New Mayor Begins Dialogue with Pastor Spell

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — At 10 a.m. on Wed-nesday, Nov. 30, 2022, Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran had a city contractor install a surveillance camera on the right of way of Blackwater Road just a few feet from the property line of Life Tabernacle Club and overlooking the parsonage of Pastor Tony and Sister Shaye Spell.

For Pastor Spell, it was the final straw on top of two years and eight months of harassment by the City of Central.  The harassment began in March 2020 immediately after Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered the closing of churches or limited their attendance to 10 persons, while keeping Wal-Mart and big box stores open.  From the beginning, Pastor Spell said the orders were illegal and unconstitutional, a view upheld by the Louisiana Supreme Court on May 13, 2022 in the case of State of Louisiana v. Pastor Tony Spell.  That was the day the court threw out the criminal charges against Pastor Spell and said everything that had been done to him pursuant to the Governor’s orders was illegal and unconstitutional.

Shortly after Edwards’ illegal orders in March 2020, Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran had Pastor Spell arrested for violating the governor’s orders.  On another occasion, the chief arrested the pastor on a trumped up charge of assaulting a protestor.  District Attorney Hillar Moore later threw out the assault charge and refused to pursue it.  

At one point, the FBI installed a surveillance system with four cameras pointed at the church.  The cameras were regularly monitored by Chief Corcoran. 

Many other things happened over the next two years. Pastor Spell filed a federal civil suit against Gov. Edwards, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, and Chief Corcoran. That civil suit has been heard by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and is pending.

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The drama of 2020 to 2022 seemed to be ramping down when on Nov. 30 a company engaged by the City of Central installed the surveillance camera next to the residence of the Pastor Spell.  The city said the camera was not directed at Life Tabernacle but intended to monitor the comings and goings on Blackwater Road.

Rev. Spell said, “We were shocked!  To think that after all that has happened over the past two years, they would at this late date install a surveillance camera right next to us was unbelievable!”

Pastor Spell engaged attorney Jeff Wittenbrink to file suit against the city to have the camera taken down.  Under the Louisiana’s Preservation of Religious Liberty Act, Pastor Spell had to give the City of Central 30 days to correct the violation before filing suit.  That notice was given on December 2, 2022.

In late December, the outgoing Central City Council, including then-Mayor David Barrow and Mayor-elect Wade Evans met and agreed that they did not want to be in an adversarial position with Life Tabernacle.  As a result, they agreed to remove the camera.

On Jan. 3, 2023, then-City Attorney Sheri Morris wrote to attorney Jeff Wittenbrink that the camera would be removed.

Her letter said in part, “In order to avoid expense to the City of Central which would be necessary to defend the threatened litigation, the owner of the [surveillance camera] has been requested to remove [it].  The removal is expected to be completed shortly.”

After Mr. Wittenbrink received the letter from Ms. Morris, he called her.  He said that she assured him the removal has already been approved but they had to allocate money for the removal.  He then asked her about the data collected.  She reportedly said the data is only kept for 30 days and then overwritten. He asked for a copy of the policy and she said she would get it to him as it was not yet on the city website.  He also requested that the city provide assurance that the data would in fact be deleted.  While he has not yet received a copy of the policy or assurance that the data will be removed, Mr. Wittenbrink said he felt sure it would be.

Meanwhile, the surveillance camera has not yet been removed.

However, Mayor Wade Evans told the Central City News that it would in fact be removed soon.

The new Mayor and City Council were sworn in Dec. 30, and last Thursday Mayor Evans came to The Haven Café at Life Tabernacle to meet with Pastor Spell.

The mayor said, “I wanted to visit with Pastor Spell to tell him the camera will be moved but also  to extend the hand of friendship.  I want Pastor Spell to know that we are proud to have him and Life Tabernacle Church as part of this community.  He brings value to Central.  We want him to know we appreciate his investment in this community.”

“I have great respect for Pastor Spell.  He is working hard to serve God and his fellow man.  If his critics actually knew him, I think they would see him in a completely different light.  Also, the physical improvements he has made to the property there are amazing.  The conference center, which seats 5,800 people, is a tremendous asset for Central, and we should take advantage of these beautiful facilities and have events there.”

After the meeting, Pastor Spell said he enjoyed meeting with Mayor Evans.  He said he felt the mayor was very sincere and that they would have a good working relationship in the years ahead.

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