By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City School Board in a special meeting voted Monday not to renew the contract of the head of the high school's Navy Junior ROTC program.
Following the recommendation of Superintendent Lee Vent, the board voted unanimously that the contract of Lt. Nicholas Hutchins would not be renewed for the 2002-2003 school year. The decision was made after an executive session, which followed an open hearing in which the administration and Hutchins each made their cases.
The reason given for the non-renewal was, among other things, a "general disregard for proper accounting" practices.
Hutchins was accused not using pre-numbered receipt books consistently, in violation of the district's financial procedure. There is also a problem of missing seat cushions which were supposed to be part of a fundraising effort.
Another accusation was that Hutchins requested a loan of $760 from the Forrest City Kiwanis Club for the NJROTC program to send some cadets to a workshop -- and then presumed it to be a donation, which resulted in the school district receiving a request for payment from the Kiwanis Club.
Hutchins admitted to doing these things, but said he did them with good intentions, never intending any wrong-doing.
Hutchins had also continued to maintain an account for a booster club for NJROTC after the club had collapsed. He sent out a form letter to local businesses, asking for funds in the name of the booster club. The letters stated that the booster club was a 501(c) 3 organization, making donations to it tax exempt. The booster club was not entitled to 501(c) 3 designation. Hutchins said it was only ignorance on his part, that he thought it was all right to do that.
For his defense, Hutchins -- who did not have an attorney present -- offered a written list of answers. After a short break, Brad Beavers, attorney for the school administration, objected to the list, saying that there were items which went outside the scope of the hearing.
"There are personal allegations," Beavers said. "There are things which if not true, could be actionable."
Paul Bloom, an attorney with the Arkansas School Board Association, and helping to represent the local school board, agreed.
Hutchins then went on to claim that he had never received proper guidance on what was proper and what wasn't.
"I will admit that maybe I should have managed those who were keeping the books a little better," said Hutchins, adding that he believed there was an insinuation that he stole money.
He said the incident over the Kiwanis loan was simply a misunderstanding. He claimed that when some of the problems started coming to light, he was intimidated in a meeting with Vent, and later tried to file a grievance which was rejected.
"I have served as a role model" for the NJROTC cadets, he said. "I have never stolen one penny."
On the matter of the stadium cushions, he said he believed some cadets had stolen them.
On the bookkeeping problems, he said he simply had too much to do.
"I've made some mistakes, but my intentions were good. The only thing I can say to the board is that I'm sorry for the conditions these books are in. If I personally had maintained them...The program is just overwhelming. There was so much going on."
He said he did make the decision to keep the booster club account going after the club collapsed. "Yes, maybe I should have asked more questions," he said, "I admit my oversight was pretty weak. On the other hand, I laid out the entire NJROTC program here in Forrest City. It would be detrimental not to renew my contract."
Beavers, in summing up, agreed that there was a lot of confusion.
"That confusion, to a great extent in terms of the issues we are here to deal with tonight, are issues of confusion that were created to a large part by Lt. Nicholas Hutchins," said Beavers. He also said Hutchins asked no one locally about what it took to get a 501(c) 3 designation for tax purposes. He said Hutchins was not being accused of being a thief.
"I'm not saying he stole a penny. Probably didn't," Beavers said. "The problem is, even if he had, we wouldn't even know it. Because the records are not just sloppy, they are abominable. They are the worst set of records I've ever seen for somebody to try to sit here and blame on this person and that person and the other person."
After Bloom gave some instructions on how the voting was to proceed, the board went into executive session. When the board came out of executive session, the members voted on 21 individual complaints made by Vent against Hutchins, voting unanimously that each complaint was true. The board then voted not to renew Hutchins' contract.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of the Madison City Council agreed Monday night to attempt to settle a pending lawsuit against the city for half of the damages being claimed.
According to Madison attorney Jim Pat Flowers, Madison resident Ruben Williams sued the city for damages done to a fence and the side of his home. Flowers said that the original lawsuit, which was filed in May, was dismissed in District Court due to jurisdictional problems. Flowers also told council members that he had received a letter from attorney John Bridgforth regarding the alleged $1,900 in damage.
"We recently received a letter that if the $1,900 was not paid that another lawsuit could come, and the damages sought would be triple the original amount. Now, I don't know how you want to handle this, but as your attorney, you could pay me to defend against the suit, and it would cost the city a couple thousand dollars, or you could get a municipal league attorney and you would still have to pay $2,000. If you lose the case then you're out the $2,000 plus close to $6,000 in damages, so really it's just a matter of what you think would be best," Flowers said.
Madison Mayor James Brooks told council members that he felt that all of the damages were not the fault of the city and that an offer had been made in the past to pay for some of the damage to Williams' property.
"The stuff that he's talking about with the fence was something that a city employee did while off duty, using city equipment without proper authority. I don't see where the city should be liable for the damages in that instance. The other damage, which was to the siding of Mr. Williams house, we offered to pay him $300 for that after he brought in an estimate on the damage. There is also another question as to who owns the property. If Mr. Williams does not own it, then we could end up facing another situation down the road," Brooks said.
Council members voted by a 5-1 vote, with Ocie Davis being the lone dissenting vote, to offer to pay half of the requested damages, and if Williams won't settle to then fight the suit.
Davis objected to settling the suit saying, "From what the mayor says, this isn't the city's fault, and I just think that if we settle then we're sending the message that if you need a quick thousand dollars, just sue the city and they'll settle."
In other business, council members voted to adopt two ordinances discussed at last month's meeting. The first ordinance established a zoning ordinance and the second established rates for several permits. Council members also passed a pair of resolutions to help with grants the city is currently seeking.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Hughes City Council met Monday night in a meeting which was heated at times as councilmen discussed the city's police department.
Police Chief Joe Stone presented the council with several problems that have come about since the department's cutbacks, which were enforced about four months ago.
"We need more officers," said Stone. "We have four officers right now, and that is just not enough. We have been working 12-to-16 hour shifts with one, maybe two, officers on duty at a time. If somebody gets sick, someone has to work a 20-hour shift. I need two more officers at least."
Stone commented that the department also needs a dispatcher. "We need to hire a dispatcher because I spend most of my time dealing with calls and paperwork that a dispatcher should handle.
"The ratio of officers on duty is unsafe to the officers and to the citizens," Stone added. "If something happens, we have to call the County Sheriff's Department for backup, and by the time they can get here, the situation is either taken care of or it is worse."
Stone made a plea for better pay and benefits. "We have to have something to offer new officers and to keep the ones we have. You can't offer $18,500 a year with no retirement benefits and keep good officers."
The Department also has troubles with the three police cruisers that are now being used in Hughes.
"The vehicles we drive are always needing repairs," Stone said, citing the budget report. "Last month the repair bill for the police cars was $900, and the month before, it was close to $2,000. These vehicles need to be replaced."
Councilmen discussed the matter of the vehicles and unanimously voted in favor of a proposal of $2,600, which was presented by Stone, to be used toward the purchase of used police vehicles.
An elderly Forrest City man was treated and released from the hospital Tuesday evening after being struck by a pickup truck at the intersection of South Division and West Broadway.
According to the police report, Lloyd C. Hardrick, 70, of 300 Rolfe Street, was walking across West Broadway when he was struck by a 1984 Chevrolet pickup driven by Andrew Self, 60, of 718 E. Scott Street, Forrest City.
Hardrick was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City, where he was treated and released. According to the accident report, there were no charges filed.