GOV. IN COLUMBIA

Landry brings his ear to rural Louisiana in Columbia round table Monday, Oct. 12

Gov. Jeff Landry came to Columbia last Monday afternoon, Oct. 12, for a round-table like discussion with rural mayors and sheriffs from across northeast Louisiana and to hear about their needs. He told them that the state’s economic boom will reach small towns as well as big cities.

“Success is there, and it does not matter whether you are in Richland Parish or Caldwell Parish,” Landry told the crowd at the Schepis Museum in Columbia’s downtown Main Street district. “The amount of activity that is going on across this state is historic, and it’s going to touch the lives of everybody.”

The governor’s visit came about through state Rep. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, who represents District 20. Riser asked Landry to come to Columbia and hear directly from the leaders of rural Louisiana, and he gave the region’s small towns a seat at the governor’s table.

Landry said the invitation was accepted as he continues to travel across the state promoting his administration’s economic development success.

“Neil (Riser) asked me, ‘Will you come to Columbia?’” Landry said. “I said, ‘Well, if you buy me something at The Spotted Dog, I’ll come to Columbia.’” Several people in the room praised Riser as well. One longtime economic development official named Riser, state Sen. Glen Womack, R-Harrisonburg, and state Rep. Adrian Fisher. He said that because of them, rural leaders now have “comfort and confidence.”

Kevin Cobb, executive director of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association, also thanked Womack and Riser for their help to sheriffs.

Womack, who represents District 32, also attended. So did mayors from towns and villages in Catahoula, Caldwell, Richland and Madison parishes, along with the sheriffs of Caldwell, LaSalle, Rich- land, Tensas and Catahoula parishes. Cobb told the governor that nine sheriffs were in the room.

‘You gonna get a piece’

Landry opened by saying that big projects help the whole state, no matter where they are built. He said a 300-job electrical shop opened this year in Lafayette partly to serve the large projects in north Louisiana.

“So it doesn’t really matter where you are,” Landry said. “You gonna get a piece.”

He pointed to $3.5 billion recently announced for rural broadband, rural health care access, and roads and bridges. He credited the Legislature with putting the state’s finances in order.

“Well, let me tell you, there better not be a bridge out in Louisiana right now,” Landry said. “If it’s out, it means it’s under construction.”

He also promised that high-speed internet is on the way. “If you ain’t got it, it’s coming,” he said.

Landry said the state’s next big job is fixing water and sewer systems in small towns. “Water systems are just not what they need to be, and so we got to work on that some more,” he said.

“Really, I just came to say thank you and to hear from y’all,” he told the group.

Mayors speak up

The mayors raised a range of needs: affordable housing, parks and recreation, economic development, aging sewer lines, drainage, blight, and technology for small-town police.

“Economic development is coming,” Landry said. He added that “70% of the jobs that we’re creating don’t require a fouryear degree.” He said he wants to shift some TOPS scholarship money toward technical and community colleges, so young people can afford to learn a trade.

Tallulah Mayor Yvonne Lewis thanked the governor for the state’s help with her city’s water system. She asked him to remember East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parishes when new projects come to the region. Landry said growth had moved west first because Monroe already had the infrastructure, but that it would come east as well.

“Businesses will take the path of least resistance,” Landry said. “But I’m going to tell you, it’s going to come.”

“So don’t worry. East Carroll, West Carroll, Madison. Oh yeah, I got you,” he said.

Another mayor said growing neighborhoods have overloaded old sewer systems. Landry agreed that sewer work belongs with water work. “You can’t do water without sewer,” he said. “That is our next challenge.”

He said the state has finished four straight years with money left over, and that this surplus is paying for the bridge and infrastructure programs. He said he is pushing to change the capital outlay process so that more money goes to roads, water and sewer. “I’d rather put our money in that than anything else out there,” he said.

Village of Clayton Mayor Robert James Lee said the town lost its town hall in August of last year. Landry promised to help. “We’re gonna get y’all out of the trailer,” he said. “I think we can do that.”

Landry also said the Louisiana Housing Corp. is changing how it hands out money. He said “some of the big cities were sucking up the money,” and that the agency is now sending more of it to rural areas.

Sheriffs see savings

When the talk turned to small-town police and sheriffs, Landry pointed to a new statewide radio contract with Motorola. Under the deal, local agencies can buy radios at the same price the state pays.

“The contract that the governor and the state negotiated was unbelievable,” Cobb said. He said a good radio that once cost about $6,500 now costs about $3,000. “It was a great contract. I believe there’s more to come,” he said.

Caldwell Parish Sheriff Clay Bennett thanked Landry for the jail funding that let him give his employees raises. Landry said many local jails were built in the early 1980s, and that his office is looking at how the state could help replace them.

He said the broadband build-out will also help first responders. He said the state is trying to get another $700 million released from Washington.

“We’re going to try and make sure that rural Louisiana gets their fair share,” Landry said. “That’s why I’m here.”

‘Too good to be true’

Columbia Mayor Hannah Cummings Stringer welcomed Landry and asked him to come back. She said that for the first time, people in north Louisiana have something to look forward to.

“I think it comes down to quality of life, and I think just the optimism — we’ve seen a huge push of people just excited and looking for the future again,” she said. “That’s really refreshing.”

Landry told the group not to let skeptics talk them out of it.

“I know it’s a natural inclination in this state to believe that it’s too good to be true, because other people have come here and promised us, and it hasn’t worked out,” he said. “But I will tell you that the things that are happening right now are real.”

He also said companies that build in Louisiana will pay for the electricity they use, and that he will not let them waste the state’s water.

“I’m not going to let them come here and let them break our natural resources. It’s not worth it to us,” he said.

Landry closed with a story from his hometown. He said a textile mill there once employed 3,000 people, and the town was devastated when that work moved overseas.

“When opportunity knocks, you got to answer the door, and you got to let them in,” Landry said. “You got to make sure that you ... cut a deal that’s good for the people of the state, and that’s what we do. You can take that to the bank.

“We’re going to try and make sure that rural Louisiana gets their fair share,”

- Gov. Jeff Landry