Parish President Don Menard's state of the parish address

Text of Parish President Don Menard’s address at the swearing in ceremony for himself and the 13 new and returning parish council members.

"On behalf of myself, my family and on behalf of each of the members of our newly-elected parish council and their families — and further on behalf of each candidate for the various offices and their families, we ‘thank you’ for attending today — for participating in this election— and for your interest in the future of St. Landry Parish.

Thank you, Jason (Meche, who introduced Menard), for your kind words — public service does require a sacrifice from each candidate and each public office holder. For those of us who have been blessed to serve the public, we gain great satisfaction knowing that our efforts are of benefit to our fellow citizens.

(Menard then calls on all elected officials in the room to stand and receive a round of applause from the audience.)

Our families endure great sacrifices of personal time — they sacrifice peace and quiet, sacrifice vacations and often endure all of the difficulties of politics without the rewards of public service. We want to honor them with our appreciation and our deep gratitude.

I cannot help but recall that four years ago, we were honored to take the oath of office days after Louisiana State University won its first National Championship in a generation. We are honored again by the public to take our oaths of office, again only days after another National Championship season.

That same team was led this time by a different coach with different players. However, they succeeded through discipline, personal excellence and teamwork.

As Parish President, on behalf of myself and the newly elected Parish Council, we pledge to the people of St. Landry Parish and citizens of the State of Louisiana that we will continue to exercise financial discipline. We will strive daily to meet a standard of personal excellence, and we will work together as a team in all of our actions for the benefits of the citizens of St. Landry Parish.

We will continue to show the fiscal discipline that lead us to reach many goals in the last four years.

We paid off over $1.5 million dollars in old Police Jury debt, saving our taxpayers thousands of dollars in interest charges.

We updated — upgraded — and implemented accounting systems that account for every penny of taxpayer money.

We established centralized purchasing systems to ensure that every dollar spent of taxpayer money is spent only after it has been approved and subject to oversight.

Our fiscal discipline has been rewarded. No longer does the State of Louisiana or the Legislative Auditor have to step in and control St. Landry Parish finances. We account for every dollar collected, we account for every dollar spent. We will continue to ensure that every dollar collected, and every dollar spent, is subject to the most disciplined system of accountability anywhere.

We have turned our St. Landry Parish government into a model of excellence.
We have made a thorough inventory of each inch of parish roads and begun the difficult process of repairing all of our roads based on engineering principles, not politics. That is a difficult and painful task, but the old mentality — the old school of politics — is being replaced by a business-like model of efficiency and excellence.

We have developed a business-friendly St. Landry Parish government to meet the needs of modern commerce — to promote economic development and locate businesses in our parish.

When Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita forced thousands and thousands of our fellow citizens from their homes, our parish was able to meet the emergency challenge. St. Landry Parish government was ready for the disasters, and working with town governments, private businesses, churches of all denominations, we proved that government can and does operate successfully in emergencies. It does meet the needs of people in time of great crisis.

Our parish has been studied by federal agencies as the model for how to manage relief efforts in a crisis, Every single parish employee worked day and night to meet the needs of their fellow citizens. Our parish employees prove that government can and does work when men and women of pride and character look out for the needs of their fellow citizens before their own comfort.
Each of the employees of St. Landry Parish should be recognized for their effectiveness, their efficiency, their concern and their character during that time of great challenge.

We do not wait until emergencies to do our best work. We have managed parish property with care. The parish owns four health units; the parish owns this magnificent courthouse; the parish owns the jail; the parish owns and operates the animal control shelter, where adoption and relocation programs for pets has succeeded, replacing the old and inhumane system.

As we face our common future together, we pledge to work together as a team and display an attitude that will make our fellow citizens proud. We will not always agree on every issue, but each time we disagree, we will hear the words of the prophet Isaiah, who said “Come, let us reason together.”

We will say to each other at all times, in an atmosphere of mutual respect — let us reason together and take advantage of this historic opportunity to make St. Landry Parish the model of excellence.

We agree that government functions better when jobs are consolidated and efficient. That has been done and will continue to be done.

We agree that Louisiana is a state in a position of historic change — that as Louisiana’s heart — as Louisiana’s crossroads — Acadiana’s high ground — that we must lead Louisiana in effective government and economic development.

We are witnesses to a period of historic growth — 50 new subdivisions, almost 2000 new homes — just in the last four years. As leaders of this parish, let us ensure that our moment of great transformation will be lead wisely — that we will use principles of smart growth to plan a successful future for our parish.

It is said that a failure to plan amounts to a plan for failure. As we enter into this new administration together, let us plan wisely for our common future. We will not be anyone else’s suburb! We will not be anyone else’s bedroom community!

We will be the parish where our children can be educated well — where they can find employment and enjoy satisfying careers — and where they can raise their children, proud to call St. Landry Parish home.

We can agree that good government is guaranteed by simple and fair taxation — by efficient and honest accounting for public money — and government working with business and industry to elevate the lives of all within its power.

Our fellow citizens have given us a great responsibility and a sacred trust. Let each of us commit ourselves to the highest degree of discipline — the strictest standard of excellence — and a respectful attitude of teamwork.

This approach will guarantee that our efforts will be successful, that our work for St. Landry Parish will make our fellow citizens proud and ensure the success of our common future.

May God bless each and every one of you and may God bless St. Landry Parish."