Candidates stress issues from infrastructure to education in forum

Candidates emphasized the need for improved infrastructure, increased tourism, continued training for police officers and focused efforts to help the school system and senior citizens in front of a crowd of about 100 people Tuesday.
The St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce hosted its second of four election forums Tuesday at the Patterson Area Civic Center that saw candidates for mayor, police chief and city council speak prior to the Nov. 4 election.
Mayor
Mayor Rodney Grogan said in the four years he has been mayor of the city he has implemented major changes in administrative practices, many infrastructure improvements and progress in the use of social networking and marketing that has increased the city’s economic growth.
Grogan has been actively involved in the effort to design plans for the I-49 South corridor in Patterson, he said. The administration has worked with the St. Mary Parish School Board to assist planning and passing a tax to build a new Patterson Junior High School, he said. Grogan would continue to address school issues, he said.
Grogan’s administration has acquired or secured $2 million in grant money to replace water and gas meters, build a new water treatment plant, and to rehabilitate the Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue sewer system, he said.
Grogan, 49, instituted a program to allow residents to pay utilities and fees online, he said.
Grogan would ensure that police department personnel are paid a competitive salary in order to get officers to stay with the department, he said.
Grogan has worked to alleviate flooding issues south of the railroad tracks, and that area has not flooded during the past four years, he said. Due to the city’s decaying infrastructure, Grogan plans to build more sidewalks and address streets that are in bad condition, he said. Grogan will continue to create infrastructure for residential and commercial development throughout the city, he said.
Mayoral candidate Billy Badeaux said he has lived in Patterson for 13 years and is a graduate of Assumption High School. Badeaux, 41, has been in the construction business for 12 years and said Patterson’s infrastructure is in bad shape. Badeaux said he wants to improve the city’s infrastructure, which includes roads.
If elected, Badeaux would semi-retire from his business he has operated 21 years, he said. Badeaux said people have approached him saying that they heard he is going to fire city employees. Badeaux said he is not going to fire any of the city workers.
The city’s new water plant was approved eight years ago, but construction has not yet started on it, Badeaux said. Additionally, the cost of the plant went from $5.2 million to $11 million, he said. Badeaux asked where are the extra funds to build the plant going to come from?
Badeaux said it is time for a business person to run the city. “I will be your working mayor,” Badeaux said. As mayor, if Badeaux is not at City Hall, he would probably he out somewhere fixing a water leak, he said.
Badeaux said no one would have to make appointments to meet with him as mayor. Badeaux wants to restore the power of government back to the people of Patterson, he said.
Police Chief
Police Chief Patrick LaSalle is a 41-year police veteran and trains police chiefs for the state, he said. Young people are losing their lives throughout the country because of untrained, unprofessional police officers, LaSalle said. “Your police department has been recognized by agencies across this state,” LaSalle said. “They call me for help.”
The Patterson Police Department is working with every law enforcement agency in St. Mary Parish to fight drugs, LaSalle said. Patterson has been ranked as the safest city to raise a family in St. Mary Parish, LaSalle said.
LaSalle and his officers go into the community and talk to people to find out what their concerns are, he said. Patterson is known as a place that does not tolerate speeders on its roads, and officers are not going to play games when it comes to the safety of people’s loved ones, LaSalle said.
Patterson was one of the first departments to put cameras in their police vehicles, and LaSalle will review video of a particular incident with members of the public, he said.
LaSalle is the only police chief to be available to community members 24/7, he said. “When you put your child in our schools, we are right there with them,” LaSalle said. “We are not going to leave until they leave.”
LaSalle is working closely with the mayor’s administration and will continue to do so, he said.
Candidate Pam Washington, who currently serves as city clerk, plans to retire in 2015 after 44 years of service, she said. If Washington is elected police chief, programs and policies of the department will remain in place, he said.
Accountability is extremely important to the City of Patterson, she said. Washington said though she does not have experience as a police officer, the officers under the police chief make the department.
“I can call for help like anyone else,” Washington said. “This is not the wild, wild west where you’re going to see me go on the street with a gun.” Washington said she will work with other law enforcement agencies including the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office. Police training would continue if Washington is elected because training is an essential tool, she said.
Washington has proved herself as a leader in the City of Patterson for 44 years and would continue the same service she has done at City Hall in the Police Department, she said.
City Council
Candidate William “Billy” Picou Jr. said Patterson has been his home for most of his life. He has served on the planning and zoning commission for many years, and has worked as a reserve officer with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office for 12 years.
As a councilman, Picou would work with other council members and the mayor, but would not be a “yes man,” he said. Picou would work to improve the city’s roads and drainage systems, he said. Picou would also work with the police department and use his experience as a reserve officer, he said.
Councilman Joe Russo is serving his third term on the City Council and has served as mayor pro-tem, he said. Russo has been employed by the St. Mary Parish School Board for 25 years as a teacher and coach, he said. Russo helped to start a softball recreation league in Patterson for 160 girls in the community, he said.
Russo has learned a lot and continues to learn in his role as councilman, he said. City officials need to pay close attention to a city that is old and in need of repairs. The city needs to continue efforts to upgrade the street and drainage issues, he said. The city also needs to look at amending parts of its Home Rule Charter, Russo said.
Councilman John Rentrop has served on the council for the past three and a half years, he said. The city has many goals to accomplish, and with commitment, anything is possible, Rentrop said. Those goals include improving streets, drainage, maintenance and city beautification projects, he said.
Rentrop and other city officials have met with state and local government agencies to move the I-49 South project forward, he said.
Councilman Larry Mendoza has lived in Patterson for 69 years and has served on the council 20 years, he said. Mendoza has worked in the oil service industry most of his life, which is a 24/7, on-call job, he said. He has much experience getting calls at night and on weekends, he said.
Mendoza is retired, and can devote much of his time to the city, he said. Mendoza wants to ensure that community members’ voices are heard, he said. Senior citizens’ issues are also important to Mendoza, he said. The City of Patterson has one of the most beautiful spots in the Atchafalaya Region, and the city needs to let people know that the city is a place to visit, he said.
Candidate Sandra Marshall has lived in Patterson 26 years and is “here to stay,” she said. Marshall retired from Hattie Watts Elementary School in May where she taught special needs children, she said. Marshall is on the St. Mary Parish Tourist Commission.
Though Patterson is ranked as the No. 8 place to raise a family in Louisiana, Marshall wants the city to be No. 1, she said. Marshall wants the city to development the city’s waterfront and bring in more tourism, she said.
Councilwoman and Mayor Pro-tem Sandra Turner said time and perseverance are required to get things accomplished.
Turner has attended workshops in order to learn how the city operates and what other council members are doing to improve the city, she said. The Patterson Community Center is important to the city to hold community events, summer recreation programs and to tutor students, she said. Many challenges face the city, and Turner will continue to work to help foster a balanced, effective budget, she said.
The city’s charter does need to be updated because sections of the charter no longer support moving the city in the right direction, she said.
Candidate Travis Darnell began teaching at Patterson Junior High School last year and said issues with the youth of the community need to be addressed. All issues in the community start with the youth, Darnell said.
“If we can start with these babies, then we can build a better Patterson,” Darnell said.
Still, Darnell also supports the senior citizens in the community, he said. Darnell wants to build intellectuals from a young age and that, in turn, will help build the city, he said. “We’re going to soar past Berwick,” Darnell said. “We’re going to be the best athletically, and we’re going to be the best intellectually.”
Darnell believes he can help grow the youth programs at the Patterson Community Center, he said.