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Building up and tearing down were part of the Morgan City Council meeting Tuesday.

The council heard about some municipal progress at the regular fourth-Tuesday meeting at the Morgan City Court building. And the council took steps to condemn and demolish six blighted homes.

Two relatively new Independence Day events are coming up.

Saturday’s Lake Jam begins at 11 a.m. at Lake End Parkway. Southern Roots, Cliff & Sidepiece Band and South 70 will perform.

On Tuesday, the Fourth of July Boat Parade will be at Lake End Park. Judging will begin at 2 p.m.

Lake End Park, the site for a number of improvements in recent years, has generated $110,000 in revenue, Mayor Lee Dragna told the council.

And, he said, income from business licenses is up by $64,000.

“We’re moving forward in this city, and not just falling apart,” Dragna said.

Rodeos are becoming part of the local entertainment scene, too. Timmy Quebedeaux and Javier Acuna of the Atchafalaya Bit and Bridle Club got council approval — and a promise to let the arena use city bleachers at the site — for a rodeo at 3
p.m. July 22 at the clubs arena in the 1300 block of Youngs Road.

A Mexican-style rodeo May 13 at the arena drew 700 people, Quebedeaux told the council.

The club hopes the rodeos will raise money that can be used to improve the arena.

Also Tuesday, the council voted to condemn and demolish six homes on a list of seven that are in disrepair.

The houses are at 419 Garber St., 1620 Federal Ave., 1009 Railroad Ave., 1222 Fig St., 606 Sixth St. and 202 S. Railroad Ave.

The council gave the owner of the seventh home, at 109 11th St., 30 days to take down a carport and determine whether cypress used in the home’s construction can be salvaged.

The council also approved recommendations from the Finance Committee, chaired by Councilman Tim Hymel, for nearly $900,000 in spending.

It includes $750,000 to replace an often-patched sewer system pump at Park Road; $60,000 for a new phone system for city offices, which is expected to save $2,000-$2,400 per month; $66,000 for a fund that provides grants for fixing up buildings; and $10,000 for the St. Mary Council on Aging, which runs senior centers and delivers meals to homebound residents.

And the council unanimously passed an ordinance that reduces the charge for paying electric bills past the delinquency date to 5% from 10%.

Gertrude Comeaux Fisher, 94, a native and resident of Patterson, La., passed away peacefully into the arms of her Lord surrounded by family.

Services will 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at Lighthouse Community Church, 3801 La. 182, Berwick. Graveside services will follow at Morgan City Cemetery.

She is survived by and will be dearly missed by her daughters, Jan Gilmore (husband Charles “Tim”), Patricia Concienne (husband Louis), Barbara Guillot (husband Harlan), Nancy Cooley, Sonjia Kiffe (husband Clint), and Holly delValle (husband Antonio “Tony”) .

She is also survived by nineteen grandchildren, as well as a host of over thirty-five great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. She was an only child, and her desire was to have a large family. She accomplished that and did it well, having a five generation family. She prided herself in keeping an immaculate home.

Known as “Blondie” in her earlier years, she continued to participate by contributing to the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival annual art shows at The Artist’s Guild. Her husband, artist Samuel Fisher, always said, “She doesn’t say much, but she’s my greatest art critic.”

As an excellent Cajun cook, Ms. Fisher loved to cook and entertain her family, friends, and church family.

A woman of small physical stature, her husband Samuel used to say, “She’s our rock.”

She will always be remembered as a petite southern woman who loved coffee. Her famous morning quote: “Coffee always tastes better in a pretty cup.” She drank and ate on fine China until the end.

She was preceded in death by her husband of fifty-six years, Samuel S. Fisher, Sr., her only son, Samuel S. Fisher, Jr., her parents and grandparents.

Hargrave Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Services will be held at Lighthouse Community Church.

Our family would like to extend our gratitude to the nurses and staff of Journey Hospice.

Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC announced that Mark Kleehammer is the new general counsel and chief regulatory officer effective June 26.

Kleehammer will be responsible for leading Cleco’s legal and regulatory affairs and providing strategic input on the company’s vision.

“With an impressive track record in the energy industry, and extensive expertise in Louisiana’s legal and regulatory affairs, Mark will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our executive team and company,” said Bill Fontenot, Cleco president and CEO.

For the past 25 years, Kleehammer has served in roles with increasing responsibility for Entergy Corp., including vice president of regulatory and public affairs, vice president of business development services, vice president of gas distribution, and various regulatory, strategic planning and finance roles before assuming his most recent position as vice president, commercial and industrial journey and products.

Before joining Entergy, Kleehammer worked at the Chicago Board of Trade and in New York in the commodities industry.

Kleehammer earned his Juris Doctor and MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans and holds a bachelor's degree in economics and management from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He is a member of the Louisiana State Bar
Association.

“I’m eager to continue work in the Louisiana utility space with a company rich in our state’s history,” said Kleehammer. “And I’m excited to join Cleco as they embark on new initiatives aimed at expanding their renewable energy portfolio and driving the transition to a cleaner Louisiana.”

Kleehammer replaces Cleco’s current chief corporate development and compliance officer and general counsel, Bill Conway, whose three-year contract comes to a close in July.

“Conway has been an invaluable asset to our organization, consistently guiding us towards success and inspiring us to push boundaries,” said Fontenot. “We wish him well in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions to Cleco.”

If the election for insurance commissioner were held today, the likely winner would be Tim Temple, a Republican and well-known industry executive from Baton Rouge.

Since Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced in March he would not seek re-election, Temple has been the unmissable frontrunner in this down-ballot race.

Voters and donors already know his name. Temple lost to Donelon by just 82,000 votes in 2019 and now he’s sitting on a campaign war chest that has more than $2 million.

So far no serious contenders have surfaced to challenge Temple’s frontrunner status, which gives the candidate the luxury of focusing on policy rather than politics — for now.

In an interview with www.LaPoliticsWeekly.com last week, Temple said if he’s elected, he will immediately appeal to the governor and Legislature to call a special session in January to tackle a handful of weighty insurance issues.

"Even if we don’t have another hurricane this year, the entire marketplace — whether it’s auto, homeowners or commercial trucking — will be worse in January than it is today," Temple said. "We’re going to be in crisis mode and you can already see it coming."

Temple said the agenda for such a special session would be drafted during the transition period between the fall elections and January’s oath of office. There are two common themes, however, that Temple continues to hear about on the campaign trail and in boardrooms: "affordability and availability."

"I think we really blew it with the special session we had earlier this year," Temple said. "As far as I know, that was the first time in modern history a special session was called to deal exclusively with insurance issues and nothing else. All we did was dust off a 15-year old plan and decide to do it again. We didn’t address any of the root problems."

During that special session, the Legislature and administration agreed on a $45 million incentive fund requested by Donelon to help lure more companies to Louisiana to write homeowners coverage. We’re still waiting to learn just how effective the entirety of the program has been.

Lawmakers got another bite at the policy apple during their recent regular session, but they failed to deliver anything of substance for the families across the state still reeling from storms and flooding.

That said, there’s an appetite to do something on these insurance issues as soon as possible. Speaker Pro Tem Tanner Magee, a Republican who represents flood-prone Terrebonne Parish, described the regular session as a missed opportunity.

“We did almost nothing for the consumer,” said Magee. “It’s sad and frustrating.”

Temple hopes to build off of that sentiment as he refines his policy agenda, which won’t be confined to the halls of the House and Senate.

A DeRidder native who runs Temptan, a family-owned business, Temple said he would also act on day one as commissioner to remove some administrative rules that are holding the industry back.

"In other states, insurance companies aren’t prohibited from free market movement," said Temple. "They can ask for rate changes if they’re justified and actuarially sound and not discriminatory. The current commissioner here only allows that every 12 months. That desk rule makes us unattractive as a state."

Temple’s early agenda, if he’s elected, would rely heavily on the above-mentioned transition period.

"The type of people I would want to be a part of that team are folks who are looking to be bold and transformative," he said. "I think that’s what it’s going to take. I really feel if I’m elected that Louisiana could have an insurance renaissance.”

While Temple is already announced and running strong, state Rep. Edmond Jordan, a Democrat from Brusly, said he’ll make a final decision on the race soon. Jordan is currently the chair of the Financial Services and Multi-Lines Issues Committee for the National Council of Insurance Legislators.

At one point last year, former state Sen. Ryan Gatti, a Republican from Bossier City, was being encouraged to run. An attorney of 23 years, Gatti is a former workers comp judge and the one-time vice chair of the Senate Insurance Committee.

There have also been some thoughts that a candidate could emerge from Donelon’s department — someone like Ron Henderson, Donelon’s deputy commissioner of consumer advocacy. But much like Jordan and Gatti and anyone else looking at this election, Henderson hasn’t made any big moves.

With roughly 40 days to go until the Aug. 8-10 candidate qualifying period, that leaves Temple in a unique position to focus on policy rather than politics. Whether that luxury will continue is the most important question in this race.

For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @ LaPoliticsNow.