Vernon Parish - Community Involvement

Executive Summary
The public participation process for the Long Term Community Recovery (LTCR) process in Vernon Parish has been very robust.  All layers of the community, including government, business and community leaders have been engaged in the planning process since the inception of the program in November. With the establishment of the Vernon LTCR Committee, the parish is well-positioned to continue with the planning process on its own, and appears ready to build on the successes achieved to date. 

Stakeholders

• Vernon Parish
  • Police Jury
  • President of the Police Jury
  • Sheriff’s Department
  • Emergency Preparedness Director
  • School Board and Superintendent
  • Chamber of Commerce
  • Tax Assessor’s Office
  • Community Action Council
  • Tourism Commission
• Village of Anacoco
  • Mayor
• Town of Hornbeck
  • Mayor
• City of Leesville
  • City Administrator
  • City Council
  • Police Department
  • Building Inspector
  • Wastewater Treatment Plant
  • Housing Authority
• Town of New Llano
  • Mayor
  • Town Council
• Village of Simpson
  • Mayor
  • Aldermen
  • Town Council
• Social Service Organizations
  • Representatives from local church groups
  • Leesville Area Ministerial Alliance (LAMA)
  • Vernon Ministers Associations
  • Vernon Parish Community Coalition 
  • Rotary Club
  • Byrd Hospital
  • Tri-State Rehabilitation Hospital
  • Knights of Columbus
  • American Legion
  • Veterans of Foreign Wars
• Other
  • Local Businesses
  • Wal-Mart, Wheel Mart, Leesville Lumber
  • Fort Polk
  • Regional Planning District Representatives
  • Leesville Daily Leader (Newspaper)

Local Committee / Task Force
The Vernon Parish Long-Term Community Recovery Committee was formed to be the main driver of this process.  As stated above, the membership of the committee is comprised of various stakeholders from throughout the parish; it generally meets bi-weekly to discuss the status of the project and provide comments on the plan.

At a Jan. 9, 2006, meeting of various stakeholders throughout Vernon Parish Bobby Hickman, Leesville Chief of Police, was selected to be the Chairman of the Vernon Parish LTCR Committee.  The Committee is presently comprised of:

• Mayors from the incorporated towns in the Vernon Parish
• Representatives from the Vernon Parish Police Jury, Chamber of Commerce, and School Board
• City of Leesville City Administrator and a representative from the city council
• Local citizens and business owners who are serving as subcommittee leads for the various sectors: housing/community development; human services; environmental; infrastructure; economic development; transportation

The subcommittee leads from each of the sectors recruited other citizens and business owners to serve on the subcommittee to help identify potential projects within that particular sector. Subcommittees meet on an as needed basis to discuss the projects that they have identified and to provide additional information into the project summaries.  Members of the LTCR team work directly with each subcommittee to assist them in writing the project descriptions and to help facilitate the meetings, if requested. 

Input Events

• Governmental Workshop - (Dec. 14, 2005).  Thirty-three community officials and representatives gathered at the Vernon Parish Fairgrounds to provide information that lays the groundwork for future steps.  The meeting resulted in a list of issues, barriers, showstoppers, treasures, and partnerships for the LTCR Program.
• Louisiana Recovery Planning Day - (Jan. 21, 2006) Approximately 60 people participated in this open house event at the Vernon Parish Fairgrounds.  The LTCR Team worked for over a week advertising the event in each of the communities within the Parish by distributing meeting flyers to churches; posting flyers at businesses; placing yard signs in strategic high-visibility locations throughout the Parish; and fax flyers to the schools and public officials’ offices.  Two local radios stations conducted on-air interviews with the Parish Lead to describe the event and encourage public participation, and aired Public Service Announcements throughout the week.  Attendees placed markers on a map to indicate their homes; results indicated that there was widespread participation from most areas of Vernon Parish. 
• Storefront Grand Opening-- (Jan. 12, 2006) that was attended by approximately 20 people.  The event was a front page news story in the Leesville Daily Leader and top story on Channel 5 News.
• Direct Input --LTCR Team members conducted face-to-face interviews with the Mayors and City and Town Council members from Anacoco, Hornbeck, Leesville, New Llano, Rosepine, and Simpson, to determine the issues most important to each community.  The public affairs officer for Fort Polk was interviewed to inquire about the needs and issues concerning Fort Polk.  In addition to the interviews with public officials, interviews were also conducted with the director of the Chamber of Commerce in Vernon Parish, the City of Leesville building inspector, lumber industry representatives, the school board superintendent, along with many local residents of the parish.

Day-to-day interaction with local decision-makers, general public
Members of the LTCR team have attended and participated in various meetings of the local governments within Vernon Parish, including the local city council, police jury, and other governmental bodies such as the school board.  Team members have also participated in the meetings of other non-governmental groups such as the Rotary Club, Lion’s Club, Kiwanis, and VFW.  On a daily basis, members of the LTCR team staff a Storefront located in the center of Leesville.  People are welcome to meet with the staff and provide comments and ask questions about the LTCR program. 

Local leadership of implementation
The main focus has been on developing projects and working with the community to gather information.  Once the implementation phase of the program begins, the Vernon Parish Police Jury President, Melvin Haymon, and the LTCR Committee Chairman Bobby Hickman, Leesville Chief of Police, would be the likely selections for the principle points of contact.

View the Parish Summary Page from Louisiana Planning Day (PDF)