By JIM BUTLER
Rich Dupree’s labefaction and the shuffling of official Pineville was the top parish story of 2024.
The road to the mayor’s resignation in October began earlier when, he subsequently revealed, he dallied with a then-city employee. His chief of staff at the time also had an involvement with the woman.
When she took a complaint to the EEOC and it was leaked to the media in late August an outcry ensued.
By November Dupree was gone and then- parish president Joe Bishop appointed by the City Council to succeed in the mayor’s post.
Bishop’s sister, Mary Galloway, resigned her Council seat before the mayoral appointment. And her successor was appointed afterward.
The police chief retired, then was hired as Bishop’s chief of staff, and a new police chief named.
The political and personnel developments overshadowed a year of continuing growth in the city. Annexations were made and new businesses opened.
The Journal’s remaining Top 10 list:
- Young guns— Young adult males using illegal firearms continued to plague the parish, with the urban area drawing the most attention.
Killings or attempted killings, from drive-bys to drug deals, took place from January 1 through December.
- GAEDA— The Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority came to general public awareness in February with disputed replacement of two members by the City Council.
It remained there through early Fall when the administration seems to have weaved a loosely fitting coat of conciliation for the opposing factions. Whether that coat survives Winter is an open question.
- Darnell Robinson— A majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling and reestablished the death penalty for Robinson, convicted of killing four Poland community residents in 1996.
DA Phillip Terrell said the parish will move with deliberate steps to effect the execution.
- Renaissance— An eight-parish organization applied for about $40 million in state funds to expand the juvenile detention facility by more than 50 beds.
Rapides voters, meanwhile, approved renewal of the facility maintenance and operating tax. In 2023, voters had said no to the renewal and to addition of millage to finance expansion.
- Alexandria reapportionment— The City Council reapportioned its earlier reapportioned election districts to correct what one member called illogically drawn lines in some districts.
- School Board— Initially reluctant, the board, after restructuring by the administration, voted to seek renewal of the parish’s sponsorship of Head Start.
About $70 million into the $100 million program, board members fired the District 62 bond construction management company.
- Decorum— The School Board and the Alexandria City Council adopted new, in some cases more restrictive, rules for speaking at their meetings and the Police Jury dealt with speech of a different kind.
The Council’s sessions were turning into behavioral sideshows when matters came to a head after police were called on to clear the meeting room at one session.
Rules allowing input without insurrection have made meetings of late less contentious.
School Board members implemented tighter limits on member speaking time, rules aimed at keeping dialogue on subject.
The Police Jury ended up in court over its effort to impose civility between all members and from all members toward staff.
- Ambulance service— An advisory committee created by the jury recommended the parish continue having a sole ambulance service provider.
- LSU Alexandria— An enrollment surge continued at the university as construction of facilities to accommodate the growing institution progressed.