Parish weathers economy

There is likely little resistance from the average American to the notion that 2016 was one of the more tumultuous years in recent memory.
The country lived through one of the most negative, dismissive and divisive presidential elections in our nation’s history featuring two candidates who fractured the country.
Voters elected one of them. Then they asked us, the people, to sew back together the fabric of our nation.
The economy (at least in some parts of the country) rebounded somewhat. The Cubs won the World Series. The stock market was sent soaring in the last few months of the year and oil is over $50 a gallon for the first time in years. And many beloved artists and performers were lost. But that’s the national picture.
What about the people of St. Mary Parish? What has the last year meant for them? What does 2017 hold in store for us and do we see the bright future ahead that leaders in Washington have promised?
The Banner-Tribune recently reached out to St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff to take stock of 2016, provide some perspective on how the year went for the parish and what we can hope for in 2017.
“Economy-wise, I’m glad 2016 is over,” Hanagriff said. “We put that behind us. Clearly, it wasn’t a good year for many businesses in St. Mary Parish. The biggest problem we had as far as the parish goes is that just about every expense we have went up and revenues went down. However, we did pass the budget and we didn’t have to cut services or personnel. So as far as the parish goes, I’m glad 2016 is over.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom in 2016 as Hanagriff did reflect upon some positive aspects of the year. The parish president said some major items on his agenda were able to make some headway and some potential disasters were avoided. He also addressed the incoming presidential administration and said he was optimistic about their agenda for the country.
“We did have the one major accomplishment as far as the consolidation effort goes,” Hanagriff said. “We also had two major issues with the high water event early in the year which we spent several months on and we came through that. For the most part, I was happy with 2016. Moving into 2017, with the new administration, I’m optimistic for the first time because I believe this president is going to be pro-business, pro-oil and pro-gas. I’m optimistic that 2017 is going to be a better year for Louisiana and St. Mary Parish. It will take some time but I’m looking forward to that.”
The consolidation effort Hanagriff spoke about was in reference to his campaign pledge to try and streamline some parish operations, increase efficiency and thereby cut costs.
“I’m looking forward to more consolidation in St. Mary Parish,” Hanagriff said. “I believe that through consolidation, we are going to save money. By doing that, I’m looking forward to hopefully getting money to use for infrastructure work like roadwork which we don’t have money for. I also want to put more energy toward our two ports. Those are my priorities for 2017.”
Hanagriff concluded his end-of-the-year message to the people of St. Mary Parish with words of hope for the future.
“The future is brighter,” Hanagriff said. “I am very optimistic for 2017. We are going to work hard to save businesses and taxpayers some money. I feel good for the future and I think 2017 will definitely be a better year.”