By Edwin Crayton/Opinion

I believe it’s only fair to start this article with a disclaimer. Here goes. DISCLAIMER: This article does not concern the actions of citizens who in February, applied to be on the board of the Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF). They acted properly by applying for open seats. They have not done anything wrong. However, this article does concern the actions of current board members who held an election on February 19. I do mean to say, they did some very wrong things in how they conducted the so called “election” of board members.

In case you’re wondering what NCIF is and why you should care, here’s why it matters to you. The Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF), is a community organization that distributes settlement money awarded when in the late 1990s, Tennessee Gas Company was involved with a pcb spill in Sibley Lake, the city’s drinking water supply. The court ordered that the money be given to the people of City of Natchitoches, in the form of grants and scholarships and distributed in four areas: education, recreation, housing and economic development/seed money for grants. In 2003, NCIF became the organization that was given the task of doing this. But NCIF often got bogged down in controversy. On the last board, several members overstayed their terms and had to be removed by a district judge in 2023. They were replaced by the current board which has also become bogged down in controversy. Recently, a certified public accountant reported that $22,345 in cash withdrawals were unaccounted for. That money is money from the settlement. In short, these funds are for you.

The election was not legitimate for several reasons. Here are the main ones:

• Although the election was advertised as a public meeting, some people who showed up were turned away at the door. I know because I was one of them. So was a lady who showed up at the same time.  I was able to get in only after showing NCIF President Harold Bayonne, the announcement advertising the election and pointing out that it was advertised as a quarterly meeting, which means the public can attend. I have heard of one additional person who was told the meeting was not open to the public. I wonder if other people were discouraged from attending?
• The meeting did not have a quorum. There were seven members present: Harold Bayonne, Deborah Roque, Gwen Rachal, Ernestine Armstrong, Kevin Stafford, Linda Franklin and Ernest Sawyer. It’s a 15-member board. The bylaws say you must have a majority to conduct business. Seven is not a majority. You need Eight. The election was not legitimate and needs to be done over. What if they had someone on the phone? Doesn’t matter. The bylaws signed by Judge Eric Harrington who approved them in 2014 say you cannot participate by phone at a quarterly meeting Section 3:12 reads: “telephonic conference or similar telecommunications device shall be permitted for specially called meetings, but not for quarterly meetings”. This was a quarterly meeting.
• The election itself was held in secret, making it virtually impossible to know if it was conducted fairly with checks and balances. Members of the public were asked to step outside while the election took place. I later asked Chairman Bayonne why they did that. He said there was no special reason. Then why did they do it? In the past NCIF like most organizations I know, allowed the public to watch the election. What’s the big secret? Yet, it’s one more way they freeze the people of Natchitoches out of funds designated for the people.
• The announcements for the election I saw did not have time and location. Perhaps they had one that did have it, but I couldn’t find one. This made it hard for the public to participate. I pulled out one particularly bad one and showed it to Bayonne. It was in a local paper’s community calendar and it just said, “February 19, NCIF quarterly meeting”. I pointed out to Mr. Bayonne that many people don’t know what NCIF is and that the announcement did not say where and what time the meeting was going to be held. His response? He said, “Everyone knows what NCIF is.” Dear reader, I would not be surprised if you didn’t know before you read this article. And even those who did know, would still like to know where the meeting is and at what time.
• As I mentioned earlier, NCIF was created to get settlement money to the people of Natchitoches. All the people who apply for grants, scholarships, etc. Yet, to be honest, it seems it has become like a private club. Many of the people serving on the board, old and new are related or friends, or connected in some way. When you combine that with these issues of lack of transparency and unaccounted for withdrawals, it’s not hard to start to feel that this board is not really open to the general public. This election did not really make these board seats available to all citizens. It also needs to make these funds more accessible to the citizens of Natchitoches. How do people get the funds for their projects? Let them know NCIF.  Recently, Judge Jimmie Peters suspended their ability to spend money. He gave spending authority to a master appointed by the court. That’s good and I hope he doesn’t lift it while this group is serving because they have not held themselves accountable. Dear Chairman Bayonne: Harry Truman had a sign on this desk that said, “The buck stops here.” That means he accepted responsibility for what happened on his watch. So, should you, Chairman Bayonne and all of the NCIF board members. This election should be re done. It was a non-election. Not legitimate. Sorry nominees.

Ironically, the key words in all of this are right there in the name of the organization. I am referring to the words “community improvement” The blunt truth is, Natchitoches needs these funds to help improve itself. Money Inc’s website picked Natchitoches as one of the 10 worst places to live in Louisiana. Among the reasons, they cited poverty and lack of family activities, which are both areas these funds are supposed to fund. In both the plan of allocation and bylaws, NCIF is supposed to offer citizens grants or scholarships in economic development and recreation—which would give families more activities to participate in.  Think of all the good that citizens will experience when we remove the bottlenecks and make this money begin to flow. But first we have to manage these funds right and get all of the money into the hands of the citizens of Natchitoches. The proposals and requests need to come from ordinary citizens and need to be the top priority for NCIF. After all, the settlement money was designated for them. Improving their lives was the whole idea when Judge Harrington signed the original judgement. And I believe it’s what Judge Peters wants now. But let’s be real. We need to stop the hemorrhaging of money first.

It has become obvious that the public will have to get involved and not be stopped at the door. Attend meetings. Check local papers. NCIF should be required to educate the public about how to access this money. We need an investigation into the unaccounted for $22,345. If you are a person who can and will act on at least one of the above recommendations, please do so. This money was meant for you and your community or neighborhood. But you will have to speak up. Last count I saw between 2 and 3 million in the foundation’s bank account.  $22,345 is already unaccounted for. What’s next? If you don’t spend your money, these guys will. Do you really want to just sit back and let that happen?

“Let everything be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40

“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” -James 4:17

Go to church Sunday and invite a friend or neighbor. God bless you.

Note: in a previous article on NCIF the word “ballots” should have been “nominations”.

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