A letter to the Editor: To the residents of St. Charles Parish
Published 10:38 am Saturday, January 25, 2020
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Thank you once again for the honor of allowing me to serve as your parish president. In keeping with my pledge for honest and transparent government, I would like to share with you my plans for my first 100 days in office.
First, my executive staff and I will be meeting with the leadership of all departments and their staff as we work to develop a comprehensive understanding of all department programs and activities.
Moving forward, I will establish accountability by commissioning an audit of parish finances and physical assets which we will then allow us to evaluate and modernize internal policies and procedures.
I will also work to restore unity and pride throughout the parish via blight eradication, increased community engagement and strategic methods to garner public input.
Fostering strong relationships between the parish council and my administration will be vital to running a productive government. To ensure we all get off on the right foot, I will host a strategic retreat to align administration and council goals and objectives.
My goal is to strategically plan for future growth and move the parish forward. To achieve this, we will review all of the current master plans and make the appropriate adjustments and modernization revisions and ensure all the planning policies and procedures are in place to support these initiatives.
Flood protection is a key component of our future growth and resiliency. I will organize a multi-parish coalition that will advocate and promote the importance of a complete hurricane protection system for our region. Comprehensive flood protection in addition to strategic growth policies, will lead to the formulation of a robust, long term list of proposed capital projects on both the state and federal level.
I will start the development of an aggressive and strategic economic development program with a goal to diversify St. Charles Parish’s economy. We will do this by strengthening relationships with local government, non-profit, business, and industry stakeholders.
Implementation of the initiatives involving future growth, flood protection, a diversified economy, and capital projects will take patience and persistence. It will also take a team. I have put in place a group of established and capable individuals who will work with me as we develop a mutual understanding and a strong relationship with our state and federal delegations that will magnify our abilities to achieve these goals.
As Parish President I am committed to maintaining open communications and am confident that our results will be substantial and meaningful to residents all around the parish.
Respectfully,
Matthew Jewell
President, St. Charles Parish