A road proposition to rededicate a sewer debt millage to road maintenance failed by 133 votes in New Iberia.

I’ve been a sitting member of newspaper leadership boards for 20 years in several different states, first starting in Shreveport.

Each community has its own ‘hot topic well’ that reporters know to draw from to get greater engagement and readership. That one topic that stirs the drink in the town and riles everyone up.

In Shreveport, it was spending public money on tourism projects that never seemed to meet expectations.

In Lubbock, TX, it was its rivalry with Amarillo just an hour north of Buddy Holly’s hometown. In Portsmouth, OH, it was the constant fighting and rumor mongering around its mayors and city council people. In my previous stop before New Iberia, (Batavia in western New York) it was how could the rest of the state secede from New York City.

(As an aside, New York is far more conservative than people ever realize. However, with so many large cities with heavy progressive leans in the state, especially NYC, conservatives in New York have a hard time being noticed nationally.)

For New Iberia, the straw that stirs the drink is roads.

Next to Michigan, I’ve not been anywhere that roads are a hotter topic (and trust me, Michigan roads are worse than Louisiana). With every bit of confidence, I know if The Daily Iberian publishes even a short story that is just an update on upcoming common road repairs in New Iberia or Iberia Parish, it is easily going to be the most read story of the day, sometimes two.

The venom spewed by local motorists about the condition of local roads makes for entertaining reading on social media.

As an avid traveler who has been to 48 of our 50 states, I can say Louisiana roads are in the bottom quarter of all states. There are worse roads than here.

When Mayor Freddie DeCourt first told me of his plan to put on the ballot a proposition to extend an existing millage for another 20 years to repair and improve each road in New Iberia, I didn’t think it was a slam dunk, nor did DeCourt say it was. But I thought this should easily pass.

However, final results on Election Day showed the proposition failed to pass by a margin of just two percent, or 133 votes.

“We’ve got the best voters in the world and they’re always right,” DeCourt said. “I got the message.”

I think Freddie is being kind, because there is no way the mayor isn’t getting mixed messages when it comes to New Iberia roads.

You want better roads and you should.

Your vehicle is most likely your second largest monthly expenditure and your means for traveling to and from work, school, grocery shopping. Economic development tours of the area for prospective manufacturers and business owners must be a nightmare when everyone in the SUV is constantly bouncing around in their seats.

DeCourt shared a story earlier this year during a dedication the replica Liberty Bell when a local citizen wryly asked, “You can spend money on a bell, but not the roads?”

I get the aversion to paying more in taxes, but this now failed proposal was not an increase. This was a continuation of money that is already being collected, no increase necessary. For all the fussing and cussing about the local roads, a 20-year funded solution without paying more is a rare blessing offered by a city government.

This was, and is, a badly missed opportunity for New Iberia citizens to address one of its most glaring problems.

For all the improvements the city has made over the last few years, it will continue to be a challenge for those outside our community to embrace our changes while simultaneously having their teeth chattering on the drive.

I’ll close with a story on infrastructure and city services from my time in western New York.

My wife referred to WNY as Jack Frost’s armpit. When winter comes at you from not one but two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario) with a dose of Canadian winds coming down from the north, you’re going to experience a winter others can only have nightmares about. A “snowfall” in western New York is 12 to 18 inches. A snowstorm has to break 20 inches to be worth your attention.

The only thing deeper than the snow in New York is how deep the government there reaches into your pocket for taxes. Besides income, property, sales taxes and more, New York throws tolls into the mix among its other creative revenue generators not named a tax.

For all the taxation with little representation in the Excelsior State, I will say this: Whenever one of those 12 to 18 inch snows were on the way overnight, I never lost a wink of sleep. I knew after 30 minutes or more of hard labor clearing my car and my driveway of wet heavy snow, that once I hit the gas, the roads were going to be clear. While the snow fell, the state, county and city road crews plowed.

I’m not advocating for taxation that reaches New York or California levels, it is a major reason I’m back in Louisiana. But, there is comfort in knowing a specific portion of my taxes can address a troublesome issue and address it over the next 20 years.

New Iberia missed a massive opportunity.

I strongly encourage the mayor to give it another go as there are too many mixed messages about our roads and the anger it creates to give this golden opportunity just one shot.

Take another swing, Mayor! After all, politics is just another bumpy road.