Foulcard: Business, infrastructure are mayoral priorities

Mayor-elect Eugene Foulcard discussed Franklin’s infrastructure, tax trends and business re-enrichment prospects Tuesday in his address to Franklin Rotary Club.
He opened with nods of thanks to current Mayor Raymond Harris, for serving Franklin so well, and Jimmie Daniel, for running what Foulcard called a “classy” mayoral race devoid of “mudslinging and dirt.”
After explaining that he was looking forward to taking office in July, and accounting for his administration’s current provisional state, Foulcard thanked God for his good fortune and the “beauty of democracy,” and said he is looking forward to “incentivizing and revitalizing the housing market in Franklin. Especially, with some of the adjudicated properties out there, if we can get some of those properties lifted out of adjudication,” he said, “then we can lift up the housing market by getting some of these homes back into the market.”
He said he plans on being “very aggressive and very pro-business. Doing things to turn the corner and change some of the mindsets in Franklin.”
When asked what he might consider a focal point for the first steps of his upcoming term, Foulcard unhesitatingly replied, “roads and streets. I think our roads and streets are in pretty bad shape, and we need to address those.”
He proposed using parish bond money to augment millions in capital outlay planned funding, already budgeted by the city council for the purpose of city infrastructure repair.
Foulcard said he hopes the bond money doesn’t all go to rural development, so that Franklin’s city streets find some in their prospective restoration coffers.
He said he figures that due to Franklin’s status as one of the parish’s densest population centers, along with Morgan City and Patterson, Franklin should see its “fair share,” a goal toward which he says he has been working with parish councilmembers.
“Because, at the end of the day,” he said, “we have already paid into that with our taxes. So, in the city of Franklin, we are not covering any of the cost, but we have already covered the cost.”
He went on to say that he looks forward to continued cooperation with parish and state representatives toward fixing Franklin’s streets, “without raising taxes.”
Next, with a question asked about the state of the city’s tax collection, Foulcard shifted gears.
“It has recently had a slight uptick,” he reported.
Having worked through the city’s 2018-19 budget workshop, ahead of February’s budget publishing, he said the city showed a 3 percent uptick in sales tax collection, with hopes the trend continues its upward momentum; the city having budgeted with an eye to a possible 2 percent increase, topping off the anticipated rise at an estimated 5 percent for the budget’s span.
He professed uncertainty about a recent proposal to bring the parish under the umbrella of a unified Industrial Tax Exemption Program, citing a need for clarity concerning the clauses and expectations involved therein.
The final question posed was “Have you heard of or talked with anybody who has any ideas about how we could re-enrich the businesses in the downtown area?”
Foulcard responded, “I’ve given it some thought, and I really believe that many of the businesses need to formulate a Blue-Ribbon-type commission. I know we have the downtown merchants’ association, but I think we need to collectively take a look at this.
“I plan on revamping the economic development office within the City of Franklin, so that we can re-incentivize things coming to fruition in the downtown area.”
He closed by saying that he is concerned with “getting folks back into downtown,” adding that he thinks there are some wonderful businesses in downtown Franklin, and that he would like to look at rebranding the area using unconventional media, including incentives through social media, as tools toward revitalization.