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Police jury candidates sound off at forum in Grambling

Wednesday, September 13, 2023
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Leader photo by Caleb Daniel
District 1 police juror Theresa Wyatt holds a “Flip the Jury” sign during a speech decrying the slogan at Monday’s voter forum in Grambling.


“Transparency,” “integrity” and “ambulance service” were the most common phrases of the night as Lincoln Parish voters heard from this fall’s police jury candidates publicly for the first time Monday at a “meet the candidates” event in Grambling.

Fourteen candidates for police jury, and one for coroner, spoke to a capacity crowd at the event held by the Grambling Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, in partnership with the Grambling branch of the NAACP, the Greater Grambling Chamber of Commerce and the Grambling State student chapter of Delta Iota.

Additional seating had to be brought into Grambling City Hall to accommodate the turnout, which included more than a dozen Grambling State University students.

Each candidate was given an open- ended four minutes to deliver their platform and explain why he or she should have a seat in parish government.

Several challenger candidates discussed the contested, nearly year- long process the jury underwent to select a provider for rural ambulance service for the parish before ultimately re-signing with the Ruston Fire Department at a greatly increased price. It was the most repeated topic of the night.

Incumbents, meanwhile, mostly focused on other actions and projects the jury has implemented over the past term.

Seventeen candidates are seeking election to seven police jury seats in Districts 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10 and 11.

The only ones absent from the program were current police jury Vice President Milton Melton of District 10; Gary Baldwin, one of Melton’s District 10 opponents, and District 2 candidate Tommie Woods. They were in attendance but reportedly did not follow the sponsors’ protocol to be included ahead of time. Also in the program was current Lincoln Parish Coroner Dr. James Belue, who is facing his first opponent for the position in Dr. Holly Kidd. Kidd was not in attendance.

District 1

Incumbent Theresa Wyatt is facing challengers Will Edwards and Greg “ Big Coach” Williams in her bid for reelection.

Williams was the first to reference the ambulance service issue as a reason for his candidacy. He said a year ago he discovered he had atrial fibrillation and had to be taken to the hospital on a Ruston Fire Department ambulance.

“The one thing I found out: if the ambulance was not available, Big Coach wouldn’t be here talking,” he said. “Somebody on the police jury voted not to fund the ambulance. And I disagree with that, because you’ve got to have the ambulance service.”

“If you’re not efficient in what you’re doing, it’s time to do something else. And right now the police jury is not efficient.”

Wyatt was one of five jurors last October who voted against a new contract for emergency medical and rescue service with Ruston. Jurors were also considering splitting the two services between Pafford EMS and the Lincoln Parish Fire Department, respectively.

“I did not like the terms of the contract,” she said in her speech Monday. “I believed, and still do, that because I am a rural juror it is in the best interest of the parish to strengthen the parish fire department by adding ambulance and rescue to their duties.”

Those comments came after Wyatt’s unique opening statement, in which she held up a sign with a “Flip the Jury” logo circulated by local streamer and radio personality Rick Godley.

She claimed the signs were part of an effort by a “mob” that organized to dethrone incumbent jurors who voted in January to fire then-parish administrator Doug Postel.

“The meaning (of the sign) is, ‘We will take from them the right to choose,” she said. “‘ We will pit neighbors and friends against each other. We will divide, and we will conquer. We will destroy the purpose of districting.”

Wyatt spent most of her speaking time decrying this “ mob” and defending her votes on the ambulance and administrator fronts.

Edwards gave some of the shortest statements of the night and did not wade into these topics explicity.

“The reason I’m running is it’s time for a change,” he said. “Let’s get back to the basics. Let’s love our neighbors, let’s build our relationship back with our neighbors and our community, and let’s just try to make it a better place.”

District 2

Karen Ludley and Woods are competing for the District 2 seat to be vacated by current juror Hazel Hunter, who did not seek reelection.

Ludley was the only one in Monday’s program.

She highlighted her generations of roots in Lincoln Parish and her community service activity.

She said the concerns she’d heard the most from constituents have to do with roads.

“We have a lot of potholes,” Ludley said. “We know that.”

She said her platform is based on sparking change.

“Sometimes that means you have to light a match under some behinds to get it done,” she said. “We shall get it done.”

District 3

Current jury President Richard Durrett is facing a single challenger in Dan Lord.

Durrett recounted his extensive work history and experience in engineering, including 17 years as parish administrator for the police jury.

He also listed topics he said the jury has tackled and must continue to address in the next term.

Those included recent bridge replacements; the ongoing Health Hub project that will provide a new home for the parish health unit and H.E.L.P. agency, among others; increased frequency of picking up trash at dumpsters across the parish, and “ living within the budget.”

“I’m going to represent the rural area, and I ask for your vote,” Durrett said.

Lord said he’s been planning a police jury run for a long time, but “ stepped down for Mr. Durrett” when he ran in 2020.

Now, Lord said, the jury has shown a lack of transparency that prompted him to run.

“We need some transparency. That hasn’t been happening,” he said.

Lord specifically referenced the city of Ruston’s initial offer to renew its ambulance contract with the parish for $120,000 a year — an offer that sat on the table behind the scenes for months in 2021 known only to jury leadership, including Durrett.

“I know we had an opportunity to get an ambulance service for the parish for $10,000 a month,” Lord said. “What happened was it ended up being $53,800 a month. That’s what we have to pay now. And we’re going to have to find where the money is. That’s why I’m wanting to step in.”

District 6

Incumbent Glenn Scriber faces a single challenger in John Cole.

Cole cited his 34-year career in banking and his experience with governmental audits and budgets.

“I think something missing on the jury is someone who has nextlevel understanding about the budgetary process and the legislative audit process, and I think I can bring that to the table if elected,” he said.

Like other challengers, he said he’d bring more transparency to the jury, as well as a spirit of working together to find solutions.

Scriber said transparency is already a part of his record on the jury.

“I’ve been there, I’ve done it,” he said. “This is not looking for something in the future for me. My record will already tell you what I’m going to do.”

Scriber focused on the “calling” he felt to run for the jury last term and has continued to feel while serving.

“It’s a stronger commitment when you feel a calling to do something than well, I think I want to do this. You have that inner drive, more passion about it.”

District 9

Joe Henderson, the longest serving member of the jury at 30 years, contrasted with newcomer Nakisha Evans, while both candidates tried to assert their own versions of experience.

Evans cited close family members who’ve worked with the city of Ruston for decades.

“I’ve lived with the issues and situations going on,” she said. “I am experienced.”

She also took digs at Henderson for apparently not being responsive to constituent concerns. She claimed she’s been fighting with FEMA over hurricane damage to her house since 2018 and never heard from her juror when she called.

“I have not seen (Henderson) until today,” Evans said.

Henderson, meanwhile, touted his extensive experience on the jury, pointing to advocacy he performed to bring new roads and sewage extensions to his district in previous terms.

Like other incumbents, he cited the upcoming Health Hub as a major recent achievement. He also said some believe he voted against the ambulance contract with Ruston, but he in fact voted for it.

“During these times, we don’t need to be flipping no jury with people that don’t know what they’re doing,” Henderson said.

District 10

Morris “Mo Love” Winters and Baldwin are both challenging Melton for the District 10 seat. Only Winters was a part of Monday’s program.

He cited his history of entrepreneurship, opening businesses in Grambling, Ruston and Monroe, as well as developing real estate in Shreveport.

He said District 10 needs improvements in street lighting and dumpsters.

“The lighting issue is big. It’s dark on a lot of those roads in our districts… We need to work to get grant money to lighten up the area and reduce the crime rate.”

District 11

Patsy Candler and Diane Heard Richards are challenging incumbent Sharyon Mayfield for the District 11 seat.

Candler was another candidate to cite integrity and transparency among the qualities she would bring.

She listed various community service projects and agencies she’s served in and said she has a lifelong passion for making a difference.

“Psychologists agree that past behavior is a good predictor of future behavior,” Candler said. “If you believe this statement to be true, District 11, you need to cast your vote for me."

Like other incumbents, Mayfield touted her experience, saying “experience matters.”

She cited the Lincoln Parish Park, road upgrades, and the Health Hub project as recent accomplishments for the jury.

“We have been working on that health unit for years and years, and now we are going to have it,” she said.

Lastly, Richards criticized several aspects of parish government, including the dumpster sites, the ambulance service selection process, and the operation of the Lincoln Parish Detention Center, which the jury owns.

“Constituents have a problem with the detention center,” she said. “And they have a board that sits there. We’ve had people die out there. Why is all this happening, and it’s a board there?”

Mayfield sits on the detention center commission. Richards was likely referencing the 2021 in- custody death of Demerious Jones at the jail, which sparked a civil lawsuit against the commission that is still ongoing.

The candidates will gather again to answer more questions at the Ruston Daily Leader’s forum events on Sept. 14 and 19.

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