Police Jury gets heated over possible library expansion

Kaleb Causey
kcausey@thenewsstar.com
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Ouachita Parish Police Juror Mack Calhoun sparked a 40 minute argument during Monday night's meeting over the Ouachita Parish Public Library which he said is "under-serving" the people of Calhoun.

"We want a library in Calhoun," he said. "We're going to have it."

Calhoun said the need was there and a new branch would be used.

"(There's a total of) 2,624 students in Calhoun," he said. "The children want a library. They've asked me for one."

The nearest branches are eight and 15 miles away, he said.

"The Calhoun branch would have as much or more (visitors) as any other branch," he said.

Calhoun said he believes the money is there to construct a $2 million branch to serve the people of Calhoun.

He offered up a motion to hire Land 3 Architect to design the facility and put it out to bid, but the motion failed to receive a second.

"Are we not the same as you people?" he asked. "Are we bad people?"

Juror Walt Caldwell said he supports the idea, but as chairman of the finance committee, he is obligated to wait until he knows the money is there and won't put the library at a financial risk.

"I'm looking at the figures and I don't agree with your numbers," Caldwell said. "Everybody seems to think this is a good idea, but not tonight."

Calhoun then slammed his hands on the desk and stood up to address Caldwell.

"I don't appreciate the way you're talking to me," he said. "When your area needed (help), I was there to help you."

Calhoun spoke to the library board on Thursday, where he said he was informed the board requested time to study the issue.

"The library board feels that to approve this request would be to do so prematurely," Library Director Robin Toms said. "We're asking to do this the correct way and we're asking to do this all together."

Calhoun questioned the effectiveness of the board when he asked why the board couldn't make quorum on a few occasions and wanted to know who was "running the ship."

"The reason the ship is running so well is because we don't make brash decisions on spending $2 million," Police Jury President Scotty Robinson answered.

Juror Pat Moore, who also serves on the library board, said Calhoun made the same demands and threatened the board when he spoke with them Thursday.

"He demanded that we build," she said. "The board was open minded. He did make threats.

"The board did not say no. We just said we are looking at what you're saying."

Calhoun did have plans to retire at the end of his current term, but said he would seek reelection to ensure the new branch was built and will continue to bring the issue up at meetings.

Follow @Kaleb_Causey on Twitter.

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