The Caddo Commission approved a $10 million pickleball complex WITHOUT voter approval and is now asking voters to approve a $60 million bond issue for a planned $70 million sports complex.
When the 2027 budget is approved AFTER the bond vote on Nov. 3, the Commission will dole out up to $1.4 million to local NGOs (non-governmental organizations). Commissioner Victor Thomas, who has headed up the evaluation of requests that total over $3.1 million, hopes that the appropriations will not exceed $1 million to these groups.
The list is attached below.(Sorry for the poor quality)
Some of these NGOS are perennial recipients of public dollars and others are recent applications. Many of these groups that a parish wide impact on parish while others have a very limited demographic beneficiary base.
Here are some of the applicants that readers may not recognize:
- Competition Planning
- Helping Improve Life
- Loqual Elites
- The Social Initiative
- Awesome EduGators
- Birthwell
- Cedar Grove Cares
- Community Caregivers of NWLA
- Converse Coping Center
- Danaghe Foundation
- Extensions of Excellence
- HeartWork Foundation
- Image Changers
- Innocence Project
- Ivy Crown Community Services
- JAG Family Resource Center
- Jesse Stone, Jr. Foundation
- Reader Chapel
- Rebecca Thomas PHD
- Setting the Standard Barbering Academy
- SISTERS International, Inc.
Several applicants received funds from Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson earlier this year, including Martin Luther King Community Development Corporation, Moms on a Mission, and Northwest Louisiana Youth Golf & Education Foundation.
Caddo taxpayers wonder where their taxpayer dollars go and why Caddo parish taxes not lowered. Commission funding of NGOs is a constant source of concern and controversy for commissioners and the public alike.