Love My LIVINGston | Buddy Mincey Jr. | Listen Up Livingston

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Hey everyone, and welcome to this
edition of Listen Up Livingston. It's a

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local leaders of podcast production. And
now if you're from Livingston Parrish, then

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the guy sitting across from me is
certainly recognizable to you. He's currently in

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his seventeenth year of public service,
the current state rep for District seventy one

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and a candidate for District thirteen State
Senate seat. So with that, I

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first want to say welcome Buddy Minsy
Junior to local Leaders of podcast. Good

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morning, thank you in this it's
a pleasure be here. Well, we're

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excited to talk to you, and
we got a lot we want to cover.

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You've you've been a busy guy.
Look when I research and I got

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y'all can't see this probably, but
I got a phone book in front of

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me of the stuff I've kept track
of. You certainly got some work ethic

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going, of course throughout your entire
life, I would say, and we're

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gonna try to cover the majority of
that. But before we do, I

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want to acknowledge a few thinks.
First. You do something I wish a

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lot more public officials would do,
and that is you don't shy away from

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using social media to get out your
message. As a matter of fact,

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when I was researching it's your Facebook's
amazing. Thank you. You very active

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with it. You keep people informed. I think that's very important. So

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whoever you know, don't I'm sure
you do a lot of that, but

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great job there. Uh, folks, I'm telling you go to Buddy Mincy

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Junior's Facebook page, give it a
like, and you will stay informed.

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If you are in Livingstone Perish,
it's one of the most active ones you'll

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find out there. So you also
keep keep people informed. From a podcast.

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A matter of fact, you're almost
a professional podcast. I would say

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by now you've you've really done a
good job of communicating. It's an important

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thing in public service. Uh.
And Mick David, who runs the Livingstone

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Parish News, you do podcast with
him both before and after legislative sessions.

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Uh, something extremely important. Look
today in this society, people are running

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all over the place and that's where
they're getting their information. So it's great

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when public officials do that. I
want to thank you for that. I

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think that's one of the most important
things you can do. So we're gonna

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get into you know, there was
an old show, y'all, this is

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your life is what it was called
if You're if you're old, people like

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me and Buddy and U and on
that show, they would kind of take

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you through a little journey of of
people in their life, and we're gonna

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do a little bit of that today. And before we do, I do

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want to mention this, Uh,
you just complete a three part series with

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McHugh. Part one was a legislative
wrap up, Part two was wrote in

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infrastructure, and part three was the
Amy River Basing Commission. Definitely go check

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those out, folks, And what
we're gonna do for you is we're going

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to link those in the show notes
and description of this video so that people

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can check that out, because this
one's gonna be a little different than it's

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gonna let people know a little bit
more about you behind the scenes, what

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you do with public service as well. So let's talk Buddy Mincy Junior,

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and I guess the best place to
start would be your history with the parish.

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You've been here a little while,
yeah, I have. And before

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i'd say that, let me let
me just say this on the communication.

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You know, one thing that I've
noticed is I think historically there's a little

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bit of a disconnect between the Capitol
and back home. Yeah, and you

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know, I think it's important for
people to know the efforts that as a

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legislator o that I'm doing. So
you know, after every session, you

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know, I usually try to do
something before session to talk about the things

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that we're fixing to work home,
and I try to do something after session

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to give a legislative update, and
then I'll probably travel and I try to

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go to as many civic organizations as
I can to let them know what I'm

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when I'm working on that. I
think it's important, you know. And

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you know we're gonna if we talk
about infrastructure anything. You know, people

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are frustrated living here. We've got
a great place to live, we've got

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a great school system, or quality
life brings them in, but the quality

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of life is compromised by the traffic
and those types of things, and people

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just get frustrated. And I think
they're frustrated because they sit back and they

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think nothing's being done. So I
think it's my job to try to let

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people know all the things that are
being done, so it kind of gives

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them a little bit of confidence.
We're working in a direction. So we

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do that, and I do all
my Facebook stuff, everything that's on there.

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Having a job for you that's whole
legislating things. Yeah, well,

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you know, and look, it's
you know a lot of people use Facebook

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for different things. You know,
a lot of them have their agenda,

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they exercise their agenda, and a
lot don't use it to to be negative.

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And I try to be positive at
all times unless I'm correcting a record

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on something. And I think it's
just another thing of just letting people know

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the things that we're involved. And
and I'm real blessed. My wife goes

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with me to almost everything that we
do, and so she's a part of

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that. And so we we love
our community and and and I don't mind

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letting people know that. Yeah,
and it really shows you, you know.

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Uh. One thing I'll say about
you is not only are you on

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you know, the the Internet and
you're you're doing the podcast and you're keeping

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people informed on Facebook, but you
are approachable at functions. Absolutely. You

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speak at everything from the Livingston Young
Professionals to the the Republican Women's Committee and

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all these all these uh organizations and
make yourself very available. That's absolutely that's

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important and it matters. And and
you've been doing it for years. This

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ain't something you just started yesterday.
No. I Look, I've I've always

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been very active in my community,
very engaged in my community. I can't

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say it enough. I'm very proud
of where I'm from and who I am

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and and so this has just been
something natural. And I never really did

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Facebook, but whenever I started,
I just started documenting it. I'm still

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the same person I was a long
time ago. I still went and did

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and support it and try to be
involved. And now I just document it

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more. Yeah, and it's convenient. It's convenient for the constituent to get

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an idea of what's going on at
the Capitol without you know, necessarily having

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to go to them, right.
You know, people get busy, they

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have jobs and lives, and you
respect that and you make it easy for

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you. Yeah. And look,
I tell you another thing that's important about

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that is I do everything I can
to promote our parish and all the great

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things that we're doing, all the
great organizations and their groups, and the

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great people and talented people that we
have. So a lot of what I

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do, I try to promote that. It helps me at the Capitol that

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people can relate to Livingston Parish.
Yes, and I want them to know

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that we're that we have a great
thing going on here, and I'm proud

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of where we're from, right amen. And uh, and so we're gonna

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get into a little a little bit
of that. You've been here your entire

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life. Yes, Uh. You
graduated from Denham Springs High School, go

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jackets Jacket. And you continued on
in your education from Southeastern. You got

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your degree. What was that?
I got a degree in industrial technology.

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Supervision was my specialty. I started
out in mechanical engineering at LSU, and

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I transferred to UH to Southeastern and
finished my degree. They're very good,

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very good. And uh. You
continued about life and at some point you

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decided you want to start a family. Yes, and so tell us about

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your family a little bit. Yeah. You know, so I've always loved

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kids, and I actually couldn't wait
to be a dad. And you know,

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I met my wife, Michelle,
and you know, knew pretty much

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right away that she was the one. You know, it's one of those

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things you go home and you know, I was, you know, twenty

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four, twenty five ish, and
I went home and the first time I

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met her, and I told my
mom I said, I met a really

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exceptional young lady tonight, and uh
and I and I and I told my

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mom about her. And that was
the first time we met, and it

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was months before we ever, you
know, went out or anything. But

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she's I'm very blessed. And she's
school teacher, teaches at seventh Ward Elementary,

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been there for thirties to see Finnish
start a thirty second year. Yeah,

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and we've raised three phenomenal young ladies. I wanted a football team,

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but the Good Lord blessed me with
a softball player, a homecoming queen,

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and my youngest showed cows, but
three daughters and they my oldest is a

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nurse, my middle one is a
teacher, and my youngest one's in a

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third year of best school. So
we're very very blessed, very blessed.

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And I just want to touch on
this, and I was doing my research

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and I want to read this to
the people listening, just real quick,

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giving my idea of how important your
family is to you. When you announced

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your bid for state Senate, you
had put a couple of posts up and

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I thought it kind of spoke to
who you were, and it says my

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family strengthens me. They inspire me
to work hard and do my best for

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Livingstone Parish in our great state.
And what I love about that post is

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not only the acknowledgement, but if
you look at the picture, folks,

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he's got four beautiful ladies staring at
him and just admiring. You know,

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you can tell that that that's daddy, right, and and that's my husband

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in Miss Michelle's case, And uh, that really tells me. Uh,

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you know, family's important to you
absolutely, and uh and your backbone and

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you're right, I mean, they
strengthen us as men. So you go

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on to mention Miss Michelle specifically,
and you talked about her a few minutes

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ago and how she attends you know, I see her at almost everything you're

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at, and I think that's a
beautiful thing. But you wrote, Mischelle

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keeps me grounded. She is the
greatest supporter and my toughest critic. She

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is normally by my side at most
events. My public service would not be

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possible without her support. I mean
every word of that, don't you absolutely

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you know when we when uh,
you know my my personality, I'm I'm

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gonna allow nothing kind of guy.
And I either give it everything I have.

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I don't want to be involved.
And when I as a school board

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member, I was very engaged and
very active, and she couldn't imagine me

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doing anything that would take up more
of my time. So when I got

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ready to run for the house,
literally for six months, she would not

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even speak to me about running,
Like she's like, no, I'm not

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gonna We're not even talking about it. And finally she sat down and she

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gave it some consideration, and she
gave me the approval to do it.

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And but she goes with me.
She loves the community as much as I

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do. Yeah, she probably attends
ninety five to ninety eight percent of everything

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I do, whether it's here or
in Baton Rouge. And it's because she

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supports me, and it's because she
believes in what we're doing and she wants

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to be a part as well.
And it's so it's a good thing that

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she does, because if she didn't, we might not see each other too

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much. Yeah, that's right,
I mean, because you stay busy and

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and uh, look, she's a
force. She's a great lady, great

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personality. She's a teacher here and
it just seems like the perfect fit for

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you. And how long have y'all
been married. We've been married since nineteen

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ninety three, thirty thirty years.
Very good, she's she's it's been.

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It's been great, yes, indeed. And and I'll share a little story

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with you. And because you spoke
in that in that post about about keeping

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you grounded and and all those sorts
of things, that's it reminded me of,

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uh, you know, with what
I do, and I feel blessed

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to be able to sit down and
talk to people like you, and uh,

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the success has just been something I
never would have foreseen. And at

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one point, another podcast I'm affiliated
with hitting number one in the whole world,

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not just the United States, the
whole world. So at one point

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in time that podcast was being listened
to by more people than any podcast in

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the world. I'm not saying this
to braggo, but I'm saying this to

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make a point. So I go
home. You know, I got my

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chest puffed out a little bit,
buddy, mister, I'm excited. I'm

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feeling important. I go home,
and I have been sending my wife's screenshots

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of this all day long. And
I get home and I said, so,

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you know, that's a pretty big
dealing number one in the world,

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you know. And she says,
you've done good, and I'm proud of

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you, but I need to go
check the air and the tires, I

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said. She was certainly seriously brought
me down to reality. But us at

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us as as as man, we
need that's round and that's what our wives

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do for us. So I just
love that lady. And and uh and

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all she does to support you.
Now we're gonna get into and you just

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brought it up. At some point
you got into your public life. And

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I love this story and it involves
your wife and y'all went to a school

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board meeting, right, so kind
of tell us about that what happened?

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Yeah, you know, as a
you know, all my life, I

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guess I've been in leadership positions,
you know, school, college, professionally,

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and you know, I never never
once wanted to be an elected official.

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And the fact just the opposite.
My dad was a Paris councilman for

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sixteen years. He was a very
dedicated, true public servant, try to

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help everybody it consumed him. And
I saw this dedication and and and I

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and you know, I I didn't
I didn't want that in my life,

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you know. I had a family, I was, you know, raising

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and you know I I didn't want
to I didn't want to have that that

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commitment and and and do all those
things. Yeah, and uh, you

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know he whenever he would. We
used to be have phone books a long

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time ago. Yeah, and uh, I was one line off of his.

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It was Buddy and Linda and Buddy
Junior and Michelle and I used to

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get half his phone calls. And
so it was something that I just I

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didn't want this. And we went
to I went to my wife went to

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a schoolboard meeting and it was the
U had a parish white issue going on

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a pretty big, big event.
And I went just to stand by her

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side, just to be with her. And I walked in and I really

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saw an opportunity for me to apply
my leadership to something I'm very proud of,

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very proud of my parish. I'm
a product of our school system,

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very proud of a school system.
I walked in as someone who would never

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run for an office. And I
walked out and I told her i'ma run

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for school board. And we did
that for thirteen years. Yeah, man,

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what a run you had. And
I want to talk about that for

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a minute. Uh you know you
that was two thousand and seven. Seven,

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Okay, two started serving and seven
it's two thousand and seven and you

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start serving. I think it was
within a year, so you became president.

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No, it it took me.
Malcolm Sidley was our board president at

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that time, which I think,
uh, Keith Martin was the first.

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And then Malcolm got reelected back and
I just sat back. I was vice

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president for a long time, but
you know, I was just there to

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do my thing and when at the
end, as whenever I became board president.

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Yeah, and and luck what a
run for Livingston Parish schools during that

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time. Yeah, we had you
know, Lo, we have a phenomenal

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school system. Our school system is
the economic engine of our parish. There's

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nothing more important to our state than
education. And I don't think there's anything

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more important to our parish than our
school system. Just became known as the

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place to go, you know.
And that's what's the problem with success times.

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People people have issues with growth in
in some ways. And I had

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my thoughts on both ends of that
spectrum. But uh, look, when

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you have a successful school system,
they're gonna come that They're gonna come because

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they want to be a part of
that. That means you're doing something right

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right. Your leadership in that role
was was really something that I followed and

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I watched and I said, wow. I started having kids around that point,

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and I was very very proud and
glad that I didn't have to send

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him to a private school and Pale
I was like Livingston. I told people

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all the time, Livingston Parish public
schools are like private schools everywhere else that

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you could pay thousands and thousands as
dollars for us. So be very proud

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of that. Uh. And you
mentioned your dad, Buddy Mency Senior,

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who served the parish for as long
as I can remember, but I'm sure

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he had some influence on you in
a lot of ways. Kind of tell

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us about that. How is positive
influence was? You know? So my

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dad, there's you know, there's
he he wasn't perfect, but he worked

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really hard to serve our community.
And there's two things that he taught me

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growing up. It was either lead, follow or get out of the way.

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Yeah, and then no matter what
you do, you do you very

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best. And I think both of
those two concepts are really who I am

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to my core. And so he
was a very positive influence, you know,

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and and a great dad. I
lived right next to him. I'm

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a junior. A lot of people
got us confused for all those years.

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And uh, you know, I
lost him in two thoy seventeen. You

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know, he's he he's very missed. But he was a he was a

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true public servant. He really truly
tried to help people. Yeah, and

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and he was a great example.
Well you say, and you just said

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something that you know appeals to me. And I believe, I believe there's

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certain innate traits that that people have
as they go through life that are a

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gift from their parents and or who
influenced them most. And in your case,

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it seems like he gave you a
hack of a work ethic. Oh

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lord, Yes, he raised me
to work and yeah, physically work.

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Yeah. And and I'm to this
day, I'm still that guy. I

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mean, I'll fall in and and
and put my work gloves on and go

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to work with anyone. But but
that's that's how I was raised. Yeah,

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very good. And and uh so
you continue on, you go through

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the school system and and uh and
things are looking up. Uh, you

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know, very critical times back then
for the the school system and something happens

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and look, facts, I want
you, I want you to listen in

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now. This is important. This
is a key moment in to me in

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your career in public service. And
it speaks absolute volumes about this guy.

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And that is twenty sixteen. Hits
twenty sixteen. Now we love our parish,

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buddy mencies. And number one,
uh, it's all under water,

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that's right. But number two,
you got schools got to think about in

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the process of this. They can't
just be I've got to gut my house

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and or what have you. It's
you've got a huge responsibility. Now,

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how many schools were destroyed? So
and I think we had nineteen sites parish

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wide that was flooded. And uh, Dinner Springs. You know, as

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our districts are set up where I
was, I'm directly over the Dinner Springs

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district. I'm one of three.
And we had we've got fourteen campuses and

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ten of them were flooded and and
three of them had to be torn down.

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And you know, I remember eighty
three very well. I was young.

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I've been around floods all my life. I've always helped people sand bag,

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I've moved their possessions return their possessions, tear their houses, you know,

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redo them if their flood. So
I've always been involved in that,

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engaged in that, and I remember
eighty three. Well, I remember the

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schools that flooded in eighty three.
So we were trying to you know,

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you know, I was on the
phone until the very last minute trying to

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work with our principles to get prepared
for this and where can we put sand

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bags and where can we park buses? And we had no idea what was

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in front of us, but it
was, uh, it was you know,

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our ninety four percent of our parish
end result was flooded, and it

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just decimated us. And it broke
my heart. I mean, you know,

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my my house flooded. But you
know I I had spent you know,

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the the prior years to that,
almost ten years of facility improvements in

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the Dim Springs area. We probably
had directly over about sixty five million and

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couple of improvements, a couple of
new campuses in there, but most all

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that work was lost. You know. We had just we had just expanded

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south Side Junior High Campus to the
accommodate a thousand people, uh thousand kids,

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which was the max that we wanted
to grow that campus too. We

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used it for a week and uh
and it flooded. We had just expanded

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uh south Side Elementary to a capacity
of seven hundred. We just built a

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three million dollar facility, used it
one week and it was underwater. So

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it was look at. You know, it's it's tough to you know,

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it's tough to deal with the community
loss. It's tough to deal with the

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personal loss. But I'm gonna tell
you the the lost our school system was

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was just it was very tough on
me. But our school system is resilient,

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Our parish is resilient, and I'm
really proud of what our efforts were.

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I think within twenty days we were
back in school. And I think

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within one hundred and eighty one hundred
and eight days we had three modular campuses

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erected for three campus that had to
be completely torn down. Yeah, and

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you know, Joe Murphy was really
over that hurricane, that that that flood

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recovery. He did a phenomenal job. But this whole parish come together and

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and that's what we do, and
it was what we do. It was

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a great thing to be a part
of. And you know, it's but

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it was it was pretty tough to
go through it. Really. Uh.

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I don't think if you did,
if you weren't here in the midst of

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it, anybody could even grasp what
it was. And and uh, I'll

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share something real quick because I think
it's it's important to this story. And

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that is uh, you know,
like everybody else uh flooded had it nearly

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six feet in my house and and
uh and two twin girl, beautiful twin

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girls that were ten at the time. My son was twelve. And we

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had about fifteen minutes to get out
of that house and get on the Highway

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sixteen right there, Vincent Road,
and that's what we did. And for

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three days, uh you know,
it was it was a thousand people on

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that road, no way to get
out here in an island. Uh.

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We eventually there's a long story to
that, but I said, I gotta

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get my family out of here.
We get in a vehicle and I and

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I take off down juven road.
And the Good Lord bless me because there

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was an eighteen winner in front of
me that made awake and I was able

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to follow that wake. But during
that process, both sides of juven you

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know, those are big ditches in
there, and and uh, you couldn't

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see the road from the ditches,
and there were people swamped everywhere. There

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was a lady on top of her
car with a baby. I had to

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drive right by it because I would
have been stop. Yeah. Uh,

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and my wife crying and I thought
she was crying because she was scared,

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you know. And I'm like,
I got this, you know, I

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do this all the time. And
I'm driving down and she kind of hits

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me on the arm and she says, no, look at that. And

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I looked over and there's people launching
boats just like you would think they were

336
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wanting to Lake mar Paul to say, people, and she said, that's

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our people. That's right, that's
our people. It wasn't police, it

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wasn't fireman, it was welders,
it was builders. It was just people

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getting out there and helping people.
And it changed me, changed me as

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a person. And so when people
ask me about that situation, I always

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tell them it was the worst time
of my life and the best time of

342
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my life, and all at the
same time. I could not imagine being

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in your position, Joe Murphy's position, the school board's position. But I

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can tell you this, my kids
were in a temporary building, so they

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they were they were going to say
outside Junior High. Uh, they set

346
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up t buildings at the Jupian Park
and that's where they went for their middle

347
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school career. And I'd never seen
a school board and a school system in

348
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general pull off which y'all pulled off. I shout out to every one of

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you, and I mean that,
uh, folks. What that told me

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was the leadership ability was there.
You're not gonna go through tougher things than

351
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that. Most likely that that was
a that was a landmark thing in your

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life that I thought was very important
to put out there. And you learned

353
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a lot, but I think,
in my opinion, probably one of the

354
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biggest things you learned was that there's
nothing you can't handle. That's right,

355
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Yeah, you know, and look, just to put it in perspective,

356
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our school system had about one hundred
million dollars in loss. Ninety five percent

357
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of that was in dental springs.
Yeah, and so it was it was

358
00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:00.640
it was really just just overwhelming.
But you know, that's just from a

359
00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.720
school perspective. But if you look
back at the community, our community was

360
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just we was all decimated. I
mean, we we flooded. You know,

361
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we we evacuated and slept on the
floor of a school. We some

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you know, a neighbor took us
in and you know, while we were

363
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prepared at our house. And there's
so many stories like that. But it's

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our parents coming together and working together
and overcoming and that's what we do.

365
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And that's why we're so proud of
it, because I don't know many parishes

366
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that could have pulled a third left
yas right and in that I believe.

367
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Now we'll move on to some more
positive things and and uh, but before

368
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we get beyond your your school school
board career, I do want to say

369
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a couple of things that I personally
hold in very high regard in our schools

370
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here. And you played a big
role in both of these things, one

371
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of them being the RTC progress.
Yeah, man, that's a great look,

372
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y'all. Not everybody's got our RTC. And I'll tell you what,

373
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I get goose bumps every time that
flag comes out at Denham High then football

374
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games, and they're doing nothing but
respect in our country and uh, and

375
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all of that uh did not exist
ten years against right, that's right.

376
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You helped with that. You were
one of the key components of that tell

377
00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:14.599
us about that. Yeah, you
know, so I uh, I spent

378
00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.240
two years of ROTC to l s
U. Yeah, and I had an

379
00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:21.799
injury at the time and which would
prevent me from being able to do anything

380
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for other to enlist. If if
I took any more in OLDTC, I

381
00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:29.200
had to enlist. But our RTC
programs are are phenomenally. I mean,

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I think our military, Uh,
there's nothing more patriotic. There's no greater

383
00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:38.039
civic you know, uh ability to
serve and so uh you know, I

384
00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:44.319
completely respected, admire, our our
ol of our military and the ROTC.

385
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.160
You know, it was an opportunity
to to expose some of our kids to

386
00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:52.599
those things and get some of those
soft skills and in their lives before and

387
00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:55.519
then even to introduce them and see
if they go into the military. But

388
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we didn't. Uh you know,
Walker had one first Yea and I toured

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00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:03.599
their their facility and toured and saw
they I spoke with the kids, and

390
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I saw the impact. I saw
the group of kids that were being that

391
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:10.119
would be in touch that they were. There was our own little niche that

392
00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:12.720
didn't have anything else and uh as
a dental springs board member, I wanted

393
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:18.200
one. Yeah. Yeah, we
went back and we went through the process

394
00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:22.319
and uh it was gonna take ten
years to get one. And I called

395
00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:23.720
Congressman Graves and I said, I
said, Congressman, I said, I

396
00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.279
can't wait ten years. I need
some help. So he helped us get

397
00:26:26.359 --> 00:26:30.319
us get one in three and uh
so, and it was a it was

398
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:33.880
a phenomenal addition to to uh to
you know, already a school that provides

399
00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:37.759
a lot of services, and uh
so it's it's a great I'm very proud

400
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:40.799
of our RTC and those kids,
you know, they do a phenomenal job

401
00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:44.000
of representing O our parish. But
we've got uh we've got a lot of

402
00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:47.079
them who were moving on and and
becoming you know, career military. So

403
00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:49.079
uh, I'm very proud of us. It's a very great thing in our

404
00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.400
parish. Absolutely. And and as
a father who who had all three of

405
00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:59.200
his kids through that RTC program,
I can tell you, uh, you

406
00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:03.720
know, it's nothing better but for
in my opinion, for that uh STEM

407
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:08.480
Center another another beautiful part of this
UH school system here in Livingstone Parish that

408
00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:15.440
uh that is really second to nine. Everything from the the uh you know,

409
00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.279
the production that they do over there. One of one of my daughters

410
00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:23.799
is going into production at LSU and
a big part of that was her her

411
00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:30.440
early life in the STEM Center and
dealing with that so so phenomenal stuff.

412
00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:36.359
Folks with. Be pride of your
parish and especially pride of your school system.

413
00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:41.960
So in twenty nineteen, you make
a decision and you you decide that

414
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:45.519
you want to you want to further
your public service but in a different role,

415
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:52.319
and you run for the state up
seat for your district, and you

416
00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:57.880
know, crowded, crowded competition in
that district that year, but you still

417
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:03.680
pull forty five per cent of the
revote. Uh ne' you almost made it

418
00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:08.319
through even with a crowded field,
without going into a runoff. In the

419
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:14.519
runoff, seventy seven percent. Wow, Yeah, we got in seven out

420
00:28:14.519 --> 00:28:18.079
of every ten we had. You
know, we got set. We got

421
00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:22.039
forty five percent in the field,
A five yes and uh four Republicans and

422
00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:25.759
uh, you know, I think
it's just a correlation to you know,

423
00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:29.000
the service and the you know,
all the hard work that we put in,

424
00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:33.680
and you know, I you know, I really enjoyed. I was

425
00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:37.519
Its very rewarding for me to be
a part of the school system, you

426
00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:40.880
know. And but I'll tell you, you know, one of the reasons

427
00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:45.079
I got involved in the legislative process
was in Bobby Gendall's second administration, they

428
00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:51.440
they started their educational reform. Now
that educational reform was more about prod posture

429
00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:55.559
and him to be the next president
and and less about what was best for

430
00:28:55.720 --> 00:28:59.680
the future of Louisiana in my opinion. So as a school board member,

431
00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:02.640
you know, after every session,
you know, we got our nose busted

432
00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:04.279
a little bit, and we got
our lip blooded a little bit, and

433
00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:07.119
it you know, it was tough, you know, and so you know,

434
00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.160
we we had legislators that were voting
on our behalf, that were not

435
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:15.839
reflecting what was best for Liberston Parish. So I got involved in the legislative

436
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.440
process and started reaching out to legislators. Every session, I asked, you

437
00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:22.079
know, I got the school board
to have a collective breakfast every year we

438
00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:26.119
bring legislators in and we tried to
let them our legislators, Liberty Parish legislators.

439
00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:30.400
Yes, we wanted them to know
what these this legislation, how it's

440
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:36.039
impacting us. And so I got
very engaged in the legislative process, and

441
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:40.559
that really kind of helped me along
to go to the Capitol. Never really

442
00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:44.759
had the aspirations to do anything else. I was very reluctant to lead the

443
00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.720
school system because I was very confident
where I was and I was I felt

444
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:52.000
really good about the impact we were
having. And but you know, I

445
00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:55.599
was approached to run for the House
and I thought it was it was an

446
00:29:55.640 --> 00:30:00.039
opportunity for me to do more.
I never really envisioned how much more I

447
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.480
would be able to do because I
think we've made a difference, and I

448
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.119
think we've made a difference in education. You know, I've been an advocate

449
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:11.480
for protecting Liberston Paris public school systems
at the Capitol and we've we've been active

450
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:15.200
with everything else. So this is
you know, it's it's it's a lot.

451
00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:21.000
I've it's been a lot more rewarding
than I thought because we've had four

452
00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:23.160
really good years. Yeah, you
really have. And and I'll tell you

453
00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:26.680
this, Uh, you would be
hard pressed, in my opinion, to

454
00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:33.279
find anyone at the Capitol that is
more uh to bardon the pun, but

455
00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:38.519
educated on education than you are.
You just got flight out of experience and

456
00:30:38.519 --> 00:30:42.759
and and a lot of it,
and that's to be respected. Uh.

457
00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:48.880
You know other legislators take note of
that. Uh, you know, just

458
00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:52.519
the stuff you've been through. You've
been through these floods and and I'm a

459
00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:56.039
big believer, and you lean on
people with that knowledge. And uh,

460
00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:00.000
and you don't reinvent wheels if you
don't have to. And and so you

461
00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.519
did. You took off and you
said it earlier, you said, when

462
00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:07.240
I do something, I do it
one hundred percent. And one hundred percent

463
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:14.440
you did in twenty twenty shining star. The awards that that you got that

464
00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:18.400
year and the pats on the back
or are vast. One of the ones

465
00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:23.039
that stands out to me, of
course, being a business podcast primarily and

466
00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:30.400
a leadership podcast, is you're the
MVP of Lobby. The Louisiana Association of

467
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.319
Business and Industry scorecard one hundred percent. Yah, can't do better than a

468
00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:37.960
one hundred percent. So I mean
that speaks volumes to me. As a

469
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:44.720
matter of fact. With Lobby,
you've never scored undred ninety something. Uh,

470
00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:48.640
you've you have two All Star awards
with them as well, but that

471
00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:52.400
year in particular, you got an
A plus writing from the Louisiana Sheriff's Association

472
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:57.400
on their scorecard. That's something to
be proud of. I support that association

473
00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:01.599
actually, so very good, very
good work being done there. But here's

474
00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:07.920
the one I really like, the
Conservative Excellence Award uh ninety one percent American

475
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:15.039
Conservative Union, which is the ACU
foundation. Uh score card. You were

476
00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:20.920
the twenty twenty conservative voting record in
Louisiana's House of Representative on on that score

477
00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:25.640
card of ninety one percent uh and
Conservative Excellence Awards or something to be proud

478
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:30.559
of. Yeah, and you know
what what use I mean, that's your

479
00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:35.759
voting record, right, that's what
that's what you're doing. And and uh,

480
00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:38.039
you know, people that are are
more ignorant to that might think that,

481
00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:45.599
uh you know, maybe even try
to attack that conservative nature that you

482
00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:49.319
have. Well the person to putting
Yeah, you know, uh, there's

483
00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:52.359
a there's a it's easy to call
people names, for sure. And there's

484
00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:55.839
a lot of people who try to
call me a rhino because they try to

485
00:32:55.880 --> 00:33:00.559
make me into something that I'm not. But you know, to your point

486
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:05.480
in twenty you know Cepack, you
know, which is the world's largest conservative

487
00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:09.839
group uh spack scores state and federal
legislators every year on their conservative voting record.

488
00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:14.559
And I didn't even know that they
they did that. But after,

489
00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:16.720
you know, they come out with
the scores. They probably scored us on

490
00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:22.319
fifty bills on how conservative we voted. And in twenty twenty I had the

491
00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:27.319
the the the highest. I was
a number one conservative legislator in the Louisiana

492
00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:30.400
House of Representatives. And and in
fact that year I was, I was

493
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:35.279
number five all time. And they're
all their records for for for for Louisiana.

494
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:37.960
So I've you know, look,
yeah, oh yeah, they they

495
00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:42.599
so I look, I I represent, I'm I'm conservative. Sure, I

496
00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:45.519
don't have to go out there and
and run around telling everybody how conservative I

497
00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:49.960
am. It's it's not it's not
a game to say that I'm more conservative

498
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:52.519
than somebody else. I'm conservative,
and and my record speaks for that,

499
00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:57.759
and and so's it speaks for that, not in just what I say,

500
00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:00.799
but it speaks in that and what
my records are. And I'll put my

501
00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:06.119
records next to anybody absolutely and and
look, that's how you don't listen to

502
00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:08.760
what somebody says. Let's look at
their look at their records. Because people

503
00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:13.360
can say anything. Uh so I
look at records, and you're right.

504
00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:16.639
Seepack is the the the cats me
out when it comes to that. And

505
00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:21.719
when they say, you know you're
legit, You're legit as far as I'm

506
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:27.280
concerned. Uh. So you also
did had another award that year, uh,

507
00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:31.719
the Patrick Hemmey Award, which is
another favorite of mine, Outstanding Family

508
00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:37.480
Advocate Award for votes on life,
liberty and limited government. That's right.

509
00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:44.599
How about that on your scorecard again? So you you had a twenty twenty

510
00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:46.559
a rookie year. I guess you
could say that was that was like Drew

511
00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:52.280
Brees or something. You're just just
killing it out there. And was that

512
00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:54.760
that was your first year? Were
there some things at the Capitol that you

513
00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:57.920
were like, Wow, man,
I didn't know it functioned this way.

514
00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:01.480
I didn't you know, you know
of adjustment? Uh? Oh, absolutely,

515
00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:05.840
you know. You know. I
tried to be as prepared as I

516
00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:07.039
can. I was. I was
a good boy scout, and I tried

517
00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:10.639
to be as prepared as I possibly
can. Before I became a school board

518
00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:15.239
member, I attended school board meetings
for an entire year. I didn't miss

519
00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:17.639
a meeting. I setting them back, didn't ask questions, I just observed.

520
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:22.119
I observed the processes, the policies, the dynamics between the board members.

521
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.239
So whenever I was elected, I
was ready to serve. And I

522
00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:29.639
did the same thing going to the
capitol. I went to committee meetings,

523
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:32.840
I went to the floor and watched, and I tried to prepare myself as

524
00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:37.159
the best that I could. I've
always had great, great working relationships with

525
00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:43.599
the Livingston delegation that preceded me,
Roger Spoke and the Alerty, so we

526
00:35:43.719 --> 00:35:45.920
talked shop all the time. Yeah, and I really thought when I got

527
00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:50.239
elected that I was ready to go
up there and ready to serve. But

528
00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:53.360
you have no idea or it's like
to be a legislator until you get a

529
00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:58.079
note in that chamber and as rails
and you know, and the twenty twenty

530
00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:00.199
was unique. You know. We
started off I think we was gonna have

531
00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:05.559
four hundred and seventy something million and
surplus. We were all excited about all

532
00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:08.559
the great things we were gonna do, teacher pay raises, infrastructure projects,

533
00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:13.239
and you know, within a in
a few weeks, COVID hits and we

534
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:15.639
shut down and we come back and
we're a billion in the hole. So

535
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:21.079
uh, you know, twenty and
what I think that was pretty remarkable about

536
00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:22.719
that year. So, you know, the session, you've got a you've

537
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:27.199
got a lot of bills to cover, and we lost a third of it

538
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:30.320
just because of COVID. Yeah,
and instead of pushing those bills aside or

539
00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:34.840
reducing that workload, you know,
leadership, House leadership said we're gonna do

540
00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:37.119
the people's work. So we kept
our pace, we kept our budgets,

541
00:36:37.480 --> 00:36:42.239
and we had some ten twelve hour
debates, you know, with over bills.

542
00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:45.719
But we uh, it was like
drinking from our firewater holes, truly.

543
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:47.599
Yeah, And and you know,
so that's how we were. We

544
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:52.840
were introduced to it, but it
was it was a big transition. COVID

545
00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:55.239
made that worse. And but but
we I think we did well. You

546
00:36:55.320 --> 00:37:00.440
did and you and you made it
through and and continued your your work there,

547
00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:07.360
uh, you know, continue to
rack up at numerous awards. Uh.

548
00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:09.480
They hadn't even released the twenty twenty
three yet, but I'm sure you're

549
00:37:09.480 --> 00:37:13.639
gonna you're gonna load up there.
One of the other ones I liked in

550
00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:16.800
twenty twenty two, just most recently, uh, Friends of the Industry Award

551
00:37:16.840 --> 00:37:22.519
for the Louisiana Nursery Landscape Association.
It's a big deal. Yeah, there's

552
00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:27.679
there's a lot of people out there
that uh, from landscape guys to grass

553
00:37:27.719 --> 00:37:31.039
cutters to you name it, that
you stand behind them. Yeah, that's

554
00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:36.960
right. And so that's a that's
a great thing. The Conservative uh excuse

555
00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:42.519
me, Conservation Champion Award for Coastal
conservation another important thing. Yeah, you

556
00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:45.159
know our look, our our coast
is important to live us in Paris,

557
00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:50.639
you know, and you know it's
it's not such a sexy topic for us

558
00:37:50.679 --> 00:37:53.519
because we're not on the coast,
but that coast, protecting that coast is

559
00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:58.599
a is a it's the buffer to
protect us as a parish on these storms

560
00:37:58.679 --> 00:38:02.239
roll in. So I'm very involved. And the Coastal Restoration this and right

561
00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:07.480
here is actually this is a CCA
award they give us for our conservation efforts

562
00:38:07.079 --> 00:38:10.079
and there and so you know,
I'm very proud of that. And we

563
00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:14.079
try to work with with all the
any of the industry groups that we can

564
00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:17.400
align with. Absolutely absolutely, And
we're gonna get into, you know,

565
00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:21.960
with all these awards and things that
that you have, one, we're gonna

566
00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:24.000
get into some of the things that
led you to that and we're going to

567
00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:29.719
talk about some bills that that stood
out to me that you know, I'm

568
00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:34.440
out in the community and talking to
people and and you and I both hear

569
00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:39.119
you know, concerns and and things
that you've fortunately been working And first of

570
00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:42.960
all, I wanted to bring this
up because this and really impressed me when

571
00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:45.360
I when I got the actual number, and that was the amount of infrastructure

572
00:38:45.400 --> 00:38:50.000
money that you brought in. Infrastructure
you mentioned at the beginning, Yes,

573
00:38:50.079 --> 00:38:53.599
it's a huge concern. Anytime you
have growth, you're gonna have infrastructure problems

574
00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:58.320
because you don't put up ten lane
roads when you don't have the people there

575
00:38:58.360 --> 00:39:00.960
to drive on them. And then
by the time you get the people,

576
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:05.079
you're always kind of behind. It
seems like you kind of started off in

577
00:39:04.920 --> 00:39:07.760
a in a tough position because the
growth was already there, but the infrastructure

578
00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:12.840
wasn't. But you've been working hard. You've got a lot of money coming

579
00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:16.079
this way, and that's a fight
because everybody's fighting for that money. Were

580
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:20.679
okay, so Ali about competition,
Yes, yes, but you know I've

581
00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:23.599
been dealing with growth for seventeen years. For thirteen years on the school board,

582
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:28.039
I dealt with the growth in our
campuses and our facilities and always trying

583
00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:30.920
to I was always very proactive and
trying to get ahead. And I think

584
00:39:30.920 --> 00:39:34.679
whenever I left the school board,
we were in a really good positions for

585
00:39:35.079 --> 00:39:39.000
growth, and so I've always been
trying to respond the best I could.

586
00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:42.760
And infrastructure is no different. You
know, we live in one of the

587
00:39:42.760 --> 00:39:46.440
fastest growing parts of the state and
that's because of our school system, right

588
00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:51.920
and you know, so I infrastructure
we're thirty years behind just because of that

589
00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:54.920
growth. And we you know,
when we've came in, we started,

590
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.840
you know, I wanted to try
to figure out strategically what's best for our

591
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:01.400
parish. I didn't want to be
what I thought was best, but I

592
00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:04.320
want to see what was best for
the parish. So a couple of things

593
00:40:04.360 --> 00:40:07.119
that we've done, you know,
one center to Pope and I have been

594
00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:10.119
meeting for the last two years with
the Mayor of Walker and Mayor of Denham.

595
00:40:10.159 --> 00:40:16.079
We're bringing DTD, we're bringing close
to the the the planning Commission for

596
00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:21.119
the Batonage area. And we we
come in and we've been meeting. We

597
00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:23.519
try to meet monthly unless we're in
session or holidays and that type of thing.

598
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:30.360
And we're trying to strategically identify what
are the solutions to our our problems.

599
00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:32.320
I've been focusing on my district,
which is the Dentham Springs and Walker

600
00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:37.239
area, But what are those what
are those solutions, and then what's the

601
00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:39.440
priorities. So we set in the
priorities and then then we're going after funding.

602
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:44.639
And we've been very very active.
I think we've we've made tremendous strides.

603
00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:46.880
And whenever I was elected in two
thousand, Before I was elected in

604
00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:52.800
two thousand and nineteen, I think
we had eighty two point one million and

605
00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:55.800
capital outlay total for the parish.
Yeah, that's money to be spent that

606
00:40:55.880 --> 00:41:00.239
year, but it's also money over
the duration of our project. And four

607
00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:02.119
years we've doubled that, so we're
we're doubled, doubled it. Yeah,

608
00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:06.760
we had one hundred and sixty four
point two million, and and it's nothing

609
00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:09.400
but because of hard work. We've
we've really been working hard, and I'm

610
00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:13.599
very proud of that. Yeah yeah, yeah, as you should be.

611
00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.639
And and we're very proud of you
for doing that. Uh, not an

612
00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:20.159
easy task, all they said,
they don't just hand you that money.

613
00:41:20.199 --> 00:41:23.119
So here's your cuts, Mincy Jr. You gotta, you gotta, you

614
00:41:23.239 --> 00:41:25.840
gotta work for it. Yeah,
you know, look so you know you're

615
00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:30.800
competing with one hundred and forty four
legislators for for everything. Really. Yeah.

616
00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:32.639
And I was fortunate to be put
on the Ways and Means Committee,

617
00:41:32.639 --> 00:41:36.840
which is where the Capitol Outlay Bill
starts from. And you know, the

618
00:41:37.000 --> 00:41:40.000
success of the Capitol is all about
relationships, the relationships that you build with

619
00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:44.840
your colleagues that you can work together
and and and it's just it's just worked

620
00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:46.679
for us. And Senator Pope was
on the same he was on a complimentary

621
00:41:46.840 --> 00:41:52.199
committee on the Senate side, and
and we have partnered very well together and

622
00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:54.440
and I think we've delivered. And
that's what I like to see is is

623
00:41:54.480 --> 00:42:00.159
working together absolutely. Uh. You
know, so many not just limited to

624
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:07.480
Livingston Parish, but but so many
parishes and really throughout the country. Uh.

625
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.800
If you see a bunch of divide
and a bunch of people not willing

626
00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:15.920
to work with someone, that's a
problem because because their best entrances don't line

627
00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:21.519
up with the parish in my opinion, or a city or wherever you're wherever

628
00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:27.880
you're at. But uh, you
have always been willing to extend uh and

629
00:42:27.960 --> 00:42:30.199
reach out to people and say,
hey, you know, let's work together.

630
00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:36.519
Whether they whether they take that option
is up to them. But you

631
00:42:36.519 --> 00:42:38.480
you just keep on going. You
duck your head and down, dig your

632
00:42:38.519 --> 00:42:42.360
feet in the dark, and get
after it. Yeah. So, I

633
00:42:42.360 --> 00:42:45.360
mean I look for people that I
can partner with who want to do us

634
00:42:45.400 --> 00:42:49.800
best for our community and not self
serving, and they don't have their own

635
00:42:49.800 --> 00:42:52.920
personal agendas and let's let's work together
and move our parish forward. And I

636
00:42:52.960 --> 00:42:57.519
try to falseter that in every way
that I can. And and you know,

637
00:42:57.639 --> 00:43:00.599
so it's we've we've had some success
and we've had some challenges. And

638
00:43:00.679 --> 00:43:05.679
I think the biggest disadvantage we have
as a parish is that we're not all

639
00:43:05.679 --> 00:43:07.880
working in the same direction. I
put in the same direction, and and

640
00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:13.320
it puts us at a disadvantage when
you go when you go to compete for

641
00:43:13.480 --> 00:43:17.559
money specifically, and you've got parishes
that are working together and they're they're they're

642
00:43:17.639 --> 00:43:22.079
on the same the same the playbook
and and and when you get there and

643
00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:24.519
you don't have that, it's just
it's just difficult. Yeah, And you

644
00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:28.639
do the best you can. And
I think we've been able to overcome that,

645
00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:30.519
but but we've had we've had to
work hard at it. Sure.

646
00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:35.719
Uh. And now one of the
other concerns, and something you have been

647
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:39.280
working hard on relates to the I
twelve barrier. I guess you could call

648
00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:46.599
it, uh that separates traffic an
issue in twenty sixteen, and everybody's seen

649
00:43:46.679 --> 00:43:50.840
the picture where it looked like,
uh, well it looked like a damn

650
00:43:51.159 --> 00:43:54.679
right and yeah, and uh,
and so you you worked hard on that.

651
00:43:55.480 --> 00:44:00.280
HB four six I believe is the
house build number for that, but

652
00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:07.880
uh process where Uh, to my
understanding, you wanted a plan and and

653
00:44:08.039 --> 00:44:14.199
in cost to get this rectified.
Yeah. Correct. You know, actually

654
00:44:14.239 --> 00:44:16.119
we started that conversation as soon as
I got to the Capitol, and we

655
00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:22.159
started in twenty twenty and I met
with UH Secretary Wilson, a DALTD secretary

656
00:44:22.360 --> 00:44:27.159
at the time, and I said, hey, you know, in my

657
00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:30.119
in my opinion, nothing had been
done to remedy that damn. And I

658
00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:34.360
met with him and said, hey, I'm gonna pass legislation and I'm gonna

659
00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:37.920
pass legislation to fix that that barrier, and I'm here to meet with you

660
00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:40.400
to figure out what that aption is
what we're gonna how well, how do

661
00:44:40.440 --> 00:44:44.079
I need a word this bill to
fix it? And he says, well,

662
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:45.239
buddy said, please don't do that. And I'm like, well why

663
00:44:45.239 --> 00:44:49.079
not. He's like, we don't
know what the solution is. So you

664
00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:52.360
know, think about it. We're
we're four years past, We're four years

665
00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:58.320
removed from that flood, and that
that that that that interstate medium drastically compounded

666
00:44:58.360 --> 00:45:00.559
the flooding on the north side of
Dental Spray a walker and we don't even

667
00:45:00.599 --> 00:45:02.960
have a solution, and like,
well, you know, it's a once

668
00:45:04.039 --> 00:45:07.119
in a lifetime, thousand year event. Well you know, four months after

669
00:45:07.199 --> 00:45:10.599
that, Houston got hit with forty
five inches and it could have drifted easily

670
00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:14.280
on us and we had a repeat. So it was a priority for me,

671
00:45:14.760 --> 00:45:16.960
and we argued about how to fix
it and why not to fix it.

672
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:21.920
There were some lawsuits that they've been
filed. Daltd was was reluctant to

673
00:45:21.920 --> 00:45:24.679
get involved in the conversation, but
I convinced them to do a study,

674
00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:30.000
to study that and come back with
a cost effective and practical solution, and

675
00:45:30.039 --> 00:45:35.800
so we we we passed a resolution
in twenty one, gave them two years

676
00:45:35.840 --> 00:45:39.719
to give us a solution, and
they gave us the report in twenty three

677
00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:44.119
and it was a it was just
a waste of time, to be quite

678
00:45:44.159 --> 00:45:46.159
honest. It was insulting with the
solutions they were. You know, for

679
00:45:46.159 --> 00:45:50.719
instance, they wanted us to build
a thirty mile stretch of elevated structure for

680
00:45:50.840 --> 00:45:53.639
ten billion dollars. That's not a
realistic solution. So you know, this

681
00:45:53.719 --> 00:45:57.840
past session, you know, we
took it. We took it to we

682
00:45:58.039 --> 00:46:01.639
back to where we started off and
idle bill that told daltd give us a

683
00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:05.440
solution. So we're gonna try to
You're gonna try to get find out what

684
00:46:05.440 --> 00:46:07.480
it's gonna put the solution is,
and then we're gonna try to go out

685
00:46:07.480 --> 00:46:10.599
and get capital out and let it
fix it. Very good and working hard

686
00:46:10.679 --> 00:46:15.400
on that, staying on top of
it and and very important to a lot

687
00:46:15.400 --> 00:46:19.880
of people. Uh something that you
are part of a bill you sponsored that

688
00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:23.360
I was very happy to see get
past. And that was I call it

689
00:46:23.400 --> 00:46:31.199
the Fitting All Bill. But HB
ninety, which increased the penalties for these

690
00:46:31.719 --> 00:46:37.840
look fitting all is killing our young
people and uh uh, it's the biggest

691
00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:42.320
killer between eighteen and thirty four of
course with the crime podcast that I do,

692
00:46:42.400 --> 00:46:46.119
we talk about it all the time. Uh. It's awful and uh

693
00:46:46.199 --> 00:46:50.760
so you're out there doing something about
that. That's a that's a huge thing,

694
00:46:51.679 --> 00:46:53.760
uh for not only the community but
the whole state. Absolutely, so

695
00:46:53.920 --> 00:46:59.039
thank you for that. Uh.
Let's talk about HB two thirty one,

696
00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:00.400
you know, so you know there
we spoke about, you know, being

697
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:05.199
in the military and and being one
of the most patriotic things you can do.

698
00:47:05.320 --> 00:47:07.280
And and I've in in the community. I try to do everything I

699
00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:12.159
can, uh to honor our veterans. You know. I was a part

700
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:15.599
of uh Denham Springs becoming the six
Purple Heart city of the States. Yes,

701
00:47:15.840 --> 00:47:21.159
Walker became the seventh. Uh we
I filed a bill this past year

702
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:27.360
at the Capitol to create a a
Purple Heart trail at the Capitol and we

703
00:47:27.400 --> 00:47:30.559
did a a pass another resolution to
do something for so Denham can have a

704
00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:34.760
Purple Heart trail. So they are
the main streets working towards that, and

705
00:47:34.800 --> 00:47:37.760
then we passed this bill. You
know. Uh. Uh Secretary of Strickland,

706
00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:42.159
Colonel Strickland came to me with the
Department of Veterans Affairs and asked me

707
00:47:42.199 --> 00:47:45.280
to file this bill. And you
know, right now there's a there's a

708
00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:49.840
criteriity be buried in our state cemeteries, and it doesn't it doesn't include our

709
00:47:49.920 --> 00:47:55.440
National Guard. So we basically filed
resolution a bill that enables the Department of

710
00:47:55.559 --> 00:48:00.960
the VA to establish some rules so
we can give more better the opportunity to

711
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:02.679
be buried in our state cemeteries.
Big stuff. So you're out there and

712
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:07.800
you're supporting the military. Absolute military
guys. That's a that's a beautiful thing

713
00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:10.800
now, uh hb one of three
to me. When I saw that,

714
00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:14.960
I was like that, Yeah,
we definitely need this. I was with

715
00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:19.079
you all the way. And that
is it adds financial literacy as a required

716
00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:22.000
course for high school students. It's
smart. Yeah, yeah, no,

717
00:48:22.079 --> 00:48:27.719
it's if yeah, if you if
you go to a gas station or a

718
00:48:27.719 --> 00:48:30.199
convenience story, you pay with cash, you try to get you change.

719
00:48:30.199 --> 00:48:32.559
You see why. But we've uh, you know, so many things have

720
00:48:32.639 --> 00:48:37.519
advanced with technology and we were losing
some of those skills. And that's a

721
00:48:37.519 --> 00:48:40.119
good piece of legislation that was passed
and uh and I was proud of proud

722
00:48:40.119 --> 00:48:43.880
to be able to support it.
Yeah, it's it's very important. I

723
00:48:43.880 --> 00:48:46.480
mean, that's a lifelong lesson,
yes, and UH, and it can

724
00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:52.280
it can be the difference for some
people. So so we talked about those

725
00:48:52.360 --> 00:48:59.840
bills, but also some that I
think we maybe need to offer some clarification.

726
00:49:00.239 --> 00:49:02.920
And one of those is the HB
five four team, which there's so

727
00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:10.400
much misinformation on that bill, uh
in particular, and that is where uh

728
00:49:12.360 --> 00:49:16.800
to do with the coming diversion project, So kind of what are your what

729
00:49:16.960 --> 00:49:21.960
is your goal on that? You
know, I don't think anybody has been

730
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:28.159
more engaged in flood protection for our
parish than I have, and I have

731
00:49:28.280 --> 00:49:31.559
been working very diligently, very hard
at trying to provide better services. You

732
00:49:31.599 --> 00:49:36.360
know, they meant River Basin Commission
was formed at forty two years ago and

733
00:49:36.440 --> 00:49:42.639
this uh, it's the only floodplane
in the statutes that exists for a specific

734
00:49:42.679 --> 00:49:45.719
floodplane in US. In a statement, River Basin. They meant River Basin

735
00:49:45.159 --> 00:49:51.320
Commission controls it. And they've they've
really have just been ineffective, to be

736
00:49:51.400 --> 00:49:53.679
quite honest. The only project that
they've done, the only project that they've

737
00:49:53.719 --> 00:49:58.280
been focused on, was the co
Meet diversion. The co Meet Diversion is

738
00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:01.119
a great project. It really the
benefits. Ebr were going to benefit from

739
00:50:01.159 --> 00:50:06.199
it some over here in Livingston,
but it's it's the one hit wonder of

740
00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:09.159
the Amit River Basin Commission that's been
around for forty two years. Yeah,

741
00:50:09.239 --> 00:50:14.559
so you know, we let me
just tell you kind of set it up

742
00:50:14.559 --> 00:50:16.760
for you. Sure, after two
thousand and sixteen flood, Garret Graves got

743
00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:22.920
one point two billion for us to
basically prevent another repeat of a flood.

744
00:50:22.159 --> 00:50:25.480
And that one was such a god
event that it would mean there's no way

745
00:50:25.519 --> 00:50:29.519
we could have prevented it. But
what can we what measures can we put

746
00:50:29.519 --> 00:50:32.280
in place to make another event you
know the better? So you know that

747
00:50:32.280 --> 00:50:37.000
that money was intended for the parishes
that we was impacted by the sixteen flood,

748
00:50:37.239 --> 00:50:42.320
which I'd argue were as impacted as
anybody. But what the governor did.

749
00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:45.760
The governor took that one point two
and he spread it across the state.

750
00:50:45.320 --> 00:50:50.559
He set up eight regions, and
those eight regions would be the bureaucratic

751
00:50:50.719 --> 00:50:54.440
levels to basically administer and go after
the fundings for those areas. We were

752
00:50:54.480 --> 00:51:00.360
put in great A Region eight.
Region eight is basically from the mississip River

753
00:51:00.679 --> 00:51:05.760
to the Mississippi line. And so
we're in a in a floodplaine management region

754
00:51:06.079 --> 00:51:10.880
with six of the floodplains including that's
correct. Whenever we're there's the basin is

755
00:51:12.320 --> 00:51:15.119
the most we have the greatest history
of floods, and we have you know,

756
00:51:15.159 --> 00:51:20.719
we have a structure already in place. So I tried to legislatively make

757
00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:22.840
it to where they meant River Basin
head was his own region, that we

758
00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:27.000
would be another another region, so
we would be equivalent to the rest of

759
00:51:27.079 --> 00:51:29.639
them. And when I got into
it, I was gonna file a bill.

760
00:51:30.039 --> 00:51:35.599
We couldn't do that because the legist
nothing existed in statute to set up

761
00:51:35.639 --> 00:51:38.440
that. It was all done by
the governor's executive order. Yeah. So

762
00:51:38.639 --> 00:51:42.639
you know, while I was having
these conversations, you know a lot of

763
00:51:42.679 --> 00:51:45.400
my colleagues who've been there for a
long time frustrated with they meant River Basin.

764
00:51:45.679 --> 00:51:49.239
They wanted to dissolve it. They
wanted to do away with it.

765
00:51:49.280 --> 00:51:52.480
They they thought it was ineffective,
and so I saw it as a different

766
00:51:52.480 --> 00:51:57.719
opportunity for us to improve it.
So I passed a resolution I think two

767
00:51:57.760 --> 00:52:01.239
years ago, to ask cpr A
to study the Amen River Basin and give

768
00:52:01.320 --> 00:52:05.960
us a criteria for how we can
fix it. And they've done that,

769
00:52:06.039 --> 00:52:08.000
and we passed that bill last year
I think it was four eighty six or

770
00:52:08.320 --> 00:52:14.280
four sixty eight, and we've we've
completely revamped it. But in that whole

771
00:52:14.360 --> 00:52:17.039
process, you know, we're we're
looking at I'm trying to figure out how

772
00:52:17.079 --> 00:52:22.000
can we get fund projects. It's
all about money aim a river basin.

773
00:52:22.119 --> 00:52:25.320
I mean, the the Co Meet
diversion was done because congress from Graves went

774
00:52:25.360 --> 00:52:30.920
and got it funded. Yes,
in that in that development, trying to

775
00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:35.199
get to that point of the funding. You know, locally we collected property

776
00:52:35.239 --> 00:52:37.639
taxes in the Co Meet impact area. We've collected them for twenty years,

777
00:52:37.960 --> 00:52:43.480
and that was supposed to meet the
matching funds for that diversion project. Well

778
00:52:43.519 --> 00:52:47.199
after the sixteenth flood, Congressman Graves
got it funded. They waived the matching

779
00:52:47.519 --> 00:52:52.239
requirement so there was no matching requirements
required. So here I am looking at

780
00:52:52.280 --> 00:52:58.599
trying to fund projects, and I
find nine point six million. That's restrictive

781
00:52:58.679 --> 00:53:00.440
that you can't do anything with it. Nothing could be done. It's for

782
00:53:00.519 --> 00:53:05.159
matching funds only. Yeah, So
I went back to Congressman Graves and and

783
00:53:05.159 --> 00:53:09.119
and they assured me that the matching
fund for that project was was was was

784
00:53:09.159 --> 00:53:13.480
taken care of. There was we
were at a shortage at that time,

785
00:53:13.519 --> 00:53:15.800
four hundred and seventy six million for
that It was over, and uh,

786
00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:19.760
there were some concerns about whether or
not where that money was going to come

787
00:53:19.800 --> 00:53:23.119
in. Congressman Graves and the Corps
assured me that we were going to get

788
00:53:23.159 --> 00:53:28.960
that funded and there would be no
matching funds required. So we got nine

789
00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.519
point six million, Let's free that
up and let's let's provide it for other

790
00:53:31.559 --> 00:53:37.400
projects. So I filed a bill
that would allow the voters who voted and

791
00:53:37.440 --> 00:53:43.199
paid for that tax to rededicate that
money to projects inside the area that paid

792
00:53:43.199 --> 00:53:46.800
the taxes. It was completely We
didn't set any projects, we didn't put

793
00:53:46.840 --> 00:53:51.519
any time. They didn't have to
do anything. I just removed the barrier

794
00:53:51.639 --> 00:53:53.559
to allow them to go to a
voter, the people to decide, and

795
00:53:53.599 --> 00:53:58.360
I ran into a bus. All. Uh, the bus all was some

796
00:53:58.440 --> 00:54:02.119
money grab by EBR East Baton Rouge
one of that nine point six million for

797
00:54:02.199 --> 00:54:06.639
maintenance. Sure they wanted that money. And then let me just tell you

798
00:54:06.719 --> 00:54:10.960
this. Contractually, they are obligated
to maintain that diversion and the reason they

799
00:54:10.960 --> 00:54:15.760
are is because eighty five percent of
that project benefits EBER. So we got

800
00:54:15.840 --> 00:54:20.199
nine point six million that we have
an opportunity to do more projects in.

801
00:54:20.639 --> 00:54:22.719
When I ran into obstacles on the
floor, I said, well, you

802
00:54:22.760 --> 00:54:25.320
know what, no problem. We're
gonna let it sit there. We're gonna

803
00:54:25.360 --> 00:54:30.000
let it reserve when the co meets
built. We're gonna give the money back

804
00:54:30.000 --> 00:54:32.000
to the people I wanted. I
mended the bill. We're gonna do a

805
00:54:32.039 --> 00:54:35.280
tax rebate. We're gonna give it
all back by vote of the people.

806
00:54:35.320 --> 00:54:38.039
We're gonna let them vote for it
and that and that was defeated. But

807
00:54:38.199 --> 00:54:43.679
you know, so two things.
The defeat of that bill prevented projects from

808
00:54:43.679 --> 00:54:46.639
potentially being done on livings from parish, and it prevented a tax rebate.

809
00:54:47.480 --> 00:54:51.880
And it was all for the benefit
of East Baton Rouge. Yeah. And

810
00:54:52.800 --> 00:54:55.199
you know, I'll even uh simplify
it a little bit further than that on

811
00:54:55.280 --> 00:55:00.760
my end, And that is what
essentially happened was Livingston Parish people paid into

812
00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:05.159
this into this fund with the expectation
that it was going to be needed.

813
00:55:05.480 --> 00:55:10.360
It wasn't needed. So your attempt
here when you amended that bill was okay,

814
00:55:10.519 --> 00:55:14.159
well, y'all will vote on it, and if the people want their

815
00:55:14.199 --> 00:55:15.639
money back, we're going to give
them their money back. That's betting their

816
00:55:15.639 --> 00:55:21.039
money back rather than do that.
Of course, East Baton Ridge is on

817
00:55:21.039 --> 00:55:23.400
the other side, which in all
fairness, they do have to maintain this

818
00:55:23.800 --> 00:55:30.199
Comeat diversion canal. But lets in
parish people paid that money. Yeah,

819
00:55:30.239 --> 00:55:32.559
so and let me you know,
let's let's let's talk about that for a

820
00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:37.800
second. You know, the impact
of co meat is not as grandeur as

821
00:55:37.840 --> 00:55:42.239
some people want you to think.
You know, the co meat impact area

822
00:55:42.639 --> 00:55:46.079
is the area that was taxed to
help fund the diversion. That's the area

823
00:55:46.119 --> 00:55:50.639
that benefits. The only area in
lives in parish. This in that co

824
00:55:50.800 --> 00:55:53.679
meat impact area is basically West or
four Age Club Road. Yeah, it's

825
00:55:53.760 --> 00:55:59.440
basically just a floodplain along the Amit
River. So you know, there there

826
00:55:59.440 --> 00:56:01.719
we're gonna have other benefits and you
know, it's going to provide five to

827
00:56:01.760 --> 00:56:05.960
seven feet of relief in Baton Rouge. It may only provide six inches in

828
00:56:06.039 --> 00:56:08.199
dental springs, and we need every
inch we can get. You not take

829
00:56:08.199 --> 00:56:12.679
anything away from it. But my
point in all this is is that we

830
00:56:12.760 --> 00:56:16.079
can't sit back and be content with
the one hit wonder, We've got to

831
00:56:16.119 --> 00:56:21.480
have more. And I wanted to
do everything that I could to provide opportunities

832
00:56:21.480 --> 00:56:25.519
for more funding. And I and
the ironic thing about this was, you

833
00:56:25.519 --> 00:56:29.719
know, they also paid tried to
make an argument they needed that nine point

834
00:56:29.800 --> 00:56:32.559
six million for the four hundred and
seventy six that was over, but if

835
00:56:32.559 --> 00:56:37.000
they needed to use that money,
they couldn't touch the money because it was

836
00:56:37.119 --> 00:56:42.599
restricted for local matching funds only if
we needed that money to build on the

837
00:56:42.639 --> 00:56:45.039
co meet, which we were told
we were not going to have to worry

838
00:56:45.039 --> 00:56:49.559
about. And Congressman Graves just verified
that just recently the federal money come in.

839
00:56:49.920 --> 00:56:52.360
There is no that matching fund is
still restricted. But if we needed

840
00:56:52.360 --> 00:56:55.360
it, we couldn't touch it.
It would have to wait till next legislative

841
00:56:55.360 --> 00:56:59.679
session. Someone would have to pass
a bill, just like I tried to

842
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:01.079
read it up by those of the
people. Yeah, so you know,

843
00:57:01.119 --> 00:57:06.559
I was trying to be proactive and
and and remove a barrier to allow us

844
00:57:06.559 --> 00:57:09.039
to do something. But you know, some other people and the other interests

845
00:57:09.320 --> 00:57:14.039
made sense to me, uh that
you do that, and and uh,

846
00:57:14.159 --> 00:57:16.599
you know, that's when you have
earmarks. And you know, sometimes you'll

847
00:57:16.639 --> 00:57:20.719
have money that's just sitting there.
You've got to do something with it.

848
00:57:21.360 --> 00:57:23.599
Uh, you were trying to do
some good there. Yeah, And if

849
00:57:23.920 --> 00:57:27.440
look at me, if I may
just expand a little bit on the on

850
00:57:27.480 --> 00:57:30.400
the on the losing under warresh had
initiative. In two thousand and nineteen,

851
00:57:30.920 --> 00:57:37.119
Congressman Graves and a lot of lives
in the Amid River Basin delegation tried to

852
00:57:37.159 --> 00:57:40.159
get LWI, who was losing under
warsh had initiative to give us our own

853
00:57:40.159 --> 00:57:45.920
region, and they were not successful. And twenty one I took it up

854
00:57:45.159 --> 00:57:50.800
and we passed a resolution unanimously for
them to give us our own region.

855
00:57:51.360 --> 00:57:52.880
We passed one in the House,
I got Senator to White to do one

856
00:57:52.880 --> 00:57:58.679
in the Senate and then so we
legislative legislative intent was for them to give

857
00:57:58.760 --> 00:58:01.360
us our own region. Now,
even after we did that, l WI

858
00:58:02.039 --> 00:58:05.760
refused to do it. We had
a bunch of public meetings, we had

859
00:58:05.800 --> 00:58:08.360
a bunch of side meetings, and
by doing by putting a lot of pressure

860
00:58:08.400 --> 00:58:13.639
on them to meet the obligation of
the legislative will, we convinced them to

861
00:58:13.679 --> 00:58:16.039
give us our own region. So
what does that mean to us? So

862
00:58:16.360 --> 00:58:22.239
LWI Region nine became an effect the
Aiment River Basin. All the work we

863
00:58:22.280 --> 00:58:25.719
did, we did to revitalize the
Aimit River Basin became effect in February of

864
00:58:25.719 --> 00:58:30.440
this year. We were just told
this past week that they were given a

865
00:58:30.519 --> 00:58:34.599
hundred million dollars to the our our
region, to the Amit River, to

866
00:58:34.719 --> 00:58:38.679
Region nine. And that would not
have been possible if we hadn't got our

867
00:58:38.719 --> 00:58:43.800
own region. And and now we're
in a position put it in perspective.

868
00:58:44.079 --> 00:58:47.880
When LWI came out and they had
their competitive rounds of funding for that one

869
00:58:47.920 --> 00:58:52.360
point two billion Aimt River Basin,
didn't send them the first application, not

870
00:58:52.400 --> 00:58:57.920
one application. Because of the legislation
that we passed four eighty six and the

871
00:58:57.920 --> 00:59:01.519
new commission that we had. They
over five hundred million dollars in projects in

872
00:59:01.519 --> 00:59:07.239
the Amit River basin area this year
and they submitted eighty five million and applications

873
00:59:07.320 --> 00:59:10.360
in round two. So the things
that you know, you can't sit back

874
00:59:10.360 --> 00:59:14.800
and hang your hat on the one
hit wonder and say, you know,

875
00:59:14.840 --> 00:59:17.159
the co meats gonna save us.
It's not. It's gonna benefit us.

876
00:59:17.360 --> 00:59:20.760
But we have got to do more, and we've got to do more,

877
00:59:21.320 --> 00:59:23.760
much more, and I've been actively
trying to do that for the last four

878
00:59:23.800 --> 00:59:27.960
years. And if and if I
may just share this will just expand a

879
00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:30.480
little bit further. So I'm on
the co Meat Task Force. And last

880
00:59:30.519 --> 00:59:35.079
week we got an update on the
diversion on you know, on the funding

881
00:59:35.199 --> 00:59:37.639
sources of it, on the completion
of it. You know, they're looking

882
00:59:37.679 --> 00:59:40.480
probably a third quarter of twenty five. Realistically, I think it'll probably slip.

883
00:59:42.280 --> 00:59:46.159
But we talked about the direct impacts
because of the version, and they

884
00:59:46.199 --> 00:59:51.440
showed us an illustration of a map
and they showed three tributaries and ebr that

885
00:59:51.440 --> 00:59:54.239
are going to benefit from flash flooding. So they're talking about all the benefits

886
00:59:54.280 --> 00:59:59.599
and easpant and rouge from the flash
flooding because of the Comet diversion. So

887
00:59:59.679 --> 01:00:00.719
I I raised me, Hey,
I want, I got a question for

888
01:00:00.800 --> 01:00:04.880
you. What benefit do we have
in Liberston Paris. But we're gonna have

889
01:00:04.960 --> 01:00:09.320
any any flash flood benefits from the
co Meet diversion in Libsta Parish And the

890
01:00:09.360 --> 01:00:14.840
answer was no. So we're you
know, we've as a parish, we've

891
01:00:14.880 --> 01:00:20.079
got to expect and demand more than
the co meet diversion and that's what I've

892
01:00:20.119 --> 01:00:24.079
been trying to accomplish. Love that
and uh man your passionate about Yeah,

893
01:00:24.079 --> 01:00:29.960
absolutely care about you, absolutely and
uh I think that's that's apparent. And

894
01:00:30.239 --> 01:00:34.679
let's talk about uh, We'll just
switch gears for just a second, and

895
01:00:34.760 --> 01:00:39.039
I want to talk about your Uh
you were a twenty fourteen graduate Leadership Livingston

896
01:00:39.320 --> 01:00:44.920
great program. Yeah, uh man, that's led here. His entire life

897
01:00:45.039 --> 01:00:47.840
has been in public service for seventeen
years. You even probably saw some places

898
01:00:47.920 --> 01:00:52.679
maybe I hadn't seen yet in the
parish, and you know, I went

899
01:00:52.719 --> 01:00:59.679
through it. I was a twenty
twenty graduate and uh and one another event

900
01:00:59.719 --> 01:01:02.440
in my life when I looked back, that was life changing for me because

901
01:01:02.840 --> 01:01:06.079
at the end of the day,
we had projects, we helped others.

902
01:01:06.119 --> 01:01:12.440
What was your project our as we
did kind of a a literacy education in

903
01:01:12.440 --> 01:01:15.320
our middle schools. Yeah, and
uh and we and we rode it out

904
01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:17.719
so were out. Yeah. Yeah, I was in the uh the second

905
01:01:17.760 --> 01:01:21.679
class, you know, the class. I let the first class go to

906
01:01:21.719 --> 01:01:24.960
work out there and we followed it. But uh, you know that that

907
01:01:25.039 --> 01:01:28.800
was a phenomenal program for me,
you know, and I think I think

908
01:01:28.840 --> 01:01:30.400
everything in life is what you put
into it and what you get out of

909
01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:34.760
it. You can go through the
motions and just coast through life and coast

910
01:01:34.760 --> 01:01:37.960
through these type of programs all you
can go through and try to try to

911
01:01:37.960 --> 01:01:43.000
benefit from it. Leadership Livingston was
was profoundly impactful for me. Yea,

912
01:01:43.199 --> 01:01:45.000
you know, as a school board
member and a and a and a and

913
01:01:45.039 --> 01:01:50.559
a yellow jacket. I looked at
everything through my purple and gold goggles and

914
01:01:50.559 --> 01:01:54.000
and I knew we were different around
the parish, but whenever I took Leadership

915
01:01:54.079 --> 01:01:59.760
Livingston, I got to see the
the the the pros and cons of all

916
01:01:59.800 --> 01:02:04.199
the different areas and all the struggles
and all the financial shortcomings that they have,

917
01:02:04.760 --> 01:02:08.079
and and the different the different philosophies
and the difference. So I always

918
01:02:08.159 --> 01:02:12.599
knew we were different, but it
really was the first time I accepted the

919
01:02:12.639 --> 01:02:16.800
fact that we were different. So
I think Leadership Liston enabled to me to

920
01:02:16.880 --> 01:02:23.119
be a much more accepting and an
understanding and trying to and that's helpful when

921
01:02:23.119 --> 01:02:27.360
you're trying to find common ground.
It helped me as an elected official,

922
01:02:27.519 --> 01:02:31.119
It helped me as a school board
member because mar Paul's different from Livo Livevo

923
01:02:31.239 --> 01:02:36.199
is different from from Walker, you
know. So if you take that context,

924
01:02:36.239 --> 01:02:39.519
and then you expanded across the state
when I became a legislator, you

925
01:02:39.519 --> 01:02:43.079
know, and now I'm dealing with
people all over the state. And if

926
01:02:43.079 --> 01:02:46.360
you look at the microcosm of our
parish and the differences, now you expand

927
01:02:46.400 --> 01:02:52.280
it to the state. So Streveport
is different than them, Springs and and

928
01:02:52.280 --> 01:02:55.920
and Jefferson Parish is different than Bosure, you know, and we're and they're

929
01:02:55.920 --> 01:03:01.000
different than Acadian and so you know, from it just it just you have

930
01:03:01.119 --> 01:03:07.559
to understand that and accept that,
understand that people are they're trying to do

931
01:03:07.639 --> 01:03:09.559
what's best for their area, and
you just try to find common ground.

932
01:03:09.719 --> 01:03:14.400
Yeah, and you can't just be
closed minded and be a gift different ones.

933
01:03:14.440 --> 01:03:15.920
You got to try to find solutions. And I think I'm a very

934
01:03:15.920 --> 01:03:20.920
solution oriented person. But leadership Livingston
was very helpful for me. Yeah.

935
01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:23.280
Yeah, and me too, and
a little bit different experience, and that

936
01:03:23.360 --> 01:03:27.760
you were you were already giving back, You're already doing public service. For

937
01:03:27.800 --> 01:03:30.559
me. Uh, what it did
was it made me look at myself and

938
01:03:30.599 --> 01:03:34.760
you know, I gave a church, I paid my taxes, I was

939
01:03:34.800 --> 01:03:38.519
a good guy. But what was
I doing outside of myself for other people?

940
01:03:38.599 --> 01:03:43.440
And that's what it opened my eyes
to and really really changed my entire

941
01:03:43.480 --> 01:03:47.199
outlook on that. What a great
program put together by Livingston Paris Chamber Commerce.

942
01:03:47.280 --> 01:03:52.199
So, uh, they did great
work over there with that, and

943
01:03:52.400 --> 01:03:55.000
we bu buddy and I would both
encourage any of y'all have to check it

944
01:03:55.000 --> 01:04:00.719
out if you're if you're interested.
Now, Uh, you love your parish.

945
01:04:00.760 --> 01:04:06.800
It's obvious you know. One of
the things that I respect you for.

946
01:04:08.599 --> 01:04:11.159
And there's a lot. Look,
we covered a lot today that you

947
01:04:11.199 --> 01:04:14.760
can look at and you can say, this guy's doing good work. His

948
01:04:14.880 --> 01:04:18.679
heart's in the right place, your
god fearing man. But I'll tell you

949
01:04:18.880 --> 01:04:26.119
what I respect, probably just about
more than anything, is your ability to

950
01:04:26.199 --> 01:04:30.360
be able to push aside the noise
and just drive forward. There's a lot

951
01:04:30.400 --> 01:04:34.880
of dirty politics out there for lack
of a better term than that, y'all.

952
01:04:34.880 --> 01:04:42.960
This is Jim Chapman saying this.
This is I can tell you your

953
01:04:43.000 --> 01:04:47.639
ability to just stick to issues and
push beyond that is something to be appreciated.

954
01:04:48.159 --> 01:04:51.639
I have a mailbox, right and
I get the junk and the trash

955
01:04:51.760 --> 01:04:56.400
is what I refer to it in
the mail from Lafayette in places like that.

956
01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:01.760
And I'll tell you how ugly this
stuff gets, because I'm a research

957
01:05:01.840 --> 01:05:08.360
guy. I got I got trash
in from somebody trying to trash you a

958
01:05:08.440 --> 01:05:13.719
pack and it was out of laugh
yet and uh, I started researching it

959
01:05:14.519 --> 01:05:18.519
and you know that exact same mailer. All they did was changed the name

960
01:05:18.519 --> 01:05:24.519
and send it to about ten different
legislators. All they did was changed the

961
01:05:24.559 --> 01:05:30.960
top name. They weren't directing that
towards one person. That is typically what

962
01:05:30.119 --> 01:05:35.559
you'll get in those situations. And
so you've had a lot of opportunity here

963
01:05:35.599 --> 01:05:40.960
to to you know, I admire
your ability to keep you cool. Let's

964
01:05:41.000 --> 01:05:44.480
just say that, because it takes. It takes a lot, but it

965
01:05:44.800 --> 01:05:48.159
takes someone that's confident in what they're
doing and pushing forward. And if and

966
01:05:48.199 --> 01:05:54.280
if people are engaging in dirty politics, uh and and trying to run off

967
01:05:54.280 --> 01:05:57.760
somebody else's record instead of their own, that's a problem. Get your own

968
01:05:57.800 --> 01:06:02.639
information on people, and make sure
as you're educated and you're not relying on

969
01:06:02.719 --> 01:06:10.119
the opinions or thought processes of others. And hopefully that's what you get out

970
01:06:10.119 --> 01:06:14.039
of what we're doing today and sitting
down and talking and hearing facts. And

971
01:06:14.440 --> 01:06:18.760
one thing I love about about the
way that you communicate on social media is

972
01:06:18.760 --> 01:06:24.360
you always signed it off with something
which is loved my Livingston love that.

973
01:06:24.559 --> 01:06:27.119
Yeah, right. I don't know
if you call that a hashtag or what,

974
01:06:27.400 --> 01:06:30.159
but but it speaks volumes, So
I mean, I think it's perfectly

975
01:06:30.199 --> 01:06:35.199
fitting for you, you know.
Yeah. And I'm gonna tell you I've

976
01:06:35.199 --> 01:06:40.039
always loved my parish and I mean
that. And I'm gonna tell you a

977
01:06:40.039 --> 01:06:45.559
story that I haven't shared publicly many
times, but whenever I was a freshman

978
01:06:45.599 --> 01:06:49.920
at LSU, I'm attending a geology
to a two thousand and one class.

979
01:06:50.159 --> 01:06:56.639
Ye, And my professor was a
Professor Davison's extremely charismatic war boat. I

980
01:06:56.840 --> 01:07:00.440
just he was a phenomenal professor,
probably my best professor that we're ahead in

981
01:07:00.480 --> 01:07:02.360
college. Yeah, because he took
a really boring subject and made it fun.

982
01:07:02.519 --> 01:07:04.800
Yes, And uh so I walk
in first day of class, and

983
01:07:04.800 --> 01:07:09.920
this a freshman class back then at
LSU was probably four hundred students. And

984
01:07:09.960 --> 01:07:13.519
he walks in and he says,
you know, who's from an exciting country

985
01:07:13.519 --> 01:07:15.400
here, who's from an exciting place? So this guy raised his hand.

986
01:07:15.440 --> 01:07:19.920
I'm from Russia and this one raises
up from Australia, Argentina. It just

987
01:07:19.960 --> 01:07:25.519
goes around, excuse me, and
he runs through about seven or eight countries

988
01:07:25.559 --> 01:07:28.039
and then he's finally, you know, they run out and he's like,

989
01:07:28.400 --> 01:07:30.480
somebody else, tell me where you're
from. This is an exciting place that

990
01:07:30.559 --> 01:07:34.000
everybody wants to live. And I'm
five rows back and I raised my hand

991
01:07:34.039 --> 01:07:35.599
up. He said, yes,
sir, I said, Dnim Springs,

992
01:07:35.639 --> 01:07:40.559
Louisiana. And so you know,
so everybody laughed, you know, they

993
01:07:40.559 --> 01:07:44.920
were laughing at me, but I
was, I was sincere. I'm proud

994
01:07:44.960 --> 01:07:47.079
of who i am. Yeah,
I'm proud of where I'm from. I'm

995
01:07:47.079 --> 01:07:50.719
proud of the school system that I'm
a product of. You won't find anybody

996
01:07:50.800 --> 01:07:55.480
this this more proud of Livings in
Paris than I am. And I do

997
01:07:55.639 --> 01:08:00.920
absolutely everything I can to promote it
at the Capitol, our main street,

998
01:08:00.039 --> 01:08:04.199
with our tourism board. It doesn't
matter with all the individual groups that all

999
01:08:04.239 --> 01:08:08.360
the all the things that we do
as a parish, I try to promote

1000
01:08:08.400 --> 01:08:13.360
it. But anything that I do
on social media that relates to Livingston Parish,

1001
01:08:13.360 --> 01:08:15.559
you know, I close. It
was saying love my Livingston. Yeah,

1002
01:08:15.599 --> 01:08:17.560
and because I love my Livingston,
you really know, and it's it's

1003
01:08:17.600 --> 01:08:20.840
it's genuine, it's from the heart. Yeah. And and you know,

1004
01:08:21.000 --> 01:08:27.119
you you weren't always a public official. You have a quite the background and

1005
01:08:27.239 --> 01:08:31.000
you contracting work and things of that
nature. Yeah, you know, so

1006
01:08:31.319 --> 01:08:35.640
before you know, my guess and
I thirty five years in the petrochemical industry.

1007
01:08:36.000 --> 01:08:41.520
I was a quality control director.
I was a mechanical superintendent. I

1008
01:08:41.560 --> 01:08:45.399
was a safety director. For all
those years, you know, you you

1009
01:08:45.479 --> 01:08:50.359
develop skills as a contractor, accountability, being a resourceful, meeting schedules,

1010
01:08:50.760 --> 01:08:59.560
dealing with people. All those solved
skills as a contractor professionally helped me being

1011
01:08:59.600 --> 01:09:02.640
elected official. So whenever I became
a school board member, I looked at

1012
01:09:02.640 --> 01:09:06.920
it from a from a business perspective
and from a practical perspective, from a

1013
01:09:06.960 --> 01:09:12.960
functionality trying to get things accomplished.
In thirteen years of doing that and enabled

1014
01:09:12.960 --> 01:09:15.880
me to take those lessons into the
Capitol. And I've done that as a

1015
01:09:15.920 --> 01:09:18.359
state rep. And now I'm ready
to go through the Senate to do the

1016
01:09:18.399 --> 01:09:23.079
same. Yeah. And we haven't
talked a whole lot about the Senate because

1017
01:09:23.359 --> 01:09:29.840
covering luck y'all, that's how busy
this guy's been and and uh and so

1018
01:09:30.239 --> 01:09:33.199
at some point, you you know, you decide that you're going to move

1019
01:09:33.199 --> 01:09:36.279
on to the other side of the
house as or and and go to the

1020
01:09:36.319 --> 01:09:42.239
Senate side. Hard decision for you
or just a natural transition, you know.

1021
01:09:42.439 --> 01:09:45.720
I was really comfortable at the house. I think I think we've been

1022
01:09:46.239 --> 01:09:53.880
very very successful legislatively, We've been
extremely successful bringing projects home. I was

1023
01:09:53.920 --> 01:09:57.600
comfortable in my skin there. I
would have been content with staying at the

1024
01:09:57.600 --> 01:10:00.920
house. But with Senator Pope retire
after fifty four years of public service,

1025
01:10:00.960 --> 01:10:04.920
I want to recognize him and thank
him for that absolutely, But after four

1026
01:10:05.000 --> 01:10:09.399
years, fifty four years. He
was my junior high principal a long time

1027
01:10:09.399 --> 01:10:12.800
ago. But you know after,
you know, with him leaving, you

1028
01:10:12.840 --> 01:10:17.039
know, it left a leadership position
open that could possibly have more influence.

1029
01:10:17.159 --> 01:10:19.960
Yea, And so it was an
opportunity for me. I think I would

1030
01:10:19.960 --> 01:10:24.039
have been in a good leadership position
if I stayed at the house, but

1031
01:10:24.119 --> 01:10:30.119
it gave me an opportunity to expand
my impact and and my influence and try

1032
01:10:30.159 --> 01:10:32.279
to bring more to our parish.
So it was it was easy for me

1033
01:10:32.399 --> 01:10:38.039
to make that transition, and I
think just as important for me to make

1034
01:10:38.079 --> 01:10:42.279
in that transition to fill that spot. But it's equally important on the concern

1035
01:10:42.359 --> 01:10:45.399
about who could feel that spot.
So it's it's one of the same,

1036
01:10:45.520 --> 01:10:48.000
you know. You know, I've
had a I've had a great relationship with

1037
01:10:48.119 --> 01:10:53.199
Senator Pope, and I think the
benefits that we've brought to the parish are

1038
01:10:53.560 --> 01:10:57.359
a direct correlation of that. And
you know, it concerns me on who

1039
01:10:57.359 --> 01:11:00.239
that person would be, and it
was just an opportunity for me too to

1040
01:11:00.359 --> 01:11:02.560
be that that person. Yeah,
and I'm so I'm really excited about it.

1041
01:11:02.800 --> 01:11:08.600
Yeah, very good and and a
natural transition for you, I would

1042
01:11:08.600 --> 01:11:12.960
think. Uh. And then under
you know, uh uh you have a

1043
01:11:13.000 --> 01:11:16.920
mentor there with Senator Pope that uh
has been in that role and and is

1044
01:11:17.439 --> 01:11:23.319
you know, always been willing to
help you along in that process. Uh.

1045
01:11:23.439 --> 01:11:28.560
So what what area do is that
Senate district cover? So right now

1046
01:11:28.600 --> 01:11:31.920
I represent primarily all of Denham Springs
and the city limits of Walker. This

1047
01:11:32.000 --> 01:11:35.680
Senate district is basically going to be
all of Denham, all of Watson Alive,

1048
01:11:35.760 --> 01:11:40.920
Walker, all of the town of
Liveston, all of Coyel, all

1049
01:11:40.960 --> 01:11:44.800
of Satsuma. So it's basically going
to go run from the Amit River to

1050
01:11:44.840 --> 01:11:48.239
the Tickfall River, yea, from
Saint Helena down to pretty much where the

1051
01:11:48.239 --> 01:11:51.039
old Parkers used to be, where
the Port Vincent's village that live is right

1052
01:11:51.079 --> 01:11:55.720
now. And so we're four forty
seven and sixteen meet. That's pretty much

1053
01:11:55.760 --> 01:11:59.840
the southern border. He goes into
a little bit of Port Vincent. It's

1054
01:11:59.840 --> 01:12:02.680
a it's a great district. It's
all Livingston Parish. Yeah, it control

1055
01:12:02.800 --> 01:12:06.760
it controls. It contains a good
bit of the rural parts of the parish.

1056
01:12:06.800 --> 01:12:10.239
And I'm a rural guy. Look, I'm a country boy. You

1057
01:12:10.279 --> 01:12:13.960
know, I've raised cows and worked
hard all my life. And we got

1058
01:12:14.000 --> 01:12:16.359
a lot of good people out there, and I'm looking forward to expanding,

1059
01:12:16.600 --> 01:12:20.560
uh you know, my jurisdiction and
trying to bring to bring things to other

1060
01:12:20.600 --> 01:12:25.199
parts of the parish. Yeah.
And you're a big supporter of four h

1061
01:12:25.239 --> 01:12:28.880
and and participated in. Yeah,
you know, our four h and F

1062
01:12:28.840 --> 01:12:32.720
f A programs are phenomenal. And
you know, they they made me who

1063
01:12:32.760 --> 01:12:36.479
I am. All those leadership and
all those those those skill sets that you

1064
01:12:36.520 --> 01:12:42.000
get. We've got so many great
opportunities for our kids nowadays. But I

1065
01:12:42.039 --> 01:12:45.760
think our four H and f A
programs are still phenomenal and they're great building

1066
01:12:45.800 --> 01:12:49.520
blocks for a foundation, and they
were most helpful for me and my daughter

1067
01:12:49.600 --> 01:12:53.439
too. My daughter went through that. She's invest school now, so you

1068
01:12:53.439 --> 01:12:58.119
know they were beneficial for her at
school. Yeah, yeah, absolutely a

1069
01:12:59.039 --> 01:13:02.960
very good and and uh so good
luck to her. Yeah. And you

1070
01:13:03.000 --> 01:13:06.760
know, if you go on your
Facebook, you'll you'll actually run into your

1071
01:13:06.760 --> 01:13:11.239
maning fences out there. Yeah you
know. Yeah, I've been building fences

1072
01:13:11.279 --> 01:13:15.119
and fixing fences all my life,
as long as I could remember being able

1073
01:13:15.159 --> 01:13:16.640
to pack a hammer. My dad
probably hit me out there doing that.

1074
01:13:16.720 --> 01:13:20.039
So yeah, no doubt. And
I enjoy that. That's really I enjoy.

1075
01:13:20.359 --> 01:13:24.359
I enjoy physical work. And that's
just how it phrased. It keeps

1076
01:13:24.399 --> 01:13:28.600
us young, and I'm convinced of
it. And uh and yeah, I

1077
01:13:28.640 --> 01:13:32.479
had a neighbor I cut my grass
still with a pushbower, and uh,

1078
01:13:32.520 --> 01:13:36.279
I got pretty big lots and I
live in an older neighborhood and the lots

1079
01:13:36.279 --> 01:13:41.159
are rather large. And uh,
he says, man, you're about a

1080
01:13:42.000 --> 01:13:45.239
you know, a couple of feet
away from needing a riding lawnmower for that,

1081
01:13:45.319 --> 01:13:47.760
I said, oh no, I
told my wife a long time ago.

1082
01:13:47.840 --> 01:13:50.960
That's the second that I get a
riding lawnmowder to cut this grass.

1083
01:13:50.960 --> 01:13:56.439
I'm too old, so I refused
to do it. I'd suffer, but

1084
01:13:56.880 --> 01:14:00.039
you know it is what it is. Uh. I do want to you

1085
01:14:00.600 --> 01:14:04.279
mentioned for a second. Uh,
And I know we've talked about it throughout

1086
01:14:04.279 --> 01:14:09.159
this podcast that you do have a
Facebook and to follow that, but I'm

1087
01:14:09.159 --> 01:14:13.479
gonna also link that y'all in the
description of this podcast, So if you're

1088
01:14:13.560 --> 01:14:15.920
driving or something like that, don't
worry about it. When you get home.

1089
01:14:15.960 --> 01:14:17.079
It's gonna be linked right there.
You can click on and bring you

1090
01:14:17.199 --> 01:14:23.399
right to it. Uh. He
get Buddy Mincy Junior keeps us updated uh

1091
01:14:23.800 --> 01:14:29.479
frequently, so so you can always
stay updated. I know you're you're at

1092
01:14:30.079 --> 01:14:33.560
every public event pretty much there there
is, so if you if you want

1093
01:14:33.560 --> 01:14:36.479
to reach out, don't be shy. He wants to talk to you.

1094
01:14:36.560 --> 01:14:41.000
And you got questions for him,
he wants to answer them, and UH

1095
01:14:41.239 --> 01:14:44.239
definitely do that. And one thing
we do on this show that's fun.

1096
01:14:45.039 --> 01:14:46.880
Uh. And we always try to
kind of wrap shows with this as we

1097
01:14:46.960 --> 01:14:51.479
do a little what we call fun
facts, and I just ask general fun

1098
01:14:51.600 --> 01:14:56.399
questions and kind of enables people to
get to know you a little better.

1099
01:14:56.439 --> 01:14:59.600
And so I'm I ask you three
fun questions. One of them is your

1100
01:14:59.680 --> 01:15:02.800
dream job when you were twelve years
old. My dream job when I was

1101
01:15:02.800 --> 01:15:06.840
twelve years old was to be a
veterinarian. I really about interesting. Yeah,

1102
01:15:06.840 --> 01:15:11.680
you know, I really wanted to
be a vet. Yeah. I've

1103
01:15:11.720 --> 01:15:15.199
always been. You know, I'm
an outside guy. I've always dealt with

1104
01:15:15.239 --> 01:15:18.960
animals, race horses, race cows. You know, I think I was

1105
01:15:18.960 --> 01:15:21.880
meant to be a vet. But
you know, whenever I got ready to

1106
01:15:21.880 --> 01:15:27.520
go to college, my dad since
to transition in our society. Uh,

1107
01:15:27.600 --> 01:15:30.119
he saw the large animals going away, and he convinced me, Sonny,

1108
01:15:30.119 --> 01:15:32.880
he said, you can't make a
living around here is a large animal vet.

1109
01:15:33.039 --> 01:15:35.800
Yeah, and uh and I think
he was right. But what he

1110
01:15:35.960 --> 01:15:39.800
did not see, neither one of
us saw, was the amount of money

1111
01:15:39.880 --> 01:15:44.520
that people spend for small animals now
of a cat or a dog. And

1112
01:15:44.960 --> 01:15:47.760
you know, so I I think
I missed my colleging to become a veterinarian.

1113
01:15:48.800 --> 01:15:51.760
My my daughter is pursuing that right
now. So I'm excited about it.

1114
01:15:53.439 --> 01:15:56.640
But that's what I wanted to be. But you know, my career,

1115
01:15:56.760 --> 01:15:59.720
I wouldn't take anything for the career
that I've had. Wow, awesome.

1116
01:15:59.840 --> 01:16:03.039
And mom was a weatherman and of
all things people would never I'm like,

1117
01:16:03.079 --> 01:16:05.319
I wanted to be a weatherman,
right, I don't know what it

1118
01:16:05.399 --> 01:16:11.920
was. Hurricanes always intrigued me in
storms and until they get here, yeah,

1119
01:16:12.000 --> 01:16:14.640
until they get here. Then I'm
like, all right, if you

1120
01:16:14.640 --> 01:16:18.319
could travel anywhere in the world,
where would you get. Wow, that's

1121
01:16:18.479 --> 01:16:23.880
that's that's pretty easy. Actually,
I'd like to go to the Other Stone.

1122
01:16:24.119 --> 01:16:27.159
Yeah, you know, I've never
been, but I'd love to go.

1123
01:16:27.359 --> 01:16:30.479
I've been out of country once.
Yeah, and I don't know that

1124
01:16:30.520 --> 01:16:32.800
I would go out of country again. There's too many great places to go

1125
01:16:32.920 --> 01:16:35.800
in the States, but I've always
wanted to. You know, I'm a

1126
01:16:35.800 --> 01:16:39.479
big I'm an avid hunter. You
know. I love the hunt and I

1127
01:16:39.520 --> 01:16:43.159
love the outdoors. And uh,
it would probably up there at the Other

1128
01:16:43.159 --> 01:16:45.199
Stone National Park. Yeah, I
got that same goal. I did go

1129
01:16:45.239 --> 01:16:49.680
to Alaska, which is beautiful.
Alaska would be number two. Alaska would

1130
01:16:49.680 --> 01:16:54.319
be number two. Beautiful. Eagles
fly around like like crows. Around yea

1131
01:16:54.960 --> 01:16:59.439
everywhere. Uh, if you had
any superpower, what would you what would

1132
01:16:59.439 --> 01:17:02.439
you pick? Oh wow, now
that's that's pretty that's a tough one.

1133
01:17:02.680 --> 01:17:05.760
That's a tough one, you know. So I'll tell you if, uh,

1134
01:17:06.000 --> 01:17:10.359
if I would had a superpower,
and it would be the slow time

1135
01:17:10.399 --> 01:17:14.479
down. Oh yeah, you know, you know, time goes by so

1136
01:17:14.560 --> 01:17:16.960
fast, and you know, we
in the blink of an eye, and

1137
01:17:17.119 --> 01:17:20.000
you know, when you go back
and you reflect, I was, you

1138
01:17:20.000 --> 01:17:24.640
know, I was very fortunate because
of my career at the time as a

1139
01:17:24.680 --> 01:17:28.079
safety director and the company that I
worked for. I got to do everything

1140
01:17:28.119 --> 01:17:31.640
with my kids. Didn't miss hardly
any events. And and I was very

1141
01:17:31.680 --> 01:17:35.399
close with my daughters. Yeah they
probably was. They they were still are

1142
01:17:35.439 --> 01:17:39.800
as close with me as they are
their moms. And you know, but

1143
01:17:39.960 --> 01:17:42.920
my little girls have grown up.
And uh, and I wish, I

1144
01:17:42.960 --> 01:17:45.119
wish I could, if I could
do anything, I would slow down time,

1145
01:17:45.640 --> 01:17:48.359
spend some more time with my dad, my mom, you know,

1146
01:17:48.520 --> 01:17:51.520
and and uh and you know,
I'm you know, hunting all these years

1147
01:17:51.520 --> 01:17:56.920
and all the guys, the older
generation that no longer with us, the

1148
01:17:56.920 --> 01:18:00.399
the good times we had back in
the day before you know, things life

1149
01:18:00.439 --> 01:18:04.119
becomes so busy. Yeah, and
we had so many opportunities. I would

1150
01:18:04.199 --> 01:18:06.479
I would slow down time. Yeah, I would, really, Man,

1151
01:18:06.520 --> 01:18:11.720
that's a great answer. And you
know, uh, I'm with you one

1152
01:18:11.800 --> 01:18:15.039
hundred percent. And the sad thing
about it is you don't realize it when

1153
01:18:15.079 --> 01:18:17.319
you're in the moment. You realize
that when you look back, and uh,

1154
01:18:17.479 --> 01:18:20.319
with my kids, I can relate
to that too. And one thing

1155
01:18:20.359 --> 01:18:24.960
I always did was I was the
guy that brought him to school. And

1156
01:18:25.000 --> 01:18:30.439
I told my wife that's my deal, because I wanted to have that fifteen

1157
01:18:30.479 --> 01:18:32.920
minutes every day with them. And
from the time they were in kindergarten to

1158
01:18:32.960 --> 01:18:36.359
the time they graduated from high school, I drove them to school every day

1159
01:18:36.439 --> 01:18:40.960
and and uh, you don't you
know, it's blink And I mean it's

1160
01:18:41.000 --> 01:18:45.159
gonna go from there to you know, adults, and and uh, yeah,

1161
01:18:45.159 --> 01:18:47.079
you know so and look, we
get, you know, in you

1162
01:18:47.079 --> 01:18:49.960
know, in life. You know, we get very busy, right,

1163
01:18:50.039 --> 01:18:56.000
yeah, we get we get consumed
by the business. And you know,

1164
01:18:56.039 --> 01:18:58.520
there was a point in my life, you know, I was coaching ball,

1165
01:18:58.680 --> 01:19:01.960
I was a school board and engaged
in the community, and I felt

1166
01:19:02.119 --> 01:19:05.279
a sense that I needed to slow
down. Yeah, And in fact,

1167
01:19:05.359 --> 01:19:10.279
I told my wife, you know, I just feel like I need to

1168
01:19:10.840 --> 01:19:14.319
just stop and just slow down.
And about four months later, I had

1169
01:19:14.359 --> 01:19:18.880
cancer and I had I had ah. My my five year prognosis was five

1170
01:19:18.880 --> 01:19:24.640
percent. I had a five percent
chance of living and and so you know,

1171
01:19:24.680 --> 01:19:28.680
I went through six months of chemo. I had eliostomy for six months.

1172
01:19:29.119 --> 01:19:31.039
And you know when when you're when
you're told you got five percent chance

1173
01:19:31.079 --> 01:19:34.520
of living and you got three young
daughters and a young wife, Yeah,

1174
01:19:34.560 --> 01:19:39.000
you know, it changes your perspective. And the first couple of days for

1175
01:19:39.119 --> 01:19:43.359
me, and I think is a
normal you know, why me, you

1176
01:19:43.399 --> 01:19:45.359
know kind of deal. But then
you know, I set my family down

1177
01:19:45.359 --> 01:19:49.239
and I said, you know what
an opportunity for me to be a better

1178
01:19:49.279 --> 01:19:53.279
person, to be a better husband, to be a better father, to

1179
01:19:53.319 --> 01:19:56.720
be a better son, to be
a better school board member, just to

1180
01:19:56.760 --> 01:20:00.199
be a better human. So,
uh, God slowed me down out a

1181
01:20:00.239 --> 01:20:02.600
little bit at one time of my
life. And it changes your perspective.

1182
01:20:02.960 --> 01:20:06.079
And but it didn't take long.
We got busy again, and we're busy

1183
01:20:06.119 --> 01:20:10.920
now. But you know, I
always reflect back on that, you know,

1184
01:20:11.000 --> 01:20:13.119
and I think we already to slow
down a little bit. Yeah,

1185
01:20:13.279 --> 01:20:17.640
amen, And uh and I I'm
gonna tell you to the listeners out there.

1186
01:20:17.640 --> 01:20:20.159
And I didn't expect that last door
guy, I didn't know anything about

1187
01:20:20.199 --> 01:20:25.079
that. And uh, you're a
tough man, but I Mence was tough

1188
01:20:25.159 --> 01:20:29.800
man. And we need that,
We need people like you fighting the good

1189
01:20:29.800 --> 01:20:30.840
fight up there at the Capitol.
Yeah, you know. And look,

1190
01:20:30.880 --> 01:20:33.600
I just just you know, there's
a lot of people out there struggling.

1191
01:20:33.760 --> 01:20:38.720
Cancer is tough. Yeah. And
my doctors told me that I would be

1192
01:20:38.760 --> 01:20:42.279
in the hospital for two weeks and
I'd to worked for two months. And

1193
01:20:42.439 --> 01:20:45.159
but my doctor also told me to
get up and walked as much as I

1194
01:20:45.199 --> 01:20:47.920
could. And I had four bottle
carts that I carried with me. When

1195
01:20:48.119 --> 01:20:50.680
the first time I had sept there
after a seven and a half hour surgery,

1196
01:20:51.079 --> 01:20:55.159
they asked me to walk to the
door and back and I got up

1197
01:20:55.159 --> 01:20:57.439
and I said, can I walk
more? And they said, you can

1198
01:20:57.479 --> 01:21:00.680
walk as long as you want.
And the hallway was fifty yards. I

1199
01:21:00.800 --> 01:21:02.960
walked at twenty times. I walked
a thousand yards the first time i'd have

1200
01:21:02.960 --> 01:21:05.800
been I did it five times a
day, no matter what I felt like.

1201
01:21:06.159 --> 01:21:09.960
I was home in four days,
and I was back to working deer

1202
01:21:10.000 --> 01:21:13.000
hunting in two weeks. And and
it was it was by the grace of

1203
01:21:13.039 --> 01:21:15.920
God, but a lot of determination. And I had a lot to live

1204
01:21:15.960 --> 01:21:17.760
for. I had, you know, a young family. And you know

1205
01:21:17.840 --> 01:21:21.720
those those events they change you,
yes, you know, they give you

1206
01:21:21.720 --> 01:21:27.880
a different perspective and and and I
think it's helpful because in life you reflect

1207
01:21:27.920 --> 01:21:30.279
back on those moments and the lessons
that you learn. So you know,

1208
01:21:30.439 --> 01:21:32.520
it's you know, it's it's a
part of my story. It's who I

1209
01:21:32.560 --> 01:21:35.760
am. I am a cancer survivor. Yeah, but you know I I

1210
01:21:35.920 --> 01:21:41.439
hit cancer like everything else, you
know, with with the grace of God

1211
01:21:41.479 --> 01:21:43.920
and just with my head forward and
just work hard at it. Man.

1212
01:21:44.000 --> 01:21:47.159
I love that. And you know
that's who budding Men's he is. For

1213
01:21:47.199 --> 01:21:50.760
those of you that, Uh,
I hope you got that out of today's

1214
01:21:50.880 --> 01:21:56.560
podcast. Uh, these are human
beings, these people that are representing us,

1215
01:21:56.800 --> 01:22:00.279
and it's very important. It was
very important to me. But before

1216
01:22:00.279 --> 01:22:03.199
we did this podcast, the people
could see who this guy was. Where

1217
01:22:03.640 --> 01:22:09.119
you know, a driven, good
person and I've always known you to be

1218
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a good person. Your wife,
great people, your kids, great people.

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And I can't thank you enough for
everything you've done in your public service

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for Livingston Parish. It truly is
something that is selfless and uh and just

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keep fighting man, I appreciate you
and for everybody else, thank you for

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listening. You support us more than
I could have ever expected. If you

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01:22:34.800 --> 01:22:38.239
like what you heard, share it, share it. We need to get

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01:22:38.279 --> 01:22:45.039
the word out there on our public
officials and let people see what they're doing

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good for Livingston Parish. And until
next time, I'm Jim Chapman reminding you

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love your community, support local business, and keep leading. Thank you very much,