The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 41

Rfl GIT CDassiif iecfl Bank files lawsuit, D-3 Wednesday, October 28, 1 987 Edwards' leftover funds, D-5 Alexandria Mis 3tum Mi Community home for retarded being proposed for city "There's not necessarily a rush ii I I i Vt Stephen Reed Staff photographer warehouse in Alexandria. Some slight differences in a few races were found compared to vote totals announced Saturday night, but none of the changes affected the outcome of any race. Jim Brady, chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, keeps count as Patty Roberson tallies the votes from the back of a voting machine on Tuesday morning at the Rapides Parish voting machine By Carol G. Carwile Staff reporter A community home for the mentally retarded, similar to the proposed homes sparking emotional meetings in Pineville and Ball has been proposed for Alexandria. A public notice in Saturday's Town Talk announced the proposal of "a community home for six adult persons with mental retardation at 400 Tulane Street The Alexandria City Directory, however, lists no home with a 400 street number on Tulane Street.

Clifton Riley of Monroe, the contact person published in the notice, could not be reached for comment on the project. 4 to 6 persons A community home is a residence for four to six mentally retarded persons supervised by a staff of one or two persons. Such homes are operated by independent "service providers" licensed by a division of the state Department of Health and Human Resources. The home proposed for Alexandria brings the total number of homes planned for the Alex-andria-Pineville area to 10. Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries of Bossier City has plans for four community homes in Pineville, including one proposed in Village Green subdivision; two in Alexandria; and one in Tioga, according to Evergreen representative Floyd Killough.

Louisiana Community Care Inc. has announced its intent to establish two community homes in Ball. The influx of community homes in the area is something John Sewell, the community services regional manager for District 6 of DHHR, expects to continue. Within a year, Sewell expects the district, which includes Concordia, LaSalle, Rapides, Winn, Catahoula, Avoyelles, Vernon and Grant parishes, to meet its "quota" of 20 community homes. Each of the state's eight regions is limited to a certain number of community homes.

The quota is derived from a formula of .36 community home beds per thousand people in the population. Until recently District 6 only had five community homes one each in Pineville, Poland, Hessm-er, Leesville and Avoyelles now, this area is just behind the other seven regions in terms of community homes. "The trend now really almost everywhere is to reduce institutional populations and have people move into community settings," Sewell said. Louisiana "is further behind than other states, but the momentum is picking up," he said. "I recently visited another state where for about a 2 million population they have a 110-bed institution, and the rest, about or 1,400 people, are living in the community (in substitue family care, community home or supervised apartment situations).

That is the epitome of the reversal of this region." Something that has created the availability of openings for community homes is a change in the way community home bed quotas are formulated. Until about 18 months ago, Sewell said, the quota was set based on the combined number of community home beds and institution beds. "Other regions do not have the number of institutional beds that this region does," Sewell said. The number of institution beds alone exceeded the old maximum for the number of community home and institution beds combined. To remedy the situation, a new ratio was established that takes into account only community home beds, he said.

Regional center Although District 6 encompasses eight parishes, Sewell said, most of the newly established community homes will probably be located in the Alexandria-Pine-ville area because it is a regional center for medical services and shopping. "Outlying areas have great difficulties getting professional services." Sewell said he hopes to see the development of substitute family care in rural parishes. Substitute family care involves a family taking a mentally retarded individual into its household. There are currently 65 persons in substitute family care situations, he said. This type of care is not as common as community homes because it is state-subsidized, not federally subsidized.

Community homes receive both state and federal funds. Count shows no significant changes Most a matter of small number of votes; no race outcome affected received 1,434 votes while fourth-place finisher Jim Abruseley received 1,294 votes. Brent Montou received 1,038 votes, and Brent Wilson tallied 731 votes. Allen Parish Police Jury District 2 challenger Lynn David Thompson received 244 votes in the three-man race, while also in Allen Parish, state Sen. John Saunders received 7,116 votes.

House District 32 candidate James David Cain showed 6,772 votes on the Allen ballot. In Catahoula Parish, official results showed incumbent Sheriff Thomas "Sonny" Jackson with 3,075 votes while third-place finisher David Patten received 1,001 votes. In the Catahoula clerk's race, official totals put Emmett R. Book in third place over Albert Krause. Book received 1,285 votes to Krause's 1,262 votes.

Catahoula Police Jury Ward 5 candidate Larry Boothe kept his win with 503 votes, as compared with the previously reported unofficial vote total of 440. In Evangeline Parish, Saunders received votes to challenger Claire Sharp's 4,444 votes in the Senate District 28 race. House District 38 incumbent Danny Lemoine got a total of 9,697 votes while his challenger, Hampton Dupre, received 4,835 votes. In the 8th District BESE race, Clifford Baker totaled 1,513 votes, James DeLee had 3,421 votes, Lionel Johnson received 2,066 votes and Carson Killen got 4,872 votes on the Evangeline ballot. Official vote totals compiled Tuesday from central Louisiana clerks of court offices showed no significant changes from the totals reported Saturday night.

Most changes were a matter of a small number of votes, and no change affected the outcome of any race. In Avoyelles Parish, Police Jury District 3 incumbent Harold Joe Bernard won by 103 votes and not 3 votes as was reported election night. Bernard received 572 votes to defeat challenger Twyman Guillory. The change was not a result of some votes not being counted; reporters received the wrong figure on election night. The following are changes reported in the various parishwide races compared to those announced Saturday night: Natchitoches Parish only reported several minor changes in statewide races, but no changes on the parishwide level.

In the Board' of Secondary and Elementary Education race, 5th District candidate Marie Louise Sne-llings received 8,143 official votes, 100 more votes than recorded on Saturday night. Grant and Winn parishes reported only a few minor changes in statewide races while Concordia Parish had no changes to report. Changes in the Allen Parish totals included the Kinder drainage tax election. The tax still passed, but the vote was 800 to 576. In the Allen assessor's race, Dewitt Carrier In the Evangeline sheriffs race, Floyd Soileau got 11,513 votes to challenger Wade Deshotels' 3,108.

Clerk of court winner Walter Lee received 11,830 votes while his challenger, Franklin Vidrine got 2,825 votes. In Police Jury District 1, Gerald Attales got 592 votes and Joe Lafleur received 703 votes for the win. Changes in the Police Jury District 2 race were Paul Deshotel with 88 votes, Sidney Fontenot with 447 votes, Leo Langley with 95 votes, Lootsy LeBleu with 275 votes and Oren Ortego with 76 votes. Police Jury District 3 candidate "Coach" Deville received 458 votes. In LaSalle Parish, George L.

King totaled 3,123 votes in the sheriffs race. Vernon Parish sheriff candidate Scotty McCloud, who was defeated by incumbent Sheriff Frank Howard, received 2,863 votes. House District 30 candidate Iva Lois West got 972 votes on the Vernon ballot. Vernon Parish Police Jury District 3 candidate Maxie Jeane got 231 total votes while District 9 candidates Raymond Palmer and William West received 471 and 242 votes, respectively. In District 10, Steve Kennedy got 145 total votes and William "Chop" Thomas received 168 votes.

The complete precinct-by-precinct results from Saturday's voting in Rapides Parish will be published in Thursday's Town Talk. Cotile work about 80 percent complete Consultant says most board members never accomplish many of their goals Addresses workshop for new members lvvV who has been a full-time consultant on school board development since 1982, spent Tuesday dispensing tips and advice on how board members could improve their "boardmanship." School board members and their superintendents must work as a team if they are to succeed, but often that doesn't happen, Mrs. McGee said. Many school boards become factionalized, but usually the reason for it is not some deep ulterior motives or politics, but rather small things such as members simply failing to communicate with each other, she said. Also, she said, the reasons school boards and their superintendents fail to achieve their goals usually come down to two things: "unrealistic expectations" and unclear goals and responsibilities.

Mrs. McGee said good intentions and ideas aren't enough to succeed as a board member. Only about 10 percent of the school board members she meets are committed enough to make the difference in education they hope to do when elected, Mrs. McGee said, using a joke to make By Steve Bannister Staff reporter They start with good intentions, but most school board members find they never accomplish many of the goals they held when they ran for office, a national school board consultant said Tuesday. "A majority of people get on school boards for the very best of reasons, and they want to do good," consultant Molly McGee told about 40 Louisiana school board members Tuesday.

But many school board members end their terms without accomplishing what they set out to do, she said. Sponsored by LSBA As much as anything else, Tuesday's workshop in Alexandria for new Louisiana school board members was designed to avoid that. The workshop was sponsored by the Louisiana School Boards Association as part of its efforts to provide new board members with information and training, said LSBA President Jo Ann Kellogg, a member of the Rapides Parish School Board. Mrs. McGee of Anaheim, By Susan Caslin Staff reporter Renovation work at the Cotile Recreation Area should be completed by late November, according to an official of the West Monroe-based company doing the work.

Hafco Inc. Construction Manager Charles "Buddy" Cris estimated the work is about 75 to 80 percent complete. The renovation originally was scheduled to be finished in early November. However, delivery of some materials has been delayed. "We want to be out of there by the end of November by all means," Cris said.

Work to upgrade and improve the 22-year-old parish-owned recreation area initially began in June 1986. It was stalled earlier this year when the original contractor, CLD Enterprises Inc. of Pineville, walked off the site. Work on the project, which cost more than $853,000, was about 60 percent complete at the time CLD departed. Hafco was hired in July by the bonding firm of Sunbelt Southern Lloyds of Winnsboro to complete the renovation work.

The firm began work Aug. 31 after several delays as Hafco and Sunbelt worked out a payment plan. Most of the money in the project is being spent on two large camping areas. Work includes preparing roadbeds for asphalt, completing utility connections and providing picnic areas for 53 camping sites within the two areas. The firm also has been completing a lagoon site, extending a retaining wall partially completed by CLD and installing fixtures in new shower houses and comfort stations.

"We don't anticipate delivery on some materials for another two weeks," said. The firm is awaiting delivery of treated timber products, inducing 1,000 wooden posts, to be used in the construction of parking and roadway barriers. Once they arrive, it probably will take two more weeks to install the barriers, he said. The materials were purchased from an Alexandria supplier but must be shipped in from out of state because no Louisiana source can provide the materials. "So far, we've had enough work, (and) this delivery problem hasn't affected progress of the work," Cris said.

"We're slowly getting to the point now where it is completed, and delays (in) delivery will affect us more." The lagoon project is complete, with the exception of a fence, a couple of concrete structures and a gravel road around the top of the lagoon. The retaining wall is finished. 95 percent this week "We anticipate at the end of this week to be 95 percent complete with the buildings," Cris said of the shower houses and comfort stations. Most of Hafco's work in the next two weeks will include paving road at the camping spurs and at the new entrance shelter, Cris continued. Repair work on the Cotile Lake spillway, separate from the renovation project, could begin as early as December.

Preliminary estimates indicate the $1 million repair job could take four to six months and may require the lake to be drawn down another 6 to 8 feet. An 8-foot drawdown was ordered in mid-June after sand deposits were discovered in the spillway. A subsequent inspection revealed several "voids" or holes beneath the spi'Jway. her point. "You may have heard about the kamikaze pilot who went on 15 missions," Mrs.

McGee said. "He was involved, but he wasn't committed." Mrs. McGee was a school board member for 10 years and also worked in education prior to becoming a consultant and author. During the workshop, she presented school boards and school board members in a benign light and seldom touched on the political aspects of school boards. In an interview after the workshop, Mrs.

McGee said school board members "aren't saints" but said she believes the people who serve on school boards are different from other elected officials. Different breed "I really do believe they are a different breed," Mrs. McGee said. She said school boards are seldom used as steppingstones to higher offices and board members receive little other than personal satisfaction for the service they give. School board members also deal with the toughest and touchiest of issues those involving the lives of other people's children, Mrs.

McGee said. There is also a noticeable difference in the type of people who are serving on school boards now, she said. At one time, school board members came from well-established, "old city families," but no longer. Now people from many walks of life serve on the boards. "In some areas of the country Molly McGee: "I really do believe they (school board members) are a different breed." there are welfare mothers on school boards," Mrs.

McGee said. The attitudes and goals of those being elected to school boards in the 1980s have also changed from those of their predecessors, Mrs. McGee said. In the past, many school board members' goals were to work to improve the existing system but not make major changes to it, she said. The people being elected to school boards these days have run for office because they are dissatisfied with the school system and want to improve it, Mrs.

McGee said. Those members have a more "activist" attitude and are more likely to question the current system and try to change it. "A majority of people get on school boards for the very best of reasons and they want to do good. But many school board members end their terms without accomplishing what they set out to do." Molly McGee National consultant.