Despite Court Master Sylvia’s odd comment, CPA’s audit which said that there are $22,345 in unaccounted for cash withdrawals still stands.
By Edwin Crayton/Opinion
Have you ever heard of a community organization that manages millions meant to benefit the public that doesn’t give treasurer’s reports to the public? Well, you know of one now, and I am sorry to tell you that you are that public. The Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF) manages and distributes from 2 to 3 million in settlement money that is meant to benefit the people of Natchitoches. I say between 2 and 3 million, because without a treasurer’s report it’s hard to know isn’t it?
This is money from a settlement awarded after Tennessee Gas was involved in a spill of dreaded pcb chemicals into Sibley Lake, drinking supply for Natchitoches. A district judge ruled that the money is supposed to benefit all citizens living within the city limits. But the foundation has had a rocky history and seems constantly bogged down in controversy. Recently for instance, a certified public accountant reported that there are $22,345 in unaccounted for cash withdrawals. The audit is only one example of how shaky the status of these funds is. Understandably, citizens want to know what is going on with the money, and so there was anticipation when the foundation ran a front-page announcement in the local paper promising that at the annual meeting there would be “financial information”. Naturally, that should have been in the form of a treasurer’s report but it just didn’t happen. There was no treasurer’s report at the annual meeting on October 13, 2026 at the Ben Johnson Education Building. It did not go over well with some citizens, who turned out in good numbers. People did not like the fact that there was no treasurer’s report and they said so. This led to a round of finger pointing between the Chairman, Harold Bayonne, the Court Special Master Christopher, Sylvia and the Treasurer, Kevin Stafford. They were all correct. They are all responsible for not having a treasurer’s report at the annual meeting, last meeting of the year. Shouldn’t all three of them have made sure there was going to be a treasurer’s report at the meeting before they ran a front-page announcement in the local paper? But what is worse, is that the Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation has not given a treasurer’s report all year. Not one single report. And it’s between 2 and 3 million dollars (according to Chairman Bayonne). However, Treasurer Kevin Stafford has agreed to have a treasurer’s report in January. Alright, we’ll see.
Special Master Christopher Sylvia was appointed by District Court Judge Jimmie Peters to help the board comply with the court’s orders. Mr. Sylvia has done one or two good things, but he has generally struggled to get it right. Consider that on his watch the following have happened: Citizens were stopped at the door of a public meeting in February by Chairman Bayonne and told it was not open to the public when it was in fact a public quarterly meeting. (I was one of those people so I know firsthand). The judgement signed by Judge Eric Harrington says, minutes are supposed to be published in the papers. They are not. The audit is supposed to be published, and it is not. All board meetings are court ordered to be open to the public and that is also not happening. And then there is the issue of the unaccounted-for cash withdrawals and as mentioned, no treasurer’s report in 2026. All of these incidents which happened on Mr. Sylvia’s watch involved board members not complying with the court’s directions. That’s a lot of noncompliance. Yet, Mr. Sylvia’s job is to get the NCIF Board to comply.
Mr. Sylvia announced that the court had returned spending authority to NCIF (it had been suspended). Then he proclaimed that there was no money stolen. But that’s an odd statement because the CPA did not say money was stolen. It’s not the issue. Not according to a court document signed by Mr. Sylvia which reads, “Mark Thomas, CPA discovered debit card transactions and cash withdrawals from an NCIF checking account for which there are no records or back up documentation to explain the reason for those purchases and withdrawals after having requested documentation to account for those debit card transactions and cash withdrawals, all occurring when the current board had access to those accounts. This issue was brought to the attention of your Special Master by Mark Thomas, CPA, on October 7, 2025.” So, what the document says is that Mr. Thomas reported there were $22,345 in unaccounted for cash withdrawals, which means that the issue is that he could not determine after talking to the foundation leaders where and how the money was spent. That is a serious problem and it is still the case. Therefore, Mr. Sylvia’s comments at the annual meeting were irrelevant. The CPA’s audit findings and comments still stand.
I have been reading documents from the court and it seems Mr. Sylvia has the CPA’s audit and recommendation. So, why doesn’t Mr. Sylvia just publish in the papers, the audit and recommendation he got from CPA Mark Thomas? He would just be complying with the judgement. The judgement says the audit is supposed to be published in the newspapers. Wouldn’t that clear things up? The public also has a right to see the actual audit. After all, it is money meant to benefit the people of Natchitoches.
Mr. Sylvia got curiously upset when I expressed opinions critical of his statement. He responded by loudly saying I should not contact him again. Where did that come from? One thing has nothing to do with the other. To ban a citizen from contacting you is a weird response for a court master, whose job requires him to respond to the public. And also, is losing self-control when he is questioned by the public how Mr. Sylvia is going to operate? Is he going to become part of the solution, or part of the problem?
For reasons possibly only known to him, Chairman Harold Bayonne’s actions show he has consistently failed to lead the board to comply with either the judgement or bylaws. The judgement says all meetings of the board of directors are to be “open to the public. Yet, the board calls many special meetings where they conduct business out of the view of the public and ban the public from attending. Ironically, this is something Bayonne criticized the previous board for doing. In February, there was an election and all members of the public were asked to leave the room and the board voted in secret who to elect. It did so without a quorum and yet those board members are still on the board. The bylaws also say, that NCIF is supposed to operate as a 501 (c) 3 organization. It was once one, but is not now. Judge Jimmie Peters ordered the foundation to get its tax matters in order. That was three years ago. Why, Mr. Bayonne, does it take 3 years to get 501 (c) 3 status restored? It seems that many things that would make NCIF more transparent can’t get approval from Mr. Bayonne. 501 (c) 3 would make the NCIF Board’s financial affairs transparent. So, would publishing the minutes and the audit in the papers. So, would obeying the bylaws and letting the public attend all NCIF Board Meetings as the judgement specifies.
At one point in the meeting, I read two sentences from the judgement signed by Judge Eric Harrington and I asked Mr. Bayonne and Mr. Sylvia if they would comply and the response was that they would have to look into it legally. Their rationale was fuzzy. It’s a court judgement signed by a judge. What’ is there to look up? You obey. The bottom line is this: this current NCIF board needs to be a great deal more open, accountable and financially transparent with the people of Natchitoches. It needs to honor the court’s orders and comply with the judgement and the bylaws, both signed off by district judges.
It was quite a blessing to see such a good turnout of citizens. Citizen input makes a big difference, even in a situation where your voice is being stifled as in this case. At NCIF quarterly meetings, citizens don’t get to give input as decisions are made. They are made to wait until the end of the meeting, after decisions are made and then the public is given very little time—two minutes for the whole meeting. When a community organization gives members of the public only 2 minutes each to speak in the entire meeting, it doesn’t look like they want to hear what members of the public have to say. Just to illustrate how absurd it is to give people only two minutes to speak, consider a moment from the meeting. After I had “used up” my two minutes, board members began asking me questions. But when I tried to answer them, Sergeant at Arms, Rosemary Eli Washington, reminded me my two minutes were up. That would be sitcom quality humor, if it weren’t so undemocratic. That’s what I mean by stifled. The public is generally blocked from making decisions about money designated to benefit them. All of this is unacceptable. It also doesn’t show much respect for the people of Natchitoches. By the way, last time I checked, we were all still living in a democracy. Two questions for you: 1) Is this the way you want millions meant to benefit you to be handled? 2) Does it feel like this money is safe?
Next public quarterly meeting is supposed to be in January, second Tuesday, check papers. Pray. The public can attend the meeting. And really, really should.
“Let everything be done decently and in order.” -1 Corinthians 14:40
Go to church Sunday. God has a message waiting for you there.
The opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the Natchitoches Parish Journal or its associates.