BY: Jeff Everson • Contributing Columnist
Caddo Day at the Capitol on April 24 was a high impact, short turnaround trip that united members of various government and private sector entities to take the concerns of Caddo Parish to the state Capitol with a unified front. For many years, people have complained that our community needs to show unity at that State level, and this inaugural trip was an excellent beginning to addressing that concern. From the planning process to the attendees, this group exhibited a diverse makeup of Caddo leaders from different agencies, political parties, races, ages, and other descriptors that aren’t always represented in the public eye as cohesive. But the resounding success of this trip showed just what we had suspected-that we make a much bigger impact together.
When citizens show up, government works better for them. As someone who has worked in and around local governments for many years, I’ve witnessed how having local participation impacts the way local leaders see decisions, discuss issues, respond to concerns, and shape policy. When you live where you vote, you’ll be easy to find during critical moments. From the public commenters during a meeting to the journalists covering immediate developments, to the citizens at the grocery store and even on social media- local decision makers are literally near citizens who makes their decisions, and it helps. Not just by putting pressure on them, but by helping them to see how those they represent and those who are represented by their colleagues feel about the matters. And that type of advocacy truly does impact the outcome of decisions.
State Representatives and Senators experience the same sort of connection to their communities, but the environment where they debate, discuss, prioritize, adjust and ultimately vote on policy takes place in a large city 3.5 hours away in a large building where they could potentially go days without seeing anyone from their part of the state other than the other elected decision makers. There was a feeling of welcome and gratitude to have so many local faces joining them at the Capitol. Even those who may not have been able to attend sent word as to why and expressed support. Out are legislators, despite differing priorities or perspectives, were certainly unified in their appreciation that such a large group of locals made their way down to Baton Rouge to share with them, learn from them, and stand with them to illustrate to their colleagues that they are there representing people who matter to them, not nameless, faceless numbers- but real people who made the real effort to get to the state capitol and participate.
Caddo Parish benefits when our people are seen and heard from in Baton Rouge, as does North Louisiana and the state as a whole. We in Caddo have so much to contribute to the success of our state and we live a very different set of realities than those parts of our state who face different climates, infrastructure challenges, insurance needs, organizational, industrial, or other opportunities or challenges that impact different communities across Louisiana differently. Sometimes having diverse input shapes policy in a way that better works for everyone.
In addition to the State Senators and Representatives who are tasked with legislative duties, the Capitol is also the heart of the administrative government for the state and Caddo Day at the Capitol was filled with opportunities for connecting with, learning from and sharing with critical administrative offices.
The Governor’s office, Lieutenant Governor’s office regarding tourism & volunteerism, the Department of Education, Department of Economic Development, Attorney General, Office of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Transportation were all presenting guests in addition to some of our State Senators and Representatives, and the local administrative heads of the 3 largest organizations- Mayor Tom Arceneaux, Caddo Superintendent Keith Burton, and Caddo Administrator & CEO Erica Bryant. These presentations weren’t the type of formality that you may find at an overview luncheon- these were incredibly helpful deep dives into some of the issues that are before us now.
Some update, like Education and Economic Development illustrated what is going right and how to do more of it while acknowledging challenges. Some presentation like revenue and transportation allowed for meaningful and needed interactions between local and state leaders. An unexpected benefit from the policy summit was that our Caddo delegation, who were all seated around a large U shaped table facing the presenters got to actually hear about things that were specific to each other that we may not usually get to hear about in as many details.
For example, because the Caddo Parish Administration & Commissioner deal directly with Juvenile Justice, they are very familiar with those issues, but the members of the School Board also care deeply about juveniles and yet aren’t often provided the opportunity to focus on how justice interacts with education. Another less obvious, though intended, benefit of the trip were the number of side bar conversations that were able to take place in the hallways. Being 3.5 hours away does, unfortunately, make it more challenging to have dialogue with some of our state offices. Not that they aren’t responsive, but telephone tag simply takes longer than stepping outside for a couple of minutes when you are in the same room.
Even the reception the night before the policy summit was filled with those sorts of casual but meaningful interactions. There were visits from organization that represent collective local governments, like the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, there were state legislators, representatives and advocates from organizations who have large presences at the state capitol and other influential participants in local and state government. Even the opportunity for local leaders to interact in an informal way helped these people to get a better understanding of the pressure each other faced, the differences in their realities, priorities and constituents needs and other valuable understandings. Public service provides unlimited demands for attention with such a wide variety of needs that it may come as no surprise that many public servants spend a great deal of time being responsive and sometimes needs opportunities to carve out time for reflection, creative problem solving, collaboration, proactive leadership and even forming bonds with one another. All these things had a bit more space to grow in a group that was united by their desire to help Caddo Parish.
This trip was planned by a committee convened by Caddo Parish Intergovernmental Liaison Valerie Jamison and Senior Advisor to Mayor Arceneaux, Tari Bradford in response to conversations that began at an Intergovernmental Committee Meeting. These meetings were held at the office of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce with Tim Magner and Ellie Ward playing primary roles, as well as Mary Wood from the Caddo Parish Schools, myself as the Clerk of the Caddo Commission, Peter Williams from Sheriff Whitehorn’s office, Ivy Woodard of the Caddo District Attorney’s office, Africa Price with Ochsner and the support of premier sponsors; Lincoln Builders, Ochsner LSU Health, SWEPCO, Trinity Operating and others and a contributing sponsor, LAMP, Inc. These organizations don’t often find themselves collaborating in this way and the blend of public and private sector inputs was efficient and meaningful.
This wasn’t a vacation, it was a working trip that was designed to cultivate positive interactions, educate local leadership and advocate for local needs and it did just that. There will be critics who lament the cost of taking a large group to the place where laws are made, but this focused and impactful trip was underwritten by sponsors to minimize the cost. We went for you, the citizens because we too have concerns about the cost of insurance, and the turnaround time of infrastructure projects, about how and when state funding is allocated and about what impacts policies will have on how we do our jobs for you.
We care about maximizing the growth of jobs and investments and about having healthy communities with people who are trained and ready to work and succeed, about providing the best possible education and opportunities for our children, and about making sure that people continue to have opportunity & desire to build lives in Caddo Parish. We want our communities to be safe, just, pleasant, and supportive. We want to show up for those who are working for us in Baton Rouge to make sure that they have the support & perspectives they need to be effective. And we hope that this first step towards that will continue Caddo Parish on a path towards collaborative success.