City's next mayor: Daniel, Foulcard face off

The two candidates for Mayor of Franklin sounded off Thursday at a St. Mary Chamber of Commerce forum at the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Former Franklin City Councilman Jimmie Daniel II and incumbent Franklin City Councilman Eugene Foulcard Sr. answered scripted questions and impromptu questions from audience members, with Reginald Weary as moderator.
The first question went to Foulcard, as he won the coin toss. The question asked Foulcard to define what he thought were the three biggest issues facing Franklin and to proffer his plans to address those issues.
Foulcard said he thought the issues were “streets, the economy and drainage.”
In reference to repairing pothole-laden city streets, he pointed to millions of dollars spent in previous administrations, namely in 2006 and 2010.
“Guess what,” said Foulcard, “we still have streets we need to address.” He pointed to a $1 milion allocation in the 2018-19 budget through which such streets are to be addressed.
As for the economy, Foulcard said he has a plan of targeted advertising outside of Franklin to attract industry and encourage current businesses and citizens to spend tax dollars locally.
Finally, of the three “critical issues,” Foulcard said of addressing the city’s drainage difficulties that the parish has allocated $1 million for a drainage project which has been delayed due to right-of-way disputes.
“Once this project begins,” said Foulcard, “this will alleviate a great deal of the drainage concerns,” further stating that he intends to monitor the progress of the project, as well as look into other plumbing concerns throughout the city.
When it was Daniel’s turn to he said he looked forward to spending the aforementioned infrastructure allocations on fixing the streets, and deferred to Foulcard’s points as being in agreement with his own.
The next question went to Daniel, asked how he intended to bring back jobs and a population to the city, both of which were said to be in “steady decline.”
Daniel said the decline in jobs could be blamed largely on the downturn in the oil industry, and he plans to “push for more industrial business,” as well as keep an eye on downtown, through seeking outside interests for cultivation in that area.
Daniel also said he intends to work directly and closely with St. Mary Parish Economic Director Frank Fink, regarding jobs and job growth.
He said he believes “companies are looking for towns with good, safe schools and hospitals,” and he plans on working with both of those boards in Franklin.
He went on to say he believes jobs and population are linked, insofar as a city with a prosperous job market will invite population growth.
“We’ve got to get the people back to work,” said Daniel. “That’s all they want. They want a job, they want honest pay and they want to go home and have fun on the weekends in a nice place to raise their family… a piece of the American dream.”
He proposed selling Franklin as “a retirement community,” citing the golf course, picturesque downtown area, Bayou Teche and the annual Christmas light show, as boons to such effect.
Foulcard’s referred to an article in the Jan. 15, 2003 edition of the Banner-Tribune, in which he purported Daniel voted to cut $25,000 from the parish’s economic development contribution for the city of Franklin.
Foulcard went on to call Daniel an “obstructionist” to then-Mayor Sam Jones and the economic development office which Foulcard said, “brought countless grants into the city.”
Daniel answered the charge by saying, “Well, that was back in ‘03, and I guess I was a different person back then, and if I remember right, that’s when Mr. Frank (Fink) was coming in, and there was a gathering of the cities, and we were going to share the funding of his salary, and our cost was $25,000 to pay for Mr. Frank Fink.” He further said, “I’m ready to move on from ‘03. This is 2018.”
The next question was for Foulcard, but because the moderator perceived the question to be of such import, both candidates were asked to respond: “What is your greatest strength, and how will you use it to aid you as mayor?”
Foulcard said his greatest strength “has always been to unify and build bridges.” He said in his estimation, those attributes would serve him well as mayor, in working with parish government to continue to bring unity to Franklin and the parish.
Daniel answered that his greatest strengths are, “leadership and people management.” He pointed to his business’ success and expansion as proof, as well as helping families deal with loss, through his role at the mortuary.
“I know how to treat people. I know how to work with people, and I know how to get the best out of people,” Daniel said.
The next question went to Daniel, and concerned blighted areas in the city and how to deal with them.
Daniel answered by saying he had reviewed the minutes of past city council meetings and found instances in which the city had “taken action on some blighted houses,” and pointed to eight properties, according to him, which are of issue at this time.
“I plan on taking that list and adding to it,” Daniel said, including that he looks forward to working with Tim Thibodeaux, the city’s inspector.
Daniel stated his goal regarding blight being to “clean up the city,” as businesses look for “places that they can be proud to do business in.”
He went on to say he believes Franklin needs a cost analysis study on the necessity for affordable housing in Franklin, and the analysis should be used to assess real estate market values and how they are affected by blight.
Foulcard’s said his intention is to condemn homes which are “not up to par,” and remarket them, citing a recent “lifting of adjudications” as a fulcrum to that end.
Questions were also fielded from the audience, and those which the candidates were asked to answer within 30 seconds.
The first of those questions went to Daniel, and was for him to explain how he intended to return to city employees the 5 percent pay cut they received under the current administration.
Daniel’s response was, “I do believe, with the budget that we have, that we can honestly give the people those raises.” He explained he wants to freeze the raises the city council members and future mayor are poised to receive, and use those monies to raise the salaries of those who received the five percent cuts. “I would give them my money before I would take a raise, for sure,” he said.
Foulcard’s question was in reference to the police chief, and whether or not he believes that position should be an elected or appointed one.
Foulcard said, “I feel that the chief should be appointed. I was chairman of the charter commission, and that was one of the things that we pushed forward was to have an appointed chief, and not elected.”
The next question went to Foulcard, and concerned the relationship between the city council and the parish council, and what he expected to do to foster an effective relationship between the two.
Foulcard pointed to a “working relationship” with the incumbent city council and said he does not anticipate any problems maintaining said relationship in “moving the city of Franklin forward.” He said the same could be said of his relationship with the parish council. “I’ve always been a person that could unite and bring together for the betterment of all,” Foulcard said. “Sure, we have our own ideas and solutions. However, we must always do what’s best for all of us.”
Daniel said it seemed to him a big question and he had noted cooperation between the two bodies in the past, and he had reason to believe both bodies would act in the best interest of the community. “You’ve got to vote with your heart,” Daniel said. “Don’t vote just because someone else is voting the same way. That’s not justice. Voting your heart is your justice.”
Foulcard fielded the next question, which was, “What can be done about someone wanting to open a new business in the area, and will there be any funding to help them start one in the future?”
Foulcard said one of the first things he would do as mayor, would be to “implement the economic development form of the city of Franklin,” adding he would couple said form with “an aggressive grant writing team. So that we can aggressively pursue other avenues and streams of funding so that we can help new jobs start, such as re-implementing the revolving loan fund with the city of Franklin and collaborate with entities in Franklin that do that type of work with revolving loans.”
Both candidates were asked the final question, which concerned a problem on Wall Street in Franklin and the AmeriPure plant perceived as a nuisance there by some nearby residents.
Daniel conceded he knew too little about the situation to venture his stance on a solution, and Foulcard, after saying he had visited the site, referred to the city having already sent a letter to the company concerning its effects on Wall Street, and said what was left to do, was to wait for a reply.