While Mandeville, LA struggles with drainage issues, Mandeville leadership grows local government and approves a raise over 2 times the national average while only addressing some drainage issues along corridors. Some feel Mandeville leadership has chosen to focus spending internally rather than funding toward the main concerns of city residents/shareholders.
For example, according to the Mandeville police chief’s letter he posted on Facebook, the city of Mandeville has a population of approximately 13,681 which he says is relatively stable. He goes on to say traffic accidents were at a near 5-year low, residential burglaries and auto thefts at 5-year lows and business burglaries at a 3-year low. The Chief states that his department is struggling with the amount of traffic through the city and from the budget appears to be adding 2 headcounts and replacing 2. Yet, with a reduction in service needs, the Police Department was given a 12.7% budget increase with a wage increase of 9.1%, approximately 2 times the national average and a total compensation benefit increase of 19.8%. In 2022 the Police salary budget was increased by 10.26% which means they have received a 19.4% increase in pay over the last 2 years.
To put this into perspective, the median income of the Mandeville police is $79,156.00 which is higher than the estimated Mandeville median household income of $71,643.001. The average police officer pay in the United States is $59,632.002.
In 2022, the Council and Mayor passed three ordinances to get pay to match that of surrounding areas for competition purposes which were 8.91%. It’s not clear why the city leadership made such a drastic increase again this year.
Capital expenses budgeted for this year are down to $18,350,351 versus the requested capital last year of $20,932,830.
Some residents of Mandeville are concerned with the irresponsible spending and the direction City leadership is taking about infrastructure. One resident is calling for what he terms “Interactive Government”, to get more constituent participation and close the disconnect between citizens and City Leaders. Interactive Government is a government that uses various technologies to learn from the City residents what the main issues are, enable ease of access to city meetings using remote collaboration tools, and provide options for residents to quickly respond to electronic polling to help the council decide which issues are the most concerning.
As of today, city leaders have not responded to an email request for opinions related to electronic collaboration services and Interactive Government. A recently published article with poll results declared that 62% of Louisiana residents believed that elected officials were out of touch with their needs and concerns. The result of a poll of Nextdoor members for the City of Mandeville shows a similar belief at around 64%.
Our city leaders haven’t published a city goal. The city has a planner but no plan. Without knowing what is most important the city simply cannot create a plan. Without a plan, a budget to reach a goal is impossible. Reading the city’s budget, the conclusion is that the leaders are playing a wack-a-mole game and telling a story of chaos. There is no purpose, no graphical displays, no summary charts, and the numbers are inconsistent. The Council means well, but they need outside influence and intervention. Last night’s decision during the council meeting for outside assistance regarding budgets and future financial projections was encouraging and I hope it leads to more but until then, pressure should be applied toward our leaders for positive change for residents' infrastructure needs.
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