The Fate of Lloyd Hollis Hayes

As Lloyd Hollis Hayes sat in the Florence-Lauderdale Detention Center awaiting bond, he called Florence Fire Chief Charlie Cochran to express the love he had for his job, or more to the point, his former job. Employed under the Civil Service Act, Hayes was entitled to a due-process disciplinary hearing over which Cochran would preside. The fire chief stated at the time that friendship with Hayes would not influence him in his decision.

On January 25, 2002, Cochran heard three hours of testimony in Hayes' hearing, after which he recommended the former fire marshal be placed on leave without pay until the charges against him were adjudicated. Hayes was luckier during his hearing in District Court three months later.

District Judge Deborah Bell Paseur dropped the seven charges relating to distribution of child pornography since no money changed hands in the transfer of the images. Now, Hayes faced only three counts of possession of obscene material.

Hayes later agreed to a plea bargain in which two of the three remaining charges were dropped. Judge Mike Jones sentenced the former firefighter to a 30 month sentence. Under the agreement, Hayes wore an ankle monitor for nine months, while spending two years on probation. His defense attorney was quick to point out that the children pictured on Hayes' computers were not local. Well, thank goodness they were only children from third world countries.

Today Lloyd Hollis Hayes remains on the sex offender list, as he will for the remainder of his life unless current sex offender laws change drastically. It's a dismal ending for a once bright future; however, once he reaches the age of 60, Hayes will begin to draw his state retirement--our tax dollars at work.


Shoalanda

Three Years--Then What for Florence Police?

The city of Florence has applied for 13 million dollars of Federal stimulus money, but not without controversy. Much has been said about Fire Chief Charlie Cochran applying for the funding of a new fire station without the consent of the city council, but we've yet to see a comment on the $600,000.00 award for additional police officers.

Mayor Bobby Irons has stated the funds will be used to hire five new police officers for the city. Assuming their average salary is $40,000.00 per year, the grant will fund employment for these officers for three years. Then what?

The current unemployment rate in Florence is 10.7%. Forrest Wright of SEDA has predicted the rate will not decrease, although he did not give a specific time limit for his prognostication. Kerry Sutherland of the Shoals Career Center feels the rate will rise even higher before the end of the recession. With an unemployment rate in the double digits for an indefinite period of time, it's unrealistic not to expect some decline in the population. With such a decline, loss of tax revenue is a given.

Considering these current economic conditions, Florence would do well to plan on how to maintain its current police force rather than how to add an additional five officers who will be terminated at the end of three years. Perhaps Mayor Irons is utilizing "The Horse Could Talk" model of government planning.


What's up with this: Russellville High School has initiated a Junior ROTC program for the upcoming school year. Kudos to the forward thinking administration and props to those who are participating in the program.

Shoalanda