Parish yearly report coming to mailbox near you

12-page book seeks to make government more open, inform citizens of progress

Earlier in the year, the parish compiled interesting facts and information about St. Charles in order to “sell” the area to representatives in Washington, D.C. Now, they are taking a similar approach when it comes to residents.

But instead of selling St. Charles, the parish is hoping to inform citizens and answer their questions to create more transparency.

A new 12-page publication from the office of public information will recap more than a year’s worth of parish government activities, including hurricane response, major infrastructure projects and economic development projects. The publication will be mailed to all households and businesses in the parish within two weeks.

“In the past, there has been a question of where the taxpayers’ money goes,” Renee Simpson, who created the publication, said. “We want residents to know where that money goes by showing them what we’ve been up to and what we’re doing.”

The main plot points of the book are Parish President V.J. St. Pierre’s eight goals, which Simpson said has guided the administration over the past 18 months. Each goal is given a dedicated page with a focus on hurricane protection, infrastructure projects, compatible land uses and economic diversification.

Some of the high points of the report include the fact that the council has approved contracts with two firms to spearhead land acquisition for Phase II of the West Bank levee, that the parish achieved over $7 million in grants in 2008 and that public works and the Lafourche Basin Levee District cleaned over 36 miles of drainage canal.

Another interesting section in the report contains several “did you know” facts about St. Charles, including how many animals were adopted last year (526), how many customers paid their water bill online in March 2009 (1,171) and how many workers the government had on their payroll in 2008 (517).

The book also features photos of historic events from 2008, including the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, placement of flood control tubes during Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and a surprise December snowfall.

Twenty-four thousand copies of the document will be published at a cost of $10,428.