The December Minden City Council meeting was a fairly regular affair concerning the typical aspects of business, but what made the meeting one to remember were the people recognized during it. Monday evening the city had its last meeting with City Clerk Michael Fluhr Clerk who is ending his employment with the city later this month. On top of that, the Minden Police Department recognized two individuals for two separate acts of courage: Minden native Colin Campbell, who helped bring two women to the hospital after a stabbing incident at Louisiana Tech University, and officer Logan Clingan, who helped to keep a man from taking his own life.
At the end of his budget financial report, Michael Fluhr shared some words about his time working with the City of Minden.
“Over a decade ago, Mayor Robertson offered me the opportunity to serve as the city clerk, one of the most important positions in the city’s organization. Maybe some people don’t think that way, but I believe it is. I always felt that the clerk’s primary responsibility is to the residents, because it is the residents money the administration spends. Following that principle, the clerk questions, corrects, or denies financial activities and transitions, which does not create many friends, as you can imagine. So tonight, I presented my last financial report as an active city employee. My employment engagement with the current administration will end on December the 31st,” said Fluhr.
“I believe Ms. Langford had a good year of training, and she is prepared for her new role as city clerk if she is so appointed by the city council. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and the administration the wisdom to make decisions always with the benefit for the residents in mind.”
Mayor Nick Cox shared some words of appreciation to Fluhr and the impact he had during his first year as mayor. “I’m glad he was here this year. His wisdom and advice helped me personally tremendously. There was hardly a day that went by that we didn’t sit down. It’s been invaluable to myself, Mrs. Langford, and I know the council sees your value. I sincerely appreciate all you’ve done to guide us in the right way. I can stand behind the fact that you always try to do what’s best for the city. You’re fighting for the citizens even up till the last day,” said Cox.
Later in the meeting, Minden Police Chief Jared McIver introduced Colin Campbell to the mayor, council, and those in attendance, and recapped the event that took place that led to Campbell being presented with an award for courage and bravery.
“On November 13th of this year, if you didn’t know, we had a very, very traumatic incident happen at Louisiana Tech. There was a suspect that went on a rampage of stabbing people with a knife on the campus. Colin happened to be in that area that specific day and two of the victims that were stabbed, Colin was there right after it happened, loaded these victims up in a vehicle, and took them straight to a hospital,” said Chief McIver.
“For an eighteen-year-old young man to do what he did says something. Something I saw that stood out to me, before anyone else was called, this man stepped up before EMS could get there to do the job that they trained to do. An untrained young man jumped in and took that role.
“The definition of courage is the quality of mind and spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc. without fear. Courage is not something we’re born with, it comes from what a person does or doesn’t do. It comes from how a person was raised, or mentored, or inspired in life. Courage isn’t easy, but doing the right thing most of the time isn’t easy. Colin did some things that a small minute number of people would’ve done.”
Afterward, Lt. Joel Kendrick of the Minden Police Department introduced the second individual being recognized that evening, Minden Police Officer Logan Clingan.
“I want to recognize another outstanding individual that this city should be proud of. I want to impress upon everybody that family is very important, especially for people who do what we do, because when we come to work, we never know if we’ll see them again,” said Lt. Kendrick.
“On September the 15th of 2023, Officer Clingan met such an individual, who thought he was having what, up until that point, was the worst day of his life. This gentleman was about to make a critical decision that was a very permanent decision based on one of life’s very temporary problems. This gentleman was about to take his own life. A passerby noticed this gentleman, was concerned, and called the police department to see if we could help him.
“When officer Clingan got there, in the course of talking to him, this gentleman put two knives to his throat at the same time. Officer Clingan tried to talk the gentleman down, but it didn’t work. The guy actually saw a couple of extra guys coming to help and started to run away all the while cutting his own throat with these two knives.
“At that moment Officer Clingan made a decision. He took out his taser and actually tased the individual to try to stop him from making that permanent decision. Well the taser did exactly what it was designed to do, it incapacitated that gentleman and stopped him from taking his own life.
“After getting treatment this man actually came back to our department and found Officer Clingan, and told him, ‘hey look, I was about to make the worst decision of my life. Thank you so much for allowing me to live another.’ So thanks to Officer Clingan, his hard work, and his dedication to this city, this man lives on today and is thankful that he is still alive. So in honor of his dedication and of the decision that he made we, as the MPA and also the Minden Police department, would like to present him with the MPA Life Saving Award.”
The monthly Minden City Council meeting takes place on the first Monday of each month starting at 6 PM at Minden City Hall. The meeting is open to the public to attend, and for those that cannot attend or wish to view the meeting after the fact, the meetings are live streamed on the city’s Facebook page and YouTube channel titled City of Minden – Feels Like Home.