A friend of many years used to opine that the biggest problem with adolescents was their absence of forethought, the lack of a little critical thinking skill that often resulted in sometimes “surprising” ramifications of ill-considered actions.  Fortunately, most adolescents develop that critical thinking skill after suffering a couple of unpleasant ramifications.

Let’s hope the same is true for a majority of the Bossier City Council, whose first test of the recently enacted city hiring/salary/promotion ordinance was so poorly demonstrated at Tuesday’s council meeting.

This ordinance requires city council authority for the hiring of personnel for vacant, but critical city positions. 

Tuesday’s request for that authority came from Mayor Lorenz “Lo” Walker, who needs to replace his retiring executive secretary.

Council member Scott Irwin was first to respond to the Mayor’s request, saying he would vote against the proposal as many city departments took a “hit” with the recent layoffs and with this retirement, the Mayor’s office could be brought in line with the council’s initial objectives.

Then there was Council President Don “Bubba” Williams, who observed that the council cut its deputy City Council Clerk – but the City Council Clerk seems to be doing fine serving the council without any help.  

And Council member David Montgomery offered that “at some point you have to learn to live within your means” and that every other department has had to learn to do the same with less.

Council member Jeff Darby suggested that if the Mayor could “hire” his secretary from within the current city employee pool, said hiring could be more palatable to the Council.

From the other side of the issue, Council members James “Chubby” Knight and Tim Larkin were somewhat astounded that the discussion was even occurring, as whether hired from within the city ranks or outside, the Mayor needs an executive secretary and should be permitted to choose the best qualified candidate.

First, the Mayor’s office comprises a very small staff:  the Mayor, a Chief Administrative Officer, a special projects coordinator, an executive secretary (who supports both the Mayor and CAO), and a receptionist.  That’s a pretty slim staff for the chief executive officer of a city of 65,000 (and growing daily), which is home to a major US Air Force command, and which is currently upgrading everything from the city’s transportation system to its water and sewer systems.

Next, it was apparent on Tuesday that several council members are relatively clueless about the Mayor’s duties and responsibilities, which is surprising as a couple of these members are said to have Mayoral aspirations.  On the other side of the coin, it was disappointing that the majority of the council doesn’t have the idea of the job description of the Mayor’s secretary.

But most breathtaking was how easily the majority of the Council swept aside, simply ignored, City Attorney Jimmy Hall’s counsel concerning just how the new ordinance works.  Hall explained that while the Mayor could hire from within the city’s employee ranks:  whoever transfers (to the Mayor’s office) would do at the same rate of pay from the position from which transferred – but with substantially increased duties and responsibilities.  Any increase in pay would have to be approved by the Council.

It should go without saying that a majority of the Council would deny any pay raise to a transferred city employee.  
No doubt we’ll see dozens of city employees just jumping at the chance to take on a new position with increased responsibility and duties – but without any increase in pay.  Or, maybe not – the Council voted to deny the request to hire a new secretary.

As tests go, the Council might revisit their early January meeting in which this hiring/salary/promotion freeze ordinance was discussed – and all suggestions of a longer, thoughtful consideration of its implications rejected.  
Absence of forethought promises all sorts predictable consequences – and age is apparently not a factor.

Marty Carlson is a columnist for the Bossier Press-Tribune and has been covering local issues for more than 10 years. She may be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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