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| October 31, 1985 The Ponchatoula Times |  |
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HE P ON CHA 'TO UL A TIMES 5o °
anchac swamped by Hurricane Juan
By BRYAN T. McMAHON
Editor and Publisher
Hurricane Juan did more damage in
than any storm in memory•
water did as much damage as
, did. I was born in Ruddock Bayou
this is as high as I've ever seen it in
said Harvey H. Degruy St.
was standing as he spoke on the
shore of Pass Manchac. Behind
sheds, boat houses, camps and
going under water•
earlier in this century had been
,nt cypress forest stretching between
and Laplace, what had in more
years been a vast swampy field
Lake Pontchartrain from
Maurepas, the Williams property,
a lake•
"Sunday night my family and I were
our beds sleeping when three foot
started breaking across that
• A shrimp boat in front of my
was all that kept it out for a while,
even that didn't help.
"1 built my house two feet higher than
high water mark during Hurricane
in the 1960's, and still it washed
the house• We stayed up all night.
in gusts, and died, and then
again and again into the house•
my home gets washed away rm
up and moving to Ponchatoula.
is all one big lake now,"
)lained Matherne, as he and his
waded back home to save what
could of their belongings.
permanent residents of
especially those on the Oalva
side of the Pass, were among the
be forced to evacuate during the
hours between Sunday and dawn
day,.
stood on the south shore of
Pass and watched the waters rise,
a wind out of the southeast
was combining with the high tides
on by the full moon. One was
Traylor.
I could wake up the water
in and wrecked my refrigerator,
freezer, everything is under water,"
Ttaylor, lndcang his lk:lit
used to be on the shore of the
worst thing is that a northwest
is needed to take all this water out,
if we get one it will take everything
it, docks, camps, railbed, every-
Manchac resident.
the Pass volunteers were
the citizens of Manchac sandbag
north of the pass next to
Restaurant, which was
into an island by the flood.
the waters continued to rise, the
pushing the waters of Lake Pont-
into the little lake and up its
creating flooding in corn-
such as French Settlement,
flooding was reported in
parts of Ponchatoula, such as
inberger lane; Wadesboro, and
areas.
was spent evacuati
on Pass Manchac, where the
e is belleveo uJ u ,,,= ......
Lee's Landing and the area
Creek near Wallace's Marina
also flooded and the inhabitants
to seek higher ground.
local citizen who saw the
first-hand on Pass Manchac,
City Councilman and
Deputy Dave Perkins, held
for many of the camps on the
are boat sheds already
with water in most of the
said Perkins and when asked
specific camps he reported that
partially-owned by Sheriff Eddie
near Lake Pontchartrain had
lost its dock and taken water
the camp by Monday afternoon,
the water was still rising. He said
several other camps in the area,
chatoula poster
at Times
By BRYAN T. McMAHON
Editor & Publisher
The unique maps of Ponchatoula
Ron Barthet are now available
Ponchatoula Times office.
These are the original signed and
red copies on quality paper stock
for framing. They sell for $2.50.
subscribers to The Ponchatoula
will be given a free copy of this
print. Anyone already
to Tle Times who intro-
a new reader to the newspaper
also be given a signed and
poster-size map, as will the
who have taken advantage of
new subscriber offer since it was
two weeks ago and have
waiting for the high-quality poster
to get back from the printer can
come to the Tir rice and claim
Road to wet
Lake Manchac
mostly owned by local families, were in
the same or worse shape•
Perkins report didn't give much hope
for those further up the Pass toward
Manchac. He said the large Tate Cove
facility owned by SLU was flooded, as
was Albert and Linda Poche's soft-shell
crab camp across the Pass, where
Perkins said he saw the entire crab
operation under water, with the camp
itself in apparent danger the last time
anyone would chance taking a boat that
way, Monday afternoon.
Perkins was stopping for a cup of
coffee at the Q-B-On Fish Market early
Tuesday morning, working with Sheriff
Layrisson and his other deputies on a
mandatory evacuation of Manchac.
He said that he held out no hope for
his own camp, which is at the point
where North Pass and South Pass meet,
saving that the damage he saw there
Att. Gen. Guste rules
Pepitone took bench illegally
Staff Report
When Ponchatoula City Councilman
Danny Pepitone sat as judge in Poncha-
toula City Court and heard the cases of
hundreds of citizens, sentencing some
illegally. " ' "
That is the official opinion of
Louisiana Attorney General William
Guste, released this week. Attorney
generals' opinions bear the weight of
law in the absence of court decisions to
the contrary.
Guste said in his opinion that only
mayors, duly-appointed attorneys-at-
law or, in the real absence of the mayor,
the councilman serving as mayor-pro-
tern can legally sit in judgement in the
state's municipal courts.
The attorney general's ruling supports
totally the information first made public
in The Ponchatoula Times on April 25
of this year. The Times quoted state law
forbidding Pepitone from serving as
judge, named some of the hundreds of
Ponchatoula citizens whose cases were
heard by the non-judge "judge," and
documented that both Pepitone and
Mayor Charles Gideon were told that
the appointment was illegal before it
was made.
Both local city officials had attended a
seminar conducted for the Louisiana
Municipal Association on August 11,
1984 at the convention in Lake Charles
that concentrated on the legal operation
of city courts.
Judge George Murray Jr. of Vidalia,
who conducted the seminar, said that
he detailed in plain language a 1981 law
passed by the Louisiana Legislature
which banned the appointment of city
.c.punCfimert o wele jaot attQmes, ... •
functioning as the mayor-pro-tern in the
mayor's absence.
Following the seminar, Gideon
appointed Pepitone judge in Ponchatoula.
Hundreds of citizens were brought to
Pepitone's court, some were sentenced
to fines, jail time, or time working off
their )all sentences on the road.
The Ponchatoula Times printed the
story on April 25, listing some of the
hundreds of local citizens who had their
cases heard before the illegal "judge,"
Pepitone subsequently stepped down
from his post, and he publicly asked
Gideon to seek an attorney general's
opinion on the law, saying he would not
return to the bench unless Guste
approved it.
Gideon subsequently appointed
attorney-at-law Joe Singerman to serve
as judge in Mayor's Court. Under the
state law quoted this week to Gideon by
Guste Singerman qualifies as a legal
judge.
Several local attorneys said that
anyone convicted in the illegal court
would have recourse to file a lawsuit
against the city, but to this date none
have done so.
The Attorney General's Opinion
Hon. Charles H. Gideon, Mayor
City of Ponchatoula
110 Hickory Street
Ponchatoula, Louisiana 70454
Dear Mayor Gideon:
Your inquiry of recent date addressed to Attorney General William J. Guste,
Jr. has been directed to me for attention and reply.
Pursuant to our telephone conversation of August 12th and on this date, l
understand your question to be as follows:
Whether anyone other than the mayor can act as a magistrate for the Mayor's
Court.
As you are aware, R.S. 33:441B provides for the appointment of an attorney
to act as city magistrate. However, your question is more directly concerned with
the appointment of a city councilman as magistrate or a mayor pro tern serving in
that capacity.
R.S. 33:441A provides for a mayor's court with the mayor as presiding officer.
R.S. 33:441B provides that the mayor with approval of the board of alderman
may appoint an attorney as court magistrate.
Other than a mayor pro tern, acting as a magistrate in the absence of the
mayor, there appears to be no authority other than R.S. 33:441 for anyone else
to serve as magistrate of the mayor's court. Provided, a mere convenience or
desire of the mayor is not sufficient to have the mayor pro tern serve as
magistrate. The mayor must be truly absent, and the mayor pro tern must assume
all the duties of the absent mayor of whichthe mayor s.court is only part.
Therefore, it is the opinion of our office that other than the mayor, R.S.
33:441B permits the appointment ot an attorney t.o act as court.magistrate; a
councilman has no authority to serve as courl magls[ra[e; ana l.urlner, a mayor
pro tem serving in the absence of the mayorand assuming all ot the authority of a
mayor may serve temporarily as court magistrate.
If you have any further questions regarding this matter please contact our
office.
William J. Guste, Jr.
Attorney General
Harry H. Howard
Assistant Attorney General
HHH:vls
cc: Robert W. Troyer, Esq.
City Attorney
Civil Defense's McKenzie
Dufreche
discovers
utility pirates
By EDDIE PONDS
Times Reporter
Councilman-at-large Julian Dufreche
is angered over the large number of
residents he has discovered are illegally
enjoying city services and utilities
without paying for them.
"I see senior citizens living on a fixed
income, sacrificing to pay their utility bills
they pay as soon as they get it,
Dufreche said.
To help put a halt to future pirating of
city services Dufreche proposed the
electrical hook-up ordinance the council
adopted October 24.
Dufreche said he introduced the
ordinance because some residents who
should be paying are not paying for city
services.
SEE PAGE B-6
P.H.S. Open House
draws community
By EDDIE PONDS
Times Reporter
About 500 interested citizens, digni-
taries, and elective officials crowded
into the all-purpose cafeteria Thursday
night at the new Ponchatoula High
School for an open house and student
council installation.
The spacious and attractive 65 acre
campus, landscaped with tall short leaf
pine and white oak trees, is part of the
16 section located approximately four
miles east of Ponchatoula on highway
22.
Ponchatoula High principal A.J.
Bodker presided over the open house.
in his opening statement he said
"Tonight, it is very special and a
personal privilege to welcome each of
you to our first official open house of the
New Ponchatoula High School. We are
very proud of our new school. It has
already been said by many who call on
us and have seen schools from all over,
that this is one of the finest complexes
that has been built. Certainly, as patrons
of the Poncbaioula Community, you
SEE PAGE A-6
Monday indicated the camp would be
lost to the water.
Shrimpers took cover by moving their
boats from mooring places closer to
Lake Maurepas to as far up the
Manchac Canal as they could float on
the swollen waters.
By 8 a.m. Tuesday the water pushing
up North Pass was several feet higher
on the Pass side of Highway 51 than on
the interstate irb, ulilh tho hiclhwav
bridge itselt acting as a daml The Pass
crossed the highway on the
Ponchatoula side of the bridge.
Similar road blockages were
discovered by Times reporters south of
the Pass near Ruddock. A three mile
section of ICG track in that same area
was undermined by the water, cutting
off train service.
SEE PAGE B-6
MY PONCHATOULA
By OLE HARDHIDE
The Alligator
i understand Wanda Cortez down at the Q-B-On looked up from
washing out my fisherman's beer glasses and there seated at the bar on all
the stools were Ole Hardhide's cousins, the alligators of Manchac.
That's how fast the flood came in. Ah floods, the favorite treat for
alligators everywhere and the thing most feared by waterside dwellers of the
human stripe.
Normally my cousins have to crawl up on the shore and try not to let their
long fingernails rat-tat-tat on Manchac's pavement before they can sneak up
on Sykes Grocery and make off with some crab boil. Not Monday, they just
swam up like any other Manchac customer and got what they wanted.
You know where all the fishermen go when Manchac fish are swimming
over Highway 51, eh? Rousseau's, where Manchac gets high but not dry
during hurricanes.
Know how Ponchatoula knew the Manchac flood was serious? Old John
Cortez came as far north as Vernon Hebert's place. (That's as close to high
ground as most Manchac folks can stand).
Mrs. Annette Hebert, Mrs. Hoover, Mrs. Betty Olson, and Mrs. Mary
Landry are still doing the Beer Barrel Polka, they're so excited about the
just-past German festival. It seems there's more spring to Lawyer Troyer
than just his suspenders, to have thought up that dandy idea.f
And Betty Cutrer, who is the fella called Trivia I hear you've been
Rad is taking applications down at his Jr.'s Auto Body Shop, but no autos
are allowed to apply.
Whatsamatter Hardy? Lock stuck? I heard you had a rough time opening
the hardware a few days ago.
Tracy Spitler, the vivacious blond from Millville, wants to know who the
wise guy or gal it was who sent her the Jane Fonda tape. (Coffee's okay, but
cancel the biscuits).
Duane Dyer the Diver's a dedicated daddy these days (1 bet babysitting's a
breeze with a soundproof diving helmet).
Skipper Munson is wasting away in the school rooms of SIIdell and I hear
he really misses working on the roofs of My Ponchatoula with Ronnie
'Perrin, so if you see a skinny gargoyle on your roof peak and he's poking
with an ice pick at your tin, you !1 know by what name to call him. (As if, by
that time, you'ld need a suggestion). Say Charlte, do you suppose that's
what did in you back porch roof?.)
Could the gals at Le Shucks rationalize it if they turned me down as first
place winner in the costume contest? That $100 bill prize would come in
handy over at Joe Ebrecht's live chicken Kwik Stop down by the Feed &
Seed.
Flappers and pond water will make any gator grin.
Do you suppose, Doc, Ned, Lucien, or the Dobermans are in for a replay
of that bad April river flood? (Hang in there good guys. You hang in there
too Floyd Laurent!).
How many of you balding boys really believe that if all else has changed,
at least sports will always be the same and keep you forever young?
Now hear this, Mike Sanders down at the archery and outdoor outfitter
supply shop on.West Pine has gotten in a shipment of plastic ball pump
needles! (Hang on to your metal needles, boys, they'll soon be as scarce as
leather helmets).
Now let us get around to the matter of pure protocol. To be blunt (would
you have me any other way), so long as the Mayor, First Lady, and
President o! the Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce get to drive around in
a white Lincoln Continental (no, not "a" white Lincoln Continental, in
truth, three (3) white Lincoln Continentals), I think it only right and fair that
the region's top tourist attraction, marriage counselor, match maker,
government advisor, newspaper columnist, sage and soulmate to the great,
the great green gator of Greater Ponchatoula, get his own first-class ride.
Of course l'd want to put up a chauffeur's window in mine, and fill the
passenger,compartment at least half full of pond water, and stock it w!th
fish, and I d probably make one or two other adjustments as well, but the
idea's the same - elegance.
All the top musicians in the world have a big project they can boost these
days, either starving Africans or starving American farmers, and the
concerts and spinoff records are record breaking. So Ponchatoula's Butch
Meyn decided he had to get in on the act. Reports are he's heading up a
special concert committee for all those Ponchatoulans having birthdays in
November (hey, everyone does his part, right?).
Want to hear of the most miss-matched dancers since Brutus tripped the
light fantastic with Olvte Oyi? Try giant J.R. Wallace and flagpole thin Billy
Young (Anh and Jean, i'd cut in quick if I were you - but not both at the
same time, please).
Word is even the flood waters didn't stop the dancers of Bedico Creek.
They just started to tread water with the boat.