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PARADE PERFECT S T TA M M A N Y FA R M E R.N E T
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W e d n e s d ay, M a r c h 18, 2026
152ND YEAR, NO. 23
50¢N
ST. TAMMANY PARISH COUNCIL
Council asks for repeal of 1985 law governing mosquito board Members say they should have oversight over budget
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
March or April, said she hopes to meet with neighborhood associations from throughout the city to explain the project and gather information that will help it move forward as quickly and efficiently as possible. Two years ago, the U.S. Senate approved the 2024 Water Resources Development Act that included 17 projects in Louisiana, one of the largest of which is the St. Tammany plan.
The St. Tammany Parish Council has formally asked the state Legislature to repeal a 1985 law that gives the board and director of the St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District the ultimate authority over the district’s $9 million budget, following a controversy over the district’s finances last year. The council voted 13-1 last week for a resolution calling for the law’s repeal, marking an important step toward the passage of a bill sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Berault, R-Slidell, to repeal the law. The parish’s government efficiency committee had also previously recommended the law’s repeal. Berault’s bill is one of several that St. Tammany legislators are sponsoring this year in response to the parish government’s budget problems. This year, the parish cut its funding by 30% for the northshore District Attorney’s Office, the northshore judges, and the parish’s jail, following years of voters rejecting dedicated taxes for those agencies. Berault’s bill will not directly help the parish fund its criminal justice agencies, since the mosquito district’s tax revenues are dedicated and “At the time I voted, generally cannot be used I still thought board for any other purposes, commissioners but Berault and council would have members say it will help budgetary with a larger goal of reauthority.” ducing taxes in an effort to win back voters’ trust. VICKI TRAINA-DORGE, “The voters have been chair of the Mosquito very clear that they think Abatement District Board we pay enough in taxes,” of Commissioners Berault said in an interview. Last year, the Parish Council and northshore District Attorney Collin Sims put together a report questioning some of Mosquito Abatement’s expenses, including a $4 million helicopter and an $8 million lab facility. Mosquito Abatement said the expenditures were in line with best practices and filed a bar complaint against Sims and sued the Parish Council, taking issue with the financial review process. The district has since dropped the lawsuit, and mosquito district records show the Office of Disciplinary Counsel declined to take up the bar complaint. The district’s five-person Board of Commissioners, which some council members have tried to overhaul in recent months, formally expressed support for the council’s resolution at their Feb. 18 meeting, minutes show. But Vicki Traina-Dorge, the board chair, told the council March 12 she did not fully understand the resolution at the time and felt pressured to either support the resolution or risk having the council not put the district’s dedicated property tax renewal on the ballot. “At the time I voted, I still thought board commissioners would have budgetary authority,” she said. She asked the council to delay its vote. A half dozen members of the public also spoke
ä See FLOOD, page 3A
ä See MOSQUITO, page 2A
PHOTOS BY BOBBY GILBOY
Karen Milliken and other Mande Milkshakers — with touches of green added to their sassy red and white dots — do their thing March 14 the St. Patrick’s Day Parade by the Covington Celtic Club.
Covington Celtic Club goes green under glorious blue sky INSIDE ä More photos from the parade. Page 2A ä Covington party kicked off with Thursday concert at the trailhead. Page 2A
Parade aficionado and Abita Springs environmentalist Stewart ‘Many Lightnings’ Eastman goes both green and sparkly for the Covington Celtic Club’s St. Paddy’s parade on March 14.
Money heads to Slidell flood project BY KIM CHATELAIN Contributing writer
Suzanne Krieger, chair of the St. Tammany Levee, Drainage and Conservation District, recently appeared before the Slidell City Council to share some good news about future flood protection. On March 10, Krieger outlined for city leaders the federal government’s recent appropriation of $3.25 million for a massive flood management project, the initial investment in what local officials
have called the most important public works project in the city’s history. The money will be funneled through the local office of the U.S. Corps of Engineers to help set the stage for a $5.9 billion flood reduction project for the region that was greenlit by Congress in 2024. “This is the beginning of a great endeavor to protect our community,” Krieger said. “This is huge.” Krieger, who said the Corps is expected to receive the allocation in late
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