GEAUXMAYORCLINT @GMAIL.COM @GEAUXCLINT (337) 344 - 2114 20 BAYOU OAKS DR. CROWLEY, LA 70526 YN FIRST THINGS... We have to work together and focus on our future as a community. I hope to accomplish this by working every day to restore Trust and Transparency in City Hall and foster Teamwork between officials and citizens. No chaos will be allowed. WE ARE ONE CITY We might have many different neighborhoods, but we are one City that needs to move forward together. We can’t let ideas about “parts of town” divide us and hold us back. Everyone has a seat at the table, and everyone will be listened to. Crowley is a small to wn with a big future; we need a mayor with a real open - door, open - phone policy. CLINT CRADEUR - FOR MAYOR - A PLAN FOR WHAT I WOULD DO IF ELECTED MAYOR FOCUSING ON OUR FUTURE RESTORING ORDER IN CITY GOVERNMENT Members of the City Council are elected to represent the citizens of their wards, and as such will have a voice again. They will be welcomed at City Hall and encouraged to participate in the governing process They will be given information , and meetings will be conducted orderly. The co nstitutional balance of power is crucial to moving Crowley forward. The citizens need officials that work past their differences and have professional debates. MAKING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS SAFE AGAIN Combating and reducing crime is my priority. Communication w ith members of the community and l aw e nforcement is essential . I will work with the p olice and citizens to ensure our citizens and visitors feel safe in our city. We can’t play games with people’s lives at stake. BEATING BACK BLIGHT Our City can only grow if our neighborhoods uplift our quality of life. I will make sure our l itter and building code laws are enforced and prioritize dangerous structures and junk removal. Abandoned houses, abandoned vehicle s , tall grass and litter will n o longer be tolerated. We need more results, more action , and less excuse s. PROMOTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Crowley has so , so much to offer . We have a major interstate, a r ailroad , and access to waterways. We cannot afford to sit back and wait for Crowle y to grow economically — we have to push hard and work harder to strengthen our local business community while drawing new businesses into our City limits. WHY I’M RUNNING I l ove Crowley and I believe that in order for our C ity and our citizens to thrive we must reduce crime and blight to protect the lives and property of our citizens. We must promote economic development that supports bu siness growth and improve the lives of residents by bringing jobs and tax revenue to the City. We have to give the youth of our community opportunities to succeed by promoting education and continu ing to provide recreational activities that they can participate in with their peers. Crowley needs a change, and I am ready to lead that change if called by the peo ple to be Mayor. I’m new to government and have served on the City Council representing Ward 4 and all of Crowley for two years now, and have been praying about running for Mayor for the past year. This is not a spur of the moment choice. I believe that I have the experience and knowledge to get things accomplished for our City and the dedication to give the public more than a simple “I’m working on it.” I’m willing to make the tough decisions that must be made , and have made them before while working in the labor and professional sectors. Crowley can’t afford to go another four years down an uncertain path. I want to bu i ld a team of individuals that are passionate about creating actual change within the City. I’m running because I want to give back to the City and bring stability and growth through teamwork . It’s time for us to bring Crowley back , together ! BRIEF BIOGRAPHY I have always lived in Crowley and graduated from Crowley High School in 1974 . My wife Victoria “Torrie” Dubey Cradeur and I have t wo children: Chase and Chad. Chase is a captain in the U.S. Army; he and his wife Dana have two children, Aubrey and Charlotte. Chad is a Special Needs Teacher and Head Baseball Coach at Crowley High; he and his wife Kai have one child, Cooper. I retired from the oil and gas industry in 2014 after 36 years, working my way up from roustabout to Production Superintendent. Though I started in the field, I have been in a supervisory capacity for most of my career, dealing each year with multi - million - dollar b udgets and managing over 100 employees in several divisions and four states. Torrie and I are also past business owners of La Boutique , which f or many years was located d owntown Crowley Because I wanted to give back to our community, I ran for Alderman i n Ward 4 (South Crowley) unopposed and have served since 2018 as Chairman of the Public Works Committee. OVERVIEW City employees work for the residents and taxpayers of the City of Crowley, and they will treat everyone with honesty and professionalism. City Hall will once again be a welcoming place. COOPERATION There are many personnel ordinances and policies used in nearby cities which promote ethics and professionalism within the municipal workforce. These should be implemented in our Code of Ordinan ces. Employees will work cooperatively with other officials. DEPARTMENTAL CHANGES PERSONNEL PERSONNEL RETIREMENT SYSTEM CHANGE PROPOSAL The City’s pension system is very expensive to upkeep and at times promotes ineffective employment. I would like to consider phasing out the city’s pension plan and begin a more efficient 401(k) type retirement plan for non - civil service city employees. RESTRUCTURING OUR LEGAL TEAM I will endeavor to employ a full time or at least part - time City Attorney whose office will be located in City Hall. This position will also fulfill the position of City Prosecutor in the City Court system. The City Attorney mu st attend all Council meetings and will be available to all city officials. His salary will be set by the budget and an active legal calendar will be kept. MERIT - BASED HIRING The City requires employees who are skilled at their jobs and have the credenti als to oversee services for Crowley’s over 13,000 residents. Certain qualifications will exist for employees dealing with finance and other matters. Effective employees save money. Preference will be given to city residents and those who portray profession alism. IDENTIFYING ISSUES There are many, many factors at play that have created the situation our City is in today concerning crime. Two main issues at the root of this problem are ineffective communication between the Mayor and Chief of Police and a lack of cooperation. There are other issues, but these are the issues wh ich can be solved by the next administration. The Fire Chief is subordinate to the Mayor. The fire department will facilitate public fire education and be proactive in examining hazardous buildings. COMMUNICATION We can’t afford to keep going down the p ath we are travelling down. The Mayor and Police Chief have to collaborate on projects, bring in community leaders, and work with the Council to approve equipment and pay scales for public safety officers. PUBLIC SAFETY POLICE DEPARTMENT RELATIONS • The Police Chief controls the Police D epartment. The administration and C ouncil set its budget. I will work with the Chief and this department to increase the number of patrol officers and develop a plan to increase their pay within constraints o f available funds and civil service law. • I will encourage the Police D epartment to increase their participation in the Traffic Enforcement Division (TED) program , which brings in revenue and promotes safe driving. • I will promote greater interaction between the a dministration, c itizens, p olice, S heriff, S tate Police and f ederal a gencies to combat gang violence and other forms of criminal activity in our city. • I strongly support having an active and properly trained Street Crimes Unit to curtail the criminal activities plaguing neighborhoods across our city , while also seeking assistance from the Sheriff’s Office. • We will partner with the Acadia Parish Police Jury to install cameras within the City which will deter criminal activity and assist the p olice in identifying suspects. FIRE DEPARTMENT I will pursue funding to renovate the Central Fire Station, if physically and financially feasible, or sell the property for an alternative use. The funds will be used to build a modern firehouse to accommodate firefighters within a single facility. This will eliminate wasteful spending on rental of a detached office building where our firefighters have been housed for many years. YN OVERVIEW Our community is served well by an efficient Recreation Department, which provides so many services to our citizens young and old. Our youth can be occupied during the summer which will instill character and personal discipline in them. This department als o serves a vital role in bringing outsiders into our community. COOPERATION Building stronger partnerships with local businesses and parish officials can and will be done. Meetings with other cit ies’ recreation departments will allow us to build from the ideas of others. It does not matter ‘whose idea it is’ or who gets the credit. RECREATION SETTING OUR NEW TURF FIELDS UP FOR SUCCESS Thousands of people have attended our new turf fields so far. We have to promote them through advertisement and signage, as well as social media. We should also aid related and nearby businesses SAFETY BRINGS BACK BUSINESS A guest of our ballfields was h it this year by a stray bullet while getting food with his son. Teams have to be able to feel safe when showing up to play sports and spend money in Crowley. We can’t simply shrug and do nothing — we have to have a greater police presence in all parks throug hout the city. We also should explore installing attachments to make our parks handicap accessible. IMPROVING RECREATION INFASTRUCTURE The City should be in the position to offer many types of recreational activities and facilities to its residents. I wi ll work with the recreation director to ensure that all facilities are maintained and used in an efficient way, and that trash is cleaned up from our local parks. All of our parks should also be monitored for safety. We will also begin working with the Lt. Governor’s Office on getting funding and aid for recreation and cultural development. SPECIFIC PROJECTS • All parks will be evaluated by use. Unused parks or tennis courts might be repurposed so that the citizens will get a better use from them. • T he Martin Luther King Jr. Center and nearby facilities need to be upgraded. I would like to pursue grants from the Lt. Governor’s Office and capital outlay funding for a covered pavilion and/or a covered basketball court. • I would like to explore the poss ibility of having a public fishing pond with picnic tables and a walking trail on certain city property There are grants for this that were shown to us but the current administration refused to apply — twice. DEPARTMENTAL CHANGES RECREATION DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW Ci ty residents have voiced concerns about dilapidated houses, a lack of enforcement of provisions of the City Code, and horrible living conditions. We cannot afford to sit back and do nothing because a problem is too big. EQUAL ENFORCEMENT We need to begin to fix the problems of junk, blight, tall grass and litter where it is the worst. It should not matter what part of town a problem is situated in for it to be fixed. We are one city. Similarly, it should not matter who someone is or who they know if they have violated an ordinance. All violators will be treated fairly and justly. There will not be favoritism or a ‘pass.’ DEPARTMENTAL CHANGES CODE ENFORCEMENT CODE ENFORCEMENT SUPPORTING CODE ENFORCEMENT I plan to hire an additional Code Enforcement Officer to enforce l itter, b light, g rass and other violations that fall under this Department. This individual w ould have the training and authorization to issue citations and fines for non - compliance. This dep artment will show up to Council meetings and will issue violations to anyone who breaks the law. We cannot be scared to enforce our Code if we expect our quality of life to rise. CONSIDERING A RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM Many of our residents are being f orced to live in horrible conditions. Code Enforcement officers will be instructed to conduct sanitation and habitability inspections, and I would consider implementing a rental registration program which requires landowners to comply with habitability req uirement s. CHANGING ANIMAL CONTROL PRACTICES I would like to explore the feasibility of upgrading our animal control facility or contracting with the Police Jury to provide the most humane and cost - effective facility for animal control within our city. UTILIZING THE ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING COURT The Council recently passed legislation to create a court which would abate many Code Enforcement violations at once, while decreasing the amount of time to see actual results and taking the politics out of the blight situation. I will utilize this court to clean up the city, especially those properties that pose an immediate threat. WORKING TOGETHER WITH VOLUNTEERS & ORGANIZATIONS The City of Crowley cannot afford to turn away any help — we ha ve to work together with citizens to tear down blighted homes and identify junk and abandoned cars. No lot should look like a wasteland. I will offer my hand to any volunteer and support them in any way that I can. YN OVERVIEW Crowley has a rich history and many attractions. We have to promote ourselves as a City and expand our marketing to attract new visitors and keep the attention those who travel to our community often. AMBASSADORSHIP The Mayor must be an ambassador for the City. My wife and I will attend every event that we can where it will be a benefit to the City. Promoting “dine in Crowley” and our local food and retail businesses will be a priority. Our sports teams and ball fields will be used as a media and marketing asset. Lastly, I will meet with different franchisees to determine if more accommodations can be built to bring in revenue from overnight guests. DEPARTMENTAL CHANGES TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TOURISM DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATION WITH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS Working cooperatively with the Acadia Parish Tourism Commission and our Mainstreet organization will not be a “side” job of the Mayor and Tourism Director — it will be a priority. We must also reach out to the Lt. Governor’s Office. I have met extensively with the Lt. Governor and plan to collaborate with his office to get Crowley the media it needs if elected. I will also offer to attend board meetings of the International Rice Festival organization. USING OUR ASSETS Crowley has many assets which can be leveraged to gain revenue at no cost to our citizens. I will actively promote rentals of the Rice Theater, Wells Fargo building, and the Rice Festival building. Scheduling events at the ballparks off - season will also br ing in revenue. I will consider also selling city owned properties that are not in use and impose and a burden on the city’s finances and taxpayers. We can’t afford to simply cut the grass or fix the windows in unused buildings. MUSEUM REVITALIZATION Mu seums should be open to the public and be actively promoted. It has been a long time since schoolchildren regularly viewed the interactive displays in City Hall. The City also owns a “Rice Museum” from years past which has been allowed to fall into disrep air. I believe the Rice Museum should be located near the downtown area to offer convenient access to tourists and promote education of our r ice industry . These items will provide revenue to the Tourism Department. GEAUXMAYORCLINT @GMAIL.COM @GEAUXCLINT (337) 344 - 2114 20 BAYOU OAKS DR. CROWLEY, LA 70526 YN EFFICIENCY FIRST Crowley has it s infrastructure problems, and they can’t go away overnight. I can’t promise to solve all of them because I only make promises that I can fulfill. However, a better system is needed for how our city’s infrastructure is maintained. COOPERATIVE ENDEAVORS Th e City can preserve revenue and allow for citizen input into maintenance concerns by actively promoting the use of cooperative endeavor agreements between the City and local residents who want to enact a change, either for themselves or the community. Thes e agreements will not provide free i mprovements. INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT COMBINING DEPARTMENTS: LESS WASTE I’ve supervis ed and managed projects consisting of over 100 employees each tasked with different roles from different divisions and located in different states. Each of these projects taught me about delegating responsibility, sharing resources, and communicati on between different divisions and departments. After speaking with city work ers as a C ouncilman, I believe that the Sewer, Street, and Public Works departments should be combined into one “Infrastructure Maintenance Department” that has a central department head and three foremen tasked with overseeing the three divisions. This wi ll bring down costs as we would purchase and share equipment within this d epartment , and no two divisions would be able to push responsibility onto others or need to borrow equipment. The foremen will meet often to discuss collaborative projects, and some projects will be contracted out where the overhead is large for implementing smaller repairs. PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION MOSQUITO CONTROL I would like to explore the possibility of finding either state capital outlay funds or federal funds to contract City - wid e mosquito control services, or to enter into an agreement with the Police Jury to pool resources in locating more funding for mosquito control. This is crucial for both public health and tourism. YN W HAT’S POSSIBLE? Ro ad ways in our City have long been an issue. Maintaining them and carefully selecting projects while allowing for citizen input will help the City Government in slowly repairing and maintaining our streets while engaging in cost - control. COLLABORATION Th e St reet Department, like the Sewer and Public Works Departments, will be combined into the Infrastructure Maintenance Department. This will allow for the sharing of resources, which is particularly useful for maintaining our City’s streets. Collaboration with citizen - informants will be furthered through expected completion dates on work orders. INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT S TREET DIVISION • I will consider eliminating the position of Street Commissioner because this position is unneeded under a new Infrastructure and Maintenance Department. The official position of “Street Commissioner” creates unnecessary problems that have been at issue for several years. This positi on’s responsibilities will be delegated to the Street Foremen. • I plan to advertise for bids and explore contracting some of the duties of the Street Department similar to the City’s contract for cemetery maintenance. • I plan to assign a Street Foreman i n each of the four wards to be responsible and accountable for their assigned ward. They will work with the council members of that ward to ensure issues are addressed and resolved in a timely manner. This also affords more opportunity for effective citizen input. • I plan to eliminate the position of Utility Arborist and contract tree cutting and a rborist services through a bid process on an as - needed basis. The City’s trees can be maintained in a more cost - effective way. • I plan to authorize the application for DOTD’s Safe Routes To Public Places Program, which provides funding for projects to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclis t s There is no match needed for this program The Mayor was presented this opportunity last year and declined to apply for the free sidewalks and bike trails. GEAUXMAYORCLINT @GMAIL.COM @GEAUXCLINT (337) 344 - 2114 20 BAYOU OAKS DR. CROWLEY, LA 70526 YN EVERYONE NEEDS SEWER The City’s sewer system is one of the only items that affects each and every person in the City of Crowley each and every day. For this reason, the sewer problems which the City has cannot be viewed as a ‘side’ issue. BRINGING IN EXPERTS The City can trul y benefit from outside consultants coming in to look at our utility infrastructure — consultants that know they will not be getting the project Unbiased opinions are needed on this issue, which has taken up much of the Council’s agenda for the past two year s. Our sewer problems cannot simply be handled through viewing and discussing numbers: they require action. INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT SEWER DIVISION There are many changes which could be made to our personnel framework and sewer infrastructure that will save money and create a more efficient department. These items will lower sewer user fees : • Eliminate the Utility Director position and create the posi tions of Sewer Utility Plant Foreman and Plant Maintenance Foreman • Transfer sewer department personnel , equipment, and machinery to a newly established Infrastructure and Maintenance Department. • Use c ontract labor to perform maintenance and repairs whenever possible to save funding. Currently we must purchase equipment for quick fixes which is not used often . Contract labor could abate this problem. • Explore the possibility of utilizing specialized companies, such as Sustainability Partners, to obtain the most competitive prices for the replacement of expensive sewer plant processing equipment. • Obtain an appraisal and explore the feasibility of selling the Sewer Plant and sewer infrastructure and provide for rates to be controlled by the Pub lic Service Commission.