What I learned from my time serving the GO Group

From 2015 to 2018, I had the honor of chairing the Public Service Improvements Committee for the Southwest Louisiana Task Force for Growth and Opportunity (GO Group) for Calcasieu Parish. This group was formed as a collaborative effort between Southwest Louisiana’s governmental bodies to anticipate and facilitate necessary changes to accommodate the expected rapid population growth associated with more than $80 billion in planned industrial development.

The Problem

The GO Group volunteers were tasked with helping to bring public services up to date to accomplish greater efficiency and deliver higher-quality services to Southwest Louisiana residents during the largest industrial expansion in the history of our nation. This task force focused heavily on issues associated with quality of life in our region, such as drainage, fire protection and recreation – all critical considerations in areas with rapid development.

The Solution

Of course, one of the biggest quality of life issues in our area is drainage. We live in Sportsman’s Paradise, where we regularly enjoy outdoor living and activities. However, Southwest Louisiana is only about 10-20 feet above sea level, making our region vulnerable to flooding caused by both major storms and regular rainfall.

Overall drainage management is the responsibility of the parish, and the GO Group Committee for Public Service Improvements’ greatest accomplishment was the acceptance of our recommendation to restructure Calcasieu Parish’s seven drainage boards. This recommendation was based on an engineering study. It recognized that the water in Calcasieu Parish drains to the river, meaning drainage management could be much more responsive and efficient if we consolidated those seven districts into two East and West drainage boards. This consolidation – which actually improved parishwide representation by adding members to each board – ultimately created a more efficient drainage operation by eliminating inconsistent policies, procedures and time constraints previously in place across the districts.

What I Learned

My time with the GO Group taught me several important lessons.

1. Progress requires collaboration. The substantial improvements for our community would not have been possible without a cooperative team of engineers, consultants, community members, government officials, industrial workers and more. By involving key stakeholders and experts throughout the process, we improved quality of life for countless people throughout Calcasieu Parish!

2. Change does not occur overnight. My time with the GO Group ended in 2018, but the work we did is still ongoing. The Calcasieu Parish drainage team has removed approximately 23 tons of debris from our drainage laterals since 2021 – a project that continues today. It’s one reason I’m running for police jury – to make Southwest Louisiana a great place to live for the long term!