Oh for the days of Jimmie Hall when he was the Bossier City Attorney.
Hall was the most prompt responder to public records requests in northwest Louisiana. Send him one and an answer was usually provided the next day...at the latest.
Unfortunately the current city attorney, Charles "Zamboni" Jacobs, did not take lessons from Hall.
State law allows litigation to be filed if a public records request is not honored within five business days.
Jacobs has a standard response requesting 15 days to responds. And rarely does he provide the records within that time period.
A simple request was made by this author 5:36 p.m. on Tues. Sept 20 for "copies of declaration page for all insurance polices required by Killen in the current year." This was made after the Bossier City Council approved an extension of the contract with Killen to manage the city's tennis complex.
Wed. Sept. 21 at 9:04 a.m. Jacobs sent his standard reply requesting 15 days to comply with the request. in the past objections to the lengthy time period have fallen on deaf ears with Jacobs.
Why so long for a simple public records request--which will be less than 10 pages?
Presumably Killen had provided the city with certificates of insurance as required by his contract that expires this year.
That leads one to question IF in fact Killen had complied with the contract by providing the additional insured certificates of insurance to protect the city.
The work, or lack thereof, of the Bossier City Attorney's office reflects directly on the effectiveness of the Chandler administration. To date, the city attorney office grades out on the same level of success Chandler has in picking police chiefs.
John came to Shreveport in January of 1977 when he was transferred to Barksdale AFB.
He’s been active in Shreveport politics since deciding to make Shreveport his home.
John practiced law for 40 years and he now monitors local politics. He regularly attends Shreveport City Council and Caddo Parish Commission meetings.
John is published weekly in The Inquisitor, bi-monthly in The Forum News, and frequently in the Shreveport Times.
He enjoys addressing civic groups on local government issues and elections.