Two more books up for review, including ‘one of the worst’
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – As the St. Tammany Library Board prepares to make decisions on two more challenged books, one that is considered “as pornographic as any of the worst books,” a movement is gaining momentum to offer a public forum in front of the Parish Council on the year-long controversy.
Parish Councilman Arthur Laughlin has taken a leadership role involving a small handful of the 14 council members who are pushing for a public hearing on the matter.
Currently the effort is to hold the public hearing at the next regular Parish Council meeting, set for Thursday, Aug. 2. Laughlin said he has drafted a resolution for that meeting which seeks an open forum for comments on the book controversy. However, he would prefer to have an entire evening devoted to only that topic, rather than it be part of the full council meeting.
Council Chairman Jake Airey, who said he is also willing to support the hearing, believes the event will require so much time that “we probably need to do it as a complete separate night meeting.”
Smith, who originally promised he was only going to serve for two terms, but is now seeking a third term, said he is doing so because he was urged by the public to continue the job he has been doing.
“My priority number one after we took four years to get the good old boy stuff out of here has been to create a safe St. Tammany for our citizens,” he said. “And the statistics show we have done that.
“We have 10-year lows in crime and our solve rate for violent crimes is at 92 percent, more than 50 percent higher than the national average,” Smith said.
Gurba said that after retiring from the military he never expected he would take a step into politics and run for sheriff. But after he moved here, “and watching a lot of crime in this area, but few Sheriff’s Office cars ever pulling anyone over,” he decided to enter the race.
“I saw a guy come from New Orleans East and rob three gas stations here, and a lady broke down on the Twin Spans bridge and ended up getting killed,” he said. “Nobody is patrolling around here. I constantly look for deputies on the streets and don’t see them.”
Gurba did give kudos to what he thought was a good job by the Slidell Police Department but continued to hammer at the budget priorities by Smith, particularly the purchase of a $1.5 million emergency command center vehicle.
Smith pointed to the fact he recently gave raises to his employees, making it seven years in a row he has done that since becoming sheriff.
“I’ve tried to create an atmosphere of transparency and improved pay for our deputies to keep them on board, and I’ve done it every year,” Smith added.
Williams, a former Slidell Police officer who has 30 years of experience that includes eight in the military, questioned some budget matters from Smith, particularly noting a line item in the new budget for $1.4 million to pay overtime for jail employees.
He also noted $267,000 in the budget for police training and thought both items were mismanaged.
“I would make the jail more efficient and use a lot of that money for overtime to provide more deputy training,” Williams said. “If I get elected, I would be a leader who shows integrity and compassion and set the example from the top. It’s all about building a safe and secure parish for our residents.”
Gurba promised a forensic audit of the budget immediately upon getting elected, but Smith said his budget has been audited every year by the state and an outside auditor, “with no problems ever with a $65 million budget.”
On the question of working with municipal police agencies and other outside agencies, Smith said his department is associated with seven different task forces, an opinion that Williams said was not true.
“I was at the Slidell Police Department when the sheriff was elected and then left,” he said. “After that, the Sheriff’s Office was never in touch with us for any task force.”
Smith countered that by naming six of the seven task forces.
There were a few things the candidates did agree on. Training for officers needs to be a priority, and drugs, especially the increase in Fentanyl, are a top problem that all law enforcement agencies are dealing with.
The sheriff also took a zinger from Gurba on the fact the Nanette Krentel murder in Lacombe from 2017 remains unsolved, however, Smith said that case has been turned over to the district attorney’s office. On the subject of cold case murders, Smith said he recently hired a New Orleans Police Department veteran to head those cases.
Moderator David Kiviaho asked if any candidates thought the national topic of defunding the police would be a problem here, and Gurba used that question to again mention the $1.5 million command vehicle purchased by Smith.
“We have no need for something that can’t go down most highways,” Gurba said. “We need to trim the fat from this budget.”
On the question of improving safety for kids at school, in light of an increase in school shootings, Williams said he was a School Resource Office (SRO) in Atlanta where they had three officers at one school.
Gurba claimed the Sheriff’s Office put deputies at schools who were “lower-level officers,” then noted, “most police shootings show them hitting the target only 30 percent of the time. Most police are piss poor shooters,” he frankly stated. “We need more money for training.”
To wrap up the event, candidates were asked what they saw as the top issues facing the Sheriff’s Office.
Gurba said it was “overcoming bad management and a lack of deputies,” while Williams said it was drugs, traffic and public safety.
Smith noted that he has been pro-active by adding sheriff’s sub stations, now up to five in different areas of the parish, which are helping to keep crime coming here from outlying areas, particularly New Orleans East. He said his goal to provide a safe parish will continue to be priority number one.
Gurba promised that if he was elected, he would give 10 percent of his salary, just over $17,000, to be split between the national organization Tunnel to Towers and also to the Humane Society.