Baldwin forum held for aldermen, police chief

Baldwin held a candidate’s forum Tuesday evening at the Baldwin Community Center to hear from the candidates in the upcoming races that will decide in November the town’s board of aldermen and chief of police.
The event was facilitated by the St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce and was moderated by Ed “Tiger” Verdin, chamber board member.
The candidates for alderman were first among candidate races to be heard from, and in the order they were seated from the moderator’s podium, they introduced themselves.
Donald R. Grimm, incumbent alderman, said, “This has always been a chance for anybody who wants to represent the people of the community.
“On a personal basis, it’s who I am, to try to do the best that I possibly can for our community.”
He stated that he realizes that the community of Baldwin has many problems, and added that he thought the community has been answering the challenges “very well.”
He continued by calling for more town hall meetings in order to facilitate communication between the town’s citizenry and administration, furthering, “When I say, ‘town hall meetings,’ it’s to inform people of what’s going on at the town hall.
“I have been grateful to work here for the last two or three years, and I will be grateful to get back on the board.
“I want you to understand that as who I am and what I do… I am always going to be ready to do something for the Town of Baldwin.”
Next to Grimm was Neal J. Hebert, newcomer in the race for alderman.
Hebert introduced himself as a lifelong resident and 39-year member of the town’s fire department, following a stint in the US Marine Corps, as well as a coach for youth sports for 25 years.
“I love giving to this town,” Hebert said. “I’m proud of this little town, and this will be just another way to extend my service to it.
“We have several problems in Baldwin, and hands down, the biggest one is: How are we going to get money?”
He said he knows the current administration has been working hard to procure funds for the town. Then, pivoting to public safety, he said that he was in favor of “getting the right people with the right equipment to do the job,” in the police and fire departments.
“We have water issues that we need to take care of in Baldwin,” Hebert continued, “sewage issues that we need to take care of in Baldwin, and it’s going to take the efforts of the new mayor and the board working together, getting funds where we can, pulling up our bootstraps and working together in accomplishing the task.”
He closed by saying, “This is a great little town and it is going to take all of us to continue to make it great, and I hope that I can serve you well.”
Incumbent Alderman Clarence A. Vappie introduced himself next, saying he had served the town for 28 years, and that he too, was a lifelong resident of Baldwin.
“I enjoy giving back to the community which propelled me,” Vappie said. “We have had some issues over the last eight to 10 years, with finances, which is a common problem with any small municipality that does not have a provisional tax base.
“We are a bedroom community, mainly. We don’t have any major industry anymore from which to get a lot of tax dollars.
“That being said,” Vappie continued, “I’ll work with our state officials and federal officials to receive funds, which is what we have been doing.”
He went on to say that the second issue of his platform is infrastructure, which he said ties back to money and the procurement of money.
“We have been applying for a number of grants,” he stated in closing, “and we have to save some. I’d like to continue serving you.”
Marion J. Newton, newcomer to the alderman race, and also lifelong resident of Baldwin, introduced himself next in order.
He was a former VP of Baldwin little league and a coach, as well as a member of the Baldwin PD reserve unit for 28 years.
Newton said, “I too have the same issues as the other guys. The infrastructure in the town is old and we need the funding to repair it, and I know that the board and the mayor have been working with the same issues, to get them repaired.
“I feel we can work together as a team, to get this done, to get Baldwin back to the way it used to be.
“That’s the only way it is going to get done… if everybody works together, on the same page, going after the same goals. Thank ya’ll.”
After Newton came Herbert “H.B.” Bell, incumbent alderman.
Bell said he had been on the board for four years, working together with the mayor “to try and fix Baldwin, to bring it back.”
“We’re working on it, and we’re going to continue working on it,” Bell stated, “and if I’m elected, I’ll continue working on it.
“Everything that needs to be done here in Baldwin… I don’t mind working with constituents. I can work with anybody and everybody, whether it is the new mayor or the old mayor.”
Bell proffered that he had attended every LMA (Louisiana Municipal Association) meeting he could, from Shreveport to Baton Rouge, and urged, “Let me continue this work. Let me continue this journey; because, this journey will never end with Herbert Bell. So, on election day, I’d like you to go out and vote for #71, because I’m the one.”
After Bell, it was Margaret “Faye” Coleman’s turn for an introduction.
“I am a mother of three, a grandmother of seven, a lifelong resident of the town of Baldwin, a 23-plus-year business owner, and my major goal is working with and for the community,” Coleman said.
“We have problems here, but our problems are being solved.
“Our town is not as bad as it looks, because we have been coming together and paying our bills.”
She went on to touch on the town’s water woes, saying, “We had to do some ugly stuff to make it pretty.”
She continued, “In order for us to be successful as town officials we have to work together. We have to come together and we have to be able to understand each other’s language.
“Our major problem is our lack of understanding when it comes to getting together to make the town better.
“We might not all agree, but what we have to understand is that we have to come together to be able to put the town back together.”
Coleman closed with, “I love the town of Baldwin. My number is 72. I’m asking for your vote and support.
“We have open grants that need to be closed, and I’m asking that you vote for me so that we can come together and make this town successful. Thank You.”
Last on the dais was Tony Gibson, previous alderman, running again.
He said he is a lifelong resident of Baldwin with a wife, seven kids and seven grandkids, and with a candidate number of 73.
“My major concern,” Gibson said, “is… in reflecting what Ms. Coleman said—to get together.
“There is no problem in disagreeing. But, at the end of the day, agree on something.
“The second thing is cleaning our town up. There was a time when we had the number one town. We had the cleanest town going.
“Let’s get this back. We can get this back.”
Gibson went on to cite crime and sewer difficulties as prime concerns of his, with the beleaguered town sewage system as his utmost of the two.
“That’s our health,” he said. “The water and sewer is our health. It’s for our kids.”
He closed his remarks on the topic of kids, saying, “The kids of Baldwin are wandering around doing nothing.
“We’ve lost the funds. The funds are going somewhere else. I don’t know where they are going but to the kids, but it has been three years since the town has had a football season or a baseball season.
“There is something wrong with that picture. It is time to come together as one community, and get this thing back the way it used to be.
“Baldwin is the perfect place for me. I was born and raised in this town, and I don’t plan on going anywhere.
“I love my town and I love everybody in this town. So, if we can get together as a people. We can get this town back in order. Thank You.”
The first round of questioning started the dais over from Grimm.
Verdin asked him, “This year, St. Mary Parish ranks 46th in health factors in our state. If elected, what policies, systems or environments will you support that improve the culture of health in our community?”
Grimm answered, “First of all, it’s a sad thing to hear that.
“Secondly, we have the Bayou Teche that runs through this area.
“I think you need to drain that, so that we can get cleaner and fresher water running through this area. Because recently, I’ve noticed that a lot of the things that have been happening have been coming from the water there.
“So, if we could come up with a policy to drain the Bayou Teche to get rid of the things that bring insects, flies, and everything else… I think that would be a good thing and I would support that.”
The next question went to Hebert. Verdin asked, “How would you improve the city?”
Hebert answered that the way he would improve Baldwin would be to continue “working hard” to take care of the town’s fiscal issues, adding that he thought positioning the town to accept federal grants, was in his estimation, along with curbing spending, the most prudent way toward fiscal success.
Question three went to Vappie, and was, “If you received a million-dollar grant to use for the town in any way you wanted—what would you do, and why?”
Vappie answered, “First of all, a million dollars would not take care of the fiscal needs that we have.”
He then explained that he would split the grant between fixing the town’s water system, sewage treatment plant and paying off old debts, adding, “That would get us in line to be able to receive bonds.”
Newton was next. The question asked was, “Do you think our town’s main street is attractive, and what would you do to improve the area to invite more visitors?”
Newton answered that in his estimation, the old Main Street, (previously routed on Charenton Road) was nicer than the present one, but that the present one could take a cleaning from end to end, to draw in tourism and business interest, “to get Main Street back to the way it used to be.”
Bell fielded the next question, which came in two parts, “Would you be in favor, or not, of an annual questionnaire being available to all citizens of Baldwin, evaluating its aldermen? Would you be in favor of that questionnaire being published for the citizens?”
Bell answered that he thought “it would probably be a good idea” to present the citizenry with an evaluative questionnaire. However, he also stated that he did not think it would be prudent to publish those questionnaires, on account of the discord it might sow amongst the community and its representatives.
The fifth question went to Coleman. It was, “As alderperson, what experiences would you be able to offer during a natural disaster?”
Coleman said she would ask the citizens “to pay attention to the advisories we would be receiving and have confidence and trust in the decision makers,” adding for example, that if an evacuation was ordered, that the citizenry comply fully with the order.
The last question of round one went to Gibson. The question was, “What should the requirements be to sit on the Baldwin council?”
Gibson answered that he thought it should take a certain intimate knowledge of the town and the people therein. He said, “It should take listening ears and an open mind… a person that can give back to the community.” He went on to say that he thought that “listening ears” were the most important qualifier because it takes listening to the concerns of the community in which one lives.
A second round of questions was asked of the candidates, beginning again with Grimm.
The question asked Grimm was, “How do you fix the issue of the abandoned cars and the overgrown yards throughout the city?”
Grimm answered that he would set aside a part of town in which to store the cars, and then would have them towed to that place thereby “bringing Baldwin back to the beauty that it is,” as well as he would contract a landscaper to mow overgrown lawns.
The next question went to Hebert, and it was, “How would you fix the road issues?”
Hebert said he knew the town already had money set aside for that purpose, but also stated he understood the difficulty in raising more, and that more money was necessary.
He furthered that fixing the roads would take prioritization, “every year slowly taking care of the worst ones first.”
Next was Vappie, whose question was, “What do you feel is the biggest issue facing the city, and how would you fix it?”
Vappie said he thought the biggest issue facing Baldwin is its water crisis. He then personally apologized to “everyone in Baldwin” for the 24-hour lapse in water service that took place last January.
The next question went to Newton, which was, “How do you plan to involve the residents in the town’s decision making process?”
Newton said that the elected officials in the town are elected to work for their constituents, making it important for the citizenry to be involved in the decision making process.
He added, “You can’t please everybody, but you can surely take everybody’s opinion into consideration for the decisions you are going to make.”
Verdin next addressed Bell, asking, “If elected, what steps would you take to put our town on firmer financial footing?”
Bell answered that in his estimation, the town would need to become better refined. The second step, Bell said would consist of payment of all outstanding balances owed to the town; and the third step, Bell said, “would be to upgrade the police department,” thereby gentrifying the area through ramped up patrols.
Coleman’s question followed Bell. Verdin asked her, “As alderperson, would you require the public managers to attend council meetings for the problems within their departments?”
Coleman answered that she thought it was “most important that department heads be in attendance at a meeting,” citing the reason as that of responsibility to as much information as possible concerning the departments over which they have been given charge.
Gibson fielded the last question, which was, “How do you plan on bringing new business into Baldwin?”
He explained that he felt it was important to understand the social fabric of the community before attempting an infusion of commercial interest.
He said further that he would recommend assessing the profiles of surrounding municipalities’ commercial industries, and attempt within Baldwin, to institute the viable components of those profiles.
The conclusion of the forum consisted of an address from Albert “Al” Thibodeaux, candidate for Baldwin police chief.
Thibodeaux said he is running for Chief of Police and that his wife, born and raised in Baldwin, worked in the town for her whole life, retiring after 27 years of working at the bank there. He said they built their home in Baldwin after his having lived in Franklin.
“I’ve got 24 years of experience in law enforcement,” Thibodeaux said. “Ten of those years, I worked in crime scene investigation, involving forensics and everything else that goes along with it.
“I specialized in fingerprints.
“I have been a jail warden for two years, and had to deal with a budget, hiring and firing people and caring for the inmates in the jail.
“The reason I am running, is that I think that law enforcement should be the number one priority in the town.
“We have to change the way people look at the police department, and the way they say that we don’t do anything.
“We have to get the people’s trust back in the department. When you say you are going to do something—do it, follow through with it and go back and tell that person what you have done. It has to be that.
“You have to get the officers out and patrol. You have to have a more productive police department.
“Now, I’m not saying we should go out there and write all kinds of crazy tickets. That’s not what I’m saying.
“I want to bring in crime prevention programs.
“It doesn’t cost a penny to install community policing.
“It’s going on in the city of Baton Rouge, and it’s working very well. You can call in anonymously, give the information you need to give, and we’ll make sure someone follows through on it. That’s what I want to do.
“I will be at your call 24 hours-a-day, if you need me. I am here. I am retired. I have nothing else to do, but to do police work.
“Everybody’s talking about the money. Yeah, money is nice. It would be great to have in the police department. But, I’ve learned in my 24 years, that you have to do with what you have. You have to deal with what you have and do the best that you can with it. Make sure the people trust you, and do the job that is expected. Granted… I would be an elected official. It is an elected position, and you should be accountable to the people.
“The chief should be here at all times, not just part-time.”
Thibodeaux closed by promising more arrests, “if need be,” and more patrols, “on both sides of the track.”
Incumbent Police Chief Harry Smith did not participate in the forum.