DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
THE ASCENSION
DVOCA VOCATE AD T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 10, 2024
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Assessor encourages school board to reconsider tax vote BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT
Staff writer
At the Ascension Parish School Board meeting July 2, Parish Assessor M.J. “Mert” Smiley Jr. encouraged board members to undo their decision last month to roll forward property tax rates to the voter-approved maximum rate.
Although the board took no formal action, members questioned its impact on parish residents’ property taxes and discussed future steps should the board wish to recast a vote on the matter. The board originally voted 9-0, with two absent, to roll forward property tax rates, known as millages, at its June 4 meeting.
“Really, I should have been here the night that y’all voted,” Smiley said as he opened his presentation. “I did not realize, evidently, that y’all were meeting that night to make this vote, but this is a very, very important vote.” Every four years, Louisiana law requires parish assessors to reassess property values to match them to
current market rates and local governments to reset their property tax rates to produce the same revenue as the prior year. When property values have increased, governments can choose to “roll back” millages to slightly lower levels to match the previous year or
ä See ASSESSOR, page 2G
Smiley
Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Sheriff warns of phone scam The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office is warning residents to be aware of a telephone scam where individuals are impersonating deputies with the sheriff’s office. One of the most recent scam calls is impersonating Sgt. Daniel Haydel and requesting cash/electronic transfer of cash payments for arrest, Sheriff Bobby Webre announced in a Facebook post. Webre said his agency will never contact residents and request any form of cash payment from GreenDot, CashApp, Venmo or PayPal over the phone for arrest subpoenas, warrants or tickets. “If you receive a phone call that sounds suspicious, hang up,” the sheriff said. If you receive such a call, you can contact his office at (225) 621-8300.
Campaign announcements The Ascension Advocate is publishing candidate prepared announcements for the Nov. 5 elections. Announcements must include the candidate’s age, political party and education. All announcements must be less than 400 words and received by July 19. A color photo of the candidate also should be sent as a high resolution jpg attachment. The statements will be run on a space available basis. For more information, call (225) 603-1998.
Lacrosse summing camp set the Ascension Parish Pelican’s Lacrosse Club is holding a training camp for students in eighth through 12th grades. the camp is set for 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 22-26 and a scrimmage from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. July 27 at the Gonzales City Room Park, 1006, Highway 30, Gonzales. No experience necessary and equipment will be available. New players are welcome
Dancing for a Cause voting Voting is underway for the Dancing for a Cause star dancers. The annual fundraiser for the Arc of East Ascension is set for 7 p.m. July 13 at the REV Center at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. Celebrity star dancers are Chris Rosato, Rod Braud, Amanda Gautreau, Christian Bourgeois, Caprice Cline, Chabry Marks, Falcon Mire, Elise Tureau Frederic and Kelly Mitchell. To vote for a star dancer or purchase tickets, visit www. thearcea.com.
PHOTOS BY WENDY LOUP
Attendees of the annual Donaldsonville Independence Day celebration dance to the music of Big Frank & Lil Frank on July 3 at Crescent City Park.
Celebration on the river
Contributing writer
Donaldsonville’s Independence Day celebration included small business vendors, check presentations for Ascension Parish programs and organizations and a fireworks display. The event, held July 3 at Donaldsonville’s Crescent Park, also featured music by the Michael Foster Project and Big Frank & Lil Frank. The “Fireworks on the River” celebration “goes back many, many years as a way to not conflict with Baton Rouge’s fireworks celebration,” said Mayor Leroy Sullivan. Sullivan said the city’s event generally has around 2,500 attendees and 20 vendors. “The day means a celebration of the independence of the United States,” Sullivan said. “We celebrate that, and we all enjoy it, just like
ä See CELEBRATION, page 2G
Crumbs, pet hair and goo Student computers get summer love in unseen Louisiana school effort BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
Sweet Spot Cocktail Trail The Ascension Parish Tourism Commission’s Sweet Spot Cocktail Trail is underway. To take part, order the “Sweet Spot Cocktail” at participating businesses through July 31, and receive a stamp in your cocktail trail passport. Purchase any 10 of the cock-
ä See AROUND, page 3G
Herb Plummer, left, Trudie Thomas and Sharonica Gaines stand in front of Ronnie Ma’s booth July 3 during an Independence Day celebration in Donaldsonville at Crescent Park.
BY WENDY LOUP
STAFF PHOTO JAVIER GALLEGOS
Student workers Kylon Hardin, center, and Gabriel Keller, right, chat with IT support technician Nafes Furqan, far left, while cleaning computers with an array of different sprays, towels and tools at St. Amant High School on June 25.
The tools of this summer job were positioned all around recent Ascension Parish high school graduates Kylon Hardin and Gabriel Keller as they worked at a library table: rags, rubbing alcohol, a plastic paint scraper and a pick, and an adhesive remover in a spray bottle called Goo Gone. Far from flipping burgers in a greasy kitchen or cutting grass in sweltering heat, the 18-yearolds were in the quiet air conditioning of the St. Amant High media center on a recent June morning, participating in the tail end of a complicated as-
sembly line spread across the parish and underway for weeks. Since late May, the teens, other workers and some contractors have been prepping or replacing more than 25,000 student laptops and Chromebooks districtwide for the new school year, giving them needed physical repair, digital refreshing and general TLC to make the old somewhat new again for the fall. As Louisiana public schools have moved to one-on-one devices for hundreds of thousands of students, efforts similar to Ascension’s process
ä See COMPUTERS, page 4G