Permits, drainage top Lafourche president platforms

With a two-term incumbent in a position that has never had a two-term incumbent, a councilman who wants to scale back political authority, a successful and self-made businessman, and a former councilman with an array of educational degrees, the race for Lafourche’s parish presidency does not lack character.

Ultimately, however, the voters should know the differences in policies between Charlotte Randolph, Rodney Doucet, Jimmy Cantrelle and Tommy Lasseigne, the four candidates who talked building permits, drainage, economic development, transparency and a new jail.

Randolph, the first Lafourche Parish president to be re-elected, is seeking her third term as the parish’s top executive. Since she first took office in 2004, Randolph has been saddled with the fallout from four major hurricanes, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill, and a host of flood events.

With top-tier disasters come federal and state appropriations, and Randolph is touting her relationships with key officials in national bureaucracies, the governor’s office and the state’s congressional delegates as the defining separation between her and the challengers.

“They are certainly allies for Lafourche because of this relationship, which represents an opportunity for the future to continue the funding sources,” she said.

The 58-year-old Republican incumbent said her top issues are founded on the urgent principle of helping Lafourche residents protect the investment in their homes. She listed drainage, hurricane protection and coastal restoration, three ever-present problems in which solutions are contingent on funding.

“We’ve been very successful over the last eight years in securing federal and state money,” the Valentine resident said. “We’ve developed relationships with the key people involved and work very hard to secure that grant money, and we intend to continue to pursue that in the future.”

Randolph’s critics have targeted the parish’s Department of Planning and Permitting, which was created last year after the parish severed its relationship with South Central Planning and Development. South Central Planning previously held the permitting authority for Lafourche Parish commercial and residential construction and modification.

Now, the critics say the parish is inhibiting commerce by being too strict on code enforcement, uncommunicative and unwilling to assist. The critics also contend that one permit office, which is located in Mathews, cannot serve the entire parish when it is only open four days a week (Monday-Thursday).

The parish council twice tried to fire Frank Morris, the department’s director, this year.

Randolph has denied the department is an issue. Lafourche is required to follow the guidelines laid out by the state, which adopted the International Building Code in 2007 via Act 12.

“This is in essence killing the messenger when we are being mandated by the state to follow these codes,” she said.

Morris and the permit technicians are willing to help, but builders are making the situation worse by building without regard to the code and then applying for permits after the fact, she said.

She said if she wins election she will not open satellite offices in the northern or southern ends of the parish and would instead use the money that she says would be necessary to spend on new employees to educate residents on the code instead.

“The parish did not have a permitting department prior to the enactment of Act 12,” Randolph said. “Therefore, residents of the parish are unfamiliar with the code system. It has taken some time to educate them about the federal and state governments’ mandate that we abide by these rules.”

Jimmy Cantrelle was the first challenger to announce his candidacy, officially doing so in May. In his third bid for parish presidency (he finished second in 1999 and fourth in 2003), Cantrelle immediately began campaigning on his successful business history.

Most recently, Cantrelle began to harp on issues within the parish’s permitting office, which he said interprets the law “too rigidly” and makes the construction of residential and business structures a more onerous process.

The candidate from Raceland said he would be flexible and make a decision about the permit department with input from the council. He said he would open satellite offices in north and south Lafourche, and he does not plan to return to South Central Planning unless that’s what the lawmakers decide.

“I would work with the council,” the 69-year-old said. “But I think we can have a people-friendly permits department that’s going to show people how to get their permit. We should work very hard making sure people can get a permit and not working hard for them not to get one.”

The top priority, Cantrelle said, is drainage, which is currently “a mess.” He said he would use his experience gained from building pump stations to make sure reservoirs and outfall canals are correctly incorporated into the system.

“I know how to do it, and I won’t ask somebody to do something I can’t do,” Cantrelle said. “With my experience, I know how to do it and what to do.”

The third issue Cantrelle highlighted is economic development. He said he would hire someone specifically to spur growth in the parish and would target “every business I could” that brings at least 10 jobs.

“Once you start economic development rolling, remember, every two jobs you create also creates one job, which could lead to lower taxes,” he said.

A self-described “conservative” Democrat, Cantrelle said common sense and practicality garnered over the course of his rags-to-riches story set him apart from his competitors.

“I started off with very little, nothing would probably be a better word to use, but I worked very hard,” he said. “Nobody is going to outwork me. I built everything by using good practical sense, and if I can apply that to the parish government, we’re going to move forward.”

Rodney Doucet has championed a message of purity throughout the election’s lead-up. He promised to bring “God back to government,” and the majority of his proposals are fundamentally based in eliminating politics, whether real or perceived, in governing.

The councilman said he would return permitting authority to South Central Planning because its in-house appeal process delegates power away from elected officials.

“I will revamp it and go back to South Central Planning so we can take the political entity out of it, because South Central Planning has an appeals process which Lafourche does not,” Doucet, no party affiliation, said of his top priority.

As to improving drainage in the parish, the second most-pressing issue according to Doucet, he said he would implement a work-order program that prioritizes individual flood control issues based on impact and urgency.

He also said he would purchase a maintenance program for the parish’s pump stations that prevents the pumps from becoming dilapidated and that he would delegate authority to operate the stations to specific people and that would be their sole responsibility.

Finally, the Cut Off resident and District 8 lawmaker promised accessibility. He said he would make public his schedule, including when he would be at parish offices in each region of Lafourche so that citizens could meet with him and his top officials in person to voice their concerns.

“I’m approachable,” Doucet said. “People know they can walk up to me, ask me a question and know they will get a truthful answer, whether it’s what they want to hear or not what they want to hear.”

The absence of politics and a service-oriented rule separate Doucet and the rest of the field, he said.

“If I service people to death in all aspects of it, what am I worried about losing a vote?” Doucet said. “The idea is that government should be servicing the people. I’ve been a service person since 1975. That’s all I know how to do.”

Tommy Lasseigne is the candidate with the most extensive formal education, the highest level of which came when he received a doctorate in strategic management and finance from Florida State University. Now a contractor consultant for residential and business development, the Thibodaux resident has no party affiliation.

Lasseigne served on the Lafourche Parish Council from 2004-08. He chaired the council in 2007 and went head-to-head with Randolph the same year, losing by just less than 3,600 votes.

Lasseigne said the permit office is his top priority. Most of the problems builders are having can be corrected, he said, excluding Federal Emergency Management Agency mandates on elevation.

“I think we hire two CBOs (Chief Building Officials) and put a permit office in north, south and central Lafourche,” Lasseigne said. “It costs us nothing for the location, nothing for office personnel. In fact, it might even be a little more efficient because the inspectors would have less travel.”

The second issue that must be addressed, he said, is drainage. Lasseigne said he would adhere to the master drainage plan that is in development, but he would begin work before the plan is released on the pump stations in “horrible” condition, particularly the stations outside the South Lafourche Levee District. “You don’t need a study to fix a faulty pump station.”

The third issue, Lasseigne said, is building a new jail. He said it’s not about what he wants to do, but added the current facility is in “horrible disrepair.” Contrary to what the current administration and New Jail Committee has said, a new tax would not be necessary, he added.

Lasseigne said the parish would save money from not transporting prisoners to other parishes and would generate enough money from housing Department of Corrections Inmates to start a base to finance a bond for a “$30- or $40-million state-of-the-art facility.”

“My Ph.D. is in finance,” Lasseigne said. “Yes it will (generate enough revenue to finance a new jail). There is another component, and it involves cutting some of the administrative expenses and payments we make to non-governmental entities.”

Lasseigne’s education, with his various degrees applying to numerous facets of parish government, coupled with his experience as a parish lawmaker, make him the best fit for the job, he said.

“I’ve taught business government society at five universities in four states,” he said. “I understand how it works, and I have the experience. I was a councilman. The biggest thing, I can work with the council because I was elected by the council to be the council chairman. I was elected by them to be the chair of the detention center subcommittee.”

Meet the Candidates

JIMMY CANTRELLE

AGE: 69

PARTY: Democrat

OCCUPATION: Two general contractor licenses: heavy equipment and house building/commercial. Possesses a master plumbing license, electrical license and a mechanical contractor’s license

FAMILY: Married, two children, six grandchildren, three step-grandchildren

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None

RODNEY DOUCET

AGE: 54

PARTY: No Party

OCCUPATION: Branch manager at Teche Electric Supply

FAMILY: Married, three children, three grandchildren

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: One term Lafourche Parish Council (2008-2011)

TOMMY LASSEIGNE

AGE: 59

PARTY: No Party

OCCUPATION: Contractor consultant for residential and commercial businesses

FAMILY: Not Married

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: One term on the Lafourche Parish Council from 2004-2008

CHARLOTTE RANDOLPH

AGE: 58

PARTY: Republican

OCCUPATION: Lafourche Parish President

FAMILY: Married, three children,

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Two terms as Lafourche Parish President (2003-11); handled some campaigns as the owner of a public relations company.