Flood insurance, development. St. Tammany Parish Council candidates talk issues.

Plenty of new faces in St. Tammany Parish are gunning for seats on the Parish Council, motivated to run by issues from rising flood insurance premiums and aging infrastructure to flaring tensions between the current council and Parish President Mike Cooper.

In districts 8-13, four incumbents face opposition. Business owner Jimmy "Gumby" Strickland III won the 14th District seat after incumbent Ron Randolph bowed out of the race last month.

The election is Oct. 14. Early voting begins Sept. 30.

District 8

Patrick Burke III and Chris Smail, both of Slidell, are seeking this Slidell-area post. Both are Republicans. Incumbent Chris Canulette is not seeking reelection.

Smail, 60, recently resigned from the parish Planning and Zoning Commission after a two-year post. Smail, a hairstylist for 40 years, said his time on the commission has provided him a window into the community's concerns about overdevelopment and drainage issues. If elected, Smail said he would push for a strong working relationship between the council and administration.

Burke did not respond to several interview requests.

District 9

Two people are challenging incumbent Mike Smith — David Cougle and Jason Livingston in this Pearl River-area race. All are Republicans.

Smith, 64, is completing his first term. Smith, a teacher at Northshore High School who is set to retire at the end of the year, said District 9 has a huge amount of open land and he wants to help manage growth and development.

Among the projects he wants to see through is a traffic circle on North Military Road near Crawford Landing Road and a proposal he introduced against clear-cutting cypress and oak trees. Smith said he'd also like to see follow-through on a 2021 report that listed a series of recommendations to improve water quality in the Tammany Utilities system that services the Military Road area. .

Cougle, 44, is an attorney who wants to slow high-density development and improve aging infrastructure. Cougle said water quality is something he'd also like to address. Over the past year, Cougle has acted as a spokesperson for the St. Tammany Parish Accountability Project, a group that has pushed for tighter restrictions on books they deem inappropriate for children in the parish's libraries.

Livingston, whose 17-year-old son died nearly three years ago in a shooting, said running for council is a way to give back to a community that helped keep his family grounded.

Livingston, 53, is a manager at a chemical plant who said that in addressing development, more than traffic and drainage should be taken into account such as school classroom sizes and area services. "The government has two main functions: provide security for the people and critical infrastructure. If you can't get those two things right, the rest doesn't really matter," he said.

District 10

Two-term incumbent Maureen "Mo" O'Brien faces former Mandeville Mayor Donald Villere in this Mandeville-area district. Both are Republicans.

The last two years she's worked as a part-time ESL teacher at Bayou Woods Elementary. O'Brien, 65, said the parish must work on a long-term funding plan for state-mandated expenses, in the wake of several failed tax proposals in recent years. "We're out of reserve money, we're out of one-time money. I'd like to get a group of experts together and reevaluate our revenues and our expenditures because financially everything has changed," she said.

Villere, 71, was mayor of Mandeville for a decade and is a former School Board member.

He said his experience as mayor helps him understand the parish's needs, with public safety being one of his priorities. Villere said improved traffic, drainage and water quality are basics needs that government should provide. "You've got 14 members on this council and they need to take a broader look at the parish rather than zeroing in on each individual district at a time," he said.

District 11

Council member Arthur Laughlin faces Brice Lanier in the race for this Slidell-area district. Both are Republicans.

Laughlin, 51, is a business owner who won a special election for the post in 2022 after longtime Council member Steve Stefancik died. Laughlin said his reasons for running now have changed since he was first elected. Now he wants to help solve the parish budget crisis he said is "100% revenue related." Laughlin said that slowing down development in sensitive wetlands areas is a must to protect homeowners from skyrocketing flood insurance rates.

Lanier, 24, manages accounts at a local record store. He is the youngest candidate running for a seat, which he believes is an advantage. "I wanted to run because I looked at everyone on the council and I thought there's no one with any new ideas," he said. Lanier said the current council is out of touch with the community's needs and that the rate at which real estate development is moving is unsustainable.

District 12

Incumbent Jerry Binder faces political newcomer Mark "Choppy" Daeumer in this Slidell-area race. Both candidates are Republicans.

Binder, 72, is seeking a fifth term and said he's looking forward to helping a new council get acclimated. "I think the council could use someone with the historical and institutional knowledge that I have," he said.

Prior to winning a council seat, Binder served more than five years on the Slidell City Council. Binder said flood insurance and the new FEMA 2.0 rating system, which is causing rates to skyrocket, is a major issue across the parish. Binder added he wants to help solve parish budget issues without raising local taxes.

Daeumer, 55, is a contractor who is running to give voters an opportunity for change. Daeumer said the parish has a spending problem and is living above its means. He also wants to address "the elephant in the room," and ensure books in public libraries with sexually explicit content are age restricted — a policy library officials say has been in practice for years.

District 13

Council member Jake Airey is not seeking reelection, and three candidates — Jeff Corbin, Chris Houlihan and Kevin Petruska — have signed up to replace him in this Slidell-area post. All three are Republicans.

Corbin, 65, retired a year ago and said he jumped when the opportunity to run for an open seat presented itself. A major problem he's focused on is the Army Corps of Engineers' flood levee alignment proposal. "A significant portion of District 13 would be outside of those levees," he said. Corbin said a lack of trust between the Parish Council and the parish president is an overriding issue that has diminished voter confidence. He wants to help rebuild it.

Houlihan, 51, is a senior manager at a freight services company who said his frustration compelled him to run. He said years of unfinished infrastructure projects, such as the West Pearl River Bridge on U.S. 11 and the Cross Gates water system, was a motivator and that he wants to hold certain parties accountable.

Petruska, a 35-year-old mortgage broker, said the council lacks transparency. Petruska said it will be difficult to solve parishwide problems if there's a disconnect between council members and parish administration. "Transparency will be a top priority that's going to foster a good relationship between the parish council and restore some trust with the public," he said.