If there was a prevailing theme in last fall’s political campaigns in St. Tammany Parish, it was the need for the Parish Council and the parish president to get along.
Those political races capped a four-year term during which the council and Parish President Mike Cooper often locked horns over issues big and small, with each side laying the fault at the other’s feet.
Nowhere were the frayed edges of that relationship more on display than the council’s June 1 meeting, a marathon session that saw the council launch an investigation into the Cooper administration’s handling of a controversial $34 million apartment complex being pitched for a location just outside Covington's city limits.
Council members blamed Cooper for their first-ever investigation of a parish president, saying his refusal to communicate with them had put their backs against the wall. Cooper called the council’s vote an embarrassment.
But as Cooper and the council’s 14 members prepare to be sworn into office during a noon ceremony Monday at Covington’s Fuhrmann Auditorium, both sides say it’s time to smooth things over.
“I think this is a new start,” said Cooper, who beat Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer last October to win a second term.
Several council members interviewed this week agreed.
“I was kind of embarrassed by how little cohesiveness there was between the president and the council,” Council member-elect Rick Smith said. “They let egos and some personalities get in the way.”
St. Tammany Parish Council incumbent Maureen O'Brien
While the main problems dogging St. Tammany government frustratingly remain unchanged — for one, the parish can’t find enough money to cover the state-mandated costs of the criminal justice system — the council that takes office Monday will have a definite new look.
In an unprecedented upheaval, nine of the council’s 14 seats changed hands last fall. Six incumbents didn't seek reelection and three incumbents lost their races.
So Cooper, who did win reelection, will have an almost-brand-new council to work with.
“I think the people spoke last election. People wanted to make changes on the legislative branch of government,” Cooper said of the massive council turnover.
Cooper and council members alike noted there were huge challenges last term. Shortly after the government was sworn to office in 2020, the pandemic made working together impossible. Not long after that came Hurricane Ida.
“It was a tough way to go through half of the (four-year) term,” said Council member Maureen O’Brien, who was reelected to her Mandeville-area post.
But there were more routine challenges, too. Numerous council members complained that Cooper was difficult to work with, and that he limited communication between his administration and the council.
“I hope the communication improves,” said Council member Jerry Binder, who will begin his sixth term in his Slidell-area post. “That was a problem the last four years. But I’m putting that in the past.”
St. Tammany Parish Council member Jerry Binder.
Cooper, meanwhile, said he got off to a rocky start four years ago because several council members had been allied politically with Pat Brister, the incumbent that Cooper defeated in 2019.
“The honeymoon was over real quick, if there ever was a honeymoon,” he said.
Cooper said he has worked to build relationships with the council's new members and improve relationships with the returning ones. He noted that he already has a good working relationship with Smith and Council member-elect Larry Rolling, both of whom were on the Covington City Council while Cooper was mayor there.
Not that Cooper should expect a bump-free four years.
"I am sure in the future there will be disagreements, but I think the incoming council is going to approach things very differently in terms of how they work with the parish president," said Council member-elect David Cougle, who beat incumbent Mike Smith.