Jonesboro LA New Compliance Status ll

Added to this list of frustrations, Mayor Thompson was left holding the bag in trying to run a town with an antiquated, neglected, water and sewerage system that should have been replaced years ago. Water pipes were bursting night and day all over the town. Mayor Thompson did the best he could do under a situation where there were little or no funds to handle these problems while at the same time he was hit with a rapid turnover in staff. White staff members, the brain trust at town hall (who had been there for many, many years), walked out of the door and left Thompson hanging to figure it out by himself. Despite the critics and naysayers, Mayor Thompson was able to bring in several millions of dollars in state and federal grants to address some of the unmet needs of the Town of Jonesboro. In 2007 the town received $291,950 in grants. In 2008 the town received $4,683,200 in grants. In 2009, $815,503 was received in grant funding. In 2010, $1,372,000 was received. In 2012 $212,350 and in 2013, $2,017,340 was received in grant funding. This funding was directed towards water, sewer, airport, street improvements and other improvements throughout the Town of Jonesboro. I could not find anywhere in the history of the town where this amount of grant funding was applied for and received before or since then. From 2007 through 2013, a total of $9,179,993 was received from various funding sources such as LGAP, DRA, USDA, FAA, DOTD, Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund, LCDBG, Capital Outlay grant, Community Water Enrichment Fund and local funds. This would be quite an accomplishment for any administration and deserves recognition for the effort and hard work it takes to achieve such. After years of wrangling with the town council, Legislative Auditor Darrell Purpura' office and local political operatives (who had a long running feud and a fundamental dislike with and for Thompson), began working together to have Mayor Thompson ousted from office. Due to several fiscal problems, the town was placed on a watch list and later on the State's non-compliance list. The town was issued a disclaimer in the State's audit report, which meant that the financial records were so inaccurate, or that records were missing or so badly out of order that an audit could not be performed. When these facts became public, Mayor Thompson's office was inundated with information requests from law enforcement that ultimately overran his office and confiscated records, and documents. Consequently, this action along with other acts of racial injustice and especially a petition being circulated by a band of white citizens to have Mayor Thompson removed from office, tensions in the black community began to rise, tempers began to flare up over the manner in which events were unfolding and citizens began referring to Mayor Thompson as having misappropriated funds. Ultimately Mayor Thompson was indicted, tried, convicted and sent to prison for 11 years for malfeasance in office. Dr. Herbert Simmons, Jr. is an associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Grambling State University, former President, Grambling State University Faculty Senate and former Chair, Department of Consumer Education and Resource Management, Howard University, Washington, D.C.