Mayoral candidates share visions for Abbeville with Kiwanis Club

Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza announced last summer that after five terms, he would not seek re-election in 2022.
That means for the first time since ‘02, there will be a new mayor of Abbeville. Two people, Francis Plaisance and Roslyn White, both of whom currently sit on the Abbeville City Council, are vying to be that new mayor. That will be decided on Saturday, March 26.
On Tuesday, the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville invited the two candidates to speak about their respective visions for the city. Below is what each told the Kiwanians:

Councilman Francis Plaisance

Francis Plaisance has served as councilman at large since ‘06. During three of his terms, he held the title of mayor pro-tem.
He told the Kiwanis Club members that it is an honor to run for mayor.
“It’s a dream that I have had for a long time,” Plaisance said.
Plaisance spoke to his experience, including more than 20 years as a child protection investigator with the state.
“I have many years of community experience,” he said.
Plaisance said he would use that experience to work with law enforcement and the community to promote safety and reduce crime in Abbeville.
“If we’re going to move forward with our city,” Plaisance said, “economically, or in any other way, we have to get control over crime.”
Plaisance said part of his plan is to create a coalition among people from throughout the community. He said he would work with whoever is elected chief of police.
“It has to be an effort not just from law enforcement,” Plaisance said.
Enhancing economic development is another focus.
“We have a lot of empty buildings in the city,” Plaisance said. “We need to work on that. We have to get people in here to occupy these buildings.”
Upgrading infrastructure can help, said Plaisance, who served on the city’s Electrical Committee.
“We have done a lot of patchwork,” Plaisance said of some of the city’s aging infrastructure. “The mayor has done a wonderful job on getting grants, but we need to try to get more grants to make upgrades.”
Further development of the recreation program is another point of interest for Plaisance.
“We have a lot of recreation that is going on in our city right now,” Plaisance said. “As you know, we are in the process of upgrading $3 million on fields at A.A. Comeaux Park. Turf fields are a wonderful thing. People are going to come here, and it will have an economic impact on our city. We need to make sure that we maintain all of our parks.”
Continuing to maintain proper connections that ensure emergency preparedness is vital, Plaisance said.
“Mayor Piazza has gone through so many hurricanes,” Plaisance said. “He has connections in place. We need to have all of those connections in place for future hurricanes. Hopefully, we don’t have another, but we inevitably will. So we need to be prepared and have our citizens prepared for that.”
Plaisance has been a member of numerous committees and local boards. He developed the Cake & Ice Cream Festival, has served as the president of the Louisiana Cattle Festival, is on the board of the Louisiana Military Museum and helped lead the development of Abbeville’s Lafitte Drive-In Park. Bringing more people to the city is always important, he said.
“My wife and I have been blessed to go to every state,” Plaisance said. “My wife is from Kentucky. She always says it’s great to be home when we get back. Why? We have the best of everything. We have the best people and food. We have a pretty decent climate. We have festivals and events. We have all of these things that we can use to promote tourism.”
Roadways are an issue, one that Plaisance said will receive attention.
“We have some bad roads,” Plaisance said. “One of the problems is that we have state highways that run through the city. We have to rely on the state to make improvements. We need to continue to pursue that and get the state involved.”
Plaisance said that, if elected mayor, he will pursue the aforementioned points while maintaining a fiscal stance.
“As Mayor, I will operate the city of Abbeville with a conservative fiscal responsibility,” Plaisance told the Kiwanis Club. “I pledge to lead the city with high ethical standards and treat all people with dignity and respect.
“I will be open to hear the concerns of the citizens and do my best to resolve their issues.”

Councilwoman Roslyn White

Roslyn White has served District A on the city council since ‘18.
“My interest in city government comes from a desire to improve my community,” White said. “I believe in servant leadership. I have always believed in working on solutions, rather than talking about problems.”
White said she has a vision for Abbeville, the city she has proudly chosen to call home.
“It’s a community where we can sit on our porches and kids can play safely in the yard,” White said. “It’s a community where young adults want to live, work and raise their families, and have an opportunity to do so.”
White said she understands there is work still to be done.
“I have a deep love for our city,” White said. “I see the struggles and challenges of our city, but I also see nothing but opportunity.
“It’s time to take an honest look at our problems, set goals and roll up our sleeves to work together on solutions.”
That will take planning, cooperation and perseverance, White said.
“We need someone who can think outside the box,” she said, “who can bring new energy and ideas to the table. That person is me.”
White said her platform remains infrastructure, economic development and rebuilding the community.
“In my first four years on the council,” White said, “I had six streets overlaid and worked on numerous drainage problems. In addition, I worked to clean up areas of my district that had long been neglected. As mayor, I will continue to tackle planning and infrastructure projects, but I will also look for ways to improve our quality of life, such as biking paths, sidewalk improvements and the use of modern technology in utility systems.
“My focus will be on all districts, not just one area.”
Making sure that all areas are clean is essential.
“Cleaning up our city has been a priority,” White said. “We’ve worked diligently to identify and catalog blighted properties and hold negligent property owners responsible. With the help of a state grant secured by Mayor Piazza, we have condemned and demolished over 30 properties over the last four years. We still have more properties go to, but we are making a difference.”
White, who has administration and operation experience in private industry, highlighted another state-level partnership that will benefit the city.
“Abbeville has been accepted into the Louisiana Development Ready Community Program,” said White, who took a lead on bringing the program to the city. “This is offered through Louisiana Economic Development. We have worked with the state team to identify areas to improve our business climate. We just completed the writing of our three-year strategic plan. The plan outlines priorities and sets goals and benchmarks to measure success. This is important because it puts Abbeville at the forefront of the state team’s mind. These are the people that industries and businesses contact when they are looking to relocate inside Louisiana.”
Communication is vital for everyone in the city, White said. With that idea in mind, White helped overhaul the city’s website and create a more substantial social media presence.
“I believe in the use of technology to better engage our community,” White said.
Youth will also be a strong focus.
“I believe we need to be more proactive in engaging our youth,” White said. “We need to target opportunities to keep them engaged. I will build a youth council to give them a voice in government.”
White said her goal as mayor would be to have as many voices as possible helping Abbeville move into the future.
“I am not here to make empty promises,” White said. “Government alone will not solve all problems. We all have to be active participants and agents for change. We all have to take responsibility for our complacencies and strive to be better.
“I promise to continue to work hard, lift you up when you need and always put my community first.”