By Edwin Crayton/Opinion

I wasn’t looking for symbolism, but there it was, staring me in the face.  I am referring to the evening of Thursday, February 19, when I showed up for a public meeting and was met at the door and told I could not come in. Before I explain what happened next, in order to be clear, I believe I need to give you a little background information.

The meeting was the quarterly board meeting of the Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF).  It was the first meeting for the public that they’ve held in two years. NCIF was created to distribute settlement money to citizens living in the City of Natchitoches. The settlement is the result of a chemical spill involving Tennessee Gas. The foundation was set up to give grants and scholarships, and all people living in the City of Natchitoches are eligible.  But unfortunately, NCIF has also developed a record for controversy through the years. The previous board overstayed their terms and had to be removed by a district judge. The new board took over in 2023 and they too are facing public outcry after a CPA recently revealed that $22, 345 in cash withdrawals are unaccounted for. He also reported unaccounted for debit card transactions for over $700. In addition, the board which was and which is supposed to be working on revising bylaws, spent these monies without public input.  There is the symbolism I spoke of earlier: Like me being denied access to the public meeting, you, the public are denied access to the handling of funds that are meant for you.

Now back to that tense moment at the door. Board member Deborah Roque met me at the door and told me the meeting was not for the public. I asked why not, since it was advertised as a quarterly meeting and the public is allowed to attend quarterly meetings. (However, there are meetings that the public is not allowed to attend. Those are referred to as special meetings or “called” meetings.)  Before she could answer, Harold Bayonne, the chairman of NCIF arrived. I asked him if it was a called meeting or a quarterly one. He said both, but I told him it couldn’t be both. I then showed him the announcement that ran in the paper which said it was a quarterly meeting. He then let me in along with a woman who was also waiting to get in. We were the first two in but other citizens came later. It’s amazing anyone could find it at all, as I could not find a time or address for the meeting in any announcement I saw. I pointed out to Bayonne that the announcements lacked time and location information. The one I showed him had no address or time in it.

Someone who arrived later pointed out that there was no written agenda. In fact, there was not much paper anywhere. These people must have great memories because I did not see any of the board members writing anything down. This was an election meeting and they were voting for new members. In the meeting, in fact, most striking of all, there was no mention of the fact that CPA Mark Thomas has said that NCIF has over $22,345 in unaccounted for funds.

Then Bayonne asked all members of the public to step out of the meeting while the board held an election for the new board members.  What was the point of inviting the public to an election then–with no apparent regard for transparency–holding that election in secret? Then again, what was the point of advertising a meeting to the public and then stopping them at the door, as I was stopped?

After about 30 minutes, they let the public back inside.  I asked Bayonne, why they made the election a secret one. Bayonne’s response was that there was no particular reason why. I reminded the board that in the settlement, the money was designated to be used for the people of Natchitoches, in the areas of recreation, housing, education and recreation. And yet the board has been spending money without public input. Lots of money. I suggested they make the process of getting the money easier and that they educate people on how to get access to it, and let the citizens of Natchitoches submit their proposals before any money is spent by the board. The ideas and requests for funds are supposed to come from the people. This wasn’t a radical idea, because it’s the way NCIF boards have always done it in the past.  

Contrast those worthy goals with recent news reports alleging that the board is being questioned about thousands in missing funds I mentioned earlier, and that an NCIF debit card had over $700 in unaccounted for purchases. (The fact that there is a debit card is odd in itself.) There is also a frustrated former Treasurer, Marvin Blake, who has resigned in recent weeks citing frustration over the lack of transparency and financial irregularities. He wrote in his resignation letter: “I have become disillusioned with the lack of public meetings as are required by our Bylaws and the lack of transparency regarding the finances and management of the Corporation.” Blake also said that “monies were missing without proper authority or approval from the Board of Directors”.

At the end of the board meeting, they announced the newly elected board members. They are Glenda Humphrey, Khasia Wiggin, Jameson Davis, Judith Hayes, Deborah Roque, and Rosemary Washington Eli.

Bayonne was about to call for an adjournment when Board Member Kevin Stafford stopped him and said that maybe the members of the public wanted to ask questions. I was glad he was gracious in doing that. Another bright spot was that the board allowed citizens to ask questions before the board decided on an issue. That is much different from the board they replaced, which only allowed comment after they had made their decisions. On the other hand, this current board went 2 years without any meetings.

At no point in the meeting did Harold Bayonne or any board member take responsibility for the unaccounted-for funds. Is that leadership? There was no apology. It wasn’t even mentioned. This board is not going to hold itself accountable. People who don’t accept responsibility for unaccounted for money designated for the public should not handle those funds.

The more I learn, the more I am convinced that there urgently needs to be an investigation. These funds are in danger and the interests of the people of Natchitoches need to be protected. Last time I checked, the foundation’s bank account was between 2 and 3 million dollars. Thank God, Judge Jimmie Peters has put a suspension on NCIF and it cannot spend money. The board is overseen by a master appointed by the court—Christopher Sylvia.  As I understand it, he is the only one who has authority to spend. He was not present at the February board meeting. I have 22,345 reasons why that suspension should not be lifted while the current board members are serving. I further believe the election that was held on February 19 should be voided because it was not transparent. It was done in secret.  Nomination went to Bayonne’s home address, making it hard to verify that no ballots were lost. How can we objectively know all the ballots even made it to the election? We also do not know what the conduct of the election was because there were no objective observers in the room. And seven board members voted. As I understand it, there are 15 board members. That is not a quorum. You need a majority.

Money and power do strange things to some people. In 1887, a British historian named Lord Action summed it up well when he said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Power and money can have an intoxicating effect. It’s human nature. Therefore, you have to have strong controls and boundaries when you ask anyone to distribute and manage 2 or 3 million dollars. I am starting to wonder if NCIF needs to be put under the authority of a governmental agency like the local city council because it would make NCIF directly accountable and responsive to the people of Natchitoches. (Not sure of the legal issues or hurdles that would bring up however.)

Whatever happens, it seems we need to make a change here. The dysfunctional practices and large, unaccounted for withdrawals we are seeing should be unacceptable to all of us.  By the way, I believe the NCIF bylaws are good as they are written now. They just need tweaking and strengthening in the sections about term limits. Just make it harder for people to overstay their terms. As the headline of this article implies, it’s not the bylaws that need to be changed, It’s the practices and attitudes of the people on the board that need changing. After all, let’s remember these funds were designated for people harmed by a chemical spill. Why make people suffer twice? People have suffered once by drinking or using bad water and now, a second time by having settlement funds mishandled, made un-accessible and even unaccounted for? Enough.

The next quarterly meeting is in April. I asked but I could not get Mr. Bayonne to tell the public attendees more information about that upcoming meeting. That is again, the problem: Lack of access for the people. Check local papers.

Pray. Attend meetings. Investigate.

Board members in attendance at that February 19 meeting:

Harold Bayonne
Ernestine Armstrong
Ernest Sawyer
Kevin Stafford
Deborah Roque
Gwen Rachal
Linda Franklin

 “Let all things be done decently and in order.” – 1 Corinthians 14:40