Question: What city, despite having a residency rule approved by voters, will soon have 3 current and former Mayors, a Deputy CAO, a Deputy CAO of Public Works, and several department directors and assistant directors employed in city government earning well over $1 Million in salary and benefits courtesy of tax payers and only 1 of them actually lives in the city they govern?
Answer: If you guessed Kenner, thanks. You are paying attention.
Oh, and sorry if you are a resident of Kenner that actually believes that government respects you and your wishes.
The newest ex-mayor joining the Ben Zahn Administration is former Covington Mayor Candace Watkins.
Watkins was defeated in her bid to return as Covington Mayor in April finishing 3rd in a 3 person race.
Prior to that, Watkins was employed for 3 1/2 years in the Louisiana Office of Community Development/Disaster Recovery Unit as a "Disaster Recovery Specialist". Before joining the state, she was the Director of Community Development for St. Bernard Parish (where she also did not live) and spent 8 years as Covington Mayor.
Watkins signed a contract with Mayor Zahn as a "Consultant" (a semantic way to get around the will of the people of Kenner and the residency rule) to become the first Kenner Economic Development Director (although she can't really become a "Director" without the City Council granting a waiver to the residency rule).
Regardless of where Watkins lives (40 miles from Kenner) or what her title is, Zahn told The Advocate that she will work under her contract as a "Consultant".
Let's take a step back.
In 2014, when I ran for Mayor, I discussed the need for Kenner to have its own Visitor's Bureau and Economic Development entity. At the time, Kenner utilized the Jefferson Convention and Visitor's Bureau and JEDCO, both groups are heavily involved with then-Mayor Mike Yenni's political consultant Greg Buisson. Buisson is also the political consultant for Zahn, and several members of the Kenner City Council including Mike Sigur, Brian Brennan and Kristi McKinney.
While I believe strongly that the city needs an Economic Development entity, I don't agree with Mayor Zahn creating a city department staffed with political appointees, at least one of whom doesn't even reside in the city.
An Economic Development entity should represent the city and should transcend politics, not serve at the pleasure of the Mayor or work for his agenda.
An Economic Development entity should promote Kenner and lay the groundwork to attract and retain businesses and jobs.
But, the ultimate "Economic Development Director" should be the Mayor.
The Economic Development entity can lay the foundation for businesses and provide a central point of contact to assist with real estate, permits, licenses, grants, funding and other issues, but the Mayor of a city needs to be the leader.
In Kenner, that won't be the case.
Ben Zahn is a florist and a decorator. He may be very good at what he does but no one would ever confuse Ben Zahn with a being a salesman. And, that's not a knock on the Mayor. Beyond color, I couldn't describe different varieties of roses and forget about me ever putting together a nice looking bouquet of flowers. Not going to happen.
Ben Zahn is not a "closer". It's just not in his skill set.
Unfortunately for Economic Development in Kenner, Candace Watkins isn't a "closer" either.
Covington is a nice small town. It's population is about 10,000 folks, less than 1/7th the size of Kenner. It has a Downtown (something Kenner doesn't), some nice shops and restaurants.
Covington has Cracker Barrel restaurant.
Covington is "Small Town Louisiana" at it's best.
But, during her 8 years as Mayor, what large businesses did Watkins recruit for Covington? What large retailers did Watkins bring to Covington? How many jobs was she responsible for attracting and retaining?
And, yes, the Covington area is growing now but during Watkins 8 years as Mayor, Covington grew by an average of less than 40 people per year.
So, if Covington wasn't booming during her time as Mayor; if she didn't attract, retain or help create thousands of jobs; and if she doesn't even live in Kenner, how can she be "Kenner's Economic Development Consultant/Director/Top Salesman"?
The short answer is - she can't.
I mean, would you buy a car from someone who's never driven?
Now, let's look at another false narrative (see, I'm trying hard to not use the word "lie") from Mayor Zahn: The City will be saving money bringing Economic Development in-house (btw, this "false narrative" was also trumpeted by Kenner D4 Councilman George Branigan. In less than a year, Branigan has proven to be one of the leaders in the "false narrative" competition).
For years, Kenner paid JEDCO $75,000 per year to represent Kenner. As I stated previously, I believed that JEDCO should have represented Kenner for nothing since their funding comes from the JP General Fund, which Kenner contributes to indirectly through property taxes.
Watkins salary as a "Consultant" will be $90,000 per year.
Even Common Core Math proves that $90,000 is more than $75,000.
And that's just Watkins' salary.
When you add benefits, staffing, marketing materials, travel, and other expenses, this new city department will cost well over double, possibly triple, what we paid JEDCO.
And, to be honest, I would be fine with double or triple if it yields results and was led by someone with experience and a proven track record.
Yes, I would prefer that it be a separate, non-political entity, but, I'd take it.
But, when the City of Kenner under Mayor Zahn feels the need to impose a recreation participation fee on its residents, when the city is already under a crushing debt load and the city is borrowing millions more to pay off a lawsuit from KFD that it never should have fought, when a chunk of University City and several neighborhoods South of I-10 are virtually unprotected from fire because the Zahn Administration did not have the forethought to provide a temporary Fire Station to cover the area for the almost 2 years before a new station can be built (a station that will also not adequately cover the I-10/Veterans neighborhoods), how can the City of Kenner afford another expense with another non-resident, unproven leader?
Again, the short answer - it can't.
The new Kenner Economic Development Department is yet another great opportunity squandered by Mayor Zahn for political purposes.
The Kenner City Council will vote on the creation of the new Economic Development Department at it's next meeting. Since Ms. Watkins is a political appointee, the Council will not vote on her appointment.
You can, and should, voice your opinions to the City Council and the Mayor and, if you care about Kenner's future, you will.
