The torch is passed and the work of the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany continues, but it is entwined with a heavy heart and a deeper sense of the responsibility we have to the community. Last month we said our farewells to Mandeville resident Norma Gavin. She was a League member for over forty years. When Norma and her husband Lou retired and moved to Mandeville, both of them embraced the community they chose to call home. Norma was elected to the local League board and then later became President of the state League.

                  She championed open and transparent government, health care issues, judicial and juvenile justice reforms, housing, and poverty concerns. Her inquisitive and irreverent nature disarmed many politicians and colleagues over the years. I had to stifle laughter on many occasions because I knew that Norma was poking fun at those in power, but doing so in a way that made them think she had paid them a compliment.

                  Norma followed through on her commitment to these issues by volunteering on many other boards and commissions over the years. She was a dedicated CASA volunteer and Youth Service Bureau board member. Norma was a member of the Lallie Kemp Charity Hospital Citizen’s Board and drove to Independence for frequent meetings. She was also on the board for Lakeview Hospital. Norma was on the Mandeville Trailhead Commission board and championed her League values of openness and transparency.

                  Norma attended every St. Tammany Home Rule Charter meeting in 1997. She led the members through the consensus process and adoption of our support for the Home Rule Charter form of government. She led the League efforts in studying and championing the Citizens Agenda Project that identified the key issues that St. Tammany Parish is still struggling with today. In 2008, when the League joined with other residents to review the Home Rule Charter, Norma attended every meeting and once again added her voice to the voices advocating reform.

                  Only a few days after Norma’s passing, another long-time community activist, Katie Planche Friedrichs, died after a long illness. Kit Friedrichs-Baumann, Katie’s daughter, my friend and fellow-activist, said, “My Mom was the quintessential teacher who taught us how to dance, to live, to laugh, and to stand up for what is right…The word can’t was not part of her vocabulary…it doesn’t hurt to ask…and when you ask, start at the top.”

                  Both of these women lived full and active lives. Everyone at their respective memorial services warned that heaven would never be the same now that Norma and Katie are there organizing meetings, dancing in the streets, and standing up for the least among them. They walked the talk and have blazed paths for all of us to follow although both of them would be the first to tell us that it is up to each of us to be leaders. We can’t wait around for someone else to step up to the plate and make a difference in our homes, neighborhoods, towns, parishes, state, country, and world.

That brings me to our League-sponsored meeting on November 9.

            Back in 2006, the League asked key parish-wide leaders to give us a summary of their financial condition. We were still reeling from Hurricane Katrina and sales tax collections were exploding due to all of the rebuilding work. In 2009, we have asked these same parish leaders to come back and provide the residents with another overview of their financial conditions. Sales tax collections are down; residential building permits have declined dramatically; the sheriff wants $2,000,000 more dollars to run the jail; the Parish President has threatened to sue the Assessor; and the St. Tammany Parish School budget tops out at $481 million this year! 

                  In keeping with Norma’s and Katie’s admonition to ask and to start at the top, our panelists for this meeting are Parish President Kevin Davis, Sheriff Jack Strain, Assessor Patricia Schwarz Core, St. Tammany Parish School Superintendent Gayle Sloan, and Fire Protection District Chiefs Larry Hess (FD 1) and Merrick Tassin (FD 4). These governmental entities spend the majority of the sales tax and/or property tax dollars that are collected in St. Tammany Parish.