requirements and training were being made more and more difficult, until they felt they were being forced out in favor of hired people. There are more than twenty full-time employees now, and they said the chief makes more than $100,000 per year but I can’t verify that.
06/27/2012 at 9:24 am |
Someone needs to talk to former volunteers as to why they quit. I stopped volunteering because of the long training that sometimes ran until 10:30pm on a week day and if you left early the chief would chastise you or talk about you to others. I have even seen him make fun of volunteers behind their back.
06/25/2012 at 8:16 am |
I would like to apply for the fire district chief job and its $112 K a year salary. He obviously isn’t volunteering, so why should I?