Webpennyrecord121714

Page 1

Caroline Brewton

VIEWS

Feature Columnist For The Record Page 2A

Evy’s Cajun Kitchen

BEST FISHING IN TEXAS

SPORTS Kaz’s Forecast

Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 5B

Page 4B

See Page 9A

The     Record TheRecordLive.com

Distributed FREE To The Citizens of Bridge City and Orangefield

Vol. 56 No. 35

Week of Wednesday, December 17, 2014

HOT issue sends event planners to drawing board Penny Leleux

For The Record

The Orange County Auditor’s refusal to release commissioners’ court approved HOT tax funds sends some planners back to drawing board. The Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds are used to promote tourism, Putting “heads in the beds” is the name of the game. Advertising is one of the most common and clear cut uses of the funds, but that is not the only use of the money. Many aspects of events that promote the area to bring in outside visitors are eligible expenses. Twice a year, a committee reviews all the applications from different entities and sends recommendations to the Orange County Commissioners Court for approval. Out of $215,890 requested, the committee recommended payment of $75,400 to be distributed

amongst 14 applications. The court previously approved those recommendations. At a public hearing last HOGAN week Justin Bragiel, General Council of the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association, from Austin, who advises entities of proper use of the funds and has even helped write some of language of the law governing it, was on hand to define use of the money and answer questions on what the money could and could not be used for. “Every expenditure must directly promote tourism,” said Bragiel. Besides advertising, which is the most obvious use of funds, it could also be funding arts events, conventions or other types of events that

would entice people to come spend the night and spend time in the area. Promoting tourism, “that’s the whole point of having a ho-

tel tax,” Bragiel said. He also said “sole responsibility lies with the court,” for approval of those funds in Wednesdays public hearing.

Johnson disagrees and has only approved $33,000 of the $75,400 previously approved by the court. She says there are problems with some of the ap-

Rainbow Room supplies children’s needs Mike Louviere For The Record

Often when Child Protective Services has to remove a child from a home it is under a traumatic circumstance, often late at night or early in the morning. In some cases the child will have only a pillowcase with a very few personal items. From the initial contact with the child by CPS until placement in a foster home is made, Orange County Community Partners for Children is the organization that will provide for the child’s needs. The Rainbow Room inside

the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Orange is the supply center for those needs. “The Rainbow Room contains clothing, bath items, diapers, emergency food supplies, and other items for children who have to be removed from their homes. This is a traumatic time for children so we try to provide for emergency needs and a cuddly toy,” said Karen McKinney, president of Community Partners. “We are also able to provide some more expensive items such as infant RAINBOW ROOM Page 3A

Karen McKinney, president of Community Partners, stands oamong clothing for children in the Rainbow Room supply center. RECORD PHOTO: Mike Louviere

Ross Smith’s

Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Janice Menard prepares to leave office January 2015. She is seen here with staffers Penny Nguyen, Daryl Broussard and Aleta Cain. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn

‘Judge Janice’ After 32 Years Judge Janice Menard  prepares to leave office Mike Louviere For The Record

J

udge Janice Menard has given 32 years of service to the citizens of Precinct 3, Orange County. She will leave the office she has loved in January, 2015. “I had been operating a day care when I had the opportunity to go to work for Judge Flo Edgerly as a part time employee in her office. There was a need for two secretaries; I was hired in one of the positions. That was Oct. 1, 1982. Later I moved up to become her clerk and when she retired, I ran for the job and was elected. I spent 20 years in the office and 12 years on the bench,” said Menard. As with any job, there have been fun times and times that were not so much fun. “Weddings have been the fun part of the job; I guess I have performed 700 to maybe 800 weddings. One I remember was when the groom brought horses to the old office. The couple wanted to be married on horseback. I was happy to do that for them. One of the horses kept moving around and almost knocked my book out my hands. It was one of the funny weddings that I did,” said Menard. “I performed a wedding for the couple that will have the unique anniversary of 12-13-14. I was a little disappointed that I did not do one on 11-11-11.” “The part of the job that has been hard has been doing the inquests. In 12 years I have done 919 inquests, I know the exact number, and I remember most of them. The ones dealing with children have been especially difficult to deal with. On the way to an inquest, I

pray for myself and on the way home, I pray for the families,” said Menard. The justice of the peace has a variety of jobs. In addition to performing weddings, they preside over different types of court cases, both civil and criminal. Some of the cases require

“On the way to an inquest, I pray for myself and on the way home, I pray for the families,” said Menard. juries and some do not. In those cases with no jury, she has had to make the decision and apply both the law and common sense. Menard has earned the reputation of being fair and applying the law equally to all who have come before her bench. “When I started in this office we had a very tight budget. We really had to scrimp. When we had jury trials, we had to use folding chairs. Later when the old theater in Bridge City closed, we bought the seats from it to use in the court. The only problem was that when you stood up the seat folded up. Occasionally this was a problem. A church was remodeling and had some old pews for sale. We bought

plications and some of the expenses are not allowed. She will only be writing checks for those she deems eligible. Commissioners voted Monday for her to write the checks for the projects she has approved. “We need to get these people paid,” said Commissioner Precinct 3 John Banken. Originally, Johnson was not going to fund any of the projects until all were approved. Lack of funding is sending some of the organizations back to the drawing board. “We’re back at square one,” said Claudine Hogan of the Bridge City Historical Society. They were approved for $4,000 for the Bridge City Heritage Festival and $4,000 for the 4th of July Celebration, but the auditor is only prepared to write them a check for $4,000. “That’s half of what we were approved for,” said Hogan. In a letter sent to commissioners by Johnson she said their request included $2,500 for fireworks “which are not an allowable expenditure according the hotel/motel attorney,” stated the letter. Although he said fireworks were not allowable at the public hearing, he said combining it with a band (which they have) creates a celebration, which is eligible. It’s all in the packaging. Johnson is also withholding funding for the Southeast Texas Resource Conservation and Development Conference that was scheduled to be held in Orange County the week of March 15, 2015. Donna Scales, one of the committee members for that event, said the conference was totally geared towards tourism. “We were going to show off everything Orange County had to offer,” said Scales, after commissioners court. They had purposely scheduled the conference at the same time as the Bassmasters Elite Tournament because there would be so many activities in Orange that week. The conference would have about 70 attendees from all over the state. Plans were to entice some of the attendees to extend a two day stay up to five with activities planned. They were encouraging attendees to bring their spouses. Scales said if they got the couples her, especially those with grandchildren, then they might come back at another time, bringing their grandkids. Because those funds are not forthcoming, even though approved by commissioners court, they will have to scramble to make new plans, which could include moving the conference to another location other than Orange County. “We have to go where we get the most bang for our buck,” said Scales. She was on the phone with other committee members immediately after the meeting so plans can be adjusted to move forward with the conference. Southeast Texas Resource Conservation and Development encompasses 16 counties and the conference

JUDGE JANICE Page 3A HOT ISSUE Page 3A


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.