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The flood of 2016 was a pivotal moment for the City of Central, when some 60 percent of the homes and businesses in the city were inundated with water. It’s what ultimately persuaded Wade Evans to run for city council.
“I felt like our elected leaders weren’t listening or paying attention,” says Evans, who is now mayor of the city. “I was on a mission—everything I’ve done on the council and now as the elected mayor has revolved around how we can make our city more resilient.”
AT A GLANCE
Top executives: Wade Evans, Mayor
Phone: 225.261.5988
Address: 3421 Hooper Road, Suite 8, Central, LA 70818
Website: centralgov.com/
Today, the City of Central has a pretty good grasp of where it wants to go, while at the same time remaining firmly grounded in its principles of faith, family and education. Under Mayor Evans’ leadership, the city has experienced significant advancements in how citizens interact with their government. In the process, Central has implemented a proactive approach to service delivery. “We don’t want our citizens to have to call us about problems,” Evans says. “We intentionally go out and work every day to solve problems. It’s a proactive approach.”
Central’s leaders are on a mission to enhance the quality of life for all residents by maintaining safe and reliable roadways, effective drainage systems, and fostering a community where progress and preservation coexist. In the process, the city is prioritizing public safety by implementing comprehensive initiatives to enhance the city’s pavement management.
In that vein, they’ve invested $500,000 of federal grant money in an early warning system that activates during rain events, and they’re currently looking into the development of an innovative aquifer recharge system that will allow it to remove filtered stormwater from the city’s watershed and inject it underground. They’re also in the process of improving their building codes for new residential developments and proactively restoring entire neighborhoods back to their original drainage intent.
The approach seems to be working. FEMA recently reduced Central’s Community Rating System (CMR) rating to 5, subsequently saving citizens $1 million a year in insurance premiums.
Education is also integral to the process. Central High School recently introduced its “Wildcat College” early college program, which enables high school students to earn an associate’s degree while still in high school. That, in turn, puts students in a position to earn their bachelor’s degree in just two years and, if they choose, use their remaining TOPS program eligibility to pursue a master’s degree.
If a student desires a more technical path, the school offers welding and culinary arts programs. “There are numerous well-rounded opportunities for the youth that grow up in Central,” Evans says. “No matter their career track, there’s an opportunity.”
Perhaps there’s no better evidence of the city’s forward-thinking mindset than its vision for the downtown corridor, as laid out in its “Main Street 2030” master plan. Projects identified in the plan include an 85-acre flood project, recreational opportunities and a variety of economic opportunities, all of which are intended to bring the community together.
“I’ve said all along that if we all pull on the same end of the rope we can win,” Evans says. “In the past, we were a city that did a lot of planning but never implemented any of it … until now. And that’s exciting.”
