Mayor's State of The City Message
State of the City - April 2022
After taking office in August of 2020, I immediately put together an aggressive project list of 50 items I wanted to accomplish in my first term. During my first 2 months in office the City of Mandeville endured six hurricanes (none of which were on my to do list). Despite the circumstances, I continued to build my staff and the project list grew. While items such as traffic, filling empty stores, and beautification were big issues from the campaign, I knew the most immediate item that could be improved easily was communication. With a campaign slogan of “Lead by Listening,” I felt this would be the cornerstone of future successes. Communications within city hall, between various departments, mayor to council, and most importantly, the City of Mandeville to its residents. I started by setting up standing meetings with individual city council members on a weekly basis to discuss pending issues. I also committed to have a one-on-one meeting with every employee of the City of Mandeville to get to know them, create a family/team atmosphere, and to solicit their ideas and input on how to improve the city. Both endeavors have been not only extremely beneficial but rewarding.
So many of our communications depend on technology. Updates to technology will continue and include this improved website, a new public works work order system where citizens can report issues and better track projects in progress, a new code enforcement work order system, the implementation of Microsoft Teams within the city so that different departments can better communicate, and the Emergency Text Alert system.
In my first year and a half as Mayor of Mandeville, I have followed through on many issues discussed with residents during the campaign, including holding a Traffic Summit in June of 2021, a Flood Summit in November of 2021, making code enforcement more proactive and robust, and conducting an efficiency audit on the operations of the city. I also led the development of the Mandeville Cares Fund, as well as directed a salary survey to be performed by a third party to ensure our city employees were paid competitively. The salary survey found that many City of Mandeville employees, including police and public works, were paid below market range for their positions. Working with the City Council through a budget adjustment, we were able to raise employee salaries, which will also help the city recruit and retain qualified employees.
We have continued to experience the pressures and consequences of the growth surrounding our city. Traffic and infrastructure projects that are currently in progress include turning lane modifications at Highway 190 and Highway 22, turning lane modifications at the East Causeway Approach /Monroe Street intersection, and the Highway 22 Drainage project. I am continuing to work on the purchase of land for both green space and parks, as well as a new permanent memorial for the late Police Captain Vinnie Liberto. City Hall is also undergoing a renovation and upgrade that includes a citizen committee for community input. The City of Mandeville is also currently going through a Resiliency Plan that will address flooding and drainage concerns citywide.
To promote the city as business friendly, I have worked with landlords and business owners on trying to fill empty store fronts. This has led to new business openings and many ribbon cuttings (despite COVID-19 and hurricanes) in Mandeville in the last year and a half.
As a result of the six hurricanes in my first two months as Mayor, it was apparent the city needed an updated and comprehensive Emergency Plan to better prepare our city for potential emergency events. We quickly assembled the Mandeville Emergency Response Team (MERT) to begin the writing of a new plan. A third party with experience in this area was chosen to assist. Before we could complete a scheduled drill using our new plan, Hurricane Ida gave the MERT a real-life drill. I was extremely pleased on how well the MERT, city directors, and city staff worked together during Hurricane Ida. Debris was picked up quickly compared to surrounding areas. The City of Mandeville now has a clear, concise, modern Emergency Plan which can be updated on an annual basis. The real-life experience of Ida provided insight on fine tuning our plan and it confirmed that communications with the public is a critical aspect of emergency management. Using social media, we were able to communicate frequently and effectively to keep our citizens updated on post hurricane activities, such as debris pick up, and restoration of services. The new Emergency Alert system will also be a valuable communications tool.
Our administration continues to work hard on improving the quality of life for the citizens of Mandeville. Beautification efforts are one way we display our community pride and improve our quality of life. We recently completed the Parks and Parkways Commission beautification project at the Monroe Street/Causeway Boulevard intersection. We have developed a city sign package and you will continue to see new signs popping up around Mandeville to replace older signs that will make the town look nicer. The citizens of Mandeville have long recognized and appreciated that trees are an important and essential part of our environment. Through the Re-Leaf Mandeville program, Mandeville residents have been able to sign up for free trees to restore the tree canopy in Mandeville. Thanks to our city council for funding the enhanced program following the devastation caused by hurricane Ida. As a result, our tree canopy will increase by over 1200 new trees planted. Additionally, the seedling giveaway at the Trailhead in January was a huge success with over 1,800 seedlings given away.
We work diligently to be good stewards of our citizens tax dollars. The city is in a strong financial position and enjoys the highest possible bond rating. A new position of grants and contracts manager will enable us the opportunity to bring in additional revenues to provide for our city’s needs at a savings to taxpayers.
Thank you for letting me serve as your mayor. My cell number is 985-630-8578 and my email address is cmadden@cityofmandeville.com. I invite and encourage your input at all times. Thank you for visiting this page!
