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The Daily Review/Bill Decker
St. Mary Parish Council candidates Reginald Weary, left, and Gabriel Beadle, right, talk with debate moderator Ed "Tiger" Verdin before Tuesday's debate at the Patterson Area Civic Center.

Beadle, Weary meet for parish council debate

PATTERSON — At-Large District 10 Parish Council candidates Reginald Weary and Gabriel Beadle engaged in a gentlemanly St. Mary Chamber of Commerce debate Tuesday, the most visible event before early voting begins Saturday.
The event covered about 1½ hours at the Patterson Area Civic Center. Most of the time was spent on variations of three basic questions: How do we attract and keep employers? How do we heal the east end-west end split? And should the way St. Mary govern itself be changed?
Beadle, a Republican who currently represents District 6 on the council, got 49 percent of the votes in the March 25 primary, barely missing an outright victory. Weary, a Democrat and accountant for the Patterson city government, won 43 percent of the light turnout. Darryl Perry finished out of the running with 8 percent.
Early voting for the runoff runs April 15-22, except for Easter Sunday. The runoff itself will be April 29.
Many of Tuesday’s debate questions centered on economic development. Weary and Beadle agreed that providing a sound infrastructure is vital.
Beadle pointed to the expansion of Franklin’s Metal Shark boat-builders, and to the access to river transportation and to U.S. 90. Beadle also said lower taxes would attract more business.
“If we do that, I believe we’ll see economic growth and we’ll see it tremendously,” Beadle said.
Weary focused on the population element: “We don’t have affordable housing,” he said.
He also said the parish government should treat all St. Mary residents with equality.
Both candidates said they’re willing to consider consolidation among the 44 taxing entities in the parish as a way to create efficiencies. But both also urged caution.
Weary said consolidating separate taxing districts will create winners and losers. Beadle said a feasibility study on a proposed consolidation of the Sheriff’s Office and the 911 authority showed that the merger would actually cost taxpayers more.
Both men also said they’d consider supporting a full-time parish president position. That’s a hot topic in the wake of PHI Inc.’s recent decision to halt its Amelia operations. The feeling among some in the business community is that Terrebonne Parish, which has a full-time chief executive, was able to devote more time and energy to persuading PHI to consolidate operations in Terrebonne.
St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff serves full time and makes $12,000 a year.
The closest thing to a serious disagreement came in a discussion of the parish’s subsidy for the Atchafalaya at Idlewild golf course. Weary said he thought the parish was paying $500,000 a year for the golf course. Beadle said the amount is actually $250,000.
Otherwise, the candidates were cordial, even on a question about the perceived east-west divide in the parish. Weary jokingly passed the question on to Beadle, who in turn joked that he’d fill in the Calumet Cut to erase the boundary between east and west.

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