I was reading over a letter Ruston Councilman Bradley Huson distributed after last night’s town council meeting, which was tense and at times chaotic.

Here are a few highlights, lowlights and mediumlights:

Huson says “the inmates of a women’s penitentiary have more of an idea of how to conduct themselves at a public meeting than the majority of citizens who regularly attend our town council meetings.” Ouch.

He labels public-records requests – one of the fundamental laws that helps citizens keep the government in check – as “fishing expeditions,” and said because of the law, he won’t be responding to e-mails or writing any letters.

He’ll be skipping all future council study sessions until “rules of engagement” have been established.

And he calls for a change in government from the strong-mayor system to one run by a city manager. “The form of the government in Ruston is broken,” he said. “There is too much going on in too many different areas to expect the mayor to be able to manage the town effectively or even just keep up.”

Click below to read the full letter:

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To whom it may concern,

I am sure that most of you are as frustrated as I am over the lack of forward motion that continues on virtually every issue in Ruston. It would seem the inmates of a women’s penitentiary have more of an idea of how to conduct themselves at a public meeting than the majority of citizens who regularly attend our town council meetings. It would also seem that the mayor has absolutely no ability or desire to control the assembled rabble. Because of these things, I have made a motion that lays a few ground rules for the order of the agenda and general public comments.

My biggest concern for Ruston continues to be its fiscal viability. Recently, it was pointed out to me by one of the citizens that because of the duration of the town meetings and the amount of staff at the meetings, the meetings are costing the town between six and seven dollars a minute, which seems expensive, and really seems outrageous considering that very few things are getting accomplished. I think my motion will help.

I am sorry to lump those of you who know how to conduct yourselves in public with those who don’t, but obviously not sorry enough to let the same problems continue unchecked. Many of you have spoken to me since the first of the year, either in person or by telephone. I encourage that form of contact. Because of the amount of money the town was wasted responding to “fishing expeditions” in the form of public information requests, I will not be responding to any emails or writing any of you notes or letters.

To those of you who have spoken to me, I say thank you for your input, support, disagreement, etc. A health exchange of ideas is usually beneficial to all parties.

Again, one of my biggest concerns is money and how much we continue to spend on consultants, two of the biggest being attorneys and planners. It is obvious by the size of the budget that we have for these items that we could do much better. Also, in speaking to a developer in town who has been charged thousands of dollars in consultant fees, I agree that just because the process has been made overly complex and extraordinarily expensive does not mean that it is the best.

The form of the government in Ruston is broken. There is too much going on in too many different areas to expect the mayor to be able to manage the town effectively or even just keep up. It is my opinion that the form of government in Ruston be changed from a mayor/council-led government to a town manager/council form of government. We need a full-time manager to ride herd on this town and to work with the council on managing, scheduling, overtime, hiring, firing, legal issues, planning, development, etc.

I will be trying to get this item on the ballot in November to let the citizens decide. I will be providing more information throughout the spring and summer regarding this issue.

One of the reasons that I have given a list of my pet projects is that I do not plan to attend any further study sessions until we have rules of engagement for them and the person running the meeting is capable of doing just that.

I hope this letter has explained some of my actions and some of my thoughts.

Please contact me with questions or comments.

Thank you,

Bradley Huson