0001 1 STATE OF LOUISIANA 2 BOARD OF EXAMINERS FOR 3 NEW ORLEANS - BATON ROUGE STEAMSHIP 4 PILOTS FOR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER 5 6 7 8 9 10 SPECIAL HEARING MEETING HELD 11 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026 12 13 14 15 16 17 At the offices of New Orleans - Baton 18 Rouge Steamship Pilots Association, 2805 Harvard 19 Avenue, Suite 101, Metairie, Louisiana 70006, 20 commencing at 1:00 p.m. 21 22 23 24 REPORTED BY: LESLIE L. NICOSIA 25 CERTIFIED COURT REPORTER 0002 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 Title................................. 1 4 Index................................. 2 5 Appearances........................... 3 6 Call to Order......................... 4 7 Roll Call............................. 4 8 Adoption of Minutes................... 5 9 Investigation into Captain Gregory Solar of Title 46..................... 5 10 Examination by Mr. Hebert of Captain 11 Gregory Solar......................... 9 12 Decision.............................. 33 13 Adjournment........................... 34 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0003 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 3 MEMBERS OF THE BOARD: 4 CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON 5 CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE 6 7 COUNSEL FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA 8 NEW ORLEANS - BATON ROUGE STEAMSHIP PILOTS: 9 MICHAEL THOMAS, ESQUIRE RICK WARD, ESQUIRE 10 11 12 ALSO PRESENT: 13 Brian Eiselen, Esquire 14 Blaine Hebert, Esquire Gregory Solar 15 Karen Solar 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0004 1 ************ 2 Leslie L. Nicosia, a Certified Court Reporter in 3 and for the State of Louisiana, 4 did report the following: 5 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 6 We will call the Board of 7 Examiners for New Orleans - Baton 8 Rouge Steamship Pilots for the 9 Mississippi River special meeting to 10 order. 11 As per the agenda, we will do a 12 roll call. Lee Jackson, commissioner. 13 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 14 Jeremy Whittemore, examiner. 15 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 16 Chris Rittiner, commissioner. 17 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 18 As in previous meetings, what 19 we have done is we have an adoption of 20 minutes. You guys -- I set those out 21 last night for review for any comments 22 or questions about that. If 23 everything seems to be in order, I 24 will entertain a motion to adopt. 25 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 0005 1 Motion to adopt the minutes. 2 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 3 Second. 4 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 5 I have a motion by Commissioner 6 Rittiner, a second by Commissioner 7 Whittemore. We will do a roll call. 8 Lee Jackson, aye. 9 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 10 Jeremy Whittemore, aye. 11 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 12 Chris Rittiner, aye. 13 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 14 All in favor. 15 The only item we have on the 16 agenda today is the investigation of 17 Captain Gregory Solar for violation of 18 Title 46, Professional and 19 Occupational Standards. I'm going to 20 turn it over to Investigator Rick Ward 21 at this point to go through his 22 findings. 23 BY MR. RICK WARD: 24 Thank you, Captain. 25 So, I'm going to start with the 0006 1 first thing we looked at was the 2 initial email that President Jackson 3 sent to the association on December 4 23rd. That e-mail is simply to 5 request a list of all the pilots and 6 their turns to -- That's how he starts 7 the process of verifying who completed 8 the appropriate amount of turns. So, 9 that was done. You will see it in 10 your packet, the email on 12/23. 11 If you go down the line or in 12 the next page, you will see an email 13 from Captain Brown where he responded 14 on December 31st with a list of 15 everyone and their turns. There were 16 -- In this particular case, for 17 purposes of the investigation, Captain 18 Solar had only completed eight turns 19 and was 52 short. 20 On that same day, Captain 21 Jackson sent out a letter to Captain 22 Solar laying out the standards and the 23 recency requirements and what would be 24 necessary to become recent or to make 25 contact explaining why he wasn't 0007 1 recent. That letter is also in your 2 packet dated December 31st and was 3 sent via certified mail and email to 4 Captain Solar. 5 On January 9th, we received -- 6 I received to myself, to me directly a 7 letter from Captain Solar's attorney, 8 Mr. Hebert, a notice and request for 9 -- or notice to litigate, duty to 10 preserve spoliation, and formal notice 11 of whistle blower status. We received 12 that. 13 On January 12th, there was a 14 letter that I sent at the time to the 15 governor's office through his 16 executive counsel, basically, going 17 through -- According to the statute 18 and title, we had to request the 19 opportunity to -- or we had to request 20 authority, not opportunity, authority 21 to investigate the recency issue 22 pertaining to Captain Solar. 23 On January 13th, a letter -- At 24 this point, now that Captain Solar was 25 represented, a letter went to him via 0008 1 his attorney explaining that we had 2 requested from the governor's office 3 the authority to investigate the 4 claim. The governor's office 5 responded via email on January 14th 6 with the approval to move forward with 7 the formal investigation. 8 At that point, we moved forward 9 with the investigation. There was an 10 email sent to the board of examiners, 11 each of you, laying out that we had 12 been given the approval from the 13 governor's office and will move 14 forward. At that time, we moved 15 forward with the investigation, which 16 was really very simple. 17 You have to have 60 turns. 18 Captain Solar only had eight. Because 19 of that, he was 52 short of the needed 20 turns to remain recent. 21 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 22 Anything contrary to that? 23 BY MR. BLAINE HEBERT: 24 Yeah. I don't know -- We would 25 like to examine Mr. Solar in response 0009 1 so we can have something on the 2 record. 3 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 4 That's not necessary. It's up 5 to you as president to allow it or 6 not. 7 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 8 How does the board feel about 9 that? 10 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 11 I'm okay with it. 12 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 13 I'm okay. 14 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 15 That's fine. 16 BY MR. BLAINE HEBERT: 17 Swear him in. 18 (WHEREUPON CAPTAIN GREGORY SOLAR 19 WAS PLACED UNDER OATH BY THE COURT 20 REPORTER) 21 EXAMINATION BY MR. BLAINE HEBERT: 22 Q. Mr. Solar, would you state your name 23 and current address. 24 A. Gregory P. Solar, 12387 Legacy Hills 25 Drive, Geismar, Louisiana 70734. 0010 1 Q. How are you currently employed? 2 A. I'm employed by the New Orleans - 3 Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association. 4 Q. Can you describe for us your position 5 with the association? 6 A. Well, they -- I've been informed that 7 I've been suspended and that my letter of 8 retirement wasn't accepted. 9 Q. Prior to your suspension, how would 10 you characterize your position? If someone 11 said, "Hey, what do you do with the 12 association," how would you describe your 13 position? 14 A. I'm on a rotation. I pilot ships. I 15 work a week. I'm off a week. I work off a 16 rotation. 17 Q. How long have you been so employed? 18 A. 35 1/2 years. 19 Q. During your 35 1/2 years' tenure, have 20 you ever been disciplined? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Have you ever been accused or alleged 23 against you that you violated any policy? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Has there been any allegation or 0011 1 disciplinary action taken against you that you 2 violated any type of regulation or rule? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Did you at any point formulate an 5 intent to retire? 6 A. Yes. I've been knowing all of '25 7 that I was retiring January 1st of 2026. 8 Q. Did you discuss your intention to 9 retire with any representatives of the 10 association? 11 A. I had spoken to Curt Prince a few 12 times about what I needed to do to retire. I 13 was told what to do. I had talked to him 14 different times throughout the year. In 15 December, I made a phone call, told him I wanted 16 to set up a meeting so I could turn in my paper 17 to retire January 1, 2026. 18 Q. Did you actually come in and have a 19 meeting with Mr. Prince in December of 2025? 20 A. I did. 21 Q. Was that on or about December 17th of 22 2025? 23 A. It was. 24 Q. Can you describe for the record what 25 transpired during that meeting? 0012 1 A. I came in there and -- Prior to that, 2 maybe a week or more, I had called him and asked 3 him what I needed. He told me. We set up that 4 Wednesday for me to -- the 17th. I don't recall 5 what day. So, he told me I needed to type a 6 letter stating my intentions and the day I 7 wanted it to be active or however you call that. 8 So, I did, typed my letter. 9 When I showed up that day, I handed 10 him my letter of retirement. It had on there 11 January 1st of 2026. And he told me he was 12 going to -- I had to turn in my commission and 13 my share. He was going to send me a hundred 14 dollars for my share and that -- gave me a list 15 of how I would be paid starting January 1st. 16 From what I understood, you get paid 17 once you retire from a different surcharge or 18 something. It didn't matter to me. He just 19 showed me how I'm going to get paid. They're 20 going to pay me full pay through October. Then 21 after that, 15 days -- I don't want to say 22 forever, but until whatever time I die or my 23 wife or whatever. 24 Q. And did you fill out that paperwork? 25 Did you complete the paperwork and turn in your 0013 1 commission at that meeting on December 17th with 2 Mr. Prince? 3 A. No. I didn't actually -- My letter -- 4 The letter that I was told to write had to say 5 that I was -- the date I was retiring, that I 6 was giving up my commission and selling my share 7 or whatever it was. That's what I was told to 8 do, and that's what I did. I didn't physically 9 turn in the commission. 10 Q. When did you complete that paperwork 11 and turn that paperwork in? 12 A. December 17, 2025. 13 Q. Then in your conversations with 14 Mr. Prince at that time, were you -- did you 15 have any knowledge that that act that you did 16 with filling out that paper and everything and 17 waiting on them to send you the $100 sum that 18 represents your one share, other than that, did 19 you learn anything from Mr. Prince that would 20 have led you to believe that your retirement was 21 not going to be processed? 22 A. No, sir. 23 Q. In your mind, on December 17th, your 24 mindset was that your retirement paperwork was 25 completed? 0014 1 A. That's right, that I had done what was 2 told of me to do to retire. 3 Q. And, also, Mr. Prince -- You testified 4 Mr. Prince had provided you an itemized 5 breakdown of retirement benefits through the 6 association; is that correct? 7 A. Right. He showed me a sheet that said 8 starting -- I don't remember if it was February 9 1st or how. I think, from what I understand, 10 you get 15 days of pay from one way and 15 days 11 of pay from the surcharge until all my days run 12 out. He had my days listed as 300-something. 13 The first month, 15 days come out. It 14 walks it all the way down until in October of 15 2027, I will be at zero. From that point on, 16 I'm paid 15 days from the pension surcharge. 17 Q. Now, subsequent to the meeting with 18 Mr. Prince, did you receive any additional 19 information, whether that be a telephone call, 20 text message, email, any type, somebody stopping 21 by your house? Did anybody make you aware that 22 there was additional documents that you needed 23 to sign or file with Mr. Prince? 24 A. No, sir. 25 Q. Now, let's talk a little bit about 0015 1 your recency. When you received information 2 from the association that you were short eight 3 turns, were you surprised? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Why were you surprised? 6 A. I understand how recency works. For 7 the last three to four years, I never worked my 8 complete turns, but always knew I had to have 60 9 20-mile turns to be able to work the following 10 year. I did it every year, except for the last 11 year when I knew I was going to retire. 12 2025, I was told I needed to work 21 13 turns to be able to get my vacation and my sick 14 leave days for 2026. So, I know they are saying 15 eight. I did approximately 24 or 25. I 16 definitely covered the 21 that I was told I 17 needed. All I was told that I needed was 21 18 revenue-generating turns. 19 It didn't have to be 20 miles, didn't 20 have to be -- It could have been any 21 revenue-generating turn, which is basically any 22 turn you get whether it's a shift in or -- 23 Discharge is actually a generating turn. That's 24 what I did, both my 21 turns so I can get all my 25 benefits for 2026. 0016 1 Q. How did you come to learn about the 2 completion of the 21 turns? 3 A. I don't remember if it was Mike Burke 4 that told me first or Curt, but it was one of 5 those people. 6 Q. During the 35 1/2 years, how many 7 turns have you completed? 8 A. Over 5,000 turns. 9 Q. Now, at any time in the year of 2025, 10 did you have any intention to complete the 60 11 turns? 12 A. Never. 13 Q. And is it a fair and accurate 14 statement that the reason why you had no 15 intention to complete the 60 turns is because 16 you were retiring? 17 A. I was retiring. That's correct. 18 Q. Now, you heard a discussion here today 19 about Captain Brown providing a list of NOBRA 20 pilots that hadn't completed the 60 turns. You 21 had the occasion to hear that? 22 A. I don't know what Brown they are 23 talking about. We have probably a dozen or more 24 Captain Browns. I'm assuming. I think I know 25 who he is talking about. 0017 1 Q. For arguments's sake, let's assume 2 that that information is correct that was placed 3 on the record. Let's say Captain Brown on 4 December 31st went down the list, looked at how 5 many turns everybody completed, and they noted 6 that you were short eight turns. 7 Now, with that said, December 31st, 8 when that email -- that letter correspondence 9 went out to Mr. Jackson, at that time, you had 10 already committed your retirement paperwork on 11 December 17th, correct? 12 A. That's correct. 13 Q. Now, at some point on or about 14 December 26th, had you filed some type of formal 15 complaint? 16 A. I did. 17 Q. And who did you serve that complaint 18 on? 19 A. On December 26th, I mailed out my 20 complaint. I was told that if you file a 21 complaint, you have to send it certified mail or 22 FedEx. You have to send it out in a email. 23 That's what I did. The 26th, I sent out the 24 mailing. On the 29th, I sent out the email. 25 Q. And after you sent out your complaint, 0018 1 did you receive contact from any officials, 2 whether the association or NOBRA? 3 A. I did. 4 Q. And who did you seek contact from? 5 A. Brian Eiselen called me December 31st, 6 first thing in the morning, telling me we had to 7 get together, that this is a serious allegation 8 and we had to have a meeting and talk about it. 9 Q. And following that conversation, did 10 -- were you asked to attend some type of hearing 11 or meeting? 12 A. I was not. I was told that we had to 13 have a meeting. I told him I was going to be 14 working on the Monday or Tuesday, whatever that 15 date was. Then I was leaving bright and early 16 Wednesday morning to fly to Michigan. I 17 wouldn't be back until Sunday. 18 He said, "We will get together" -- 19 "You'll get together with me sometime between 20 the 11th and the 16th, whatever the -- Monday to 21 Friday." I said, "Absolutely. I will get with 22 you then." That's what was said to him that 23 morning. 24 Q. You made it known that you were going 25 to be out of town, that you had plane fares 0019 1 booked and hotels booked, that you weren't going 2 to be able to attend the hearing? 3 A. Yeah. He had never told me about a 4 hearing. He just told me we had to get together 5 and talk about this serious accusation. 6 Q. Subsequent to that, did you come to 7 learn that you were suspended? 8 A. I did. 9 Q. How did you learn that? 10 A. I don't recall how it actually came 11 that I found out I was suspended. I don't 12 recall how I was told. I don't recall. 13 Q. At some point, you learned that you 14 were suspended, correct? 15 A. Yes, sir. 16 Q. Were you surprised? 17 A. I was. 18 Q. Why were you surprised? 19 A. Well, because I wasn't sure as to why 20 I was suspended. I believe at some point in 21 time, I heard it had something to do with 22 recency. In the call that Brian Eiselen made to 23 me on the 30th, it was about my serious 24 complaint that he had said. I think I've since 25 found out it's over recency. 0020 1 Did you receive some correspondence 2 from Mr. Eiselen? 3 A. Who? 4 Q. Did you receive some correspondence 5 from Mr. Eiselen? 6 A. I did get a letter. I don't recall if 7 it came -- if it went to my attorney and then me 8 or if it just came straight to me. I don't know 9 what day that it actually came to me. 10 Q. Is it a fair and accurate account of 11 that correspondence that in that correspondence 12 Mr. Eiselen acknowledged your retirement? 13 A. I believe so, yes, sir. 14 Q. You testified that you were surprised 15 about the allegation regarding your recency. 16 Were you surprised that you were being suspended 17 despite the fact that on December 17, 2025, you 18 had already submitted your retirement paperwork? 19 A. That's correct. 20 Q. And is it your understanding that the 21 recency requirement, for example, if you were 22 going to work the 2026 calendar year as a pilot, 23 you had to complete those 60 turns in the 24 calendar year of 2025; is that correct? 25 A. That's correct. 0021 1 Q. Hence, as a result of your intention 2 and your retirement, you knew you didn't 3 complete the turns, correct? 4 A. That's right. I knew I didn't have 5 to. 6 Q. Now, did you -- Were you provided any 7 type of information from anyone with either 8 entity regarding why your retirement hadn't been 9 processed? 10 A. Can you restate the question? 11 Q. Do you know why they didn't process 12 your retirement? 13 A. Well, like I said, I heard it was 14 because of recency, although I know why Brian 15 Eiselen called me on the 30th. He said it was 16 because of my complaint. 17 Q. Is it your understanding from the 18 facts and circumstances that you learned as well 19 as living through this ordeal since December 17, 20 2025 that your retirement was held up as a 21 result of you filing a complaint? Is that your 22 understanding? 23 A. I believe it was because of both of 24 them, because although I never believed recency 25 should have ever been a reason. So, I assumed 0022 1 it had to be because of my complaint. 2 Q. Is it a fair and accurate statement 3 that had your retirement application been 4 properly processed on December 17th, when you 5 met with Mr. Prince, you, in fact, according to 6 your knowledge and your belief, you would have 7 never violated the recency requirement for 2026; 8 is that correct? 9 A. Right. 10 Q. Now, at some point, did you come to 11 learn information that there may be an 12 additional document or something that you need 13 to sign to process your retirement? 14 A. I did hear that. 15 Q. And did you -- You traveled here 16 yesterday afternoon to meet with Mr. Prince? 17 A. I did. 18 Q. When you met with Mr. Prince, did you 19 ask Mr. Prince if there was any additional 20 information that you needed to supply? 21 A. I did. 22 Q. Did you ask Mr. Prince is there any 23 additional information or any documents you need 24 to sign? 25 A. I did, and he knew of nothing. 0023 1 Q. In fact, in your conversations, did 2 you come to learn from Mr. Prince that he wasn't 3 aware of any other documents or any other 4 requirements in order for your retirement to 5 have been properly processed? 6 A. That's correct. 7 Q. What is -- If you can, what is your 8 understanding of Mr. Prince's position -- 9 employment position? 10 A. I just -- I don't know that I ever 11 really knew his complete -- what his title is. 12 He's been here for -- I've been here 35 1/2. He 13 was here five, ten years before me. I always 14 believed he was the office manager and the 15 bookkeeper. He took care of all the -- our pay 16 and everything else. I don't know what his 17 official title is. 18 Q. Is it your understanding of 19 Mr. Prince, that he was like the office manager, 20 HR guy? 21 A. Yes, sir. 22 Q. Is that why you went to Mr. Prince 23 with your retirement documents? 24 A. That's correct. 25 Q. Now, somewhere on or about December 0024 1 17th, between December 17th and December 25th, 2 did you come to learn that as a result of your 3 retirement, you were taken off the rotation? 4 I'm sorry. You were designated on the rotation 5 sheet. 6 A. It was a little later than that. 7 Q. What did you come to learn? 8 A. Just looking at the computer and the 9 rundown of everybody in rotation, I noticed he 10 had taken my name -- my name was -- It's hard to 11 explain. Where your name is at, you either off 12 or you working. Some people are on commission 13 business. Some people are on association 14 business. By my name, they had "OTZ." 15 Q. Is it your understanding that you were 16 off the rotation schedule as far as working? 17 A. I didn't know. So, I made a phone 18 call and was told that because I was retiring, 19 that they take you off the board and put that 20 there so they won't put you back on the 21 scheduling list or whatever it's called. 22 BY MR. BLAINE HEBERT: 23 Thank you, Mr. Solar. 24 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 25 In light of that testimony, 0025 1 does -- Is there anything the 2 investigator would like to state, or 3 you just want to submit your 4 recommendation to the board? 5 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 6 Does the association -- 7 BY MR. BRIAN EISELEN: 8 I can certainly weigh in as to 9 the facts that's been presented. 10 Brian Eiselen on behalf of NOBRA. 11 First, Captain Solar has not now nor 12 has he ever been in the 35 1/2 years 13 an employee of the association or the 14 examiners. Compulsory state pilots 15 are not employees. There are two 16 different entities. He is not 17 suspended by the association. 18 Also, there's a lot of things 19 being mixed up here. One is, the 20 association requires 21 21 revenue-generating turns in order to 22 be recent for the association. The 23 examiners, which is you guys, the 24 state entity, requires 60 turns over 25 20 miles or, in Captain Solar's case, 0026 1 he can also qualify by working VTC. 2 The report that was generated 3 is accurate. He only had eight turns 4 towards the state's requirement. 5 There's been no communication with the 6 board relative to recency outside of 7 what's been produced. That's normal 8 by the board to provide that. We 9 manage that information through 10 dispatch. 11 It's required of us yearly to 12 look at every pilot to make sure they 13 have met the state's requirements. It 14 appears as if -- This is kind of 15 shocking, given it's been 35 1/2 16 years, that the entities are being 17 mixed up. I don't know if it's 18 purposely or unintentionally. 19 I did not send anything to 20 Captain Solar about a hearing on the 21 9th. He is correct that we spoke. I 22 followed up all those conversations in 23 an email. I didn't remove Captain 24 Solar; the board of examiners did. I 25 know that because I attended the 0027 1 hearing, as all of you are well aware. 2 I think him and his attorney 3 are getting confused about what 4 correspondence is coming from who. 5 I'm also well aware that our 6 letterhead is pretty distinct and 7 different from each other. If you 8 read the letters, you can clearly see 9 it's coming from two entities. I 10 think that would straighten up a lot 11 of facts, not attorney opinion. 12 BY MR. BLAINE HEBERT: 13 If I could just -- 14 BY MR. RICK WARD: 15 The only thing I would add, the 16 only thing we can deal with here is 17 the recency requirement. I guess I 18 would add to my report that, for 19 whatever reason, I think they went 20 through a pretty good deal of 21 information sort of confirming the 22 fact that at this point in time he was 23 not recent. 24 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 25 I would like to confirm that 0028 1 the only authority and only issue 2 before this board today is regards to 3 his recency requirement as per the 4 State of Louisiana guidelines of 60 5 20-mile turns a year. 6 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 7 That is correct. 8 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 9 Evidence has been presented. I 10 have no reason to dispute it. There 11 were 52 turns short for Captain Solar. 12 In light of his own testimony and in 13 light of his decades of service to the 14 association, it would be my 15 recommendation that he would be asked 16 to do 26 of those 52 turns before May 17 1st. I think that gives him enough 18 time to do it to regain his recency as 19 per your board. 20 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 21 Examiners' thoughts? 22 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 23 If it was never his intention 24 to turn a route, why would the 26 25 turns be relevant? If he wants to 0029 1 retire, let him retire. We gave Gary 2 Hill retirement. It's the same 3 category of not having recency turns, 4 right? 5 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 6 I don't think this board has 7 anything to do with retirement. 8 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 9 I understand. Neither him or 10 Gary Hill had recency, and Captain 11 Gary Hill decided to retire, not do 12 any more turns to obtain recency. I 13 don't feel like he should have to have 14 -- He wants to retire. He wants to 15 quit. It should be up to him. 16 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 17 In the last minutes, when we 18 dealt with Gary's issue, we dealt with 19 in good standing with the association. 20 I can say too I'm going to retire. I 21 can keep saying it every year. Until 22 I do it, what's to say I'm going to 23 retire and not get your turns? 24 We have to kind of take that 25 into consideration when you are 0030 1 looking at it. Based on Gary's thing, 2 going back to what you are saying, we 3 asked the association in Gary's case 4 when they presented us with a list of 5 who is recent and who is not, that's 6 what we have to go on. We graded Gary 7 and Greg at the same time. 8 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 9 Neither was recent, though, 10 correct? 11 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 12 Neither was recent. 13 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 14 One of them decided to retire. 15 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 16 We waived Gary's because he was 17 in good standing with the association. 18 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 19 He's not in good standing? 20 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 21 According to the last meeting, 22 no. 23 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 24 In the last meeting, if you 25 recall, before we made any decision 0031 1 toward Gary Hill, the association said 2 he has been processed and he is out 3 before this board made any decision. 4 And then we went to grade Captain 5 Solar's, and the association said at 6 this point they are still having to -- 7 he at this point was not processed 8 out. 9 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 10 Okay. 11 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 12 At that point, these are our 13 pilots and who is recent and who is 14 not. 15 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 16 What is preventing Captain 17 Solar from being processed out? 18 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 19 That's not our charge. 20 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 21 Our charge is recency. 22 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 23 We established Captain Solar 24 does not have recency. You are saying 25 26 more turns will get him recency? 0032 1 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 2 26 more turns in light of his 3 decades of service I think would allow 4 you to say, yes, it would be 5 satisfactory. 6 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 7 I'm assuming 52 is the total 8 number. We are talking about 26. 9 Half of that is the amount of time to 10 do that, May. That's a lot of time. 11 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 12 He can do them as soon as 13 possible. 14 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 15 I think a lot of things have 16 been said. The reality is this board 17 only deals with recency. I've heard 18 this back and forth a couple of times. 19 I just want to be clear about it. 20 That's all we are here to do today is 21 talk about your recency, that's it, to 22 address that issue. 23 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 24 26 more turns would make him 25 recent in this board's eyes? 0033 1 BY MR. MIKE THOMAS: 2 Successful turns. That's my 3 recommendation. 4 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 5 Is there a motion? 6 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 7 I will present a motion to give 8 Captain Solar the ability to get 26 9 recent turns by May 1st of 2026, to 10 become recent under the board of 11 examiners' rules. 12 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 13 I will second that motion. 14 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 15 Aye. 16 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 17 We have to call roll. I vote 18 aye. 19 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 20 Aye. 21 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 22 Aye. 23 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 24 All right. There's no other 25 business in front of this board at 0034 1 this time. I entertain a motion to 2 adjourn the meeting. 3 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 4 Second the motion. 5 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 6 Aye. 7 BY CAPTAIN JEREMY WHITTEMORE: 8 Aye. 9 BY CAPTAIN CHRIS RITTINER: 10 Aye. 11 BY CAPTAIN LEE JACKSON: 12 Meeting is adjourned. 13 (WHEREUPON THE WAS ADJOURNED AT 1:45 P.M.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 0035 1 REPORTER'S PAGE 2 3 I, Leslie L. Nicosia, Certified Court 4 Reporter, in and for the State of Louisiana, the 5 officer, as defined in Rule 28 of the Federal 6 Rules of Civil Procedure and/or Article 1434 (B) 7 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, before 8 whom this sworn testimony was taken, do hereby 9 state on the record; 10 That due to the interaction and the 11 spontaneous discourse of this proceeding, dashes 12 (--) have been used to indicate pauses, changes 13 in thought, and/or talk-overs; that same is the 14 proper method for a court reporter's 15 transcription of proceeding, and that the dashes 16 (--) do not indicate that words or phrases have 17 been left out of this transcript; that any words 18 and/or names which could not be verified through 19 reference material have been denoted with the 20 phrase "phonetically spelled." 21 22 _________________________ Leslie L. Nicosia, C.C.R. 23 24 25 0036 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 This certification is valid only for a transcript with my original signature and original required seal on this page. 3 I, LESLIE L. NICOSIA, Certified Court Reporter in and for 4 the State of Louisiana, the "Officer" before whom this sworn testimony was taken, do hereby certify: 5 That CAPTAIN GARY SOLAR, to whom oath was administered by 6 me upon authority of R.S. 37:2554, did testify as herein set forth in the foregoing pages; 7 That this proceeding and testimony was reported by me in 8 stenotype method, was prepared and transcribed by me or under my personal direction and supervision, and is a true and 9 correct transcript to the best of my ability and understanding; 10 That this transcript has been prepared in compliance with 11 transcript format guidelines required by statute or rules of the Board, and I am informed about the complete arrangement, 12 financial or otherwise, with the person or entity making arrangements for deposition services; 13 That I have acted in compliance with the prohibition on 14 contractual relationships as defined by Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1434 and in rules and advisory 15 opinions of the Board; 16 That I have no actual knowledge of any prohibited employment or contractual relationship, direct or indirect, 17 between a court reporting firm and any party litigant in this matter, nor is there any such relationship between myself and 18 a party litigant in this matter; 19 That I am not related to counsel or to the parties herein, nor am I otherwise interested in the outcome of this 20 matter. 21 ______________________________ 22 LESLIE L. NICOSIA, CCR Cert. No. 95004 23 24 25