SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE

In March 1995, about 25 Terrebonne Parish business and community leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., to urge lawmakers to support its top priorities: Restoring the coast, completing Morganza to the Gulf and providing a north/south evacuation route.

Standing outside the Capitol, clad in bright orange life vests and holding an “America’s Wetlands” banner, no one knew how foretelling the plea would be five months later.

“Our sign basically said, ‘We need levees or we will drown,’” said Kandy Theriot, president/CEO of the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce. “Five months later, Katrina hit. And people did drown.”

Flash forward two years.

This week, another contention of business and civic leaders are in Washington, D.C., urging Congress to address Terrebonne Parish’s priorities.

The cross-section of chamber members n bankers, lawyers, realtors, gas and oil industry representatives and others concerned with the receding coastline n are joining forces with the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority, the Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District and the Terrebonne Parish Government to reiterate the need to protect the region from future hurricanes.

“It’s exactly the same message we have been going with for the last six years,” Theriot said.

One week, each March, members pay all their own expenses for the opportunity to meet one-on-one with congressional leaders to talk about hurricane protection and coastal erosion, she said. In all, 24 people are on this year’s trip.

“Our message has been to save south Louisiana n to build levees in Terrebonne Parish and restore our coast because our state and the people in it are at risk,” Theriot said.

This year’s visit coincides with movement on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in Congress. In a recent interview, Congressman Charlie Melancon said WRDA could come to a vote later this month.

“There’s not been a WRDA bill passed since 2000,” Theriot said. “For the last seven years, we’ve been going up hoping to persuade people to hear WRDA and pass it so that our levees would be authorized. We’re not even talking about funding; we’re just talking about giving permission.”

News that Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California), chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, publicly said the bill would be marked up, out of committee and ready for a floor vote by the end of march is music to the ears of many.

Few are happier than Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the parish’s levee and conservation district.

“This is real good news,” he said. “We’re optimistic that is going to happen soon.”

Zeringue said primarily the group will meet with the state delegation to reinforce the support and appeal of Morganza and coastal restoration at the local level.

The visits n even if the sit-down only involves the congressman’s staff n have proven to make a difference, he said.

“For better or worse, they know what we’re about and what we’re pushing,” Zeringue said. “The trips make a difference because it lets us continue to put a face with the issues. We can send all the e-mails and letters, but when you are sitting across face-to-face with lawmakers, it is our chance to go up and speak with one voice.”

Terrebonne Parish residents’ commitment to the Morganza project has been evident for several years.

Theriot said local voters’ approval of a tax to pay the local match for Morganza to the Gulf is a strong selling point.

“People in our community demonstrated years ago that we believe it is critical that we have levee protection,” she said. “We voted a tax in before we even got authorization from the federal government for the project. It sends a very strong message to the federal delegation as to how committed we are in Terrebonne Parish to protecting our citizens.”

With the coast quickly disappearing and the next hurricane season quickly approaching, Theriot said the parish’s long-term future is grave… another point she hopes lawmakers in Washington, D.C., understand.

“Sometimes we live where water didn’t get to us yet and we just don’t think about it,” she said. “We really are vulnerable and we really do need to get this protection as quickly as possible.”

Until the authorization and subsequent funding do arrive and work begins, Theriot said the chamber will continue its annual trek to the nation’s Capitol.

“This is a group of very dedicated people that are seriously committed to coastal restoration and hurricane protection for our area,” she said. “We’re not just the business community. We’re government, we’re state, we’re local. We’re organizations and we’re all here speaking with one voice.”

SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE