Police jury reverses administrator decision

In a reversal of its seemingly unanimous decision last week to recommend Tracy Calloway as parish administrator, the Lincoln Parish Police Jury instead voted Tuesday to officially appoint Doug Postel to the position.

A motion to appoint Calloway, the parish’s current information technology manager, to the jury’s top staff position failed in a 6-6 tie. A subsequent motion to instead appoint Postel passed by a vote of 8-4.

A former campus director at Louisiana Delta Community College and Northwest Louisiana Technical College, Postel has most recently served as project coordinator at Louisiana Tech University.

His appointment came one week after jurors interviewed each of the eight candidates for the position over two days and spent almost two hours in a closed-doors executive session on June 2 to discuss the applicants’ qualifications.

The jurors then emerged back into open meeting that night and voted unanimously to recommend Calloway for the position.

As a recommendation, that vote did not officially name a new administrator. Tuesday’s vote did.

Joe Henderson, Theresa Wyatt, Hazel Hunter, Milton Melton, Sharyon Mayfield and Annette Straughter voted in favor of Calloway Tuesday, while Logan Hunt, Marvin Franks, T.J. Cranford, Glenn Scriber, Matt Pullin and Skip Russell voted against him.

After that vote failed to pass, Henderson and Straughter joined the six jurors who voted against Calloway to form the 8-4 majority in voting for Postel.

The parish administrator is in charge of more than 150 employees across the jury’s various departments.

Postel will replace the now-retired Courtney Hall, who was parish administrator since 2009.

‘Stacking’ the scores

The key point of contention that led to such different voting results over a one-week period was the scoring system jurors used to rate each candidate during their interviews.

Despite repeated pleas from their legal counsel to avoid doing so, several jurors referenced the scoring system, which was apparently used during last week’s executive session to indicate that Calloway was the preferred candidate.

Jurors argued Tuesday night over whether that system was fair, whether it was meant to be the final word on who would be appointed, and whether the results had been “stacked.”

“Some of you said the votes were stacked in favor of a person,” Wyatt read from a statement before the failed vote to appoint Calloway. “You went so far as to pick up the votes and try to figure out who stacked them. I did. Let me repeat: I did. If you want to punish someone for what you say is my mistake, punish me. Ask my district to vote me out. Punish me, not (Calloway).”

Wyatt’s speech accused newer jurors of only caring about the scoring method once it went against their preferred candidate, and claimed her experience puts her in a “better position to know better than many of you” who should be administrator.

During each of last week’s interviews, jurors were handed score sheets and asked to record numbered scores related to each question candidates answered. The same system was used during interviews for the registrar of voters position earlier in the year.

But whether those scores were supposed to serve as the sole deciding factor was something on which jurors were not agreed.

“There was much confusion on the procedures surrounding the selection and appointment process that will need to be addressed prior to the next appointment,” Hunt said in a statement Wednesday. “I regret this was not corrected earlier.”

Mayfield said she had asked for an executive session to be called before the interviews began in order to inform jurors that “the numbers would be the way we do it.” However, simply discussing hiring policy is not among the stated reasons a public body can enter an executive session by state law, so that didn’t happen.

“When we left the meeting (June 2), we said that we were going with Tracy 100%,” Mayfield said. “We said it. We went around the whole table, and we said yes. For us to come here tonight and say that we are doing something different is totally wrong.”

Several jurors who voted against Calloway Tuesday said they initially voted for him last week in the interest of preserving unity with the majority, until the “stacked” scoring system was discovered later in the week. They said they regret that initial decision.

“I want to apologize for agreeing to a recommendation based on showing unity versus based on doing what I believe is right,” Pullin said.

Hunt and Franks made similar apologies.

The not-so-secret session

Despite continued admonitions from their legal counsel, multiple jurors on Tuesday referenced a “vote” during last week’s executive session that indicated Calloway was the favorite.

By law, public bodies cannot take any action during executive sessions. This informal vote, while not binding, apparently showed a 7-5 split in favor of Calloway.

Some who supported Calloway said his references were a positive factor. During his interview, he cited 3rd Judicial District Attorney John Belton, incoming Lincoln Parish Sheriff Stephen Williams and Lincoln Parish Clerk of Court Linda Cook among those references.

“Many applicants had character references,” Wyatt said. “(Calloway) had references that were familiar with what an administrator does.”

Russell said he initially supported Calloway simply because the scoring system seemed to point his way, but after investigating “irregularities in the voting,” he decided to support Postel.

“It was my intention to vote for the person who had the most points,” he said. “There was such a turmoil over this election that I decided to look into the situation. Looking at those votes that were fair and followed the guidelines… it was my determination that Doug Postel got the most votes.”

Meanwhile, those who supported Postel largely pointed to his administrative experience in higher education.

“With over 150 employees and a $17 million budget, I believe it to be the most responsible, prudent business decision to appoint someone with significant experience in management and administration,” Hunt said in his statement.

After the informal 7-5 vote during executive session last week, those in the minority decided to join the official vote to recommend Calloway during the open meeting.

As to why there was one vote to recommend a candidate last week and another vote to actually appoint one Tuesday, Hall said he did not remember the method used when he was appointed 11 years ago.

He said the jury does not have an official policy on how that procedure should go, and that it’s “whatever they decide to do as a body.”

Postel is in

Postel said Wednesday he was looking forward to building on the “strong foundation the police jury already has.”

He said he sought the position because it matched his administrative skills with his penchant for community service.

“I’ve been in administration for 22 years, so I felt like I had the skill set that really fit well for what the job called for,” he said. “I think taking that skill set and matching it with the public service part of this job makes it a great fit for me.”

He said his first priority is to start building the knowledge and relationships he’ll need to be an effective administrator.

“I’m on a steep learning curve, because there’s a lot to this job,” Postel said. “I’m going to be doing a lot of listening, asking a lot of questions, developing a lot of relationships with the staff and the jurors.”

Hall is out

After the vote to appoint Postel, Hall stopped being an employee of the police jury for the first time in 35 years.

“It hasn’t quite hit me yet,” he said after the meeting. “I’ve been doing this for so long. I’ve never missed a police jury meeting… It’s woven into the fabric of my life.”

Though he cannot legally be rehired to the jury after retiring, he said he plans to volunteer as much time as necessary to mentor Postel and ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.

Jurors and staff presented Hall with a plaque to commemorate his service to the parish.

“You’ve always been approachable, agreeable, and willing to go the extra mile to explain it, make it work, and take care of all the citizens of this parish,” Straughter said.

“Mr. Postel has very large shoes to fill.”