LIVINGSTON, La. — The Livingston Parish Council held its regular meeting on June 11 where members heard an impassioned speech from a Public Service Commission candidate, received notice of an upcoming 4th of July parade in Watson, and were updated on the budget for Livingston Parish.
Jefferson Parish President John Young
John Young, President of Jefferson Parish - who previously served as Assistant District Attorney and Prosecutor, as well as Councilman at Large - approached the Livingston Parish Council during its June 11 meeting to provide an update on his campaign after winning the primary for a seat on the Public Service Commission - District 1.
Young will face state representative Stephanie Hilferty in the runoff after earning 31% of the vote. Hilferty garnered 28%.
Young led with a list of the qualifications he gained while acting as Parish President, including administering and balancing a budget of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars and supervising over 3,000 employees. He also noted that he has worked to increase general fund reserves and maintain the highest bond rating in the state of Louisiana.
"We did all of that, and I'm proud to say, without any new taxes," Young added.
Young went on to mention his opinions on Louisiana's economic potential, stating, "We have an opportunity in the state of Louisiana to really transform our economy with the billions of dollars that are being invested in the state of Louisiana, primarily by AI companies but also by Hyundai Steel and Venture Global."
"My commitment, as your next commissioner, is that these AI companies are the wealthiest companies in the world, and we have to make sure that we hold their feet to the fire. That is my commitment," Young said with a wink to the council members.
While Young also discussed that he plans to work on making AI companies responsible for infrastructure fees and power use so that taxes don't rise for ratepayers, his speech raises the question of just how much Young supports the rise of the publicly divisive AI data centers currently popping up throughout Louisiana in the name of "economic potential."
4th of July Parade in Watson
Following Young's declaration, Liberty Belles President Bridget Gilbert discussed the upcoming 2nd annual 4th of July parade put on by the group "We The People," made up of four individual Republican groups in Livingston Parish.
These groups include the Livingston Parish Republican Executive Committee, Liberty Bells Republican Women's Club, Livingston Parish Republican Women, and Young Republicans.
The Watson area, which last hosted a local parade in 1984, will be the centerpiece of the second annual 4th of July parade celebrating America's 250th anniversary. The parade route will start at Live Oak Junior High School, go down Highway 16, take a right onto Hunstock Road, and finish at the end of that road. Highway 16 will be shut down at 6:30 p.m. to begin the parade at 7:00 p.m.
A fireworks extravaganza will be held behind Rudy's Seafood & Steakhouse after the parade.
According to Gilbert, the Lieutenant Governor donated a float for the veterans to ride on, while Parish President Delatte and City Marshal Joe Mac Shumate donated throws for the veterans.
"This is a tribute to America's 250th," Gilbert explained, "so who better to represent us on the float than our veterans?"
Council President Billy Taylor added that, as a veteran himself, he is glad to donate throws to veterans as well.
Budget for Louisiana / Legislative recap
As the meeting continued, Louisiana Senator Valarie Hodges provided the council with a recap of the 2026 Louisiana Legislative Session and a breakdown of the budget for the state which is $46 billion in total. Of that, $23 billion was federal, $11 billion came from the state, $2 billion from capital outlay, and $3.17 billion in cash for infrastructure and road projects.
"We passed bills on homelessness prevention all the way down to education," Hodges stated.
Hodges continued to discuss other bills passed, including getting rid of inspection stickers, lowering insurance premiums by combating fraud, and a law requiring local municipalities statewide to upgrade their cybersecurity systems.
Acadian Ambulance Service Membership Drive
Dwain Meche with Acadian Ambulance Service (AAS) then approached the board to ask for a renewal of its annual permit for July 2026 to June 2027 and to authorize an annual membership drive for August 2026 to July 2027.
The annual permit is required by the council's ordinance and mainly lists the necessary services AAS provides, including inspection of ambulances, compiling information about staff, and outlining the AAS quality insurance panel for the year.
The annual membership drive is a customer benefits membership of sorts and is also required by the council's ordinances.
According to Meche, last year saw about 470 members sign up for the membership. This year, the membership drive will begin August 1 and run through the first week of September.
Members utilizing this service pay a flat rate of $84 a year, and it covers a "husband, wife, children through the age of 26, or older if they're dependent on the parents' income, or have a disability of some sort."
Meche continued to note that members will receive a "30% discount on any bill charges that would be due" for the use of ambulance services.
For a traditional Medicare recipient, Medicare pays 80% of the bill charges, and since AAS has a "rate fee," it can "automatically give that discount to all residents that we transport."
Since the remainder of the bill is 10% less than the discount, that means, essentially, for members, "the bill is waived. They don't get a bill for any services."
For those who have no insurance but have the membership, they still get that 30% discount on the ambulance services. And if someone has insurance that doesn't cover the full cost, as long as the insurance pays at least 70%, then the membership's 30% discount will result in a minuscule copay for the member.
Additionally, Meche stated that discounts are available for AAS's total security monitoring division, which offers a 10% reduction in monthly monitoring fees for those using a med-alert system.
The council expressed its appreciation for the services and voted unanimously to approve both requests.
Request for I-12 to partially be "Right Lane Only" for 18-wheelers
Finally, the council discussed adopting a resolution to request that the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) make a portion of Interstate 12 "right lane only" for eighteen-wheelers.
Councilman Ricky Goff noted that this request comes as an attempt to "try to help the congestion a little bit, which is what is causing some of the accidents that's causing a lot of deaths."
"It's like every week there's a major wreck with a lot of people that are dying," Councilman Joseph Erdey added.
"I highly agree with this," Council President Billy Taylor stated.
Citizen David Wallis stated that a major problem is that "we lack enforcement" in making sure 18-wheelers yield to the right lane. Wallis also told the council that on I-12, 18-wheelers often "follow too close with excessive speeds," which is a problem that also needs to be addressed.
If the DOTD accepts the request, a sign will be erected on that section of I-12 stating that "18-wheelers must ride in the right lane unless passing."
The council unanimously passed the resolution to ask the DOTD to make this change to Interstate 12.
