Washington Parish - Community Involvement

Executive Summary

The Washington Parish Long Term Community Recovery (LTCR) Team took an aggressive approach to involving the local stakeholders in this long-term community recovery process, in order to maximize local buy-in to the long-term recovery plan. Meetings were held individually with stakeholders before establishing a Washington Parish Task Force made up of representatives from the following areas:   the Washington Parish Government; the municipalities of Angie, Bogalusa, Franklinton and Varnado; law enforcement agencies; school boards; business, agricultural, dairy, forestry and timber interests; local and regional nonprofit organizations; a local conservation organization; and community and faith-based groups. The Task Force members meet once a week with the LTCR team to oversee the planning process and report back to their respective organizations.

The overall buy-in from elected officials for the LTCR process is high, as demonstrated by the number of officials who have chosen to participate as members of the Task Force, and by correspondence from locally elected officials requesting that the parish team NOT be demobilized at this phase of the process.

The Louisiana Planning Day open house was held at the storefront in Franklinton. About 20 percent of the participants were from Bogalusa. In order to increase participation by Bogalusa residents in future community involvement activities, a second planning day has been scheduled to be held in Bogalusa on March 11.

The issues and strategic recovery goals for Washington Parish have been developed largely through the public participation process; including the scoping meeting, the government officials outreach meeting and Louisiana Planning Day on Jan. 21. The prioritization of planned projects for the parish will be based mainly upon these goals. At least one local elected official has stated that the LTCR planning process has been the only disaster-related activity that is directly focused upon the needs of Washington Parish.

Local press coverage of LTCR planning in Washington Parish has been extensive, including two consecutive front-page headline stories in the Bogalusa Daily News and Franklinton Era-Leader Sunday Newspapers (Feb. 5 and Feb. 12). Both stories were highly favorable.

Stakeholders

Washington Parish

• president, sheriff, finance director, public works director, DHS/OEP director, 911

Village of Angie

• mayor

City of Bogalusa

• mayor, city council, chief of police, director of personnel

Town of Franklinton

• mayor, board of aldermen

Village of Varnado

• mayor

Village of Varnage

• village clerk/alderwoman

• Louisiana State University (LSU) Agriculture Center Cooperative Extension

Regional planning agency

• Capital Region Planning Commission

Non-profits and community groups

• Washington Citizens of Conservation
• NAACP
• executive director, Camp Fire USA

Business Organizations

• Washington Economic Development Foundation (WEDF)
• Franklinton Area Economic Development Foundation (FAEDF)
• Terra Industries
• Orman & Bickham Real Estate

Education, and health and human services

• Washington Parish School Board superintendent
• Washington Parish Schools
• Bogalusa City Schools superintendent, assistance superintendent
• Louisiana Technical College (LTC) -  Sullivan Campus dean
• LSUHSC - Bogalusa Medical Center CEO
• Washington Parish Commission on Human Services
• executive director Council on Aging
• director, Triangle Ministries
• United Ministries Alliance

Local Committee / Task Force

The Washington Parish Task Force is comprised of representatives from the Washington Parish, the mayors of Angie, Bogalusa, Franklinton, Varnado, the Washington Parish Commission on Human Service, LSU Ag Center, NAACP, WEDF/FAEDF, Bogalusa City Schools, Washington Parish Schools, Washington Parish OEP, Mt. Hernon Community, and faith-based organizations.

The Task Force meets weekly on Fridays at the storefront. The LTCR Team puts together an agenda and the meetings are led by the team leader. The task force reviews team activities, gives input in plans and projects, and reports back to the organizations they represent.

Input Events

• Scoping Meeting (November 2005) Damage issues were assessed along with local needs and capabilities, on behalf of the Long-Term Community Recovery team. It was determined that local parish governments were in need of extensive planning assistance. The critical needs that were identified included structural damage, loss of critical infrastructure, housing for evacuees, and major damage to the local timber industry.
• Governmental Workshop (December 2005) was held in Bogalusa, Louisiana with approximately 50 local and state governmental officials as well as school board representatives and  faith-based community members. Others in attendance included  members of the federal partners program along with FEMA staff from the Joint Field Operations Office
• Louisiana Recovery Planning Day (January 2006) - The Washington Parish Storefront exceeded its expectations by having about 100 citizens of Washington Parish attend.
• Future public meetings should be held at location other than the storefront in order to accommodate those community members on the eastern side of the parish who were most directly affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Day-to-day interaction with local decision-makers, general public

The Washington Parish LTCR team attends and actively participates in most regularly scheduled government meetings:  Parish Council, City of Bogalusa, and Town of Franklinton Council meet twice monthly. Village of Angie council and Village of Vornado each meet once per month.

Nearly half of the parish team’s day-to-day interactions consist of time meeting with local leaders and community members to assist with gathering information and providing support critical to the Washington Parish LTCR Plan. The team has been invited to several civic and stakeholder association meetings to present information compiled at the Louisiana Recovery Planning Day open house that was held in January

Local Leadership of implementation

Upon the completion of the long term community recovery planning process by the Washington Parish storefront team, the task force is expected to take over responsibility for updating and implementing the plan. Although a plan management staff has not been identified, it is anticipated that the task force will be supported either by the Capital Region RPC or by the newly formed Washington Parish Planning Commission.

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