Fontenot and Minton on ballot in District 4

Morgan City officials have done a good job of learning how to do more with less in regard to the city’s budget while continuing upgrade infrastructure in the city, District 4 Councilman James Fontenot said.
His challenger for the district 4 seat, Tommy Minton, a football coach and teacher, says the city is doing well controlling expenses, but he wants to see the city do more with its recreation department and technical college to promote economic growth.
District 4 includes almost all of Auburn Subdivision, Lake End Park, areas by Morgan City High School and Teche Regional Medical Center, Cypress Gardens Subdivision, a few streets in Lakeside (Continued on Page 9) Subdivision and several other areas.
Fontenot, 44, is finishing his first term on the council. He is director of probation services for the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He has worked for the district attorney’s office for almost 20 years.
Minton, 54, is the head football coach at Central Catholic High School and also a physical education teacher. He has spent 31 years as an educator and coach.
Fontenot said city government has done what it can during the economic hardships and decreased tax collections to reign in its own costs and, in turn, help the economy.
Over the past four years, city leaders have increased the city’s “rainy day account” from six days to 66 days, raised the general fund balance by over $1 million and paid off money the city owed to other entities, Fontenot said.
Fontenot’s administrative job with the district attorney’s office has helped him on the city council when examining budgets and working with city court, he said.
City officials have done a lot of work on the city’s infrastructure over the past four years, while trying to use available funds the best way possible, Fontenot said.
City officials are doing a good job of controlling expenses “with a lot less income,” Minton said.
The recreation department is one area where the city can help boost the economy, Minton said.
“I just look at that one tournament that was held this summer, and I look at what it did to the restaurants for a four- or five-day period,” Minton said, referring to the Dixie Youth 10-year-old baseball regional.
Minton said the area needs to try more to diversify outside of industries that are directly related to the oilfield. South Central Louisiana Technical College’s Young Memorial Campus is something the city can use more to attract people to the area, Minton said.
Minton called Young Memorial a “very undervalued asset that we have in our community.”
Fontenot said, despite the economic downturn, some new businesses have recently come to the city, including a Walmart Neighborhood Market and an AT&T store currently under construction.
There are some businesses along La. 182 in Morgan City the closer one gets to Amelia that have closed, and lots are just sitting vacant, Minton said.
City leaders have to be aggressive to get new businesses and contracts to draw people back into the area, Minton said. Leadership positions throughout Minton’s career in education and athletics have prepared him to serve on the council, he said.
Fontenot said, during the past four years, city officials have made several additions to the city’s recreational opportunities including the petting zoo, skate park, dog park, batting cages and starting on a new playground at Lake End Park.
Improvements made to the infrastructure include replacing two sewer lift stations and many water valves throughout the city and to the city’s electrical system, Fontenot said.
A project to repair the city’s riverfront wharf has taken several years to get to construction. Fontenot, who serves on the wharf commission, has pushed with other commissioners to complete the project, which should finish in February or March 2017, weather permitting, he said.
City workers have repaired lots of roads in the city, though there are still many more roads still to repair, Fontenot said.
Minton wants to help Morgan City’s recreation department “become one of the best in the state of Louisiana to give our kids something to do to keep them off the streets, to keep them away from the drug issues,” he said.
The Morgan City Levee Improvements Project, which is in the works, will allow for a potential residential development in District 4 along Lake Palourde, Fontenot said.
The drainage district and levee district are in charge of the project, but city officials should push to finish the levee improvements as quickly as possible so land can be developed for residential use, he said.
Minton said the levee project should help lower some flood insurance rates and eliminate some areas from being flood areas.
Fontenot has heard many positive comments from residents about the Morgan City Police Department bringing back the city’s neighborhood watch program, and people are recruiting others to get involved, he said.
Fontenot said bringing the neighborhood watch program back to the city can have “a huge impact on crime in our city.”
Minton said one of the key ways to control crime is for people to be invested in their communities and neighborhoods, and the watch program is a start toward doing that.
“The police are doing all they can do,” Minton said. “I think, as citizens, we need to buy into our neighborhoods, and we need to help.”