Abercrombie passes the gavel

Staff Report

The first meeting of the newly elected police jury took place on January 9, 2023, with President Brenda Abercrombie passing the gavel to incoming President Glen Hutto. 

Abercrombie was elected in 2019 and  took office in January 2020 making history  during her first term as the first female president of the jury during 2022 and 2023. She was re-elected to a second term in 2023.

The Gazette interviewed Abercrombie and asked her thoughts as to her service and as to the future of the jury in general along with any advice to incoming new members. 

Abercrombie responded: “As far as the last two years I am very honored to have been the first female president of the Union Parish Police Jury and I am very proud of the accomplishments we have achieved. We now have most of the equipment needed to restore and maintain our roads. We purchased dump trucks and a pothole repair machine that were definitely needed. We were able to purchase new front load garbage dumpsters along with two new front load garbage trucks. We are also in the process of making some changes with our landfill that will pay big dividends in the future, not to mention putting some nine million dollars in the land fill fund to work earning interest as a result of citizen involvement in bringing that matter to our attention. In our last meeting we changed audit firms which we believe was needed  – a fresh look never hurts and sometimes reveals matters passed over by complacency. We also have a Public Works Director who has been a blessing to our parish and the departments he supervises. We are also blessed with a concientous Homeland Security Director who strives daily to help our schools, fire department, parish residents, and law enforcement. This all has been a cooperative effort by the jury as a whole and I have been privileged to serve as President during this time.

As far as advice to incoming jurors and as I look forward to a new year with new jurors, I am reminded of the three things that compose a person’s character: faith, courage and integrity. When you give your word, keep it. When you lose any one of those three ingredients, you have actually lost them all.  I have always tried to remember those three things in all actions I have taken, and words I have spoken.

We are very blessed to live where we do, with the freedoms that we have, and to have people that we work with support us. Public service is an honor and a privilege and should be treated as such. Public servants should also respect the public they serve and put the public’s interest ahead of their own personal interests, biases and emotions. This is how trust between the public and its public officials is built and maintained. Neither anger, deceit nor manipulation  has a place in a public office and all citizens should feel welcome to come and express their feelings on matters of public importance, without fear of ridiciule or retaliation. I thank God for giving me the strength and desire to do this work.”