Lafourche Parish library board names officers


Published: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, January 22, 2001 at 11:00 p.m.

LOCKPORT -- The Lafourche Parish Library Board of Control elected new officers, formed committees and discussed finances during its regular meeting Monday night.

Monday's meeting was the board's first legal meeting of the year. The members met illegally Saturday in Lockport for an "orientation retreat," but issued no public notice of that meeting.

The public was invited to Monday's meeting.

Board member Eva Shanklin received a birthday surprise when she was nominated and elected president. The motion was made by Robert Looper, and seconded by Barney Falgout. Shanklin was elected unanimously.

Acting President Sherry Robichaux, who was the vice president before the former board was dissolved by the Lafourche Parish Council, was elected vice president again.

Shanklin said it is an "honor and a privilege" to be president, and said she would try to lead the board through the new year.

"As God leads me, I will lead you," Shanklin said.

The board also formed its committees. The building committee consists of Looper, Sharleen Hotard, Ethel Caillouet, deputy director Bob Cornes, library director Kathleen Kilgen and architect Jay Caillouet. The finance committee consists of Falgout, Ethel Caillouet, Robichaux and Kilgen. The executive committee consists of Shanklin, Robichaux, and Looper. The bylaws committee is Falgout, Hotard, and Marilyn Duet.

The board also discussed finances with accountant Timothy Kearns, during a period that became strained, and at times accusatory.

Kearns began by going over the financial records for 2000, but ended up justifying expenses incurred during a controls report last year that led to Kilgen's firing by the former board.

Kilgen has since been rehired to her job by the Parish Council, who removed nearly all the members for firing her.

Falgout questioned Kearns about $41,552 spent on accounting for the past year, twice the amount spent on accounting the year before.

Kearns replied by explaining that before the library board hired an accountant, the library paid the Lafourche Parish Council $19,000 per year for payroll alone. For the same basic cost, Kearns said he provided the board with payroll, accounts payable, record revenues and generated financial statements.

"When it comes to our basic service, it turned out to be a pretty good deal for the library," Kearns said.

Kearns said the reason the accounting fees were so high was due to the extra work performed for the past board, including a report on the internal controls.

The report, criticized by several members of the Parish Council as a "witch hunt," raised questions on the management of the library. It turned up more than $600,000 in ad valorem tax checks that were not deposited for several months and repeated incidents where lax controls led to missing deposits.

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