By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
The Forrest City School District ended a marathon employee hearing at the same place where it began nine and a half hours earlier with Donnie Willis as the district's head football coach.
Willis was notified in January that Superintendent Lee Vent planned to recommend that his contract as coach not be renewed, although he would be allowed to complete the remainder of the school year with the district. The move would have prevented Willis from overseeing off-season football practice, but would not have affected his teaching duties. Willis teaches driver's education.
After receiving the letter, Willis appealed Vent's intentions and requested an open hearing before the district's board. That hearing began about 5:30 p.m. Monday and ended about 3 o'clock this morning.
Several witnesses were called by the district's attorney, Brad Beavers, to testify in support of Vent's recommendation. The witnesses ranged from former athletic director Bill Baxter to current athletic director Mike Bender. A representative of the booster club, FCHS principal Abbie Robinson and Deputy Superintendent Alice Barnes also testified.
Beavers presented board members with a packet of information including the letter from Vent, and other information ranging from a mission statement for the football program, developed by Willis after he was hired to the position in 1999. In a personnel hearing, by design, board members are supposed to be objective in making their decision; therefore, members were not privy to the information given to them by Beavers prior to the hearing. The packet also included notes of various meetings held with Willis about his job performance and job evaluations. Willis' record as a head coach over his five-year period is 18 wins and 32 losses.
Most of the hearing centered around a mission statement Willis had developed for the program after being hired to the position in 1999. In the mission statement, he outlined several goals for the district's entire football program including the development of a middle school football program, the implementation of a two-team junior high system and a 10th grade playing schedule.
Some of Willis' plans were implemented, but district officials contended he had not done enough during his five years in the position to improve or promote the program, and that he was not following a plan designed by Bender for the program.
Baxter was the first to testify and stated that Willis was hired because "he was good at doing what we asked him to do. Plus, he had played and he had a lot of experience."
The former athletic director recounted for the board conversations he and Willis had when he was given the job. "I felt we should be competitive in three years and be competing for a conference championship in five. When asked to rate the progress of the football program over the past five years," Baxter said, "Well, we're not playing for a championship."
Board member Sandra Taylor complained that she was unfamiliar with the packet presented by Beavers and requested a short recess to allow her time to read the letter from Vent to Willis. Following a short recess, Vent read the letter to the standing-room-only crowd.
The race factor was not addressed until further into the hearing when, according to testimony, Willis had suggested that a white coach talk to the white parents about white students participating in the football program.
Bender's testimony began about 9:30 p.m., and basically testified that the job Willis was hired to do "was not getting done and I thought there needed to be a change."
Willis' attitude toward his players was also addressed. Bender said the coach led district officials to believe that this past season would be a good year for the Mustangs. However, the team finished the season at .500, and after the final game claimed the "players had let me down."
"A good coach can get it out of them. By the time they get to be seniors they should be trained and disciplined. If the seniors are not your leaders, you're going to get beat," Bender said. "We're not getting the production that we need to get done. We need to show improvement. I'm not saying that winning is everything, but it sure does help. I do not see where this program will get beyond mediocre in this direction."
As for Willis' five-year plan, Bender said. "I do not feel that the plan has been met. If this plan had been met we would have a great program here in Forrest City, Arkansas. We had much better players this year. They were seniors. I was told this would be a great year. There is no way I can guarantee you a win, but I do think we need a change in our head football position." Bender said. "What he does is mediocre, and I cannot accept mediocre."
Bender completed his testimony about 11 p.m., after which Willis read a prepared statement to the board as to why he felt he should not be terminated.
"The first year, I was handcuffed. After the second year, some assistant coaches were reassigned per my recommendation. Not one time during my tenure as head coach would the district allow me to hire one coach from outside," Willis said.
Bender claims Willis presented only one person for hiring, and after checking that subject's teaching credentials he found out that he was not certified to coach. Willis claimed he presented six names for assistant positions, but it was unclear what happened to the other five names.
"Not one year have I had the same senior high coaching personnel," Willis said. "Considering the conditions I have been forced to work under, I probably did not evaluate myself high enough. I suggest that I be given control of my program. For five years they have refused to give me the authority to give them the kind of football team we all desire. I truly believe I have done a good job."
Willis also took the opportunity to tell board members some of the things he feels are wrong with the program. "Changes need to be made in how the administration runs the athletic program. The administration allows the so-called money folks to influence their decision. It is not fair for outside money to influence the school system to the point where it is crippling our kids."
Willis was assisted at the hearing by James Banks, a representative with the Arkansas Education Association. "I have not seen nothing said here tonight to lead me to believe he did not do what he was hired to do. I think Coach Willis was absolutely right in having a white coach go talk to the white public."
Shortly after 1:30 a.m., the board went into executive session to review the points for dismissal that were outlined by Vent in the letter to Willis.
Just over an hour later, the board reconvened to vote on the 10 points, some of which were unanimous or passed by a 4-2 vote, and others that were split along racial lines.
Although the crowd had thinned by the time the board's decision was announced, several people still remained for the decision.
The final vote on whether or not to accept Vent's recommendation for Willis' dismissal, the most important vote of the night, was split along racial lines with board members Aubrey Jayroe, Dr. Wayne Jones and Mallory Nimocks voting in favor of his dismissal and board members Henry Peacock, Rev. Ronald Williams and Sandra Taylor voting against the recommendation. The result was a tie vote, meaning Willis will remain as head football coach.
Following the board's vote, Willis said. "I feel great. I have an opportunity to come back and coach again. The board's decision, it was a hard, tough decision. Again, God prevailed. I work hard with the kids and I think I did progress from last year. I'm excited about what happened , and I look forward to coaching."
"I think there is still a lot of division down the middle, and it's really sad at this day and time that we are right now here at this point and we can't get past this," Willis said. I want another coach. Not to put anybody out, but I want to hire another coach for some things that we need to take care of."
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
An estimated $600,000 will need to be transferred from Forrest City's reserves in order to fund the budget amendments recommended during a called budget meeting Tuesday.
The mayor and several council members differ on whether going into the reserves is a good thing, with the mayor saying it is bad fiscal policy, and at least one alderman saying the employees deserve a raise.
In January, the council adopted the 2003 budget figures as the acting 2004 budget, so the city could meet state requirements to have a budget by Feb. 1. Work at the time was still being done by a "parity committee," whose job it was to bring the salaries of local city employees in line with other towns of similar size. If amended, the budget will reflect the salary adjustments recommended by the committee.
Mayor Larry Bryant, who was present during the early part of the meeting but had to leave for another meeting, said he wanted to warn against going into the city's reserves for salaries.
"You start going down that road, you'll be in deep trouble, every time," Bryant said. "If you do it for salaries, that's not what it (the reserve) is for. (Reserves) are for one-time expenses. If you start going there, and do it this year, then you have to do it next year, and if you have shortages, then you don't have a reserve."
After the mayor left, the council began a line-by-line discussion of expected revenues and expenditures.
As the discussion was nearing its end, City Clerk Marie Todd reminded the council members that they were going over-budget.
"I think you have talked about it, but your expenditures are outweighing your income," Todd said, reminding them of the mayor's warning. "It's something you need to think about. When you put all these figures in. . .It's not going to be a balanced budget."
Council member Roger Breeding said he felt going into reserves would be all right.
"If we can take $2 million out of reserves to build a gymnasium, we can take some out of reserves to pay our employees," Breeding said.
The "gymnasium" Breeding referred to is a multi-purpose center slated to be built at the city's Municipal Sports Complex.
Council member John Gadberry said that in 2003, some $300,000 was transferred. When asked where the money was transferred from, he said, "My notes don't reflect that."
Council member Cecil Twillie said the problem was that in dealing with salaries, "you can vote to not give a raise, but you can't vote to drop a person's pay. Another way you can do it is to cut back on employees, through attrition or laying people off. When you go into your reserves, you've got yourself over this year, but if you don't have more revenue next year, you're right back doing the same thing."
Breeding said that just because a $600,000 shortfall is shown at the beginning of the year, "That's not necessarily the case." He said that there would be areas of savings.
"We're not going to be fully employed all the time, anyway," said council member Steve Hollowell.
Breeding continued, "Just because you've got it budgeted, that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to spend it. But if you do, you've got to know you've got money there, to lay your hands on, which we do. We have the reserves if we have to go get it."
Finally, while a vote on the budget was not taken, the consensus of the council was that they were generally comfortable with the amendments. That included the correction of an error in which the salary of police lieutenants had mistakenly been reduced.
An amended budget is expected to be presented at the next regular meeting, to be held Tuesday, March 16.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The issue of a contract for catering services is now on its way to the Forrest City City Council after members of the Civic Center Commission voted to recommend an open kitchen for food service at the facility.
By a three to two margin, with commission members Shirley Harvell, Marcus Freeman and Willie Ann Ford voting in favor of the measure, the commission recommended a plan which will open the kitchen on a first come, first served basis using an 11-page skeleton for the plan which includes rental rates for the kitchen along with a waiver clearing the commission and the city of liability. The plan also has a provision which states that any catered events must provide a certificate of insurance. Commission member agreed to amend the plan to call for the new system to be used on a one-year basis to determine its effectiveness. Commission chairman Delores Morelon and Ford both voiced concerns over the use of an open kitchen.
"I just don't want to see anyone and everyone using the kitchen," Morelon said.
While Ford voted in favor of the recommendation, she questioned not having an on-site caterer.
"I can still see where there might be a need for someone available at all times out here because there are functions that just come up and the citizens need to have someone available," Ford said.
The plan for the contract will also provide a list of available caterers, and provide for the hiring of a staff member at the civic center to oversee and inventory items in the kitchen following functions.
A request for a recommendation to extend the current contract from current civic center caterer Jim Hitchcock failed to receive a motion after Hitchcock approached the commission with the request to extend his contract until the end of the year. According to Hitchcock his request would allow for a smoother transition into the new system and was also due to functions he has scheduled due to the delayed action of the commission on the new food service agreement at the facility. Last week, Hitchcock asked the city council to extend the contract and on Monday he told the commission he would be making the same request at the next scheduled city council meeting.
"Most of you are aware that I addressed the council last week asking them to extend the current contract until the end of the year. While I appreciate ya'll for moving forward I still think that it would be a good move to extend the contract until the end of the year so that there can be a smooth transition. This thing still has to go to the city council and be approved and there's just a little over a month left before the contract ends. So what happens after May 31?" said Hitchcock.
Hitchcock's second reason for wanting to extend the contract was due to events he had booked until the end of the year using rates for functions as the in-house caterer.
"I've discussed it with the commission before but I had people calling me wanting to schedule functions all the way until December and after I received the first telephone call I started booking events because it didn't look good on me and it didn't look good on the city's part when I had to tell people that I couldn't tell them what to do because no one knew what the situation was going to be. I started booking events using in-house rates but I won't be able to honor those commitments now. If the contract is done this way then I won't even be catering in this building anymore," he said.
Harvell answered Hitchcock's comments saying, "Whether or not you're going to cater in this building anymore is something that you will have to decide. Our having a contract has nothing at all to do with Colby's Custom Catering."
Ford agreed that the commission's lack of action over the past few months had put Hitchcock in a difficult position, but she did not make a motion in support of his request.
"I agree with Mr. Hitchcock that we have lagged on this and I can't say that I can't be sympathetic to his point. We are just now doing this and he has made a number of commitments to the public," Ford said.
In other business, Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant and building manager Raymond Stewart updated the commission on the status of several requests. According to Bryant, work on a new air conditioning system for the eastern end of the building could begin as early as May. Bryant also told commissioners that the building will soon have a generator so that in cases of emergency the building will have a power source so that it can be used as a shelter. The mayor also told the board that efforts are still on-going to replace the sign in front of the civic center. According to Stewart, the eastern end of the building will soon see the addition of a coat and hat rack similar to the rack on the western end of the building. Stewart also told commission members that a contractor from Memphis would be inspecting cracks in the walls of the new section of the facility to determine if they pose any structural issues.
John "Big John" Heckler, has announced that he is a candidate for Sheriff/Collector in St. Francis County as an independent candidate.
Heckler has been a resident of St. Francis County for 24 years, and currently lives in the Colt Community on SFC 1003. He is employed by the Forrest City Police Department, with eight years of law enforcement experience.
He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, serving from 1976 through 1982.
"I am running for the office of Sheriff/Collector because I feel it is time for a change," said Heckler. "I feel the sheriff's office and jail should be run in a more efficient manner, with state-of-the-art equipment and training to bring the sheriff's office up to the standards needed for this day and time."
He stated, "I feel the deputies should spend more time out in the county taking care of the citizens and patrolling the county roads. There needs to be 24-hour a day coverage for the county at all times, not just during special times of the year. The auxiliary deputies need to earn the money we give them. There are a select few who seem to work all the time and there are others who we seldom see, but they continue to receive their pay checks.
"The jail needs to be cleaned from top to bottom with inmates cleaning and maintaining the jail daily. The jail needs attention daily, not just weeks prior to jail inspections by state officials."
"The files of all employees, including the auxiliary, need to be examined to make sure that all are up to the minimum standards of the state," Heckler said.
"I have no plans to make any changes in the way the collector's office is run. I appreciate your cooperation and vote in the November election by all voters in St. Francis County."
Heckler and his wife, Donna, have a son and daughter, Jamie and Kayla.
St. Francis County Quorum Court Justice B. McCollum Jr. has announced his intention to run for reelection to the Quorum Court District 2 position.
McCollum, who has served on the Quorum Court for more than 30 years, has been a member of the jail committee, the regional jail committee, and the budget committee.
McCollum, who was born and raised at Greasy Corner near Hughes, said, "I've always stressed to my constituents that when anything comes up, I'm just a phone call away, and that has not changed. I appreciate the support and trust that I have earned in the past. I have enjoyed serving, and hope to continue to serve the citizens of District 2 and St. Francis County."
According to McCollum, a retired farmer, his time on the Quorum Court has taught him that working together as a court is what works best for St. Francis County. McCollum also stressed that his relationship with not only his fellow justices but also the county officials, could be the key in getting the county through the current budget strife facing the county with state funds still low.
"I have a good working relationship with the entire court and all the county officials. I feel that my experience, and a good working knowledge of how county government operates, will help us get through this time," said McCollum.
McCollum and his wife Jeanette are members of the First Baptist
Church of Hughes. They have one daughter, Sheila, of Memphis.
In a brief meeting, the Widener City Council on Tuesday voted to move the regular council meeting from the second Monday to the third Monday of each month.
The reason was that Mayor Dot Halford was having trouble getting the financial reports ready to mail to the council members. Some of the members want to get their reports ahead of time so they can study them.
Halford said the extra week would give her extra time to get the bank statement and prepare the report.
There was also some discussion of Widener Day, which will be held this year on May 1, a Saturday.
There will be games for kids, some live entertainment, senior citizen BINGO, barbecue and fried pies. The police department will prepare the barbecue this year.
"I'm trying to get a few other things going to get them better. There will be a better list next month," Halford said.
The Palestine City Council will meet at 7 tonight at city hall.
The Hughes School Board will also meet tonight. That meeting
will begin at 6 p.m