For the third year in a row, the Town of Jonesboro’s controversial mayor Leslie Thompson has threatened to forgo installing the town’s traditional Christmas lights along Main Street’s businesses and public areas. At last week’s council meeting, Thompson said that the money that is being paid to the town’s Fiscal Administrator made it impossible to fund the Christmas lights.
Said Thompson, “There went any Christmas money that we could have possibly come up with. There will be no Christmas lights.”
However, last year the town was paying Tonya Wade as a fiscal adviser, and still managed to install the lights. The lights are an integral part of the Christmas festivities that have been a fixture in Jonesboro for decades.
Lincoln Parish News Online (LPNO) has learned from several sources that the town does not pay for purchase and replacement of the lights. That money comes from the town’s businesses to the tune of several thousand dollars a year that the Town of Jonesboro bills to the businesses. In turn, the town furnishes labor and equipment to install the lights. The contributions have been an annual occurrence for a number of years.
At a meeting last week between several business owners and the town’s fiscal administrator, it was also revealed that those contributions from the business owners might not have been accounted for in the town’s finances or for what the money was ultimately used.
Reportedly, the fiscal administrator told the business owners that in the budget he will be submitting shortly to the 2nd Judicial District Court, money was allocated to put up the lights. The town’s employees are eager and ready to begin installing the lights, the sources said.
Thompson was invited to the meeting, but did not attend.
09/21/2012 at 5:12 am |
Well the FA is slowly but surely uncovering more and more of the lies and misuse of taxpayers money. Ole Les was right in not showing up for the meeting, because he doesn’t want to answer “Where’s Our Money” going? He is running out of excuses, so he needs to run right on out of state and not come back! Keep up the good work Mr. Ryder. Our town is counting on you to help us!
09/21/2012 at 6:04 am |
Well if the town don’t have the money for lights, then tell the dumbass mayor to start paying for his own gas and use his own car to make these unneeded trips out of town, and stop haing all the blacks around using the towns money.
09/21/2012 at 9:08 am |
I thought that was SUPPOSED to happen when the FA came on board. Apparently, it has not taken place!
Anyone know?
09/21/2012 at 6:58 am |
No Christmas lights? Bah Humbug. This mayor has to be the DUMBEST most STUPID human being (?) ever elected to public office. If he is reelected, then that title goes to the people of Jonesboro. Punishment for this IDIOT? Jail for sure; tar and feathers is an option; as is riding the bastard out of town on a rail.
09/21/2012 at 7:13 am |
Someone needs to invite the Mayor to a meeting outside town, to “discuss things”.
The Grinch who stole Christmas…
09/21/2012 at 7:25 am |
And yet he still has the GALL to keep his double salary raise!!!! What a crook!!!
09/21/2012 at 7:56 am |
only one problem, the same dumb people that elected him still dont think jonesboro is in trouble and that the mayor is a crook. most are black and mayor is black…
09/21/2012 at 7:58 am |
Don’t forget about the Entergy grant. For a number of years now, after the beginning of the year, Entergy has donated a sum of money back to the Town. The unspoken understanding was that it would offset the electricity used by the Town to run the Christmas lights. Curious to see if they’ll still get that money this year…
09/21/2012 at 9:40 am |
The “unspoken” understanding, what a joke, “SPOKEN, WRITTEN LAW” is not adhered to, do you actually think that this so called unspoken agreement willl ever be followed? That is the joke for the day…….
09/21/2012 at 2:49 pm |
Oh, by the way, the people who has entergy , with a Jonesboro address are the ones paying for the offset. I know this to be cause my light bill come Jan. is always 400.00 to 500.00 that month.
09/21/2012 at 9:16 am |
Messy:
Where are you? Have you kicked the bucket? We need to hear from you that all is good in Jonesboro. Give us feedback please so we can disagree with you.
09/21/2012 at 9:43 am |
Messy is probably the mayor himself, therefore NO Comment!
09/21/2012 at 8:02 pm |
Yes, I know.
I have blogged in the past that “messy” is indeed ol’ Les himself or his sidekick, the doc Simmons.
Doesn’t matter which it is, Jonesboro is NOT doing well, thank you very much, Messy!
09/21/2012 at 10:25 am |
How nice to hear from you…you like me and miss me!
All is still good in Jonesboro.
There is a season for everything and the season you want has just not arrived in Jonesboro yet.
You still are safe, happy and well feed….so please, go have a big glass of sweet tea and rock a little on the porch.
This mess is not worth your pressure getting high.
Rome was not built in a day….just trust in God.
“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”
09/21/2012 at 10:59 am |
Obey the law of the land…….teach us that one too……….don’t twist the Word to fit your actions.
09/21/2012 at 11:19 am |
It will be interesting to see if the budget that the FA submits to the court has the same amount for the mayor’s salary and cell phone use by town employees as in the current budget. These would seem to be the two areas that could best be reduced without affecting the operation of the town or its services to the citizens.
09/21/2012 at 12:29 pm |
If the people in authority had any thing honest in them, they would make them pay the money back, that ain’t happening either.
09/21/2012 at 11:37 am |
anyone want to take bets on when the mayor ultimately goes to prison?
09/21/2012 at 12:01 pm |
He aint going to prison. He will never be arrested. I am in no way a supporter. I am sick and tired of this mess. But I learned in the last few days that we are not getting the full story. It is not all Jonathon Stewarts fault after all. We,the public, are being mislead by the ones we thought we could trust. Might better ask around again at just how much “evidence of criminal activity” there is againt the mayor. You might be suprised.
09/21/2012 at 12:27 pm |
Prove it, show it to the taxpayers. There is plenty, if nothing more than the compliance audit. That is a very lame excuse for someone not doing their job. Sorry but his excuse wont’ fly.
09/21/2012 at 1:15 pm |
Here is how you get the Christmas lights back – call it Kwanzaa , throw in a Black Jesus and the Quarters will empty so they can celebrate their “heritage.”
09/21/2012 at 8:24 pm |
Good idea!
09/21/2012 at 3:12 pm |
No, its that there is no evidence. Trust me when I say its the last thing I wanted to hear too. I felt completely betrayed by the ones we thought were going to bring it to light. I apologize Mr.Stewart for thinking you were to blame. Soon the rest will know too.
09/21/2012 at 3:36 pm |
Messy says there is a season for everything. I assume he (or she) is quoting from Ecclesiastes 3:1. We have already had the first part of 3:3 in Jonesboro, “a time to break down.” How long are we going to have to wait for the second part, “a time to build up?”
09/24/2012 at 11:26 am |
To answer your question……when a new mayor comes on board. But, we must not forget. The new mayor will have to be honest, trustworthy, hardworking, caring, knowledgeable with business sense, intelligent, etc.
Now, whom may we invite to run as Jonesboro’s new mayor that fits the bill?
09/21/2012 at 3:54 pm |
Messy says, apparently referring to the citizens of Jonesboro, “You still are safe, happy and well feed.” (Assume he means “fed.”) Well, we are not safe because we have no police department yet, and we are certainly not happy about the Town of Jonesboro administration. As for the other, the Town doesn’t have anything to do with that, except if they have to raise taxes to pay for their wild spending, that may be affected as well.
09/22/2012 at 2:02 am |
I am safe; but, I have God and Smith & Wesson on my side.
09/21/2012 at 8:21 pm |
Messy, messy, messy no one’s blood pressure is getting up. You are not worth that, and we will not allow that to happen.
In the mean time, why doesn’t your mayor concentrate on leaving a legacy that should be admired instead of one deeply bogged down in mire?
He would be a much better person if he had taken that road instead of the low road where there has only been chaos, corruption, lies, strife and everything else in between.
I think it is a bit late to concentrate on leaving a legacy of honor for the town of Jonesboro, don’t you Messy, Les, or Simmons……whichever you are.
09/22/2012 at 2:05 am |
Messy’s demeanor and dialect changes too much to be either the Mayor or Simmons. I think it is someone pretending to be on the mayor’s side and just trying to tick everyone off like an old gossipy woman or a kid with time on their hands.
09/22/2012 at 9:22 am |
Just keep guessing….if you get it right, you will know
09/23/2012 at 12:42 pm |
To me, this is not a game. This is serious business. Messy, if you are up to foolishness, please stop it.
We, the bloggers, are very serious about the awful state the town is in.
09/23/2012 at 2:26 pm |
“Do not take yourself too seriously. You have to learn not to be dismayed at making mistakes. No human being can avoid failures.”- Lawrence G. Lovasik
09/22/2012 at 9:42 am |
Messy is just having a good time, he or she might not even like the Mayor, and you cant see it! Come on people, dont take everything so serious! lol
09/22/2012 at 10:31 am |
I have taken everything Messy has ever written as to be a little sarcastic, making me believe he/she is not on the mayors side. Just has a sense of humor.
09/24/2012 at 3:13 pm |
Would you say it is a “sick” sense of humor at the expense of the citizens of Jonesboro?
09/25/2012 at 7:41 am |
Not any sicker than some retired folks in the Quitman area putting in their two cents about the Mayor of Jonesboro
09/25/2012 at 3:12 pm |
Doesn’t matter where bloggers are from……….Texas, Arkansas, Monroe, Quitman, Weston, Chatham, Saline Lake, Winnfield, just to name a few. Right?
We can blog until the lights go out in Georgia. Freedom of speech, I believe it’s called. And, just where are you from Anonymous @ 7:41 a.m.? Oh, let me guess. The city of Jonesboro where turmoil is happening this very minute. See where you were up bright and early for your blog. Did it make you late for work. Or, do you even work?
09/25/2012 at 10:09 pm |
Tell um Sunrise!!! They do seem to forget they have a stake in this too if they spend any money in the kingdom.
09/22/2012 at 11:45 am |
The problem with that is, there apparentlly are a good number of voters who agree with what he or she says, and they take it seriously.
09/22/2012 at 12:06 pm |
Thompson said the money for the Christmas lights went out when the fiscal administrator was appointed. It “went out” a long time before that, when he doubled his salary and the town council approved it. That $35,000 would have gone a long way toward other more deserving projects, such as the Christmas lights.
09/22/2012 at 9:21 pm |
He tried to hold them “hostage” last year too, but when he found out his little secret was out of the bag, they were on again. Sadistic cat and mouse, just like on the tape where he told Mr. Allen ” you quit sueing and we will quit fighting” it’s always about his game and his rules and if you don’t abide, you are out. One day someone will finally find the courage to do their job, their selective conscience will get the better of them and they will actually do their job, don’t know when, don’t know how, but it’s coming.
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