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Resident asks DeSoto jurors to reconsider denied festival funding for Saint Mark Baptist Church
Summary
A resident told the DeSoto Parish Police Jury that a funding request linked to Saint Mark Baptist Church was mishandled in communications and media reporting; staff traced the submission to a forwarded email and the news outlet later issued a correction, jurors said.
Bruce Carroll, who identified himself as a resident of Holly, Louisiana, told the DeSoto Parish Police Jury he submitted a funding request on behalf of Saint Mark Baptist Church for a community festival and believes the request was mishandled and misreported. Carroll said the request was for $5,000, not $1,500, and asked jurors to review and reconsider the decision.
Carroll described receiving a text on Saturday that circulated apparently incorrect information that a different organization, “Green the Church,” had been denied funding. He said, “I did that… we submitted this report, the proposal, from the Saint Mark Baptist Church,” and asked the jury to correct any erroneous public statements that harmed his organization’s reputation.
Parish staff traced the paperwork to a forwarded email chain dated Sept. 23 and acknowledged the packet the clerk relied on lacked clear headings. A staff member, Liliana Garcia (identified in the record), said she forwarded material based on an Outlook forward and apologized for confusion, noting she was acting on the paperwork she received. The clerk later told jurors she had requested a media correction and confirmed the news outlet made a correction.
Why it matters: the exchange illustrates how administrative handling and media summaries can affect small organizations seeking local support. Jurors said they would work to clarify internal submission procedures so future requests include clear headings and routing.
Other public comments at the meeting included a presentation from Mayden McCray of the KCS Community Center and the Foster Grandparent Program, who thanked jurors for including program support in the budget and described volunteer hours and a successful summer camp with more than 40 children; she requested $2,400 to provide volunteer lunches over a six-month period.
The jury did not take an immediate vote on the Saint Mark request during the public-comment exchange; jurors later approved adding Saint Mark and Mount Canaan Church funding to the amended proposed budget that will be advertised for public review.
