The State of the City

Central Mayor Jr. Shelton delivered his Annual State of the City of Central Report Tuesday on the 12th anniversary of the creation of the City of Central, July 11, 2005.

The mayor reviewed the difficult year the city has experienced since the 1,000-year flood of August 2016 and the city’s efforts to help its citizens get back on their feet.

Mayor Shelton invited everyone to Central’s annual Birthday Bash this Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.
The State of the City address was held at the Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon at Café Américain. It is sponsored by the Republican Party of East Baton Rouge.

In his address, the mayor answered critics who attack his pro-growth policies, saying the reality is that while Central is growing, it is very slow growth. In fact, it has grown by only one-half of one percent in the past 10 years, he said.

He said every city is either growing or dying, and most cities are dying. He invited citizens to look around the state and nation at the cities that are dying and ask themselves if that’s the kind of city they want to live in.

He said the Council has only approved three developments of over 50 homes, and one of them was too important not to accept. That was Shoecreek, which will be located on the Central Thruway across from Wal-Mart. “This developmentcould have located anywhere in our state or nation, but they chose Central. These are the developers of River Ranch in Lafayette. There will be 450 residences, 200 apartments, and an assisted living home. It will bring together residential, commercial, and retail, just as I promised.” The other two developments are Cypress Lakes, a 75-lot development where they are about to start selling lots and Arbor Grove, which will have 70 lots.”

Mayor Shelton said the City of Central is a great place for business to locate. It has easy access to the airport and to Baton Rouge. It is a city with low crime and the No. 2 school system in the state. “We have many of the things business executives are looking for,” he said. “We even have an industrial base with Custom Metal Works and Trade Construction. Both have grown from home-based businesses to multi-million dollar industries,” he said.

Shelton said, “We grew without much planning. Now we have a very competent full-time economic development director in Amanda Moody.”

He said a new company, Species Specific, is expected to bring jobs to Central. It uses technology to identify specific species of animals which in turn allows those animals to be fed or not fed. He said this has applications that can create a worldwide market.
Mayor Shelton said Central now has a reserve fund of $40 million, a very healthy sum for a city this size. “This makes me unpopular among other mayors, some of whom have little in reserve.” Having money on hand helped the City of Central get through the flooding last year. The mayor credited former Mayor Mac Watts and previous Councils for adopting policies that allowed the city to operate on a fiscally conservative basis.

He said he has signed a contract to make $4 million in drainage improvements, which is now awaiting approval by the Corps of Engineers.

The mayor said the people of Central take flooding and drainage problems seriously but “Congress doesn’t get it” and continues to drag its feet.

He said people tell him the flood had such an impact on their lives that they get anxious or have panic attacks every time it rains. “How long will this go on? Probably as long as this generation of our citizens is alive.”

Mayor Shelton pulled out a book where he writes the name of everyone who has contacted him for help. “I listen to everyone who calls and make sure that I follow up and do what I promised to do.”

The mayor has been a pain to FEMA because of his public criticism of their bureaucracy and his blunt demands on behalf of citizens who experience constant delays and double talk. “They know me at FEMA and they know that we will stand up for our citizens,” he said.
Speaking of his frustration with FEMA, he said, “When an 80-year-old couple who have lost everything come in, you know there’s nothing you can do to make them whole but you do everything you can. Now FEMA is trying to remove trailers that people desperately need. FEMA was trying to take one man’s trailer while he was in the hospital.”

“In Central, more than 9,000 homes took water from one inch to nine feet. Some people lost everything. A family came in and showed me two things — a photo of nine feet of water in their house and a letter from FEMA denying their claim because they supposedly didn’t receive damage in their home.”

“After the flood, we had the first debris pickup in the parish. Then we had another in January. But people were still gutting their homes. We completed the third pickup last week. The state and parish still have some on their roads.”
“Everyone is helping everyone. It’s a wonderful city.”

“We couldn’t do everything ourselves. We hired CSRS as technical advisers and now have plenty of help.”
“People should know that we had more flooding outside the flood zone than inside it. However, new neighborhoods didn’t flood if they built to the new standards.”

“I do believe in development. It is the best way to recover from a disaster. If you don’t have economic development after a flood, things will be dire.”

Referring to the photograph on the front of the September issue of the Central City News, the mayor said it epitomized the extent of the tragedy in Central. “Our citizens had nothing and were simply trying to get out of the water.”

The mayor praised the citizens of Central who came to the aid of so many. He calls them the Wildcat Navy. But he remembers one particular individual, a young man from Atlanta who was visiting New Orleans. When he heard about the flood, he showed up in Central to help. “Thousands of people from all over America helped us when the need was great, and I met many young people who give me hope for America.”