St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1912-12-21
Superintendent Thon1p-
son Fires Reply to Thi-
bodeaux's Charges
To the Taxpayers of st. Landry
Parish:

Parish:
Inasmuch as MIR. Chas. Thibo.
deau has seen proper to assai
me and unjustly criticize me ir
the last issue of The Clarion,
will address my answer to his
communication to the same party
or parties to which he has ad.
dressed his, viz: The Tax-pay.
ers of the Parish of st. Landry. 2
Mr.. Thibodeau accuses me OF
having done a great injustice tC
the mechanics of st. Landry Par
ish in my having assumed tic
boss everything, I" as he terms it,
and in laying the foundation for
the award of this contract, at
least, its architectural features,
to Stevens, Nelson & Co., prior
to the voting Of the tax. He
further states that Immediately
following the election he inti-
mated to me that some expert
enced mechanic should be placed
on the building committee, but
that I answered that I had
already spoken to Stevens &
Nelson, and ON the third day fol
lowing the election / called the
Board together and awarded the
contract for the plans and speci-
fcations to Stevens & Nelson.
The truth of the accusations and
the alleged misconduct on my
part can best be established by a
history of this case and the rec
ords of the School Board with
reference to this matter. The
records Of the School Board will
show that a petition for a special
school tax election in the Opelou-
sas School District was filed on
May 18th, 1912. with the Secre-
tary of the Board, that is, my
self, and was presented and filed
by me because I was the one who
got it up and had it signed. At
the Board meeting on May 18th,
1912, this petition was presented
to the Board for consideration,
when Mr.. J. F. Vidrine offered
the proper resolution ordering
the election to take place on the
1eth Of June, 1912, and moved
its adoption. The resolution was
unanimously adopted. The Pres
ident Of this Board then issued
his proclamation for the election
and fixed the End day Of July,
1912, the day for holding the
quarterly meeting required by
law, as the day on which the
Board would meet to count the
votes, canvass the returns and
declare the result of this special
tax election.
The above excerpt from the
minutes of the Board conclusively
shows the falsity and sets at rest
the charge made by Mr.. Thibo-
deau that I called the Board to-
gether three days after the elec-
ton and awarded the contract as
architects to Stevens & Nelson.
a day or two after the election
letters came to me from several
parties, advising me that they
would like to submit plans for
the building, or that they would
like to be elected as the archi-
tects to make the plans. My an
sWer to these letters was that /
the School Board would meet on
July End, 1912, and, possibly, |
would take up that question, and /
il they desired to be present, no
doubt, the Board would be glad !
to hear what they might have to
say. At that time my aequaint-
ance with Stevens & Nelson was
very limited; / had met Mr..
Stevens, causually, and for a
very short time, ON two occasions
at Baton Rouge, and | am sure
that my conversation on both
occasions did not embrace five
minutes. On the morning of
July End, / met Mr.. LiVaudais of
the firm of Favrot & Livaudais
as I came out of the postof1ce.
With him, too, only had a pass
ing or casual acquaintance. The
conversation with him, after the
usual salutation, was on the ques-
ton of the employment of an
to plan and supervise
the construction of the conten-
plated new school building. III
told him that the usual meeting
hour Of the Board was ten o. clock,
and that we would be glad to
have him submit his plans. He
said that he had no plans with
them to submit, but If elected he
get would up the plans. I then
told him that Col. Stevens had
written me that he would be
here to attend the meeting,
. n q that he had sent his
plans and sketch here in. ad- /.
vance. His remark was that he
would not make any painted up
sketch for exhibition, that he
would not enter the contest as al
competitive bidder, that he would
only have the contract if he were