The Sadvocate Podcast
A weekly show diving into south Louisiana politics, local culture, and the absurd headlines shaping our communities. Each episode blends candid conversations with guests and sharp commentary on the news you can’t ignore. Starring Dave Roppolo, writer at theSadvocate.com and Drew Murrell, Attorney and St. George Councilman.
The Sadvocate Podcast
Episode 47 Louisiana State Representative Paul Sawyer
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Dave and Drew welcome State Representative Paul Sawyer to Episode 47 of The Sadvocate Podcast for a conversation about one of the Capital Region’s biggest headaches: flooding.
From the Comite River Diversion Canal to dredging the Amite River, the discussion explores what major flood-control projects could mean for homeowners, why they take so long, and how parishes can work together to reduce flood risk. Drawing on Sawyer’s experience with Congressman Garret Graves and the Amite River Basin Commission, the conversation covers project funding, government bureaucracy, and the challenges of turning plans into progress.
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Savicate Podcast is back. This is episode 47. It's Dave and Drew. Uh Dave Ripolo, writer at the Savicate, is a co-host, and I am Andrew Merle, St. George City Councilman, local eternity, current candidate for justice of the peace. Today, one of our highest profile guests today. Did you know that?
SPEAKER_00I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_02You didn't know that?
SPEAKER_00When's he getting here?
SPEAKER_02State representative Paul Sawyer. Paul, my first question, what uh uh how many moments a day do you go, I am too smart to be a state representative?
SPEAKER_01Actually, uh I'm I'm very impressed. This will this will blow your mind. I'm actually very impressed with my colleagues. I really am. Uh one thing I've noticed about uh the you know, con a lot of people ask me to contrast uh Congress and in the Louisiana legislature, and you know, actually proportionally uh they're the same, you know, ratio of people who should be there and people who shouldn't be there. Uh good mix. And but but in Congress you've got 435. You know, add the add the hundred senators and and then you've got five thirty-five. You know, here it's uh smaller. But um, you know, actually I I I I find a lot of these, a lot of my colleagues really know their their business. They really do. I'm I'm impressed with them. Uh so and I and I've been in a position for years where I've I've known one of the advantages I had walking into the chamber the day the day that I was sworn in is I knew two-thirds of everybody there. So I've had an opportunity to work with uh a lot of the folks there. And uh and they just you know seeing the people that I knew in their environment, it was actually pretty impressive. And then and then meeting some other people and like, wow, you know, this is uh and I'm not saying that gratuitously because you know now I'm part of that institution. I mean I I think I think it was it was one remarkable observance uh or observation that that you know hey man, you guys really really care about this. You really know your business.
SPEAKER_03You don't have to take an oath to say stuff like that when you That's right, that's right.
SPEAKER_00This is why he's so smart.
SPEAKER_03He knows they're listening right now. You took an oath. Yeah, yeah. You go on that Savaging podcast, don't forget the oath.
SPEAKER_02Like, yeah, Joe from North Louisiana, what a dumbass.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01No one no one ever notices the asterisk in the uh in the oath that we say. But oh wait, there's there's that part.
SPEAKER_03This is not by far your first uh rodeo when it comes to being at the Capitol, right? Tell us a little bit about your history.
SPEAKER_01So uh so I've worked in two capitals. Uh the other capital is uh I've I've spent 25 years actually working in the U.S. House of Representatives and then in and around Congress for you know 30 years. So so that's been my that's been my environment. That's been my ecosystem is the uh is the U.S. House of Representatives. I worked for right out of college, I worked for uh a congressman uh from North Baton Rouge, uh out on Hooper Road, uh Richard Baker, who, fun fact, was the longest serving Republican member of the Louisiana delegation in Louisiana history. Which sounds impressive, but you know, of that of the what 200 something years that we've existed, um, we've only had a handful of Republicans, but um, but he's been the he was the longest serving uh he spent 16 years in the uh Louisiana legislature. Um and and then also another observation is that a lot of our good representatives and senators in our delegation came from the Louisiana legislature. And uh as surprising as this sound, that's that's a fantastic incubator for the legislative process. Louisiana's delegation always punches above our weight. We always punch above our weight. We always have, I mean, considering how small we are compared to other states, we always have somebody in a leadership position. You know, so so names names come to mind like Bob Livingston, he was chairman of appropriations committee. Um and then you fast forward to today, uh, of course, you know, Steve Scalise is majority leader and Mike Johnson is Speaker of the House. And no state in American history have ever done that before, had have owned those two spots.
SPEAKER_00That's true.
SPEAKER_01Um and then and then I can go down you know committee chairs and and subcommittee chairs and and other leadership positions uh throughout the 30 years that I've been there. But um in any case, you know, the the the Louisiana legislature is where a lot of those people come from. Uh Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson, you know, it's a it's where a lot of those people come from. And uh it's it's proven to be a really good incubator for for you know smart, uh savvy legislating. And so now here I am in the uh in the Louisiana legislature. And um and again, you know, lots of folks asked me to come to compare and contrast. And I guess I would say that uh the the the way I compare it is that one is like driving a standard and the other is like driving a stick shift. Uh or or one's an automatic and one's a stick shift. Um, you know, same fundamentally the same same processes, functions the same, just different feel, different handling, and um but but largely the same thing. So and the the environments are not that different. So and then and then the other thing I'll say is that a lot of Louisiana issues, uh a lot of things that are priorities to us, for us, are priorities nationwide. Uh, you know, energy, infrastructure, transportation, logistics, um, healthcare, education. I guess that's true for uh you know many states, but but Louisiana used to have a conflation of all of these issues uh that that we have to deal with. Some we deal with successfully, uh some you know we're still we're still trying to figure it out.
SPEAKER_02So you took office originally under some unique circumstances. I mean, how far? Was it into the session when when when Paula Davis resigned?
SPEAKER_01So she announced her resignation at the end of 2025, so I think it was towards the end of December, uh last December, so not quite a year ago. Uh so session uh the the House was not in session, or the uh Louisiana legislature was not in session. Um her resignation took uh took effect beginning of January. I'm getting I'm fuzzy on the actual dates, but uh uh her resignation took place in beginning of January. So the speaker called an election. Um you know, for better or for worse, he called the election on St. Patrick's Day in Baton Rouge, uh, which was an interesting. I mean, look, special election, hard enough to begin with. Voter turnout nationwide, uh even today, has been uh unnaturally low. And then throwing their uh you know St. Patrick's Day parade, I ended up putting signs, my my campaign signs, in the garden district.
SPEAKER_02Oh, no doubt.
SPEAKER_01That comes nowhere near District 69. Yeah. But you know, I knew that constituents would be there.
SPEAKER_02If you could have Ivars be a polling location, it would be better for turnout. It would work for Hiller as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right. Uh well that's his office, isn't it? So um, but uh well then also I put signs over there because uh fan kids and families from St. Thomas More, from Our Lady of Mercy, they're all driving over to St. Joseph's Academy in uh Catholic High. And so, you know, so that was that was value add over there too. But the uh the the special occurred in uh in March, March 14th, and uh fortunately uh that's that was you know we didn't have to go into a runoff, and uh, and so I was able to be sworn in. So so session started March 9th, election day was March 14th, and then swearing in was March 24th. So I was thrown into the grease immediately. Right in. And um and uh and then also I was unable to file the same number of bills everybody else was able to file. I I was able to only file five bills, and that didn't have anything to do with me being a freshman, just it it was it was just the timing of the calendar. You know, you're supposed to pre-file, you know, dating back to I think February or something like that, or even earlier. You're supposed to pre-file. Uh there's certain thresholds that you have to cross for filing legislation, and it just so happened it's uh you know, this was the window where where everybody got a chance to do five more bills, and that was it, five more bills. So I got my five. And I gotta tell you, five for me was a comfortable number. Uh huh.
SPEAKER_02You gotta make them count.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, yeah, well, yeah, gotta make them count. Uh, and and I liked I liked the bills that I uh that I had, uh, but I felt like I was able to devote a lot of attention to them. Uh I felt like I was able to really work the process on those five bills. You know, there's some who introduce um just a list.
SPEAKER_02You can say him by name, Dixon. Took the oath. 135 bills.
SPEAKER_01He's he's not the only one, though. He's not the only one. Uh there are uh quality, not quality.
SPEAKER_02It's a volume business.
SPEAKER_01That's right. That's right. Yeah. Dixon McCostco. Uh you don't listen to the biggest. I love you, man. I love you.
SPEAKER_03I was just the show's not big enough for him to listen to, so you're good. You're good. Hey, so did you write those bills during the election, hoping you like won? How do you plan for that?
SPEAKER_01So uh actually one of those bills, uh so in my day job, you know, I I work on flood protection and uh and and drainage. Uh and so one of those bills I had actually worked on and developed with um with Dix Dixon McMakin and with uh Senator Rick Edmonds. And so so they had pre-filed two bills that uh that I uh it they were companion bills. Uh and and you know it's the same bill, but the House writes it differently than the Senate, so they were a little bit different. So uh but they introduced those two bills for me, and then uh I uh I came in and uh my first amendment was to uh change the name of of the McMacon bill to a Sawyer bill. And that was uh that was yeah that was uh fight at the uh state capitol in years. Well, and and and look, Dixon, he did it uh uh he was he was very generous and he did it as a favor. And uh you know, he was gonna run it no matter what happened to me. He was gonna run it and I was gonna you know run alongside of him and and work with him on that bill. Uh other bills so I ran on traffic and crime and insurance, you know, because and by the way, those weren't the the issues I selected. Those were the issues that when I was knocking on doors, uh everybody uh everybody said to a person those were their top priorities. And so I felt like no matter what I do, I have to figure out not just this year, but every year, I have to figure out uh participating, you know, either my bill or pushing somebody else's bill, where I'm hitting those three constantly, just hitting those three. And the the bills I ended up ended up doing is uh and and you know, one is the is the is it was a uh a flood control conservation bill that I did with uh Dixon McMakin and Rick Edmonds. Another bill was uh actually a uh Paula Davis bill. So she had been carrying a bill to create a crime prevention district, uh Park View Oaks. And and so of course I was gonna take that. You know, uh Dixon had uh introduced that one as well, so so uh you know that was another thing that I did was to take that uh as as my uh as my responsibility. Um three the the three other ones that I did, one was uh I was working with uh Tim Temple, who I've I've known for over the years, and um he he he presented me with this idea that at first was like, what? But then afterwards, like, okay, this this actually I I like this. You know, I'll try to make it as simple, as quick as possible. Simple means trying to make make it less boring than than it's really gonna sound like. So, so you know, after Katrina, when Katrina hit, the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, you know, the last resort insurance provider carrier in the state of Louisiana didn't have enough uh capital to cover all of the losses. So they are they are authorized to float a bond, float debt, and so they had to quickly raise a billion dollars. And over that time, everybody in the state of Louisiana, on every policy, State Forum, Progressive, Allstate, whatever, everybody was paying in to service that bond. Um, and you you may remember uh there was there was a tax credit where you could claim a tax credit that said, okay, if you're gonna pay, you're gonna pay the services debt, but the state's gonna give you a tax credit, so you, you know, net net uh zero loss to the individual. Um long and short of it is the servicing of that debt was done. Um citizens realized that that they had overcollected. Uh and not realize that they had overcollected, but that you know, they knew that it was time the the bond had been serviced over 20 years.
SPEAKER_02And it served its purpose at Russia.
SPEAKER_01It had served its purpose. But to turn that machinery off to stop the collections, that takes some time. Because the collections were occurring through the insurance companies. And so so um, you know, wh while it took all of that time, the insurance companies are still collecting, and so they ended up collecting sixty million dollars. And of that sixty million dollars, they knew that there had been a uh previous class action uh lawsuit that you know of that 60 million of that uh sixty-four million dollars, 14 of that was gonna have to go to that class action lawsuit. There was gonna be $50 million left over. My legislation took that $50 million and put it into the uh fortify uh home program, aka the fortified roof program. Um, the first instinct was, well, let's give it back to the uh let's give it back to the to the premium payers. And and doing that would have, you know, probably given everybody about $15, $20 back. Uh and and you know, but we felt like citizens, and the purpose of all of this was to manage risk, was to manage risk, lower risk. And so if we have these resources available to us, what what can we do to lower risk, to manage risk? And the fortified roof program has proven to be the most effective way to protect homes. And and you know, the the roof is the when the roof goes, you're not just losing the cost of that roof, but now you've got rainwater and weather coming into your house and it destroys your whole house. And so when the roof goes, the claims go through the roof. And if we have fewer claims, then the risk pool, certainly locally, but then over time, uh gradually, when that risk pool gets uh is managed and lowered, fewer claims means uh means lower premiums. Ultimately, lower premiums. So uh unfortunately I I failed in making that uh as as short and sweet and entertaining as I wanted it to be, but you know, that bill basically converted uh $50 million at the end of the day, $50 million to the fortified roof program. Um the two other bills that I introduced, uh one was was a contracting bill for CPRA, and I'm not gonna get into uh a lot of discussion about that. Coastal Protection Restoration Authority. This uh this contracting authority was going to allow them to be more efficient to uh build and develop projects more quickly. And so when you when you mobilize more quickly, when you compress that that that uh procurement process, it actually results in in more efficient, more cost-effective uh construction projects out on the coast. Coastal restoration is just something I've been working on my whole life. So, you know, so that was that was in my bailiwick.
SPEAKER_02Um But the fun one was uh You mean those aren't fun?
SPEAKER_01Those are uh there's more fun? You can't stand it. So uh the fun one was um uh some some hunter outdoorsmen conservation groups approached me to do to introduce hunter education into public schools. And as you know, uh for anybody to get a hunting license in Louisiana, you have to have hunter education. Uh you have to be certified to have hunter education. And so we felt like, and I right now I'm working with uh actually let me say this. Turns out I didn't have to pass the bill. And by the way, I believe legislating is a last resort. I I don't believe that legislation should be a solution. If all else fails and something has to be done, that's when you legislate. And so, you know, so I started with a bill, and after working with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Louisiana Department of Education, we realized we don't have to do a bill. We can work this out together. And so without imposing a mandate, making it voluntary, but allowing schools to offer this, we're working on a curriculum right now where it's not just going to be hunter education, it's gonna be hunter safety. We're we're introducing boating and we're introducing um other life-saving uh techniques and skills just like swimming. You you would not believe it in Louisiana where we have all this water, a lot of people don't know how to swim. Yeah, and and there's so many drowning deaths, uh especially you combine boating and drowning. Uh so anyway, I felt like it was a great opportunity to promote the great outdoors, uh, Louisiana's you know abundant natural resources. Uh and you know PE, when we were going through school, PE was was a requirement. Uh in many cases, it's an elective, or it's you know, they they they uh it's it's offered only as part of a semester, not not every year, full semester, you know, get in your gym shorts and t-shirt and and and go out and you know play kickball or something. Uh now they can they can offer this hunter education uh in in lieu of a PE, which I'm okay with, because ultimately it's promoting lifelong sports, lifelong outdoors activity and exercise in Louisiana's abundant grade outdoors.
SPEAKER_03So I feel like they could have swapped that with trigonometry. Yeah, a lot. If I could have got rid of some math classes, I'd be educated. I mean, yeah, calculus, trigonometry.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I I did that at Catholic High, but but it was off the books. I don't I don't think uh the teachers knew I don't think the teachers knew I was I was skipping trig for.
SPEAKER_02So do you find that you've taken the mantle of coastal restoration and and flood and drainage? Is that is that something you feel like your colleagues are gonna look to you towards to kind of lead? Because that's kind of in your wheelhouse.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I think on the flooding, yeah, I do. Uh on coastal, uh we've got some great reps who who and senators who live on the coast, who I think you know, they just live it and work on it every day. Yeah, I you know, one for example is uh Jerome Zarang, uh Terrebone Parish. He actually used to be you know the executive director of the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority. So, you know, so I I'll never top, we we call him Z. I'll never top Z in that in that knowledge uh base. Um, you know, when he's gone, and then when the other couple of reps who know this better than me, when they're gone, you know, then I may be I may be the one who understands it best. But you know, like Ryan Boriak and Bo Bouye and Joe Augeron and and Jerome Zarang and and there are others, uh Senator Burns.
SPEAKER_02It sounds like the names of a group that would put on a great crawfish boil.
SPEAKER_01They do, they do, they do. They uh they all all of them to a person.
SPEAKER_02I bet they can pass a good time.
SPEAKER_01They do. Um but then on drainage, uh drainage and and and other flooding, uh, you know, I I think I I think just just you know, by accident, that you know, that's just my skill set. I never went out to you know intentionally try to learn that stuff, but but but being in the capital region, and by the way, you know, there's so much attention that's focused on the coast, coastal restoration, but all of our flooding, statewide, all of our flooding comes from rivers. Yeah that's where it comes from. Uh and when those rivers don't function, they don't drain, then and everything backs up, then we flood. And so, and so in that area, you know, I I feel like I I understand it as well or or or in in some cases better than most, just because I've had to deal with it. And um, you know, when I first got to to to the hill, when I first got to DC, we were still, this was in 1991, we were still working on the legacy problems of the 1983 flood. So that was the 2016 flood of the 1980s. It was the record flood of the night uh, you know, it was 1983. Yeah, it was bad. And we were still working on those projects. That's you know, that's when we were working on the Comete River Diversion Project. That's when we were working on, you know, what's formerly known as the East Baton Rich Parish Flood Control Project, but you know, now is known as the uh you know nickname the Five Bayou's Project. Um in fact. Fast forward to 2016, you know, all of that comes to a head again. By the way, the project the projects that were intended to address the 1983 flood still weren't done yet. It's still not done.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say you said we're working on, I believe it's still working on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. But the uh just the the amount of time and the losses. That I guess I guess you know when you when you think about the opportunity costs of not having that project done, and then also just just what we lost as a metro area by not having those projects done, uh, it's inexcusable. Absolutely inexcusable. And so, you know, the good news is anybody you know watching or keeping track of the Coomit Diversion Project, by the way, when I got to DC, uh, we authorized the project for the very first time. 1983 project, we authorized it in 1992. The project was going to cost $187 million. Today, it's a $1 billion project. Of course it is. Uh you know, why why stop at $187 when we could go to $999? Um so uh in it, and it and of course it's still not done. However, all of the contracts, everything that that could be done on the project is underway. It's mobilized. They're all all those projects are getting done. And now it's just a matter of time for each one of those components to finish, which by the way, I I expect I expect it to be finished. I I think it's gonna be finished in the first quarter of 2020, first, first or second quarter of 2029. Uh, I think others would say it's probably gonna be done in sometime in 2028. I've just seen this movie. I've seen this movie longer than anybody. I've been working on this longer than anybody. And I'm not proud of that uh because most of that time has been writing herd to get the project moving. And uh and so you know now now I feel like we're in a position where we almost, I'm knocking on wood, we almost can't screw this up. We've demonstrated many creative ways to screw this thing up over the years, and I think we've exhausted all of our creative ways to screw this thing up.
SPEAKER_02All right, we're done. Now we got to finish the project.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So can we take that logic to DOTD with this bridge thing? Because it's a competition between the Comeant River diversion and the new Mississippi River Bridge.
SPEAKER_02Oh, the loop. We have to add the loop back in now.
SPEAKER_03People want the loop again. Yeah, the loop popped back up after an 18-wheel erect. You know, we capitalized on that, of course. But um, so so what type of effect is the Comeat River diversion gonna have on the lower line Amite River basin?
SPEAKER_01Man, I'm glad you asked that, and I'm glad you talked about the bridge at the in this in the same breath. Okay, so so imagine the bridge and imagine the Comeat River Diversion Canal. Two very important, meaningful capital projects. One's a billion dollars, the other one as of today is approximately three billion dollars. Okay, traffic and water behave the same. I mean, you you you you can think of those two conditions as behaving the same.
SPEAKER_03Water moves pretty fast down Amien River Bridge. I've seen it on IT and it doesn't move that fast.
SPEAKER_01But when it doesn't move, yeah, it backs up and everything gets screwed up. And so traffic is the same way. Water and traffic try to achieve an equilibrium, water and traffic try to choose the path of least resistance. And and water will go where it's moving the fastest, like every driver in in the Capitol region wants to be on the interstate because that's where it moves the fastest. When it doesn't work, it collapses. It just completely malfunctions. So to answer the question about the Comeet River Diversion Canal, you know, you by itself, it is not the solution in the Capitol region. We we're it's such a poster child of flood protection in the Capitol region because it's so big. It's the one thing that that that has remained a constant through generations. And it still hasn't been done yet, but it's like the most conspicuous symbol of flood protection in the in the Capitol region, in the Amy River basin in the Capitol region. But by itself, it's not flood protection. It's one component of a of a it's one component of an incomplete system. I remind people that the Comeat Diversion Canal is the on the farthest western side of the Ameet River basin. So the Amy River Basin wants to get out in Lake Marpaw. It doesn't want to get out, you know, in between Zachary and Baker. You know, what we're doing at the Comeat Diversion Canal is taking pressure off of the system. So one thing that the Corps of Engineers did in the 80s, and uh this will be one of those opportunities where I'll tip my hat to the Corps of Engineers, they came up with uh a systemic solution, and that's what you have to do in uh in flood protection in the Amy River basin, has to be systemic. They proposed a reservoir. Uh they proposed five projects. Project number one, a reservoir. Hold the water from entering into the system, entering into the rest of the system, hold it back. Um the Comeet project was to say, okay, whatever gets out of that, direct it to the Mississippi, direct it out of the system. And so there was another project called Amete River uh Ecosystem Restoration, basically restore the natural conditions of the Amete River. The Amete River uh right now has tons of sand and gravel mining operations. Those sand and gravel mining operations take the meanders of a river, you know, so the river wants to bend like the Mississippi River, but when you have those sand and gravel operations, it wants to form a straight line. Again, water chooses the path of least resistance. It wants to go in a straight line, it creates velocity, it grabs sediment, so it rushes to the to the drain hole and it carries a lot of mud with it and it plugs up the hole. So this project would slow the river down. Uh and it would by slowing the river down, it allows the rest of the system to drain more efficiently. So the other two projects that would allow the lower part of the basin to drain more efficiently, one is the five-by-use project. Most of the waterways and in water, and then I would also say risk, uh things, things that are that that stand in the way of water are in East Baton Ridge Parish. Um and and so the Five Bayou's project uh allows the the plumbing to drain East Baton Ridge Parish more efficiently, get it into the Amite River, get it into Lake Marpa. And the other is Bayumanshak. Uh so you know, so what doesn't make it into Amite River wants to go into Bayumanshack, which by the way wants to also go into the Amite River. And so now you've got eastern Iberville, you know, St. Gabriel, you've got East Batonridge Parish, you've got Ascension Parish, all trying to drain into Bayumanshack and get into the Amite River. So those are five projects that hold the water up before keep water from entering into the system, redirect it out, and then and then manage the rest as best as we can. That Darlington project was killed not once but twice. Uh it's just politically unpopular to put a reservoir in uh East Flee Shannon St. Helena Parish. Um the Comeat project underway. Uh Five Bayous project underway. Uh the Amate River Basin Commission is has taken over that that that naturalization uh project. Um the the um uh the Bayumanchak project has been taken over by East Baton Rouge Parish, Ascension Parish, Iberville Parish, and St. George, City of St. George. Uh which which, by the way, uh only geeks like me will appreciate this. That in itself is historic, especially around Bayumanchak. Uh because Bayumanchak has been a battleground actually since the beginning of the formation of our state, of our country. You know, that Bayumanchak used to be the border of England and France and Spain. It no kidding was an international border. Andrew Jackson dammed it up from the Mississippi River to prevent the British from having a back door to New Orleans.
SPEAKER_03I had no idea about that.
SPEAKER_01But but modern day, uh modern day, Bayumanchak has been a battleground because East Batonridge Parish wants to drain and Ascension Parish and Iberville Parish want to protect themselves. And so for for these parishes in in City of St. George, who by the way did not exist when these project when this project was first proposed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, not St. George's fault.
SPEAKER_01No, no, no. You know what though? You know what I love about this? So so first of all, I love that the three parishes have come together to solve this problem for the yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, they they tried suing each other, so we've seen that show.
SPEAKER_01That's but and that's just it. It's just until until they they finally came together to collaborate on a project, that's exactly what they would do. They wouldn't just sue each other, they would literally uh uh uh aqua dams. Aqua dams. They would put physical structures out on the road, they would knock out uh the road so it could drain efficiently, uh, or just drain, period. Now they're working together. And I love this so much. The city of St. George said, hey, wait a minute, guys, this Bayumancheck project is not moving. And and our entire border from the Mississippi River to the Amate River is is Bayumancheck. We want in. And I love that. And and the City of St. George did not exist when this project was proposed or when this agreement of the three parishes was was signed. And St. George came in, and the the project, you know, without getting into all the boring details, the project had been gummed up, and the city of St. George said, we can fix that. The city of St. George came in, fixed it, deconflicted the project, and and now East Baton Ridge Parish is the leader of the project. East Baton Ridge Parish uh is uh has uh you know approved last week to move move forward with the the engineering and designing of the project. That project is moving forward. Um let me let me tie in the bridge. So um so I went a circuitous route of of talking about the COME project, and uh and and David mentioned the bridge. So you cannot the the COME project by itself is not flood control. It has to be a systemic approach. It just has to be. It just happens to be the most symbolic project. Uh flood project in the Capitol Region.
SPEAKER_02Flood go wrong.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Right. You could say the same exact thing with a bridge. A bridge by itself is not going to fix traffic in the Capitol Region. You can't have Capitol Region traffic solutions without it. You can't have flood solutions without the Comey project, but by by themselves, those two projects are not the solution.
SPEAKER_03So uh Boy, when the GOTV finds out that that's not a solution, they can't. They're gonna do a study about that. Yeah, we can't we can't put this on the uh on the air.
SPEAKER_01We've got to hold off. There's good money to waste on that too, by the way. So uh um so you have to have a bridge. You have to have a bridge to to solve uh traffic in the capital region, but by itself, it is not a solution. It is a systemic problem. We have to do other things in the Capitol region to address uh traffic solutions. And so uh anyway, so uh long circuitous way of tying those two together, but I think it's important yet that traffic and water in the Capitol region behave similarly, and we also have two poster children, two symbols of both of those problems, the Comeet Project and the and the bridge. And uh, and but nobody nobody should rely on either one of those being the solution to both of those problems. And and you know, for a minute, you know, not for a minute, will I believe that the bridge is the solution? I'll work on it. Uh it's a priority for me to have a bridge, have another crossing of the Mississippi River, but there's so many other issues that we have to deal with uh in the Capitol region that that extend all you know, I'm an East Baton Rouge representative. Our problems extend all the way past Walker, they extend all the way past Sorrento, they extend all the way past Maringwin and Grosse Tate. I mean, that's those when we talk about traffic, an East Baton Rouge representative needs to look at Maringwin, needs to look at the town of Livingston, needs to look at Sorrento. That's that's our sphere. That's that's that's our our uh sort of petri dish that we're gonna have to study, or not not study, to focus on, to obsess over. Don't say the word study.
SPEAKER_02Tell me more about the word study. Don't say the word study.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, Savague Consulting is on the job. You know, you know, we we talk about the the new bridge, and I feel like, and I've always maintained a part of the solution to the traffic coming off the new bridge would be to straighten out this 90-degree turn at the bottom. Never mind, it only goes into one lane or two lanes now, but I feel like a more gradual turn wide or coming down the bridge would make people less inclined to tap the brakes and slow down. Because it doesn't matter if if traffic's moving great or not, when people approach the curve, they hit their brakes and that's that's detrimental. I always wonder why DOTD didn't buy up some of that property and straighten that curve around the around the corner there, you know? Yeah. If you look at it on a map, it's it's really evident how sharp it is, and and there's so much space they could buy there and make a gradual turn amid all the construction they're doing now. Never could figure out why that wasn't a part of the uh solution proposed.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm I'm glad you're one of the people who taps their brakes because I'm one of the people who still runs along that that right zipper method. That's right.
SPEAKER_02So thank you. I'm gonna put out signs that say keep Washington Street intact.
SPEAKER_03This guy here. Vote for Drew, guys. That's what you'll get right there. That's right. Hey, um, so tell us about some Amid River dredging. Is that a another part of the uh solution here? I've been hearing since about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So so uh, you know, so in my day job, uh I'm with the Amien River Basin Commission. And uh, and so you know, we we were totally reinvented uh back in 2022. Uh our our board, by the way, uh used to be uh just political appointees with with no rhyme or reason, and they all served you know admirably, but there was no rhyme or reason to to how they how they were serving. And so now our board, our a voting majority of our board are the parish presidents. And so, you know, I talked about collaboration on on uh Bayumanchak. One of the one of the benefits of of this board, recomposition of this board, is that you know a parish president's first instinct is to protect their parish. And we've seen that over the years with the Fisticuffs over Bayumancheck. Well, now they're sitting in a room together and their first priority is their parish, but they also recognize that you know if I'm in if I'm in St. Gabriel, if I'm in East Iberville parish, I know that there's something going on in Livingston Parish that's actually going to affect me. And so now they have to think in a in a larger in a larger sphere. Same thing with traffic. They have to think and collaborate in a larger sphere. And so we finished a master plan a year ago. This this new board uh uh completed a master plan uh back in May of 2025, and and it's the first time we've ever really said this is a system. It's not a collection of projects, it's a system. And that if if we build a project here, we have to understand its effect of what's gonna happen over there. We saw this happen before this master plan, before this was this we reconstituted this board. We saw this happen in real time when Ascension Parish, again, acting naturally and instinctively, uh extending a levy, a protection levy in living in Ascension Parish. They were within their right to do that. The Corps of Engineers permitted it and approved it. Livingston Parish said, wait a minute. By our count, if if you build this levee and this energy, we can call it flood water, but let's also call it energy. This energy is gonna flow from the north and hit this levee like a pinball bumper, that energy is gonna be redirected into Livingston Parish. Livingston Parish says, Well, your levee is gonna protect you, but it's gonna flood me. So our master plan looked at all of that and said, All right, how do we mitigate where we protect ourselves that we're not going to flood somebody else? And so you asked about you know uh clearing the channel of the uh of the Amite River. So again, we look at we look at a systemic approach. So what the Amate River Basin Commission is doing with with our partner parishes is we're working on four major projects. One is removing the the sediment from the the the silt from the lower Amet. Uh you know the a lot of people are familiar with the Amy River uh Amate River diversion, which is a straight line from the Amy River to the Blind River, and now that's where the that's where the water wants to go. There used to be a weir that would regulate, you know, okay, water is gonna still go down the the old natural channel, the one that Mother Nature created in this in this this uh man-made channel, it will direct some other uh water. Well now it's flipped. All that water wants to go down the Amy uh diversion. It doesn't want to go down the the the old channel, the old channel is silted in. And so so by removing that silt, this project is is is in the permitting process. It's gotten some of its very it's one of these projects where uh that's you know backwards from the normal processes of things. You you design a project, you go get the money. We got the money. And now we're we're getting the permitting and and all of that underway. So we've got $20 million to do that, to to clear out that channel, and then another $27 million to to clear it up even further. So about approximately $50 million to clear this channel. That's gonna provide a second outlet for the Amy River. That's that's that's critical. It's gonna apply uh uh apply another outlet, so it's giving it's relieving the pressure off of these floodwaters to get into Lake Marpaul. There's another project, it's a $40 million project in Ascension Parish that we call it the New River Pump. So it's taking floodwaters in Ascension Parish and it's gonna redirect them to a pump on the Mississippi River and pump it into the Mississippi River. So it it it it's it's gonna function like a Kumeat River diversion canal in the sense that it's gonna take water in the system and take it out. So we're relieving pressure and effectively creating a third uh outlet for the Amy River basin. Uh another project is uh Bayumanshack, we've talked about that, uh removing removing the sediment, remove uh clearing that channel so that water can get out. Uh also fun fact is uh Ward Creek, which drains 70% of East Baton Ridge Parish. It's it's kind of pointed in the wrong direction. So uh, you know, my apologies to anybody who loves Bayumanshack. It's it's you know state law says it's a scenic river. It's not, it's a ditch, it's it's very unpleasant to look at. Uh it's where uh great uh items of trash go to die. Um and uh and so we're trying to fix that, trying to clear that out, clear out the trash, clear out the sediment, but then also realign Ward Creek so that it flows with Baymanshack to the uh Amate River instead of flow against it.
SPEAKER_02Like my constituents love hearing about Ward's Creek, so this is great.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, again, when Ward Ward Creek doesn't function, then the rest of East Baton Ridge Parish does not function.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I flooded in 2021.
SPEAKER_01So the rain bomb. Okay, yeah, the rain bomb. You know, that that's that's an area. Well, okay, we can go down a whole rabbit hole about why Amate River basin has to be treated like a system. Because, you know, that rain bomb experienced as much rainfall as the 2016 flood in a very hyper-localized area. There were in in in the rain bomb in 2021, there were areas that flooded worse than they did in 2016. And there were areas that did not flood in 2016 that did flood.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was that was Westminster.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Because Ward Creek didn't have anywhere to go. You know, uh it was being backed up by by by Uman Shack. And then there's another project in St. James Parish. St. James Parish, believe it or not, it's part of the Amite River basin, uh, because everything flows into or the Amy River diversion flows into the Blind River. That's uh that's uh that's the um uh in St. James Parish. So uh so yeah, so sediment removal is one of those projects. We're working on a number of projects to manage the system. So that the water can be moved efficiently out of the basin instead of in 2016 where all of it wanted to go through one little spigot. You know, imagine pouring a bucket of water in a bathtub or a kitchen sink. It doesn't drain. And that's that's what happened in the 2016 flood.
SPEAKER_02That's because I got two daughters and a wife at home, and there's a bunch of hair in the sink. That's why.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Here we need a mural convert diversion.
SPEAKER_02That's right. Somebody needs to dredge out my diversion canal. So it's a couple of things. One, do you get free worm buckets when you go anywhere on the river? Do you just get free drinks when you pull up to the bar?
SPEAKER_03We gotta whip out the Amy at River diversion. Is there a badge for that? You have a badge?
SPEAKER_02The committee.
SPEAKER_01No commission. So uh wow, we we we need to do that. You need a badge. So that's that's that's that's gonna be uh new priority.
SPEAKER_02And another thing, do the political appointees, were they upset when you came in and said we're actually going to do stuff? Because uh my understanding, and you don't have to say a word about this, is was that was a completely useless group uh commission until the time you took it over, and now it's moving forward on a bunch of stuff. Uh that that's what I was told.
SPEAKER_01No, so so the Amy River Basin Commission, I would say, you know, was uh was misaligned in its priorities.
SPEAKER_02So on paper, it's responsible for the that's the nicest way to say what I just said.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. I was an English major. So uh but you know, on paper, it was it was responsible for you know every drop of rain in the Amy River basin. It had been forced to focus on one project, the Comeat River Diversion Canal. It had been forced to do just that project. And so that's really all they were the all they have been focused on since 1989. That's really it. After the 2016 flood, the legislature said, look, enough is enough. Um uh we we're we're done with just focusing on one project. And so in in 2022, uh it was you know an uproar from the legislature and from the parishes uh that said enough is enough. We we you know we need to do this differently. And so the Ambient River Basin Commission was reconstituted in a way that looks like and behaves like the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority. We have to have a master plan, so we have to understand what it is we're looking at, what it is we're doing. Uh we're not just coming up with random projects. We have to have an annual plan, which has to be approved by the legislature. So we have to say, look, uh here's here's our master plan, here's what we're we're doing this year, and here's here's our progress, and and you know, you need to approve this. And so uh they've approved too, and uh in October, yeah, I think in October we'll go before the legislature and have have our third annual plan approved. Um the board uh reflects not only the political divisions in the in the in the area, you know, the parishes, uh, but then also the other six board members are subject matter experts, engineers, uh uh environmental scientists, uh hydrologists, you know, people who understand how all of this works. So so you know, I would say we we've gone from misaligned to being refined and uh and and and more purposeful in what we're doing. And it helps to have all seven parish governments on board.
SPEAKER_02Rowing in the same direction.
SPEAKER_01And not only that, flood pun. Yeah, that's that's great. Uh when when the when the river's flowing, you know, then you can row in the right direction. Uh but but they are being held accountable back home. So so you know, there the the Ascension Parish president doesn't lose a lot of sleep over what voters in East Feliciana Parish are worried about uh you know on a day-to-day basis. But now he now he is. Yeah, now he does care. And now it's it's in his interest. And St. James is interested in St. Helena, and now they have mutual interests, and and both are being held accountable from their voters back home. So I think it works out better. It was it was optimized in a way where it really functions the way it was designed or it was originally intended to behave.
SPEAKER_02So do you think some of these groups, uh whether it's uh Ameet River or COMET or any of these groups would function better if they had better acronyms that spelled something? Because right now I it's the hardest thing in the world, Ameet River Basin Commission, it doesn't spell anything, so I gotta remember the damn thing every time.
SPEAKER_01If it just spelled something, but once you say ARBC a couple of times, it just rolls. It just rolls.
SPEAKER_02What if you had a Y at the end of it? You could be RB. And now we'd all know what you were. Way better.
SPEAKER_03Um, Paul, let me ask you Does the does the federal government contribute or or assistant or or throw any money at this deal? Because, you know, uh all this flood insurance and the after the 16 flood, they're raising houses in regular neighborhoods like gangbusters. I know that cost a pretty penny. Yeah. I feel like if they redirected those funds to help get these projects moving, there'd be less flooding and less houses to raise.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so uh a couple of things. First of all, uh flood risk uh reduction. Um that that's you know harder to say than Amir River Basin Commission. It is flood risk reduction, you know, it it comes in two forms. You know, one is structural, build the project or construct something, construct a canal, uh, construct a wall, something like that. Or non-structural, which is elevate a home or or adopt a building code or you know, something that that is not construction. And both of those contribute to flood risk reduction. And so so first you asked, you know, does the federal government put any money into this? So uh you know, at least in terms of the Amy River Basin Commission, we we used to have income. We don't have any income right now. We don't have any income or or it not tax income. We used to have a millage uh for 20 years. That millage was tied to the Comete River Diversion Canal. Uh, you know, I think also right about the time that that was expiring in 2020, I think the members of the board did not feel uh that they were in a position to go back to voters and say, hey, give us give us more money. Because we had underperformed, and in the eyes of the of the citizens of the voters, we had underperformed for 20 years. So why would we give you more money to to continue this record of underperformance? And so so that millage rolled off, completely gone. So the projects that I've talked about, I I just described $100 million worth of projects. Uh that indirectly is federal government money. That is money that was appropriated. Uh Congressman Garrett Graves got $1.2 billion of congressional funds that uh you know went to a federal agency. That federal agency block granted that to the state of Louisiana. We call that the Louisiana Watershed Initiative. Uh it's $1.2 billion. And uh and so it's it's from that $1.2 billion that we're spending $100 million on projects. Um and then and then uh there's another project. I I talked about that that uh ecosystem restoration, uh making the Amy River more natural. Um the Amy River Basin Commission has taken that on on our own, uh, and we're using state money. So we have state capital outlay money to do that. Uh and and and and then we have also competed for and qualified for two million dollars of um federal money through what's called the Natural Resource Conservation Service. They're helping us with uh with that upper A-meat project. And then uh and then also we're competing for uh Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries um uh grant. And so when we if if we were to win that, part of creating these natural conditions, which first and foremost reduce flood risk, they're also improving habitat. Uh they're improving natural conditions for you know for for you know creatures and and you know flora and fauna. And so uh so we're we're providing that added benefit. So you know so there is federal money in an indirect sense. We are grabbing money whichever way we can. Uh the legislature passed a bill um uh this past session where and earlier I mentioned there's sand and gravel mines, sand and gravel mines all along the the Amite River. And you know what those what those mines do is they take a forested area right next to the Amete River. They take a forested area and when they mine it, it you know basically turns into a lunar landscape. So you take and and what that does to the river is that instead of meandering, there's no resistance. And so the the water will just kind of jump the curb. And when it does, it increases velocity, it grabs sediment, and it just runs to runs to the the drainage, you know, the hairy drainage uh uh area. Um but also you know it it straightens out the river. So our master plan revealed that the Amy River has lost anywhere from five to seven miles of river. We've lost river. So instead of meandering back and forth, cutting a straight line, think of the mileage that we've lost. If we could redirect or we could restore five to seven miles, that means we're forcing the river out of its way. We're slowing it down, we're forcing it out of its way. And uh and and that helps reduce flood risk. Just like when oil and gas, a mineral, when oil and gas comes out of the ground in Louisiana, there's a severance tax. Part of that's most of that severance tax goes back to coastal restoration. And so you've got a mineral coming out of the ground that's paying for restoration efforts to protect and restore the area where that's coming out. When sand and gravel comes out of the ground, a mineral, when sand and gravel comes out of the ground, there's also a severance. There's a severance on you know any mineral in Louisiana, and when it comes out, it's there's a severance. That severance disappears into the general fund. It's not a lot of money. We're not talking about oil and gas money, it's it's very, very small, uh, under a million dollars a year. Um that money just disappears into the the state general fund ether. And so the legislation that we passed this session redirects that money back into the Amate River basin. So that severance money comes from a mineral, goes back into restoring the area where it came from, and it's gonna provide flood risk reduction benefits. And so that's what that legislation did. Again, it's not a lot of money, but it it actually helps leverage so a dollar that we get out of that sand and gravel severance is gonna be worth three dollars when we match it with federal money uh federal funding uh or or with state funding, any other outside source. Um, we believe that we're gonna have to prove to voters that we're building and developing projects and we're lowering flood risk and we're we're improving protection for us to ever think about going back to voters and say, hey, would you contribute to flood protection in the Amy River Basin? So and that that right now that's not even on our radar to go to voters and ask for any any tax revenue. We believe that we have enough money right now to to prove, to demonstrate to people, to the citizens of this area, what flood protection is and and why it's important.
SPEAKER_02So it you for you've been doing this for quite a while, and you decide to to get in front of this now, and and now you're the face of all of your projects and all your dreams. Why do it now as opposed to running for office previously?
SPEAKER_01Uh the the reason I wanted to do it now is uh I I got tired of throwing my shoe at the TV. You know, just being aggravated, you know. I've said this before, you know, it's just for the last, you know, I I I I guess you could say I've been doing this for 30 years. Let's just say 30 years. Yeah. Um and it's been the same problems, we've been having the same discussions, the names and faces change, but we've been having the same discussions for the same amount of time. Uh, and that's just in my adult lifehood lifetime. Um, you know, I'm sure when I was younger and just paying less attention to the news, you know, it's probably been the same thing. And and so I had had a role in the last 10 years in particular, working for Garrett Graves. Um, you know, he and I felt like we were we were a team. We were highly, highly compatible. We had the high we had the same mindset. And by the way, he and I have been working together on projects. Even though we haven't worked in the same offices together, we have been working together for the last 30 years. And and so we're we're just we're just we're highly compatible. We you know, we're just two halves of the same brain in a manner of speaking. And and one thing about Garrett is that he is super stubborn and super impatient. I love you, Garrett, super stubborn, super, super impatient. And and no is never an acceptable answer. And oh, we're studying it is never an acceptable option. And so, and so just you know, like the Dukes of Hazard, flattening those hills and straightening those curves, you know, that that was that was our MO for the last 10 years. And and you know, um look, when when when the 2016 flood hit, this is a good example. Two two quick examples about this mindset and how I got got back into it. 2016 flood um hit in August. By September, we had our first $500 million for flood recovery. By December, we had another one point uh $1.2 million, a total of $1.7 billion within just a few months to start recovery. Uh you know, so let that sink in. August to December. Laura Delta Zeta hit southwest Louisiana in years.
SPEAKER_02You don't mean a sorority.
SPEAKER_01I never thought of it that way until you just said it. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Nothing there was there was never any any attempt by Congress to put money on on that on on those three storms. And uh those were three named storms. 2016 flood, no name, happened during the middle of uh of of Trump Clinton debates, so that so the country was paying attention to something else. Uh also the Olympics and you know Brian Lochty, a swimming swimmer, made himself famous for not swimming, for doing something else, got in trouble with the law in uh in Brazil. All things that you know historically don't matter to us now, but were the complete distraction of the country at the time. And Garrett forced Congress to look at the problem. We we we made it a priority to get members of Congress who were in an election cycle in 2016, not just their own, but a presidential election cycle, to leave their home districts, to come to Central, to come to Millerville Road, uh, to come to the areas where the the debris had not been picked up. These homes had just disgorged all their insides and were sitting out on the street. And and it had a rank odor. It just looked dystopian. And we wanted to make sure people saw that immediately because because we wanted to come, we wanted to ask them immediately, we need you to fund this. And we did. We got it done immediately. Laura Delta Zeta got funded eventually. All of their uh all of their disaster needs were funded uh eventually when Hurricane Ida hit. Hurricane Ida ran up the entire 6th Congressional District. It was almost exclusively a 6th Congressional District hurricane. And we went to work to get IDA funding. And we're like, we can't get IDA funded without addressing Lower Delta Zeta, which happened years ago. And so so just that that impatience, willing, willing a solution into existence, and that impatience of of dealing with the status quo uh being unacceptable, um, you know, that's that's just the mindset where I came from. And you know, I I get to enjoy that on a day-to-day basis basis at at my day job at the Amy River Basin Commission, which has effectively done not much of anything over 30 plus years, but now in the last uh two years, we have approximately 500 million dollars under our management in this basin. And that's not including the 1.2 billion dollars in Corps of Engineers projects, Comey River Diversion Canal and the East Baton Ridge Parish project in in East Baton Ridge Parish, but but we're also partners of that as well. So you know we have approximately two billion dollars under management in in the Amy River basin now. And and so, you know, but you know, why why the legislature? It just so happened, you know, the timing was that uh Paula Davis uh had uh uh you know retired from the from the office, and and I was also, you know, like I said, just losing my mind having the same conversations about this and that, this and that, crime, traffic, you know, these other areas where I had had an opportunity to work in uh with Garrett, and now uh you know I just I didn't have an opportunity to do that anymore, um, or at least less so as a citizen as a as I had been in a previous capacity. I just had to get back into it. I've got believe it or not, I've got zero political ambition. Zero, none.
SPEAKER_03I just That's refreshing now.
SPEAKER_01Um but uh you know what are you doing? When you say that out loud, obviously, especially in Louisiana, that sounds disingenuous.
SPEAKER_03We could have made this show a whole lot more fun if we'd known that.
SPEAKER_01That's right. I still have a family to go home to and and uh I go to church, so I I don't want to uh you know say or do anything on here that's gonna compromise that.
SPEAKER_03We can always cut it out.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, and then I have to trust you to do this. But uh but uh you know it to say that sounds disingenuous. Uh you know, being somebody who's elected, it just it just you know that doesn't ring true. I just have to prove it to people. Um and so you know, in between election day session and now, you know, there are all these important issues in the state of Louisiana that we have to wrestle with. But what am I wrestling with? You know, I I go to these neighborhood meetings, and so I'm Mr. Pothole. I am uh a Mr. Drone, you know, lots of residents.
SPEAKER_02Yes, when you were at the front door and I let you in earlier, you were staring blankly up into space uh behind me, and I'm like, what the hell's he doing? Yeah, watching drones.
SPEAKER_01Well, I often stare blankly into space uh anyway, but thank God there was a drone here. There was a drone there. Wait, I was a drone. I was a drone.
SPEAKER_03What am I doing here? It's not a good podcast. What the hell is this? He's been drinking.
SPEAKER_01I was I was reviewing all of my life's mistakes.
SPEAKER_02Realizing you're about to make one of them.
SPEAKER_01Of all the decisions I've made led me here. Uh so uh it so you know that that that's why I got back into it. You know, it's just I wanted to I wanted to get back into solutions. Um, you know, I I I I want to be, I want to, I want to cut through all the BS and all the noise. Um and and I know everybody says that. I'm I'm very aware that everybody says, Oh, I'm gonna come up with fresh ideas and do something new. It's just I've seen these movies over and over and over again. And so and if you can't tell the visceral frustration when I talk about the Kumee River Diversion Canal, it's because I've been working on it for 30 years. And and you know, damn it, I I want to see this thing.
SPEAKER_03Paying for it for 30 years.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Even worse. Um but also the consequences of not getting that thing done. And by the way, a bridge ain't getting cheaper. Traffic in Baton Rouge will not just miraculously get better. Um, you know, crime, hey, hallelujah, crime is is that is trending downward, great. But Baton Rouge, compared to our peer cities across the country, we're not we're not we're not doing well. New Orleans, compared to its peer cities, is doing really well. Great. That's because we amassed a force in the New Orleans. We forced a solution in the New Orleans. By the way, I um you know, I was at the White House uh Month or so ago and visited with the uh deputy director of the FBI and and you know the deputy director's like look at all we're doing in New Orleans, this is great news, this is great news. And Representative Emily Shinevere was there with me, Representative Barbara Fry Freiburg was there with me, and we said, That's great, that's fantastic. Can you can you migrate that up north and do that in the capital region? Because, hey, we're trending in a good direction, but we're not anywhere near where we need to be. Nowhere near where we need to be. And so uh and and you know, we had that discussion and we we memorialized that. We sent it, we sent the FBI director a letter the other day. It says, hey, remember we talked about this stuff. Um it just so happened that right after we sent that letter back to the FBI saying, look, we talked about this and and this is what we want to do, uh, the FBI and the governor announced Operation, uh, what was it, Operation Summer Heat, uh, and and all of all of the success that was achieved by amassing all of these federal and state and local resources around crime and what that achieved in uh in in New Orleans and also we achieved it in Baton Rouge. We're like, great, great, that's the solution, that's the paradigm. Let's apply that. Let's let's throttle down. Let us absolutely throttle down.
SPEAKER_03So um So they come into Baton Rouge?
SPEAKER_01The feds? They were here for an operation, and we're like, you've proven it. This is the proof. So come back and stay here. A few years ago we we learned that criminals do not they're they're afraid of the three-letter agencies. You know, so the FBI, the DEA, um ATF, they are afraid of those. You know, why are they afraid of those? Because because if when you get arrested by one of those three-letter agencies, you're going to Kansas. Yeah. You're going to uh Idaho.
SPEAKER_02And nobody wants to go to Kansas. No, there's nothing good there. Nothing.
SPEAKER_01That alone is is crime control. Um but but you know, here if they're going to Dixon or they're staying in the neighborhood and so they're closer to the city.
SPEAKER_02They can get more drugs and weapons and like hunt than they can on the street.
unknownIt's true.
SPEAKER_01But they're still yeah, but but there's truth to that though. I mean, they're still in their element, they're still doing business. Yeah, they're still do business doing business in Hunt. They ain't doing it in in Kansas. And so, you know, so that was that's one factor. And you know, there's a big push to try to get the three-letter agencies all to amass in in the Capitol region. And uh, you know, I can't give you a good reason why that just it didn't come to fruition. But it happened in New Orleans, and and and the effect of that uh happened in in Baton Rouge in Operation Summer Heat.
SPEAKER_02And um What a great name for Operation. When you start naming things like sound like 1980s movies, yeah, you got it figured out. Operation Bikini Summer.
SPEAKER_01Gosh, I can hear the soundtrack of that too. Uh cheap truck or uh 38 special.
SPEAKER_02So in your role with the Amy River Basin Commission, God, I wish it spelled something.
SPEAKER_01ARBC. Just say ARBC.
SPEAKER_02No, I don't want to say that. I want to say Arba or Arby Arby's would be better. Uh way better. Have you thought about renaming a body of water Trump River, Trump Lake, in a bid to get increased funding?
SPEAKER_01Uh I don't I don't know that that's Trump diversion? Have the same effect as naming a bridge. You know, so a bridge is, you know, especially when it's completed, you know, a bridge is a bright, shiny edifice. You know, um, hey, if we're if we're draining the Amy River, we're just getting crap out of the river, you know.
SPEAKER_02Maybe he could name that after somebody he doesn't like. That's true.
SPEAKER_01That's right. Uh Clinton River.
SPEAKER_02Give him the naming rights.
SPEAKER_01You know, we actually we actually joke about that in the legislature uh because uh one thing that we do, and I I this is one thing I don't like, uh, is we name a lot of stuff. And and I get that, you know, when when people name a stretch of highway or name a building, you know, I understand where it's coming from. Um, but then also we're just eating up important legislative time naming things, and and and so you know, uh we we joke about finding like a wastewater treatment plant and naming it after you know somebody in North Louisiana that we it's giving us a hard time, you know. So we we do joke about that.
SPEAKER_03But um the making uh sewage treatment plant. I got a list of 168.
SPEAKER_02I can name all the wastewater treatment plants.
SPEAKER_03Gary Chambers, I'm thinking of you, buddy. Damn, damn. Well, man, this has been fun, Paul. Oh man, outstanding. I'll tell you what, I I I have been paying for the co-meat diversion for such a long time. It's it's nice to finally hear so much about uh where it's at. And and and honestly, it's nice to see it moving again. Everyone agree, it's not finished, but everyone who flips over their tax form every year and sees co-meat diversion since '93, '92?
SPEAKER_01Since uh uh '99 to 2020.
SPEAKER_03When that started hitting? Well, when it started.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Everyone who who've seen that and drives up to Baker's Akron's like, what am I paying for? Felt some relief when you and Garrett got that moving again. So everyone's grateful for that. We would we'll be super happy to see that come to fruition along with the rest of the projects.
SPEAKER_02Well, I would tell you, I've heard you speak now on several occasions, and every time I've heard you speak, I come away going, man, we are in good hands.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Oh, gosh. Wow. I I get I get really excited. Oh, wait, you're talking about me? Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh and from the city of St. George perspective, I mean, our group can't think more of you uh and the work you're doing because it's got a benefit to an area in St. George that's particularly flood sensitive. Yeah. Uh, and so we get to see the great work on a regular basis. So thank you for everything you're doing.
SPEAKER_01And by the way, uh St. George is uh a laboratory for you know the way to govern right. Uh I I love that about St. George. Um I I I think folks if they have anything to say about St. George, I think they need to go take a look at what's going on. Um I I just think it's fantastic that St. George is getting so much accomplished, and it's not a big behemoth of a of a city government.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01It's either the fifth or fourth. I think it's approaching the fourth largest city in the state. Uh, if it hadn't gotten there already, and and you could you could fit the entire uh St. George government in the lobby of of any one of the city halls of the other other four or five cities that I just talked about. Yeah. Uh and still getting things done. It's it's just so exciting. And uh and I'm also just really excited that both of y'all stayed awake for this whole conversation, which is which is great.
SPEAKER_03No, I I'm very interested in flood control. I've I've lived in the Amien River basin my whole life. Uh luckily didn't flood in 16, but very interested, and I was happy to hear you uh hash it out with us.
SPEAKER_02Yep. State representative for District 69, Paul Sawyer. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_01Thank you all very much.
SPEAKER_02Savagid Podcast, every single week we have a new episode. If you want to help the show out, like it, subscribe to it, leave us a nice review, or you can always text the show and we'll read your comments, which we'll do in another episode coming up uh early next week. So Savagid Podcast online at iTunes, Spotify, Buzz Sprout, or the Savagut Podcast Facebook page. Thanks for listening. It's been the Savaged Podcast with Dave and Drew.