December 2023

I’d have to say to do your very best to
create a personal relationship where
they know who you are, what town or
village or city you represent, and the
types of issues that are going to be important
to you that you’re going to want
to talk to them about when they come
up. Basically, long before you ask any
elected official to do something for you
– or not to do something for you – create
that personal relationship, and don’t
make an ask the first time if you can
possibly avoid that. You’ll be much better
received when you do then, in fact,
make a request of an elected official.
Then I would tell you that there are too
many mayors and officials out there
to where the governor can’t afford to
have meetings with each. But, at every
legislative session, there are going
to be opportunities to work with your
state senators and representatives. And
see if you can have meetings with the
governor, or maybe with state-wide
elected officials as well, as a group or a
region. Maybe all the mayors in a particular
senate district, for example, can
come together, and then the governor
can carve time out and meet. There are
some senators and representatives who
do that routinely, and others never do
it. For those who do it, there’s a lot more
face time that has helped in getting to
know many mayors’ names. I’ve gotten
to know many on a personal basis.
I knew what was important to them,
and then as the capital outlay requests
come in and the money’s available, it
makes a difference. You obviously can’t
have individual meetings because there
just simply isn’t enough time. That’s the
advice I would give on having an effective
relationship with your state-wide
elected officials and state legislators.
What’s something you feel municipalities
could be improving upon
in order to be better heard within
the walls of the Capitol building?
I know that this makes a tremendous difference,
and I’m not saying that you all
(LMA) don’t do a good job, I just believe
it can be improved upon on a municipal
level, and by all local governmental organizations.
Quite often if there’s something
important, mayors, for example,
will visit in the legislator’s district about
something, but when it comes time for
that legislator to vote, whether it’s in
committee or on the floor, the mayors
are not here. And I know that most of
your mayors are part-time, and they have
full-time jobs, so it can be really hard. But,
to the degree possible, it always makes
a difference after you’ve made a request
of your legislator on a bill, on an appropriation,
on a capital outlay project, you
name it, to be in the building and visible
when the votes are taken. That makes
just a tremendous difference, and I’ve
seen that time and time again.
And then the other side of that coin is
equally important. So, you all have a
wonderful staff at the LMA. John Gallagher’s
been around, and he knows what
he’s doing. He’s got relationships with
everybody that matters in Baton Rouge,
but at the end of the day, it’s a whole lot
easier for him to do his job if his members
are showing up and they’re sticking
to the script. They should be talking to
their legislators and helping him to lobby
- especially on those issues that are
most important. I don’t know that you’d
need to be here on every bill and every
matter, but on those critically important
issues, just having people in the building,
beyond the officers and staff of the LMA,
would be really helpful to John. And this
is not advice I’d give just to members of
the LMA. This applies to the Police Jury
Association, Sheriffs’ Association, School
Boards Association, I mean you name it.
I do think that would be helpful.
Louisiana’s municipalities are leaving
a lot of money on the table in
terms of grants that may be available
to them. What advice would
you give them on how to better
prepare for the securing of funds?
You’re right, Charlotte. That’s always
a challenge because you have a lot of
other municipalities – towns and villages
in particular – who lack the staff
to prepare a grant application, and to
even really know what grants are available.
So, you’ve got to be able to have
someone tell you what’s available, help
you to fashion a competitive application
to earn the funding, and then you’ve got
to be in a position to meet whatever local
match obligation may be attached to
the grant should you be successful.
I would just encourage everyone to take
advantage of every opportunity they
have, especially during the next few
years. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
LMR | DECEMBER 2023 Page 11