Cynthia’s vision for the future
Crime and Public Safety
Cynthia served as a crime fighter for over 10 years as a Federal Law Enforcement Officer with the Department of Justice and as an Instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and comes from a crime fighting family as the daughter of Sheriff Harry Lee. JPSO is her family. She passed numerous laws giving JPSO the tools to reduce crime, including: enacting new zoning laws in Fat City eliminating strip clubs and establishing the Alcohol Beverage Advisory Board to crack down on under-age drinking reducing calls for service by 40% (later adopted Parishwide); and establishing permits for hotel and motel operators to assist JPSO in fighting human trafficking and drug trafficking on their property. She is committed to working with the Sheriff and make available all Parish resources necessary to empower JPSO with the tools and laws needed to continue to make Jefferson Parish a safe place to live, work and play.
Drainage and Flood Control / Infrastructure
Cynthia worked with state and federal delegations to secure State Capital Outlay, SELA and CDBG funds to continue drainage upgrades and street improvements along with coastal projects in Lafitte and Grand Isle essential to reduce the impact of tidal surge and flooding, and fought to secure the required Parish matching funds needed for these projects. Cynthia has been at the forefront of advocating for “resiliency,” recognizing a new way of living with water rather than our expensive “pave-pipe-pump” paradigm, which comes at tremendous cost to our taxpayers. Cynthia has been a strong advocate for green infrastructure and water retention initiatives, establishing the Storm Water Management Advisory Committee in 2016. She wrote and sponsored the first legislation authorizing the use of pervious materials for constructions projects to allow water penetration through paved surfaces to the soil below - reducing storm runoff. She was one of the first public officials to advocate for this new way of building and her efforts have been recognized by the US Green Building Council as a leader in Sustainability for Louisiana.
Quality of Life
Cynthia has promoted and supported aggressive code enforcement to target areas of blight throughout the Parish. In 2015, Cynthia funded and initiated the process for development of the Jefferson Parish Housing Stock Enhancement Strategic Plan in an effort to address our aging housing stock to attract new residents and reverse recent population trends culminating in a first of its kind Neighborhood Revitalization Model Home Program in Terrytown. She has beautified our parish by sponsoring and funding landscape installations and art projects including the murals and sculptures in Fat City and Bucktown. She is currently working with beautification groups to enlist private companies to revitalize the Adopt a Parkway Program to beautify our public spaces on thoroughfares throughout the Parish and will continue to promote walkable and pedestrian-oriented communities. Cynthia is dedicated to streamlining the permitting and the regulatory environment for developers and owners who are building or opening a business in the Parish and will assign plan reviewers to follow larger projects. Cynthia will rely on her strong accounting background to efficiently operate all departments to maximize every dollar received from all funding sources.
Regionalism
Cynthia believes our economic future success cannot be achieved without a regional outlook. She is dedicated to advancing regional opportunities with surrounding areas to leverage our limited resources. She will continue to explore shared opportunities in Transit, Economic Development, Public Safety and Drainage recognizing that none of these issues have geographical boundaries. She was instrumental in working with the City of New Orleans to advocate regional transit initiatives resulting in the #39 Tulane Line Extension to Ochsner. She will propose quarterly meetings with New Orleans and the surrounding parishes political leadership to discuss shared opportunities and economic targets so that we may better compete against other Southern cities in attracting large business and jobs to our area. Cynthia will continue to work in partnership with GNO Inc., JEDCO, and other regional organizations to improve our quality of life and economic development.
Collaboration
Cynthia’s reputation as a consensus builder is well known throughout government, and our business and civic communities. She has used her communication and consensus-building skills in negotiations to address longstanding, tough parish issues, where her preference to listening to parties involved has always proved more beneficial than political concerns. This resulted in many benefits to the parish and its communities. After decades of litigation on the Tolmas Tract, she brought together neighbors and landowners to agree on zoning, which resulted in the development of the only Trader Joe’s in this region. She also worked diligently with the City of New Orleans to allow bus service across parish lines, which allow us to gain economies of scale and provide better service to citizens of both parishes. She is dedicated to strengthening the ties on both the East Bank and West Bank and believes that working together as one strategically positions us for the future. She will focus our resources on the 2020 Census to ensure that all of our citizens are counted and will work to establish a “Priorities Vision Committee 2025” for Jefferson Parish’s bicentennial and to set us on a course as we begin our next 200 years.
