Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 83, Ed. 1 Sunday, October 16, 1994 Page: 1 of 44
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Polk County Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Livingston Municipal Library.
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Real
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Guide
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SUNDAY
OCT. 16, 1994
VoIum 112 Number 83
__uuwuii news and Advertising Source in Poll County
USPS 437-340 Price: 25 c*
OISD appoints
two new trustees
ONALASKA - Onalaska Inde-
pendent School District trustees
have taken steps toward gening the
district’s superintendent selection
process back on track and toward
getting two new board members in
place.
Meeting in regular session Tues-
day night, the board accepted the
resignations of Trustees Roy Taylor
and Barbara Campbell.
Dr. Jackie Elliott, the only
nominee, was appointed to fill
Taylor’s post by a unanimous vote
of the four board members present.
Two names were placed in
nomination to fill Campbell’s place
on the board -- Patty Johnson and
Wayne Lewis. Johnson was
selected by a vote of three to one,
with Trustee John Ackerman, who
made the nomination, casting the
vote for Lewis.
The board indicated that the two
new appointees will be swom-in as
soon as the required paperwork is
returned from Austin.
Trustees are also hoping to fill
the superintendent vacancy as soon
as possible.
"We are way overdue," said
Board President Earl Richardson.
Trustee Donald Musgrave asked
if Dr. Earl Daniel, whom the
majority of the board had pre-
viously voted to hire for the job,
had officially declined the position.
"Not in writing," Richardson
said, adding that Daniel has verbal-
ly occitRCG wc superintendent post*
Since there was never a contract
made with Daniel, the consensus of
the board was that they could legal-
ly proceed with selecting someone
else for the post
Musgrave proposed that the
board pursue the hiring of the
second candidate that had been
nominated for the post, LISD As-
sistant Superintendent for Cur-
riculum Janet Morris, if she is still
interested.
Richardson, referring to the
agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, said
the board was to discuss and pos-
sibly take action on the superinten-
dent selection process, not the hir-
ing of a superintendent, that night.
That selection process was to
have involved the site-based
management committee, which had
recommended Morris, Trustees
Musgrave and Ernest Graham said.
"We got 41 applications... then
the process was derailed," Graham
said. Saying he did not want to go
through the application process
again, Graham made a motion that
the process proceed from the point
at which it was derailed.
The motion was approved unani-
mously.
With all agreeing that the district
needs to hire a superintendent as
soon as possible, trustees called a
special board meeting from 6:30
p.m. Monday, OcL 17, to consider
selection of a superintendent The
matter will be discussed in execu-
tive session, as will selection of a
new administrative secretary to re-
place Yvonne Pixley, whose resig-
nation will also be considered at the
meeting.
The board will return to open
session to take action on those mat-
ters, if necessary. '
Other items on the agenda for
Monday’s special-called meeting
include discussion of high school
bus discipline and discussion of at-
tendance notices and truancy.
In other business during
Thursday’s meeting, the board ap-
proved County Agents Bob Ar-
mentrout and Sandy Dennis as ad-
junct staff members of the OISD.
The action, which has been
repeated in most other districts in
the county, will allow students to
participate in 4-H activities without
being counted absent from
school.The board also appointed a
textbook committee.
In campus reports. Elementary
Principal Phil Langlais reported
that, although the number changes
daily, enrollment as of Thursday
stood at 325 students.
See SCHOOL pg.4A
'mmm
ENTERPRISE PHOTO BY GORDON LeBARRON
BRAVING THE RAIN - Despite the rain,
the Pine Cone Festival Parade went on as
scheduled Saturday, with this float from
First Baptist Church taking top honors in the
non-commercial float judging. Second place
went to Trinity Lutheran School, with the
Polk County 4-H Clover Kids placing third.
In the commercial float judging, first place
went to Speed Wheelers, with Manvels Car
Cleaners placing second.
Citizens make note of TEA visitors
ONALASKA - Tuesday night’s
regular meeting of the Onalaska
ISO Board of Trustees was at-
the Texas Education Agency, who
also attended the board'# Oct 6
meeting.
Their presence was noted by
three of the four citizens who spoke
during the public forum session of
the meeting.
Faye Burgess said there have
been only two occasions where she
has seen the board president show
diplomacy and tact The first was
last month, when a video camera
was used to tape the meeting and
Richardson was unsure as to why
the meeting was being taped, Bur-
gess said, adding, "The second was
last Thursday when the two observ-
ers from the TEA were here." She
recommended that those observers
read articles and letters to the editor
in the Enterprise, dating back to
January.
Burgess next turned her attention
to the tax rate approved by the
board the previous week.
"I don’t understand OISD math,"
she said. Asked to vote on three
school board propositions last May,
voters were told the district could
completely renovate the elementary
school and build a new middle
school for a 10-cent tax increase,
she said. Last Thursday the board
approved a 7-cent tax increase "just
to maintain the status quo. What
would the increase have been if
we’d passed Propositions 1 and 3 in
May?" she asked.
Burgess noted that at the original
budget hearing, when the board
was presented with a $3 million
budget, no trustee, other than
Trustee Ernest Graham asked any
questions. Former Superintendent
John Leonard, who was paid two
months salary to complete the
budget, was not there to answer
questions, the btgud president
could not answer the questions and
the acting superint^jdent could not
answer the quesuons, she said.
"Yvonne Pixley, who has been
referred to as our financial advisor
but, as of tonight’s agenda has
identified herself as administration
secretary, was not present at the
meeting," she said.
At the following budget meeting,
Pixley was the only one who tried
to answer Graham’s concerns about
the budget and, even then, the
figures were said to be only es-
timates, Burgess said. "I hope in
the future this board functions
properly and makes sure the figures
they use to set our tax rate are reli-
able, accurate...," she said, adding
that, as a taxpayer, she sees a
budget that is out of reason, with a
secretary and former superinten-
dent "paid very handsomely."
Addressing Board President Earl
Big Sandy considers
hair policy revision
Richardson, she asked why he had
excluded mention of Graham and
Trustee Donald Musgrave in his
announcement to the Enterprise
concerning Pixley’s resignation.
"Mr. Richardson, I ask you, as
you have been asked so many
times, please step down," Burgess
said, "and take all the board mem-
bers with you that want to function
under a dictatorship rather than a
democracy."
More violations cited
Next to speak was Rene Daussin,
who described himself as "an OISD
taxpayer and citizen who advocates
reform of the board in May of
1995."
Daussin praised Elementary
Teacher Brenda Forehand and Prin-
cipal Phil Langlais, for informing
taxpayers last month "on how the
board president blocked the effec-
tiveness of the site-based com-
mittee" concerning the superinten-
dent selection process. He assured
Langlais that the limb he went out
on is "firmly supported by the
teachers and taxpayers of this dis-
trict."
Daussin cited board inef-
ficiencies in the past, including an
illegal meeting on Aug. 31, which
he said was conducted not out of
ignorance but out of "arrogant dic-
tatorship" on the part of the board
president. He also noted that the
acting superintendent allowed the
illegal meeting and also allowed
the board to violate the Texas Open
Meetings Act by denying a citizen
access to a budget woikshop on the
basis it was a closed meeting. Ad-
dressing Richardson, he said it was
the same acting superintendent that
"you maneuvered your board into
electing as our full-time superinten-
dent.
"For this wrongful conduct, I ask
you to resign as OISD president,”
Daussin said.
"If the two TEA observers were
taken in last Thursday night by Mr.
Richardson and his production that
you orchestrated with the Onalaska
theatrical group, they had to be the
only two in the room who bought
the act.” He suggested that the TEA
visitors listen to aural tapes of any
previous meeting.
He referred to the Oct 3 board
resolution requesting a TEA master
prompted a filibuster by Musgrave
and ended shortly after four
trustees — Richardson, Barbara
Campbell, Laveme Henry and John
Ackerman (Roy Taylor had left a
few minutes earlier) - left the
building. Although no board action
was taken, the resolution ended up
being signed by the four trustees
and was sent to Austin, he said.
Noting that the four trustees
represented a "voting quorum" who
walked away from the meeting and
later signed the resolution to TEA,
Daussin said, "1 read to you the
warning label that goes with trustee
power." Quoting the law, he said
any member of a governing body
who willfully participates in a
closed meeting where a closed ses-
See END pg. 4A
Balloting
to begin
Wednesday
LIVINGSTON - Early voting
for the Nov. 8 general election
begins Wednesday and continues
through Nov. 4.
Those wishing to vote early may
do so from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on
weekdays at the courthouse in
Livingston and from 8 a.m. until
noon and 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. at the
subcourthouses in Onalaska and
Corrigan. There will also be early
voting at the courthouse in
Livingston from 10 a.m. until 4
p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.
Races to be decided in the elec-
tion range from U.S. Senator to lo-
cal justices of the peace.
Below is the list of candidates on
the ballot. An "R" designates a
Republican, a "D" Democrat and an
"L" Libertarian.
U.S. Senator
Richard Fisher (D)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)
Pierre Blondeau (L)
U.S. Rep., District 2
Charles Wilson (D)
Donna Peterson (R)
Governor
Ann W. Richards (D)
George W. Bush (R)
Keary Ehlers (L)
Lt. Governor
Bob Bullock (D)
HJ. "Tex" Lezar (R)
Attorney General
Dan Morales (D)
Don Wiuig (R)
Vicki Flores (L)
Comptroller of Public Accounts
John Sharp (D)
Teresa Doggett (R)
State Treasurer
Martha Whitehead (D)
David Hartman (R)
Commissioner of the
General Land Office
Garry Mauro (D)
Marta Greytok (R)
David C. Chow (L)
Commissioner of Agriculture
Marvin Gregory (D)
Rick Perry (R)
See EARLY pg. 5A
GISD sets
tax rate
GOODRICH — The Goodrich
Independent School District Board
of Trustees formally adopted a tax
rate of S1.49 per $100 valuation
during a brief special-called meet-
ing Thursday night.
A public hearing on the proposed
tax rate, which is up from last
year’s $1.23, was held Oct. 6.
Adoption of the tax rate was the
only item on the agenda for last
Thursday’s meeting. The board’s
next regular meeting is scheduled
for Oct. 20.
City gears
DALLARDSVILLE - Proposed
changes in the Big Sandy Inde-
pendent School District attendance
policy and student transportation
policy after UIL sporting events
M ^ mtmrn. 4%. a will be considered (luring a special-
TOr TO urn 6 V called meeting of the Big Sandy
• ISD Board of Trustees at 7 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 17.
The board is also scheduled to
ONALASKA •• Action on or-
dinances for K&B Garbage Service
and Trashbuster Garbage is
scheduled to be taken during Tues-
day’s regular meeting of the
Onalaska City Council.
Councilmembers are also ex-
pected to approve a proclamation
welcoming the BASS Tournament
to Lake Livingston on Nov. 2-5 and
to grant a variance for street paik-
ing during the tournament
Discussion considering a teen
curfew will continue mid reports
will be presented concerning the
natural gas system and police
department Committee reports and
the mayor’s report will also be
presented.
Tuesday’s meeting will begin at
7 p.m. in Onalaska City Hall.
consider property insurance
proposals and employment of spe-
cial counsel.
The lawsuit filed against the dis-
trict by the Alabama-Coushatta
tribe concerning the school's hair-
length policy will also be discussed
and a revised hair-length policy
will be considered.
Fresh water district
approves tax, fee hike
ONALASKA - Directors of the
Polk County Fresh Water District
No. 2 Tuesday adopted a 1994 tax
rate of 49.12 cents per $100 valua-
tion.
Also approved was a 12 percent
increase in the district’s user fee
rate. The increases In die tax and
user fee rates are the first since the
district’s creation, according to
Mary Lima, who manages the
Onalaska office. A public hearing
on the proposed tax increase was
held during Tuesday's meeting,
with about a half dozen citizens at-
tending.
Directors also voted to pass the
Texas Natural Resource Conserva-
tion Commission (TNRCC) assess-
ment charge, previously paid by the
district, on to customers. The as-
sessment fee equals one half of 1
percent of monthly charges.
First United
FIRST SERVICE TODAY
Methodist Church will hold the first service
in its new 34,000-square-foot facility at 11
a.m. today (Sunday, Oct. 16). The larger
sanctuary means the church will no longer
need to have two separate Sunday morning
services. Beginning Oct. 23, the Sunday
service will be held from 10:30 to 11:30
a.m. See related story page 5A.
4&*■
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 112, No. 83, Ed. 1 Sunday, October 16, 1994, newspaper, October 16, 1994; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth781988/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1&rotate=0: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.