Dear Editor: As a resident of St. John the Baptist Parish since 1987, I feel a compelling need to write to you. What is happening to our parish? It seems to me that ever since Mr. Monica took over as parish president, the pride that used to be taken in the looks of our parish has gone considerably downhill, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way. My job has me taking to the highways of St. John and St. Charles parishes on a daily basis, and to be totally honest, what I see while traveling the highways disgusts me. I have been seeing the same thing for months now! Airline Highway just past Highway 51 heading towards the Spillway is a disaster area and it appears no one is working on completing this project on a daily basis. I know the weather cannot be a factor as there has been sunny, mild days that no work is being done. Someone has even gone as far as to place a “no fishing” sign in one of the dug-out areas. How much longer must we have to look at that mess as well as the large concrete ditch drains that litter all the ditches from River Parishes Hospital on down the highway? They also have been sitting for months now. Last summer, the grass in the median in the Garyville area was allowed to grow so tall that you could not see the traffic coming from the other direction. All this as far as I’m concerned is not acceptable. We live in this parish and our parish president, whom the people elected to serve us, needs to do something about this. Trash lines the ditches by Popeye’s and Church’s chicken. Unacceptable! Now as if all the unsightly things I have already mentioned isn’t enough to get the ball rolling, what’s the deal with all the dead dogs and cats that litter the shoulders and lanes of Airline Highway? Now this is totally unacceptable! I thought we had animal control laws in this parish and someone to enforce those laws. Seems to me the motorists are doing a better job of animal control than the parish is by hitting and killing these animals. If indeed we have an animal control officer, then it’s very plain to me that he or she is not doing their job effectively. Seems like Mr. Monica did away with a humane society that had its problems but at least they were out picking up the strays so the poor things would not meet such a violent death. And if indeed they had to be put down it was done in a humane way that caused no pain to them. In my subdivision on trash day there are numerous trash cans knocked over and rummaged through by a stray dog looking for food. Is it the dog’s fault? No, it’s not! It’s the irresponsible person who owns the dog and allows it to run the streets doing as it pleases. You can’t blame the dog for the ignorance of the owners. A dog is supposed to be a companion, a member of the family, not something you throw outside so he can roam and tear up people’s trash and unfortunetly make his way to Airline Highway and get killed. People! Get responsible! Keep your dog in your yard and have it spayed or neutered! And Mr. Monica, can’t you have these dead animals removed off the highway so we don’t have to see them rot away for weeks or do you even care? I know one thing for sure, and that is that next election day, you will not be getting my vote!

Lou Gentile

LaPlace