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Bonita Police Chief April Jackson has been laid off by the town board of aldermen due to the police account being overdrawn and becoming a drain on town funds.
The decision to terminate Jackson -- Bonita’s only full-time police officer -- came at the end of the board’s last regular meeting held on Oct. 6.
Minutes from this meeting published in the Enterprise tell an interesting story.
An updated Court Account report was presented to the aldermen showing the account was overdrawn by $690 in mid-September.
In order to pay Jackson and one part-time officer, approximately $1,100 had to be taken from the town’s General Account and put into the Court Account to make up the deficit at the end of September.
Alderwoman Ada Sherrer said she was not aware of the problem and that she does not look at financial reports provided by the town clerk until several days later, according to the minutes.
Alderman Rick Polk told the board that when Bonita voters approved the change from an elected to an appointed police chief, they did so with the requirement the police department pay for itself and put $500 into the General Account each month through the writing of citations.
Bonita’s current budget stipulates the police department should raise $88,662 through the writing of citations, with $9,000 to go into the town’s General Account and the remainder paying for the police chief’s salary, mileage and other expenses.
When the police department is running a deficit, the town is not in compliance with its budget.
According to the minutes, the board discussed ways to downsize and then went into executive session. When they returned, Mayor Floyd Baker said Jackson was laid off effective immediately because the Court Account has no money to pay her.
Baker said this was not his choice, but that he had no choice due to insufficient funds in the police account. He also said the board was acting under the advice of the town’s auditor, Rosie Harper.
The Enterprise requested all citations written by the Bonita Police Department from Jan. 1-Sept. 30 along with time sheets, mileage records, fuel bills, clothing and other allowances.
The records show Chief Jackson has worked 1,560 hours and has written 96 citations, or one every 16.25 hours, from Jan-Sept. 2009.
By comparison, part-time officer Lee Cleveland has worked 958 hours and has written 139 citations, or one every 6.89 hours, during the same time period.
Bonita Police Chief April Jackson has been laid off by the town board of aldermen due to the police account being overdrawn and becoming a drain on town funds.
The decision to terminate Jackson -- Bonita’s only full-time police officer -- came at the end of the board’s last regular meeting held on Oct. 6.
Minutes from this meeting published in the Enterprise tell an interesting story.
An updated Court Account report was presented to the aldermen showing the account was overdrawn by $690 in mid-September.
In order to pay Jackson and one part-time officer, approximately $1,100 had to be taken from the town’s General Account and put into the Court Account to make up the deficit at the end of September.
Alderwoman Ada Sherrer said she was not aware of the problem and that she does not look at financial reports provided by the town clerk until several days later, according to the minutes.
Alderman Rick Polk told the board that when Bonita voters approved the change from an elected to an appointed police chief, they did so with the requirement the police department pay for itself and put $500 into the General Account each month through the writing of citations.
Bonita’s current budget stipulates the police department should raise $88,662 through the writing of citations, with $9,000 to go into the town’s General Account and the remainder paying for the police chief’s salary, mileage and other expenses.
When the police department is running a deficit, the town is not in compliance with its budget.
According to the minutes, the board discussed ways to downsize and then went into executive session. When they returned, Mayor Floyd Baker said Jackson was laid off effective immediately because the Court Account has no money to pay her.
Baker said this was not his choice, but that he had no choice due to insufficient funds in the police account. He also said the board was acting under the advice of the town’s auditor, Rosie Harper.
The Enterprise requested all citations written by the Bonita Police Department from Jan. 1-Sept. 30 along with time sheets, mileage records, fuel bills, clothing and other allowances.
The records show Chief Jackson has worked 1,560 hours and has written 96 citations, or one every 16.25 hours, from Jan-Sept. 2009.
By comparison, part-time officer Lee Cleveland has worked 958 hours and has written 139 citations, or one every 6.89 hours, during the same time period.
Part-time officer Derrek Quillar has worked 206 hours and has written 44 citations, or one every 4.68 hours, during the same time period.
Jackson has worked mainly on weekdays, while the part-time officers have worked mainly on weekends.
Total revenues generated from citations since January were not available because the town does not collect on all citations written.
The Bonita Profit and Loss Budget vs. Actual report from the current fiscal year (July-Sept.) shows the police department citations brought in $15,363.
The mileage records show Jackson reported between 1,179-2,082 miles per month in the police car from Jan.-Sept. Most of the mileage records are from traveling between her home in Bastrop and Bonita. The records show approximately 24 trips to Collinston from either Bastrop or Bonita, sometimes more than once on the same day.
In total, Jackson’s mileage this year has added up to 13,467 miles.
Records show gas expenses for Jackson’s car ranged between $441-513 each month from June through mid-October.
Jackson’s time sheets from the past year show they were submitted late at least four times. She took approximately 11 sick days and approximately 12 vacation/holidays. There are at least six time sheets that had to be corrected for days Jackson wrote down as having worked but did not.
A phone number where Jackson could be reached for comment could not be located.
Mayor Baker could not be reached at press time to comment on whether or not the town will re-hire Jackson should funds become available in the future.
Cleveland and Quillar will continue to provide police protection for Bonita on a part-time basis.
Morehouse Parish Sheriff Mike Tubbs said his office will continue to provide law enforcement services for the village as well.
“The mayor contacted me and asked if we would step up our efforts in Bonita,” said Tubbs. “We have a deputy assigned to that area every day. So it won’t be anything different.”
Tubbs said the sheriff’s office has always taken calls from and handled radio dispatches for the Bonita Police Department.
MPSO investigator Cleveland will donate more time to Bonita because he lives there, he said.
“We’ll continue taking care of that area,” said Tubbs.
