Voices of Christmas
THERKILDSEN
singer Will Gunnels performs with theNorthlakePerforming Arts Society on Dec. 20 duringthe group’s‘Voices of Christmas’ concert ä More concertphotos. PAGE 3A
The 29-year-old Northlake Performing Arts Society again brought the sweet sounds of Christmasin tworecent holiday concerts under the direction of Kenya Lawrence Jackson, the choirmaster whohelped keep the nonprofit community group alive during the COVID-19 pandemic. The choir now has 64 members, amix of amateurand professional singers and musiciansfrom all walksoflife, and most of them residents of St. Tammany Parish.The twin concerts on Dec. 20 andDec. 22 offered audiences the choice of amatinee or evening performance on stage at CovingtonHighSchool. For moreinformation, see npassingers.org.
in May.The trio claimed that they were retaliated against, in violation of their First Amendment rights, forexpressing their views on certain library books and for refusing to limit access to them in the parish’spublic libraries. Many of the books in question had sexual themes or contained LGBTQ+ themes and characters. Controversy has swirled around the parish’spublic library system since June 2022, when some branches put up public displays for“Pride Month.” Since then, somenorthshore residents have argued that the libraries have madesexually explicit material available to children. Others have complained about somebooks
in
Kim
of the Brown Gym in PelicanPark,where thismother of fourand fulltime employeeinthe private sector volunteers so much time coaching other people’skids.
BY DARREN COOPER Contributing writer
Everycommunity has good Samaritans.
They arethe people whoserve quietly,without fanfare. They get things done outside the spotlight. They arethe foot soldiersinthe armies of compassion, empathy, grace.
The St. Tammany Farmer sought out six of these people. This is the final of the series. We think these people, their stories, areremindersofthe good things people do for one another
We’recalling them “Unsung Heroes.” But now is timetosing their praises.
Wins? Championships? They’re nice, but KimGerberg doesn’t need them
What this Mandeville resident and Terrytownnative needs to see is ayoung volleyball team do the basics of abump, set and spike, and forabasketball player find an
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Gerberg
front
PHOTOSBYGRANT
Musicianand
Music director Kenya Lawrence Jackson again leads the nonprofitNorthlake PerformingArtsSociety in an annual Christmasconcertonthe Covington HighSchool stage.
FILEPHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD People line up to enter ameeting of the St.TammanyParish Library Board in Mandeville in March.
with LGBTQ+ subject matter
U.S. District Judge Brandon S. Long in NewOrleans said that the plaintiffs had not “carried the burden of persuasionby showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment retaliation and viewpointdiscrimination claims.”
Hisruling, however,did notend the lawsuit, but instead was held todetermine whether it wasappropriate for Long to immediately reinstatethe plaintiffs to their formerposts on the library board The case is stillwindingits way through the courts.
2. Coronerrecallfalls farshort
With just days left until thedeadlineto collect more than 35,000 signatures on the petitiontorecall St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape, the organizers of the effort have made adifficult concession: Therecall has failed
Organizers said they have collected around 26,000 signatures, which puts them about9,000 short of thenumber they would need to get arecall on the ballot.They haduntil Oct. 15 to turn the signaturesover to the Secretary of State’soffice for verification, and they acknowledge nowthattheywill not succeed. In all, 35,057signaturesof verified voters, or 20% of St. Tammany’s electorate, neededtobecollected in six months to get arecall voteonthe ballot.
Tape was elected in late 2023 after running for the position unopposed afterthe previous coroner,Charles Preston,chose not to seek reelection. Before Tape took office, achorus of elected officials were already calling for his resignation after media reports revealed he faced sexual assault charges in 2002 in New Mexico, which were ultimately dropped.The St. Tammany Parish Council, statelegislators, the Slidell CityCouncil andthe St.Tammany Chamber were amongthe groups asking for Tape’sresignation
Tape maintained his innocence all the while, saying in his first public appearance after taking office “I’m here to tellyou I’m notresigning.” He then claimed that his life had been threatened, andthathis office had called in the Sheriff’s Office’sbomb squad to the coroner’s office overnight. The Sheriff’s Office determined therewas no threat.
Tape’sfirst official action as coroner was to disband aprogram that dispatched specially-trained nurses toprovide health careand assistwith evidence collection for survivors of sexual assault in afive-parish region.Lawmakers were shocked bythe move. The recalleffort began in April, with organizers tabling at public events, enlisting local businesses to help collect signatures, and crisscrossing the parish informing neighbors of the recall effort
“It’spart of adisturbingoverall environment,the lack of response we have to concerns involving sexual assaultvictims,” said state Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, one of the recall effort’ssupporters. “I hopewesee aresolve by thiscoroner to show that the concerns we had were justified. Ihope he takes that very seriously.” 3. Slidell, PearlRiver rocked by spring tornadoes
Nearly 700 homes and more than 50 businesses were damaged in thetornadoes that ravaged the areainand around Slidelland Pearl RiveronApril 10.
After conducting afull damage assessment with officials from the cityofSlidell, parish government identified 477 homesin the unincorporated parish and 218 inside Slidell city limits that were damaged in the storms. Elevenbusinesses in the parish, and 42 businesses in Slidell were damaged.
The National Weather Service initially said an EF-2 tornado packingwinds of 120 mphtoucheddown in Slidell andits outskirts —damaging dozens of buildings, shredding the power grid in east St. Tammany Parish, and resulting in multiple minor and moderate injuries. It laterwas determined that eighttornadoes of varying strengthspun throughout east St. Tammany and southern Mississippi thatmorning.
The storms left more than 35,000 customers without power across St. Tammany, some of them for severaldays, evenas electric companies worked aroundthe clock to addresswidespread outages. Schools in east St. Tammany Parish were canceled through the end of theweek and emergency supplies weredistributedat several points in and aroundthe city.
One of the worst hit areas was the intersection of Pontchartrain Driveand Kostmayer Avenue, in south Slidell, where several buildings wereheavily damaged. Cars were overturned in some parking
lots while downed power lines, trees and branches littered roadways.
“Wehave no reports of major injuries or fatalities …bythe grace of God,” Slidell Police CAO Daniel Seuzeneau said.
Slidell City Council member David Dunham,who lives on Kostmayer,blocks from where thetornado touched down, saidthe damage was as bad as any he’sseen in the city since Hurricane Katrina destroyed south Slidell almost 19 years ago.
TheMilitary Road corridor east of Slidell saw some damage, too, as did the area aroundSusan Street in the town of Pearl River
4. Parish budget gets OK’d, butnot before harshwords aplenty
Though theParish Council unanimously passed a$177 million budget on Dec. 5 with little discussion or public comment it was amuch different scene when Parish President Mike Cooper introduced his spendingplan in October
At thetime, 22nd Judicial District Court Judge William Burris slammed the proposal and District Attorney Collin Sims called it a“piece of garbage.” That anger and frustration was in response to Cooper’s initial proposal, which would have halved funding for the parish jail, northshore judges and the district attorney’soffice.
In thefollowing weeks, however,council members worked with Cooper’sadministration to find ways to fill the millions of dollars in missing criminal justice funding. The result was abudget that meets funding expectations for the criminal justice system for 2025, according to Burris and Sims, whopraised the amended budget as ashort-term solution, though not alongterm one.
TheSheriff’s Office declined to comment on thebudget, citing its ongoinglitigation with the parish over how much the parish is mandated by state law to fund the jail.
The parish drew down cash reserves andsettlement money and deferred the planned replacement of the parish jail’s air conditioning system to boost the funding for the criminal justice agencies. The deferredwork on the jail’sair condition system saved the parish $3.4 million alone. The parish was able to add $1.8 million for northshore judges to bring their budget up to thefull $3.3 million they requested. The District Attorney’sOffice got $4.1 million, bringing their total to $6.3 million. And about$4.2 million was added to the jail’s budget, raising it to atotal of $8.7 million.
It’sonly aone-year fix, however,sothe peace could be temporary.Asa result, parish officials will ask voters in March to repurpose part of asales tax currently dedicated to roads and bridges and use the money to fund judges, the jail and the DA’s office.
5. Parish public school district sends $325Mimprovementspackage to voters
The St. Tammany Parish School Board debatedfor hours over thecourse of two meetings but ultimately agreed to put the school district’slargest ever capital improvement plan on theballot in May 2025.
If approved, some $251 million would go toward improvements at 23 of the district’s 55 schools, work that taxpayers have funded every five years for decades. Jabbia has said therenovations and additions would essentially rid the schools of its portable classrooms.
About$12 million of the bond would go to transportation improvements, while about $32 million would go to technology and security upgrades.
The sticking point in the discussion was the plan to build a50,000-square-foot STEM facility in Lacombe for about $30 million. Schools Supt.Frank Jabbia, as well as many board members and business leaders,said it was important to offer strong STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Math) programming, noting that acentral location was critical to making it available to all parish high schoolers. If built, thefacility would consolidate existing STEMand health care education resources that are now spread out around the parish, Jabbia argued, and create opportunities for students at schools that may not offer certain advanced courses.
Somequestioned, however,which cuts would be made to support the plan, noting thedistrict’s2025 budget already allocated $8 million more in expenditures than expected revenue.
TheSchool Board delayed aNovember
vote to seek public “buy-in,” ultimately agreeing on Dec. 12 to bring the package to voters on May 3. Money for the improvements would not come from anew tax, rather renewal of an existing 13.80-mill property tax to back the bonds funding the work.
6. AbitaSprings town government in turmoil
The Abita Springs Town Council deferred avote on the town’s2025 budget, and moved toward asking the Legislative Auditor’sOffice for guidance on how town leaders can govern in amore “peaceful, legal and transparent” way It was afitting end to aparticularly rocky year for the town. The tumult includes criminal charges against two former town employees for allegedly using town credit cards to make more than $125,000 in personal purchases. That scandal played out against the backdrop of afierce legal battle between town government and adeveloper over a168-acre planned unit development on La. 36. Meanwhile, aseparate debate between the council and Mayor Dan Curtis over personnel matters involving the town marshal created bitter debate among elected officials and townspeople.
Council member Regan Contois, who had been serving as an interim member until a convincing win for the seat in December, introduced the item asking for the legislative auditor to intercede. All indications are that the council also wants to hire a CPAfirm to consult on the budget before voting on it. Avote on whether to ask the auditor for guidance is expected at the town council’sJan. 7meeting.
7. Collin Sims wins specialelection for22ndJudicialDistrictAttorney
After abrutal campaign that filled mailboxes and the television airwaves with an avalanche of attack ads, Collin Sims claimed victory over Vincent Wynne in March to become the new district attorney for St. Tammany and Washington parishes.
Sims piled abig lead early and cruised through the night. Complete but unofficial returns show he had67% of the vote to Wynne’s33%. Sims had almost 70% of the vote in St. Tammany,the larger of the two parishes in the 22nd Judicial District.
Addressing supporters at his campaign party,Sims said “Good guys win sometimes.” Sims thanked his family,fellow prosecutors and the police chiefs across St. Tammany,who supported him publicly.Sims and Wynne had both claimed the support of law enforcement.
Sims had been interim DA for the 22nd Judicial District after District Attorney Warren Montgomery died in November 2023 following ayearslong battle with cancer
Flush with available cash, Sims and Wynne went after each other over the final stretch, and the campaign became aglovesoff boxing match between the two as they lobbed insults at each other in campaign mailers that appeared almost daily on voters’ doorsteps.
Both candidates also sought to frame themselves as the law enforcement candidate, trotting out mailers and videos with officers from various agencies touting their leadership abilities. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smiththrewhis weight behind Wynne, while the police chiefs in Slidell, Covington,Mandeville and Madisonville backed Sims.
8. Newstate highwaytakes shape in centralSt. Tammany
The first segment of La. 3241, the longawaited state highway that eventually will connect the Lacombe and Bush communities in central St. Tammany,opened in June.
The first phase, a5.6-mile ribbon of roadway,extends from the junction of La. 40 and 41 in Bush to La. 435 in the Talisheek community.Itwas built by Brown Industrial Construction LLC fornearly $46 million.
The second stretch of La. 3241, which is expected to open early in 2025, is an 8-mile section from La. 36 to La. 435. James Construction Group LLC is laying that stretch of road for atotal of approximately $62.5 million.
The third and final leg, another 6.2 miles, will be built from the junction of I-12 and La. 434 to La. 36. That final leg is expected to go to bid in 2025 with construction estimates pegged at about $80 million. Louisiana voters agreed to a4cents per gallon gasoline tax in 1989, and the local highway project was one of 16 introduced that year and to be built with that money The funding ran out in the mid-2000s, DOTD officials previously stated. Construction of La. 3241 now is being funded with acombination of BP oil spill settlement money and federal cash. When the road was first proposed, it was seen as avital connection between Bogalusa and the interstate system to its south something that could breathe new life into astagnating Washington Parish economy While the highway could still serve that purpose, construction also opens up vast swathes of undeveloped land in the heavily forested center of St. Tammany to business and housing.
9. SlidellMemorial, St.TammanyHealth System have majorexpansions
St. TammanyHealth System opened a$75 million, 126,000-square-foot surgery center near Covington in December —a facility that boasts 12 operating roomsand is expected to see 5,800 patients in its first year
And in September,Slidell Memorial Hospital opened itsSurgical Services andPatient Care Tower,a61,000-square-foot addition that marked thebiggest expansion at the hospital in its 65-year history.The tower is part of $52 million in recentupgrades at the hospital.
Health care continues to be amajor economicdriverinSt. Tammany,employing some 22,000 people and contributingapproximately $1.5 billion to thelocal economy annually according to St. Tammany Corp., the parish’seconomicdevelopmentagency
The growingmedical industry in St. Tammany is akey reason local school officials are pushingfor aSTEM learningfacility in Lacombe. They,aswell as hospital leaders, say it could provideadirect pipelinefor young peopletolandlucrative health care jobs on thenorthshore.
10.SchoolBoard strikesdownlabor agreementbeforebacktracking
After another marathon debate, the St. Tammany Parish School Board voted Aug. 9toadopt anew pact with the employees’ union, putting to rest fornow an issue that has roiled the school district forthe past two months.
The board’sapproval of the two-year deal with the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees came after another round of speeches by union members saying they feel under attack and board members explaining their commitments to their constituents.
The debate touched on national politics —and St. Tammany’ssupport, or lack thereof, of labor unions —aswell as employee law,and even the vitriol that the saga has generated.
The board’svote was 10-4, with board members Matthew Greene, Gia Baker, Deborah McCollum and Brandon Harrell opposing. Board member Michelle Ruffino Gallaher abstained.
Known as the collective bargaining agreement, the document addresses myriad employee issues, ranging from pay and benefits to due cause and transfer processes. St. Tammany is one of five school districts statewide that still works under acollective bargaining agreement with its employees’ union.
In past years, approval of the agreement hasn’tgenerated nearly the heat that it did this summer.Schools Superintendent Frank Jabbia and Federation President Brant Osborn spent several months negotiating adeal, but the board rejected it in early July.That set the stage for more public comment, anew round of negotiations between Jabbia and Osborn and another vote.
When it rejected the first proposed agreement, the board did approve the modest employee pay increases included in it. But the debate over the past few weeks didn’thinge on money so much as whether or not there was even aneed for acollective bargaining agreement at all Jabbia said astreamlined CBA emerged from the second round of negotiations and urged the board to adopt it.
Anumber of employees and other union supporters said they viewed the agreement as asafety net of sorts, one that adds power to their voices. But some board members disagreed, saying employees already are protected by state law.Others said they do not like the union’saffiliation with the American Federation of Teachers, which they saidpushes liberal causes.
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
Michael Bray, right, of Slidell, looks at the pine tree that fell onto his carparked in front of his home on April 11, the dayafter atornado swept throughthe area.
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Collin Sims addresses supporters at his victoryparty on March 23, with his wife, Elizabeth, and their children by hisside
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
St. TammanyParish CoronerChristopher Tape speaks March 25.
