Aug. 16, 2026

Episode Two | 46 Feet: The Historic 2016 Livingston Parish Flood 10 Years Later

Episode Two | 46 Feet: The Historic 2016 Livingston Parish Flood 10 Years Later
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In this episode, “Local Leaders” Host Jim Chapman sits down with City of Denham Springs Mayor Gerard Landry as he reflects on the 2016 flood in Denham Springs, describing the scale of the rainfall, the widespread damage, and the difficulty of recovery in the weeks that followed.

The city had prepared for severe weather and had financial reserves in place, but the disaster still exceeded expectations and left many residents confused about rebuilding and insurance. Mayor Landry shares stories about the human toll, rescue efforts, cleanup, and residents trying to return home, and he describes how the city used a community planning process to guide rebuilding and preserve historic places while becoming better prepared for future emergencies.

In 2016 an unpredictable storm caused unprecedented flooding in Livingston Parish Louisiana and surrounding areas like Baton Rouge. A decade later, Livingston Parish has come back stronger than ever. In this special presentation by Local Leaders the Podcast, you will hear not only hear the personal stories during that flood, but the comebacks that followed.

Timestamps:
04:47 The Day Before The Rain Came
06:58 FEMA Frustrations
09:56 Graves Steps In
13:28 Rescue on the Water
16:04 Donald Trump Visits Denham Springs
19:24 Cleanup and Rebuilding
22:09 Denham Strong Begins
23:48 Business Bounces Back
31:51 Preserving Local History
35:42 No Regrets
39:09 Aging Out Gracefully

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In August of twenty sixteen, prolonged rainfall from an unpredictable

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storm resulted in catastrophic flooding in the state of Louisiana.

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In my city of Didam Springs, ninety percent of the

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homes received water, some forty two hundred homes. Of those,

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three thousand of these homes received eighteen inches or more

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of water twenty five to thirty inches of rain in

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less than seventy two hours. The Amete River, which cuts

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through the heart of Livingston Parish, crusted at forty six

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point two feet, some five feet above its previously recorded

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record and some seventeen point two feet above its flood

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stage at Denham Springs. Hey everyone, and welcome back to

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local leaders of the podcast. Of course, we are continuing

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our series on the twenty sixteen flood. It has been

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a decade since that flood, and today joining me is

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someone who he'll be the last person to tell you

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how integral he was in this flood, but in the

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Denham Springs area, I don't think we could have done

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it without him, and he will come bath at y'all.

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He's very humble, but I am proud and happy to

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have my friend Mayors Gerard Landry on the show. And

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here's an interesting stat for you, Mayor, you are now

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my highest returning guest. This is your fourth appearance on

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Local Leaders.

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So going to negotiate a contract.

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Yeah, that's right. And so you've announced that this will

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be your last term as mayor. So I'm like, wow,

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he can come in and be a co host anytime

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right here at Local Leaders and we can sure have

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a lot of fun. But glad to have you on

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the show. Thank you for green to come on, of course,

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And of course does it seem like ten years?

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No?

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Where did the time go?

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I know, of course, you know we're talked about ten

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years or twelve years in office. Gosh, I'm going to

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be seventy four years old in December. Where did all

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those years go?

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Yeah? It's just amazing, it really is. And you know,

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if you would have told me looking down the road

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at the water that day ten years ago, I would

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have told you it's going to be a tough task

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to get back from this. As a matter of fact,

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I remember vividly thinking that, sure, what about you?

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Yeah, I feel the same way. You know.

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Wbor Z did a interview about a week or so

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ago and the state climatologist revamped his estimate of what

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the rain event was. We talked about one in a

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thousand years. Now they say it's one in a ten

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thousand year event. That's hard to comprehend. That was a

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lot of water in just twenty four hours, and that's

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it's hard to beat. Now, you just how do you

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handle it the best way you can?

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Right, that's right, that's right. And you know it's interesting.

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We knew some water was coming, but as a matter

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of fact, y'all were preparing for it, right.

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Yeah, typical rain event that happens our hurricanes. We all

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get together, all the department heads, and we progressed so

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far past this what I'm getting reay to tell you.

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We'd all get together the PD and we'd all have

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this discussion. Make sure you have sandbags, make sure you

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got sand make sure you got fuel, batteries, all that

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kind of stuff. In retrospect, none of that stuff mattered, right,

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But now that we've put into work that we don't

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hopefully the next event, because there will be another one,

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what's it going to be, We don't know.

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As a city, we're better prepared than we were at

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that time.

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Yeah, We're proud of the work that we have done

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in all areas of managing the city.

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Absolutely, and something I've always wanted to ask you now,

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you know, I know, it's hard to think back to

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just prior to that flood happening because of the obviously

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the devastation and in the total shift in your plans

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of what you were going to do for the city.

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You were in office for about a year and a half,

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and I'm sure maybe that you know, two three days

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prior to that, you had a lot of plans that

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didn't relate to dealing with a twenty sixteen flood. Do

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you remember maybe something that you were Okay, I'm gonna start,

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you know, this project. I'm gonna start working on this

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project and boy to get put on the back burner.

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I can't tell you a specific project, but what I

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can tell you it's just a year and a half

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into the job, right, Yeah, And coming out of the

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retail arena, there was a different mindset that I brought

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to the city operations. And not that Jimmy Durbin, which

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I love dearly, not that he was inefficient or whatever,

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but we just had a different focus. Sure in mind

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was more on people and cost controls and that sort

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of thing. So we were year and a half into

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GPS on all the vehicles that we had limitations on

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take on vehicles and all the kinds of things they

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go into the operation of the city, and trying to

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try to save money where we could, because maryor Dearbin

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told me, he said, you need to have about two

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and a half million bucks and this I hate to

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use a slush front or rainy day account, but you

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got to have some backup fors. And after my first

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year when we went into the flood, we had about

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five million dollars, and thank god we did, because that's

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the only way you can recover because FAMA is strictly

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a reimbursement process, so you write a check for a

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million bucks to get something done to give you back

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ninety percent, and so thank goodness we had the funds

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to work with. So that was my biggest focus at

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that time, was just trying to be as efficient as

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we could and become the shining star that we're financially sound.

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Yeah, and I think, you know, thankfully obviously for that,

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because you bring up a good point that they don't

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just send you money, they reimburse you for the money

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you've spent ninety percent or so. You did an interesting

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interview with Kieran Challa that has aired prior to this airing.

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So I don't want to necessarily rehash what you talked

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about on that show, but I want to talk a

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little more about the recovery of the city. And one

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of the things you did was you went to Congress

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just shortly after this flood, and want to I want

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to talk about that for a minute. So when you

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were in Congress, you spoke to them primarily to voice

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your concerns in the way FEMA had responded initially to

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that flood, the way they were inconsistent was your terminology

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with the citizens at that time. They would tell them

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one thing, then they would say, oh no, we've you know,

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changed our mind, or you can't do that. And these

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citizens were coming to you. You were the mayor. You

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were the guy in their mind that could help them,

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and you were also the head guy in charge at

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that time, and you were getting strung along a little

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bit and weren't getting the proper answers. Maybe a better

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way of saying it. As a matter of fact, I'm

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going to quote you in that you said to say

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I am frustrated, disappointed, and angry is an understatement. Take

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me back to your feelings during.

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That when everybody's hurting and you know you've gotten past

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the point of rescue. Now we're several months into the

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recovery process and you see people that are continuing to

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hurt and the ridiculous guidelines that we had to go

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and follow. I understand now after ten years, a little

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bit more about why the guidelines are there. Sure, that's

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a topic for another story, But FEMA does not have

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a good track record of how they present themselves and

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how they offer help. I can remember a ninety year

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old gentleman and his wife, and they were the recipients

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of the first FEMA trailer. All he wanted to do

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was the server's wife coffee one more morning, because they couldn't.

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I was able to get them their home. My uncle,

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Hewitt Underwood, all he wanted to do was to be

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able to get back home and see his grandkids and

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great grandkids. And he was a decorated veteran and he

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had addresser drawer that was in stories because he had

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time to exact wait, and he just wanted to get

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back to the first thing you looked at was all

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of his medals that were in the top drawer, and

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that meant so much to him.

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It's the little things in life that really count amen

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to that. It's the good things. They're going to fall

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into their place.

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But when FEMA comes in and there's a mixed bag

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of messages, everybody's going to have to elevate their homes.

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Oh no, and everybody's not going to have to tell

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of it. That's not the way to fix the problem.

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The way to fix the problem is to work on drainage.

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Yeah, okay, And that was the mitigation piece of that

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where if you I think it was eighteen inches, if

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you got eighteen inches or more of water, they were

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wanting to force you to either elevate or you wouldn't

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qualify for flood insurance if you rebuilt.

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There was all kind of stuff that was out there.

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It was so difficult to navigate. And thank God for

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Garret Grayce and his his work on the hill to

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make sure that we had the voice that we needed

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up there.

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And you just transitioned into my next conversation, which Garrett

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Graves I distinctly remember two people fighting so hard, not

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only in Congress with Garrett Grays, but here locally with you,

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and you know, you kind of teamed up a little bit,

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and he seemed to be someone that was very integral

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to being your voice in Washington.

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Yes, he was. He cared what we said, he cared

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what we thought. He cared about.

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What our citizens were saying because they were his as well.

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When you come right down to it, just at a

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different level. Right if I take the marriage where the

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road meets the road, and then everybody else is above that.

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And so he was very cognizant of what we had

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to do. There was a day or two or three

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after the floods or after the waters had receded, and

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we had already started to gut our home with church

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members and family members, kids and everybody coming to help,

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and out of blue, he calls me up. He said,

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how you doing. So I'm doing okay. He said, I'm

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around the corner. Can I come by? And I said,

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why should come by the house? And so he came

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to my house and uh, and the cabinets were going on,

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I mean, the house was just pretty much destroyed, and

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we had some chairs on the back porch and we

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sat down there on the back porch and Mary said, Garrett, would.

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You like some coffee? He said, I'd love some coffee.

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So she goes inside and everything above the counters was okay.

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So she got to coffee boy, she'd made coffee, and

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she brings us out on some fine chiner and he says,

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nowhere else but in South Louisiana in the middle of

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a flood. Would you get served coffee in fine china?

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Amen?

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But that's the only thing we had.

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Yeah, But you know, but the fact that it came

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to my house just to talk and just to kind

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of make sure that I was okay. Yeah, because every

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level has to be okay in order to walk through

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this whole process.

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It's an enormous amount of pressure. And yeah, and I

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can imagine the I can only imagine the weight that

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comes with that. Because you just brought up another good

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point that well we'll touch on briefly, and that is

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you had ten thousand citizens, okay, that three thousand something

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of rooftops that have flooded. All of these people were

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looking at their leader, Mayor Gerid Landry for answers and

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at the same time your own house flooded. Sure, and

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for two days you were not with your family.

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Is in the water with boots.

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I didn't realize what happens to your toes after two

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days in rubber boots full of water.

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It's painful.

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Yeah, okay, I agree, you know right, And you know

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if you got any arrest at all, it was in

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the parking lot of Walgreens in your car. If I

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get cat naps and what have you. But you know,

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my my biggest person that I want to thank is

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my wife because she called me and she said, baby,

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I got this at home. Church friends are her families here,

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they're helping me get to the house. You got ten

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thousand people looking to you. So I can't thank her

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00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.879
enough for what she did to make sure that I

234
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was okay so I could serve the citizens.

235
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Yeah, we can't think her enough.

236
00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:50.759
Well, she's a special one.

237
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She is, indeed. And I want to say one more

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00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:58.039
thing about that congressional hearing, if you will, or committee meeting.

239
00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:02.720
And that was another quote that you said. Uh, you said,

240
00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:06.840
our citizens love our city, and I love my citizens

241
00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:11.679
and I try to be their voice. Now, mayor, if

242
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you can put that into words, what did the citizens

243
00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.399
of Denim Springs mean to you during that time?

244
00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.519
These people were hurting, and I was just I'd like

245
00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.159
to fix things. I like to take care of people,

246
00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.480
and uh, and it's it's it's hard to see them suffer.

247
00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:27.320
Uh.

248
00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.519
When for two or three days we were just pulling

249
00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:32.600
people out of the water. They would come up on

250
00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:35.320
boats and Cajun Navy or probably that's probably the beginning

251
00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:39.320
of the expansion of Cajun Navy, and they were bringing

252
00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:41.440
people up to the water's edge. Now the water's edge

253
00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:43.759
happened to be a flaudable afore right in front of you. Hey,

254
00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.320
I thank you, but uh yeah, and so you know,

255
00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:49.039
you take those people out and they were so grateful,

256
00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.720
and uh. I was getting calls from some some people

257
00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:52.919
that we know, have you seen.

258
00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:53.399
Mom and Daddy?

259
00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:55.440
No, it hadn't, but I'll keep an eye out. And

260
00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:58.279
I can remember one of one of our cousins college.

261
00:13:58.279 --> 00:13:59.720
She said, have you seen mom and Daddy? And I

262
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:01.679
said no, but I'll keep an eye And don't you know,

263
00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.600
they show up in air Voat about thirty minutes later,

264
00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:05.320
and I called her back. I said, I got you

265
00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.840
mym and daddy that ran my car in the Officers

266
00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:10.639
parking lot. And she said, I'm sending to my husband. Wow,

267
00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:12.480
I never saw him again. Oh, I saw him again

268
00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:16.120
much much later. But those are the little things that

269
00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:19.679
really count. And so many people afterwards. Man, I know

270
00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:20.559
you don't remember me, but.

271
00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:21.759
You pulled me out of the boat.

272
00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.159
I was on Florida Street, or I was on Range Avenue,

273
00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:27.799
and you know that's that's stuff that I I'll never forget.

274
00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:34.679
Yeah, you know, someone said to me during this flood,

275
00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:38.679
there was a point where I was looking down my

276
00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.399
street and I lived on one street subdivision called a

277
00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:45.759
sack in the back, and you know, fifty inches of

278
00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:48.360
water in there, most of the houses, all the houses.

279
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.559
And my neighbor walked up to me, one of my neighbors,

280
00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:56.480
and he says, you're right, because I was just staring

281
00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:59.879
and I said, uh, I don't ever want to forget

282
00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:07.919
that us because initially my first thought was this town

283
00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:13.720
is decimated. We're finished. And then something kicked in where

284
00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:18.039
I where I said, uh, if I have anything to

285
00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:20.720
say about it, we're not gonna be finished. I'm gonna

286
00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:22.919
do everything I can to help people. And I was

287
00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:27.600
in the paint business at that time, and I knew, uh, hey,

288
00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:30.200
they're gonna have paint for them. Walls because I'm gonna

289
00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.200
call the owner my company and say, we're gonna sell

290
00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:35.840
it to them at cost. Anybody in Denim Springs, Livingston, Paris,

291
00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:37.519
We're gonna sell it to them at costs. And you know,

292
00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:41.200
my company, which is as fertile as they come, they

293
00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:43.600
know how to make profit. Let's just say that. But

294
00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:46.639
my company said, uh, we'll do whatever we need to

295
00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.759
do to help and and uh maybe proud to work

296
00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:52.279
for them. And we did. We helped a lot of

297
00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.759
people at least not have to worry about how much

298
00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.639
paint was gonna cost them. Sure, and and uh and

299
00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.200
I was forever grateful for that. But there were so

300
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:05.679
many people with that story. Now, you know, you come

301
00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.960
back and one thing I want to mention President Trump,

302
00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.000
who was not President Trump then he was Candidate Trump

303
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.519
at the Denim Spurrings High School and through the Antique district.

304
00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:21.600
Tell me about what that experience was wanted.

305
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.720
I was at the trailer that we've at this time,

306
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.360
we had a trailer at the Walgreene parking lot that

307
00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.840
we were working out of. It was like a command center,

308
00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:30.679
if you will, because it had our radios and phones

309
00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:32.759
and everything that we needed to be able to operate.

310
00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:35.440
And I get a phone call and I don't even

311
00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.919
remember who it was, but it was a male voice,

312
00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:40.639
and he said, President Trump is coming to Dinham.

313
00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:42.440
He wants to see you at the high school.

314
00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.840
He said, see you. But it didn't dawn on me.

315
00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:50.399
He wanted to see me, right, and so you know

316
00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:51.879
what I mean? I call Mary and the kids were

317
00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.759
at the house, and Robert Pool, my council member, who

318
00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:58.840
was invaluable through this whole process, was with me. I said, Robert,

319
00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.000
let's go see Donald Trump. Okay, let's go. So we

320
00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:02.879
get my car and we go by the house and

321
00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.039
pick up Mary and the kids and we tug off

322
00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.119
to the school. There's nobody at the school except the principal.

323
00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:10.680
I said, okay, so I see him over there. So

324
00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:13.400
I'll pull it right up to the door. And hey, Mayn,

325
00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.000
how are you doing? I said, fine, what are we doing?

326
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:19.359
He said, Trump's coming to see me and you how

327
00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:19.799
about that?

328
00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:20.759
How about that? Right?

329
00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:23.480
And I said, here comes this gentleman, cheap blue suit.

330
00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:27.200
Guess what he's secret service and he's got a little

331
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.319
earpiece on what's a little called out think that is dock?

332
00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:30.720
You know? He said, who are you?

333
00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.839
And I said, I'm Gerard Landry on the mayor. Okay,

334
00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.839
you stand over here by the by the principal. Who

335
00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:36.720
are all these people? This is my wife and my

336
00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.400
kids and counselor in the pool and rank some of

337
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:43.480
my grandkids. Okay, behind the rope. So I said, all right, Mary,

338
00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:45.079
would you move the truck over for me? I said,

339
00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:46.559
He'll wait right, So.

340
00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:51.359
I called Uh. I called Uh, Jeff, I'm Jason ord

341
00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:52.519
and lost and.

342
00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:56.839
The parish president late. I'm sorry late. So I called

343
00:17:56.839 --> 00:17:59.319
both of him. I said Trump's on his way. He said, yeah,

344
00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:02.559
we heard, and I said okay. So they eventually show

345
00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:06.880
up and they come up there with the principal and

346
00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:08.240
I and the same secret service guy.

347
00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.160
He said, who are you? He said, I'm the sheriff.

348
00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:13.079
He said, get behind the rope and who are you?

349
00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:16.240
He I'm the presh president he said. He said, what

350
00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:17.200
in the world's going on?

351
00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:17.440
Right?

352
00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:20.160
I figured that's who he really wanted to see. But

353
00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:23.119
he came and has small authorage and I think two vehicles,

354
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:26.519
and he just wanted to say, I feel your pain.

355
00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:29.359
You're going to be okay, Yeah, you got it. You're

356
00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:32.119
gonna make this. You're gonna make the recovery and it

357
00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:34.200
was just encouraging words and it was good to seem

358
00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:36.279
And then there was a photo ops that that they

359
00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:38.680
went along and I think he would help pass water

360
00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:39.720
out some other places.

361
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.200
But it was honored to.

362
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:44.759
See to meet him, and he's just as genuine, mild

363
00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.839
mannered him and Mike Pence both and so it was

364
00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.519
it was a good feeling. Right at the picture. I

365
00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:52.880
think you've seen that picture in my office. I have,

366
00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.119
and well, we all look kind of rough.

367
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:58.759
But well it was a rough time, it was, but

368
00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:02.599
in the uh, in the amazing unique experience in such

369
00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:03.680
a tragic time.

370
00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:04.440
Uh.

371
00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.440
And one of the things that when I think at

372
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:10.960
Donald Trump, I think of he came down here and

373
00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.400
he didn't have to and uh and he wasn't even

374
00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:18.759
president then, and all those things impressed me about him

375
00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.599
and kind of spoke to me about who he was

376
00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:24.000
maybe sure, And so I think, I just think that's

377
00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:28.599
an awesome experience. But eventually you get through that aspect

378
00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.799
and it's time for recovery. And I will imagine from

379
00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:35.960
a mayor perspective, you know, one of the things that

380
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.759
you had to deal with was sadly everybody's belongings or

381
00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:43.000
out out on the sidewalks right and in their grass

382
00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:46.119
and in their yards. And I mean, I'm talking everything

383
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.920
from pictures that you can't replace to computers that you

384
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.039
can and somebody's got to pick all that up. And

385
00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:55.000
how is navigating just the cleanup.

386
00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:59.680
So FEMA comes in and they've got their SMEs subject

387
00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:02.880
matter experts. I would challenge the word expert on some

388
00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:04.640
of these folks that I had to deal with. But

389
00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:07.559
they had the resources, they had the information that you

390
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.759
had to deal with. And boy, the monumental task of

391
00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.279
picking all this stuff up. Oh my gosh, you've seen

392
00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:15.759
the pictures. Yeah, And they could roll down the street

393
00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:18.359
and they had these great, big, huge trailers. They would

394
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:20.039
make it halfway down the street and before and have

395
00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:21.960
to go to the dump and.

396
00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:22.680
Dispose of it and come back.

397
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.400
And this FEMAE has so many regulations about what you

398
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.200
can and can't do, and and we can't pick up this,

399
00:20:28.279 --> 00:20:30.559
and we can't pick up that. It's just it was

400
00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:33.200
a mess. But there was a few female employees in

401
00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:38.400
there that understand and understood what happened, what has happened,

402
00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:42.640
and how there's always a way to get around something.

403
00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:43.880
Okay.

404
00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:48.160
And the thing that you talk about, the inconsistency if

405
00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.880
you ever bring up the thing, well, you know what

406
00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:51.599
y'all did is in New Jersey. How come you're not

407
00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:53.880
going to do it here? Oh okay, all right, we'll

408
00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:56.200
do it then. Yeah, And so I'll pull that card

409
00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.799
quite a few times. But because of the experts that

410
00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:03.960
we had working with us, were with the FETA that information,

411
00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:05.160
and I was just a mouthpiece.

412
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.079
Yeah, and it worked.

413
00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:09.880
Out well yeah, uh you know. And I can remember

414
00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:14.599
mayor uh when people the water were seated. Everybody's going

415
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:19.559
back in their homes and gutting, and you really didn't

416
00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:22.160
know at that time. You know, I was hearing everything

417
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:25.599
from don't touch nothing, FEMA has to look at it first,

418
00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:28.799
to you need to gut your home, and and but

419
00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.519
only cut at four feet and all, you know, just

420
00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:35.680
all this conglomerate of information. We've all become experts. Now, right,

421
00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:38.160
this's ever happened again to any of us that are

422
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.000
already here, knock on what it never does. But we're

423
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:43.920
gonna know what to do to start. And most people

424
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.079
don't even have carpet anymore because we carried out so

425
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:50.240
much of it during the flood right again, No, I.

426
00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:52.160
Don't have a stitch of carpet in my aus. It's

427
00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.640
all woodlake cera mcdal, which is water bruders have to

428
00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:02.400
worry about it. But you know, aside from all that,

429
00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:07.680
it was a learning process for many and you were

430
00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.200
at the helm of it. Denim Strong comes around.

431
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.759
So Denim Strong is fashioned after the a female program.

432
00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:20.200
It's called the National National Disaster Recovery Framework, and so

433
00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.799
it's a program that's laid out there for you if

434
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:26.640
you choose to follow it. Miss Sandra Gunner, who was

435
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:30.119
with the Office of Community Development with the state, came

436
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:32.759
out to visit. She was such a sweetheart, and she says,

437
00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.359
you need to do this. You need to do this

438
00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:38.000
program and you will reap the rewards.

439
00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:38.000
In the end.

440
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.599
Okay, fine, so let's do it. Gosh darted that she

441
00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.160
was right because we had this series of meetings. We

442
00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:46.839
had three different meetings, and it was a way for

443
00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:50.680
the input from the citizens guided us on what we

444
00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:52.839
needed to do. I use the story all the time. Look,

445
00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.119
you hired me to drive the bus, but the citizens

446
00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:58.000
are the gps. You tell me where you want to go,

447
00:22:58.039 --> 00:22:59.640
you tell me what you want to see you tell

448
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.119
me what you want me to do. And so I

449
00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.519
was told by some of my friends in boundaries, Man,

450
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.599
if twenty or thirty people show up, you'll be fortunate.

451
00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:10.200
We had eight hundred people show up.

452
00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:10.920
That's amazing.

453
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.640
And that's because the level of devastation and our people's

454
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.799
commitment to our city. They wanted to stay here, they

455
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.920
wanted to see where we are today. Yeah, and I

456
00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.519
think we've made some significant process of progress over this

457
00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:27.000
ten years, absolutely.

458
00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:30.200
One hundred percent. And as a mayor, you know, you're

459
00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.000
in charge of so much. And one of those things

460
00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:37.799
is is attracting business because business generates tax dollars. Tax

461
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:40.880
dollars are required to run your city, and sales tax

462
00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:41.880
dollars are the best.

463
00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:45.680
Dollars, right, And I call other people's money, yeah, other people's.

464
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:51.880
Money, that's right. And so after something like this, what

465
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:54.960
did you think about the business aspect of things? You know,

466
00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.279
you would think a business may be scared off from

467
00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:02.039
building in the Dinom Springs or rebuilding their store that

468
00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:05.599
didn't Springs area again, because this happened.

469
00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:08.880
People people had brought that question up to me several times,

470
00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:11.559
and right off the top of my head, I can

471
00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:16.119
only think of one business that didn't come back. Yeah pipeyes, yeah,

472
00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:19.200
I still don't have and I get frustrated because I

473
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:23.640
have to go or go to see I mean O'Neill

474
00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:25.920
Lane to get my fried chicken on Sunday after church.

475
00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:27.720
Okay, yeah, Popeyes come back.

476
00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.599
Yeah, but you know, the owner had like one hundred stores,

477
00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:32.480
and this is just one he chose not to rebuild.

478
00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:34.519
And of course he Ces Coffee came in and took over.

479
00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:36.960
So it's a it's a win. That was okay, right.

480
00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:41.400
Our sales tax collections spiked right after the flood, as

481
00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:44.400
they should have because everybody had to buy cars, furnishings

482
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:45.319
and all that sort of thing.

483
00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:45.519
Right.

484
00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:48.359
It didn't matter where you bought your car, because you

485
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.640
paid the sales tax for your address, right, And so

486
00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:54.119
there was a lot of cars bought home depot. I mean,

487
00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:57.039
my goodness, their sales skyrocket after building maturers had to

488
00:24:57.079 --> 00:24:59.880
be furniture, all those sorts of things were phenomenal.

489
00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:00.880
Commid of fires.

490
00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.920
Oh yes, all that stuff we needed. But here's the

491
00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:06.519
interesting thing. Everybody's rebuilt and the cars have been bought.

492
00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:11.079
Our sales tacks are continuing to climb. Yeah, and we are.

493
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:14.119
We're at record highs. So that means something about the

494
00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:16.680
city and Dinner Springs and about our people and about

495
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:21.079
people that are attracted the Dinner Springs. Juben is booming.

496
00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:24.759
You get juven mile one, two and three now phases right,

497
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.079
We're doing this other thing with the convention or conference

498
00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.200
center and the hotel and that's going to have sixty

499
00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:35.440
acres of more retail that we're planning on. So those

500
00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:37.440
are the kinds of things to help bring your city back,

501
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:41.079
and I'm committed to that. I think I shared with

502
00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:42.759
you that one of the things I will continue to

503
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:45.640
do after I leave office. In New Year's Eve was,

504
00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:47.960
by the ways, my last day. So New Year's Eve

505
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:51.200
has a new meeting for me this year. But I'm

506
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:55.119
going to stay on the DEMCO Business Development Center Board

507
00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:59.519
of Directors and try to maintain that flow of new

508
00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:01.440
people come in here and what is it what does

509
00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:03.359
it mean to do business and dinner because we are

510
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:04.920
definitely business friendly.

511
00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:08.000
One hundred percent. And you know you got also the

512
00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.240
right around where this uh this new development is going

513
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:15.240
to be built. Uh the Cook Road extension is upened up. Wow,

514
00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:15.960
it's at a time.

515
00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:18.240
So did that took it took what eleven twelve years?

516
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:22.359
Uh, yeah, conceived in two thousand, it was first talked

517
00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:23.920
about in two thousand and six.

518
00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:27.559
That's the Richard Richard Baker, where's the congressman at the time,

519
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.720
that actually got the funds and it was supposed to

520
00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:33.079
be for the Peace Highway interchange. Yeah, and then it

521
00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:34.400
was moved over to the Cook Road.

522
00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:36.720
Yeah, that's fine. It's a lot of them are needed.

523
00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:38.119
All of them are needed, and.

524
00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:41.240
We'll continue to work towards get the interchange. Well somebody

525
00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:45.119
else will, but yeah, the hizz Peece Highway still needs

526
00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:47.759
an interchange there. I don't think we'll ever have winter

527
00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:50.039
for each Club Road. It's too close to the to

528
00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:52.359
the river and to the bridges over there. But there's

529
00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:55.039
are other things. There's are other traffic circles that we're

530
00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:57.000
trying to work on, and there's a lot of things

531
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:00.319
that we have in the in the pipeline, mainly at

532
00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.480
the interstate here and dinner.

533
00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:03.720
Yeah, and so all that's going to help business as well.

534
00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:10.240
Yeah. And and ten years post destruction, beyond belief, I

535
00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:15.400
had a uh it's actually my wife's cousin, thank god,

536
00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.079
her and several of her you know, her husband and

537
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:21.359
and they brought their kids and hey, we're going to

538
00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:23.920
help you gut and all these sort of things. Thank

539
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:27.559
God for that. But I'll never forget when she drove

540
00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:31.319
down my street, and it's an interesting perspective because they're

541
00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:35.839
from Lafayette. She drove down my street, got to my house,

542
00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:37.440
and I mean, and soon as she steps out, she

543
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:42.240
has tears in her eyes. And she said, I saw

544
00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:47.920
it on TV. But seeing it in person, you know, uh,

545
00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:50.960
total different. You said that in Congress, you said you

546
00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:52.480
got to come down here and you got to see

547
00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:57.240
it for yourself. If you weren't here, you will never

548
00:27:57.480 --> 00:28:02.319
fully grasp it. Like Caseo. That's how described as like

549
00:28:02.359 --> 00:28:06.599
a war zone. It was driving down and seeing people's

550
00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:07.960
lives in their front.

551
00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:12.759
Yard, lost everything that you owned, everything, kids, grand kids,

552
00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.920
come back, Grammy, Papa, where's all my toys? Yeah, where's

553
00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:17.240
the stuff that was in this closet?

554
00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:18.440
It's gone.

555
00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:21.359
I remember Marian had a good friend that I was

556
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:22.799
one of the first ones that we knew that got

557
00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:24.519
her house redone. As she moved back in and Mary

558
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:27.400
called her, so, I know, you're so excited. She said, yes,

559
00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:29.480
and no, I'm glad it's done. I'm glad I moved

560
00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:30.839
back in, but I feel like I'm living in a

561
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.839
holiday in. Yeah, because all my stuff's gone, everything's new,

562
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.680
everything's fresh, everything's painted. I just don't feel like i'm

563
00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:41.039
home yet. Yeah, And I guess at some point in

564
00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:43.240
time you just have to accept it and maybe the

565
00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:47.519
mine works and lets you forget it used to be, right, Yeah,

566
00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:48.720
so that you can go forward.

567
00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:53.039
That's right. Yeah, that's right. And uh, you know there

568
00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:58.480
was a time you get perfect transition there you you

569
00:28:58.599 --> 00:29:01.759
got beyond it and at least a little bit. Do

570
00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:05.160
you remember how long it took from the flood to

571
00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:08.720
the time that you maybe sat down and said, I

572
00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:10.440
think we're going to be okay. I think this is

573
00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:11.240
kind of behind us.

574
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:17.680
I think probably yesterday or the day before. Right.

575
00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:20.680
I don't know that I will ever say we're done,

576
00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:24.119
because there's too many things to do. Yeah, and maybe

577
00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:26.480
it's not necessarily a flood root leader, but if you

578
00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:29.480
have your mindset on trying to make dinner springs even better,

579
00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:33.359
there's things you can do every single day. The new

580
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:35.920
administration that comes in is going to have some different ideas,

581
00:29:36.200 --> 00:29:39.400
and I welcome that. It's the variety of ideas that

582
00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:42.000
all of us have as long as we're concerned about

583
00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:44.519
the citizens and about the growth of the city and

584
00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:47.160
not to lose what our history is all about.

585
00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:50.279
I love the history part of what we do, same

586
00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:50.880
like we're doing.

587
00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:53.079
We're working on Spring Park right now to bring back

588
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:56.880
that whole thing, which is something that's been sorely needed.

589
00:29:57.200 --> 00:29:59.200
Do you worry about dollars and cents and how do

590
00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:01.559
you get it funded? And you know what, we have

591
00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.480
a grant writer and we get small grants here there,

592
00:30:04.519 --> 00:30:06.880
and we just chip away at it. And finally, you

593
00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:10.359
know what, we've already spent probably this year we'll probably

594
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:12.119
approached it in a half a million dollars.

595
00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.000
Just on Spring Park.

596
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:16.599
We were able to get the Louise and Er Watershed

597
00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:20.720
Initiative to demo the first Baptist church site and get

598
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:22.240
them a few dollars in their pockets.

599
00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:24.359
And now that that site is going to be well,

600
00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:26.960
the bell tower is still there, and I make sure

601
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.160
that that state and a local family donated a plaque

602
00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:31.200
that went on that brick wall.

603
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:35.119
And then we've rehab the first Baptist church cemetery that

604
00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:38.039
was ever since the late eighteen hundreds, all these things

605
00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:41.319
are historical in nature. But if you don't know where

606
00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:43.359
you came from, you don't know where you're going.

607
00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:47.160
That's right, and you've got to appreciate that stuff. And

608
00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:50.359
you know one thing I can tell all the listeners

609
00:30:50.359 --> 00:30:54.359
out there and viewers right now, I've done several of

610
00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:58.359
the mayor's tours personally in his car, and you've brought

611
00:30:58.359 --> 00:31:01.799
me around to these the these gems of the city

612
00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:06.599
that sometimes people don't take the time to, you know,

613
00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:08.599
they just don't have the time to sit down and

614
00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:14.240
appreciate this, the historical aspect of the city of Denham Springs.

615
00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:19.359
And I've never seen someone prouder than you of your

616
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:23.480
city and its history. And uh, you know, there's a

617
00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:26.119
new mayor race coming up. I don't know who's gonna win,

618
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.000
who's gonna lose, but I'll tell you this, I hope

619
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.160
they have a heart for the city and this in

620
00:31:32.279 --> 00:31:35.440
the the history of this city, and they understand how

621
00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:41.039
resilient these people are. I don't think, uh they're you know,

622
00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:45.160
I'm biased, but I don't think there's many people more

623
00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:47.519
resilient than right here at home. Right.

624
00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:49.759
I think you're exactly right. So we have so much

625
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:51.240
to be grateful for in our city.

626
00:31:51.880 --> 00:31:52.000
Uh.

627
00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:54.519
You know, we talked about all the historical places like

628
00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:57.000
like the Springs and the first Baptist racial location, the

629
00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:59.680
first Baptist church cemetery. You know, we did a story

630
00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:02.359
which I pastor and looked at the first Baptist Church,

631
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:05.000
the new campus and so that you got the old

632
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:07.440
and the new, you know, from before the flood and

633
00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:11.079
after the flood. So it's so dynamic. The Dinim Springs

634
00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:13.920
Housing Authority, the Hut project here in town has been

635
00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:17.200
totally destroyed. Now now it's the Dinm Springs Housing Authority.

636
00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:19.079
We're going to do a ribony cutting on that probably

637
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:20.559
in a very few weeks.

638
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:22.440
Spring Park, right, Spring.

639
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:25.839
Park, This is another that's another big issue. People don't

640
00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:29.880
realize this either our downtown district, the antique district. Do

641
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:33.880
you realize that we have We have awards, it's frobably

642
00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:35.920
four or five different awards for the quality of the

643
00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:39.119
retailers that we have down there and our downtown facilities.

644
00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:41.799
Uh. There was a tour bus that came through about

645
00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:44.480
two months ago, three months ago, and it was a.

646
00:32:44.440 --> 00:32:49.119
Group of main street folks that came to have a

647
00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:52.039
convention in poor Dolland and they came to Dinner Springs

648
00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:55.799
and had lunch at Lishen. They could have gone anywhere

649
00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:57.720
else that they wanted to go, but they wanted to

650
00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:00.599
come see. Next month we have another tour and it's

651
00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:03.440
four different states are coming to Baton Rouge and it's

652
00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:06.079
about antique districts, it's about center city.

653
00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:08.400
Where are they coming? They're coming back to.

654
00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:11.119
Dinner Springs for four different states. Now they're coming to

655
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:13.119
Dinner Springs to look at our downtown district. We have

656
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:15.480
so much to be proud of of what I have

657
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:16.359
accomplished there.

658
00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:21.480
Yeah, and historical, historical, historical, and you know, shout out

659
00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:22.400
to Donald Jennings.

660
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:27.200
Yeah, does the region mentioned Main Street, the Antique Merchants Association.

661
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:30.160
That's a valuable piece of our history and we can't

662
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:33.759
let that go. You know, we can do whatever you

663
00:33:33.799 --> 00:33:35.839
want to do something different, But you know what, those

664
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.640
shop owners are proud of what they have. Yeah, Okay,

665
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:41.279
some of them are so small they just support their hobby.

666
00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:44.359
But that's okay. You know, I love it, I do.

667
00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:46.960
I do. I love it too. Yeah. It's a key

668
00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:48.640
part is the integral part of our city.

669
00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:51.920
The historical aspect of what we have done since that time,

670
00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:53.640
because some of those buildings have dates on the front

671
00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:56.720
of them, these roze plaques that we put on there

672
00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:59.720
a couple of years ago to identify them as historical places.

673
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.039
Yeah, can't. You can't just buy that.

674
00:34:02.119 --> 00:34:05.400
You can't recreate that now, you can't decades decades and

675
00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:06.759
not centuries in the making.

676
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:08.480
Yeah, And that's what we have here.

677
00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:12.199
And a beautiful city hall. And if you if you

678
00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:17.039
live here and you've not toured our I don't know

679
00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:20.639
if you call it historic city hall. Yes, yeah, if

680
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:22.199
you haven't toured, that said, don't go to the real

681
00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:26.519
city hall. Tour let me let me clarify they're different.

682
00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:28.760
We have the old city Hall, which is the one

683
00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:30.639
on Matti Street that we have we used to call

684
00:34:30.679 --> 00:34:33.440
wet City Hall, which is the one on uh on

685
00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:36.639
By River Road Government Street Drive and that we lost

686
00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:38.599
during the flood. Yeah, and it has a nice pavilion

687
00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:41.159
there now that's available for the public to use. The

688
00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:44.280
Municipal Oaks Pavilion is what it's called. Yeah, there's one

689
00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:47.000
similar to it at at Spring Park. And now we

690
00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:50.119
have the new improved city Hall. Yes, but it's also

691
00:34:50.199 --> 00:34:52.360
located on one of the highest pieces of property in

692
00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:55.239
the city because it didn't flood. It's historical nature because

693
00:34:55.239 --> 00:34:57.119
it's been there for probably sixty or seventy years. It

694
00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:00.400
used to be a livings to State Bank and then

695
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.719
to make transition to trapping a wound to one and

696
00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:06.000
that's who we ended up leasing it from for recovery

697
00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:08.000
and ended up buying it because I got it for

698
00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.920
for ourself. We negotiated a really really good deal. Especially

699
00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:14.239
guess what it's paid for. It's surely serviceable. It's in

700
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:16.599
the heart of town and you've been through it. Oh yeah,

701
00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:19.119
it's it's it's perfectly fine. It's not the taj Mahall.

702
00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:20.559
It's City Hall.

703
00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:24.400
It's City Hall. And but I'll tell you I've been

704
00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:27.320
in your office many times and and you have one

705
00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:29.840
of the best views of the city because you open

706
00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:34.000
up that that window in the rear of that office

707
00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:35.199
and there is.

708
00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:37.360
A beautiful and distric Yeah, exactly right.

709
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:38.440
You can't beat that.

710
00:35:38.920 --> 00:35:40.559
No, it's a reminder of what we're here for.

711
00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:45.079
Amen to that. Okay, let me ask you h to

712
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:51.480
wrap this up. It's been ten years. A lot has changed.

713
00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:55.559
There's been so much positive change. You've I'm sure learned

714
00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:01.320
many things along the way. What would you say, or

715
00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:05.920
would you say if you could go back and do

716
00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:09.960
it over, you would have done it. Is there anything

717
00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:13.800
you would have done differently during the flood relative to

718
00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:16.159
the reaction to it.

719
00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:20.920
No, we just did what we thought was the right

720
00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:24.880
thing to do. Nobody has ever called me and said, well,

721
00:36:24.920 --> 00:36:26.239
I wish you could have done that. So I wish

722
00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:26.960
you could have done that.

723
00:36:27.719 --> 00:36:27.920
Uh.

724
00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:31.599
You know, people are when you're genuine with people, they

725
00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:35.239
truth really treat you with respect. And I appreciate that.

726
00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:37.000
But I'm just playing with trot.

727
00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:40.199
You know. I fust at you all the time for yeah, yeah,

728
00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:45.079
mister all right, mister Chapman.

729
00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:49.599
But it's uh, you know, it's it's it's the way

730
00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:52.199
that it's the way that we present ourselves. It's the

731
00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:53.960
way that we work with each other, the way that

732
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:55.920
we love each other. You know, I think a lot

733
00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:57.960
of times after you and I get through a conversation,

734
00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:00.960
I say love you, brother. And you know, there's some

735
00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:04.920
local pastors I want to brother Johnson, who started the

736
00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:08.320
Pentecostal church. He always wore a three piece suit. He

737
00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:10.960
was always so dressed up, and he was always so polite,

738
00:37:11.159 --> 00:37:13.320
and every time we talk, you say, mister Mayorthith and

739
00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:14.960
mister Meryorth And I said, why don't.

740
00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:15.440
You call me Girard.

741
00:37:15.480 --> 00:37:17.639
He said no, my daddy would kill me if he

742
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:21.079
heard you call you Gerard. And I said, okay, but

743
00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:23.079
it was a very very good man. But one of

744
00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:25.599
the things that he said that he's just profound to me,

745
00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:29.920
he's really civil. Just be kind, Yeah, just be kind,

746
00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:31.960
and that's all we really need.

747
00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:32.559
Just be kind.

748
00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:37.320
Amen to that. One more thing. I would love to

749
00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:40.519
have you on and we'll extend your record of appearances

750
00:37:41.239 --> 00:37:44.000
one more time, and we'll wait till it's about thirty

751
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:46.719
days out from you leaving office. And I would love

752
00:37:46.760 --> 00:37:51.199
to just do a podcast where we took the listeners

753
00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:56.599
and the viewers on a journey of your historic time

754
00:37:56.880 --> 00:38:03.480
as Denim Springs Mayor. I think you know obviously I

755
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:10.039
paid attention, and I know that you would never admit

756
00:38:10.119 --> 00:38:13.280
to it. But I always say this on every episode

757
00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:16.559
we've ever done. I don't believe I believe it. God

758
00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:21.039
puts people in specific places at specific times for specific things,

759
00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:26.480
and sometimes we don't understand that. I don't know that

760
00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:28.480
there's many people out there that could have been in

761
00:38:28.519 --> 00:38:31.840
your position and perform the way you did. I hope

762
00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:36.400
you know how much of a difference you made to

763
00:38:36.440 --> 00:38:42.039
the citizens that you serve. You were the calming hand.

764
00:38:43.079 --> 00:38:46.679
You were someone that you could look at and at

765
00:38:46.760 --> 00:38:51.000
least felt like, Gerard knows what he's doing, you know,

766
00:38:51.079 --> 00:38:53.159
even if you've maybe learning some things on the fly.

767
00:38:53.400 --> 00:38:57.920
But that's what we needed during that time. My shift

768
00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:02.280
in my mindset during this flood came when you spoke

769
00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:05.119
in front of Congress and you were so passionate about that,

770
00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:11.280
and you know, when you're running for office and you

771
00:39:11.400 --> 00:39:14.239
win office and you do a great job. I think

772
00:39:14.280 --> 00:39:19.159
of two people personally that I respect. One, obviously is

773
00:39:19.239 --> 00:39:23.960
Mayor Gerard Landry. Another is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who

774
00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:26.400
did a phenomenal job in Florida. And I bring that

775
00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:31.000
up because he's turning out he can't run anymore. And

776
00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:33.599
I have went through my life back and forth on

777
00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:36.280
term limits, and I'm like, uh, I like him because

778
00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:39.320
you know, it keeps someone from having power forever. And

779
00:39:39.440 --> 00:39:42.920
then I had a stage where I said, well, you know,

780
00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:45.039
it's a voter's choice, and if they want to run

781
00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:47.079
forever and people want them in office forever, they can

782
00:39:47.159 --> 00:39:50.280
vote for that, and back and forth. Rhanda Scientists is

783
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:53.719
a good example of someone that if you had it

784
00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:56.400
your way and you lived in Florida, you would probably

785
00:39:56.480 --> 00:40:00.480
never ever want to lose him. He's done a phenomenal

786
00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:04.639
job there, It really has I would I would say

787
00:40:04.679 --> 00:40:06.719
the other option to that is you you age out.

788
00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:09.039
You just get to a point where you want to

789
00:40:09.079 --> 00:40:13.400
do some other things in life and you want to

790
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:15.480
spend time with your family and your wife, and that's

791
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:20.480
where you're at. But I wish we could have kept

792
00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:21.000
you forever.

793
00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:23.719
And you know, I have a wonderful wife, and I

794
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:27.280
have seven children that are fantastic. I have thirteen grand

795
00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:30.239
babies that are fabulous, and now we have eleven great

796
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:35.079
grand babies that beat every other grand in the world. Yeah,

797
00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:37.760
so yes, we are aging out is a great way

798
00:40:37.800 --> 00:40:38.199
to put it.

799
00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:40.880
Yeah, And I don't mean that in a consulting way

800
00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:41.119
by any means.

801
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:42.400
I don't take it that way.

802
00:40:42.440 --> 00:40:44.039
Yeah, But at some point in time, you just have

803
00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:47.199
to realize, I've always tried to put family first, and

804
00:40:47.320 --> 00:40:49.400
that's good God. Family and then work. That's it's got

805
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:53.440
to be your priorities. And you know, I'm guilty of

806
00:40:53.480 --> 00:40:58.320
being an orcaholic. Work too hard, but you know it's good.

807
00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:01.039
Life is wonderful and and I want to be able

808
00:41:01.039 --> 00:41:03.280
to take some time to enjoy them.

809
00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:05.599
Yeah, and some of them need to know who great

810
00:41:05.639 --> 00:41:06.239
grap A is.

811
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:09.880
Amen. And I can't tell you how much we appreciate it.

812
00:41:09.960 --> 00:41:12.119
No one deserves it more than you. I love you, guys,

813
00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:16.039
love you. And so that's going to wrap us up.

814
00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:19.840
I want to thank everyone for listening, supporting, share the

815
00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.519
show wherever you get it. We got some more episodes

816
00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:27.800
focused around the decade since the Great Flood of twenty sixteen.

817
00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:32.000
Until next time, I'm Jim Chapman reminding you love your community,

818
00:41:32.119 --> 00:41:35.639
support local business, and keep leading. Thank you very much,