WE Can't Afford Cooper
St. Tammany Parish residents work hard for their money, expecting their tax dollars to be used wisely—funding essential services, maintaining infrastructure, and ensuring efficient government operations. But under Mike Cooper’s administration, financial mismanagement has become the norm, forcing taxpayers to cover the cost of poor planning, reactionary leadership, and costly missteps.
A Government That Works for Itself, Not the People
While Cooper’s administration has been unable to properly fund critical services, St. Tammany Parish Government has been celebrated as one of the best places to work. But what does that really mean for the taxpayers?
Government Employee
- Guaranteed paychecks, regardless of performance
- No risk of layoffs, even when budgets fail
- Taxpayer-funded benefits & 401K
- Zero Accountability
- New Vehicles every 2 years rather than utilizing existing equipment
Parish Citizen
- Property taxes have skyrocketed, with some homeowners paying thousands more per year.
- Law enforcement and emergency services are underfunded, putting public safety at risk.
- Wastewater issues have led to sewage leaks, impacting health and home values.
- Infrastructure projects are stalled, while public services continue to decline.
The question must be asked: Why is St. Tammany Parish Government such a great place to work when it’s becoming so hard to live here?
Budget Chaos & the DA’s Office: A Never-Ending Crisis
One of the clearest examples of Cooper’s inability to govern effectively is the constant budget battle with the District Attorney’s office. Instead of responsibly allocating funds from the start, Cooper has repeatedly failed to provide the necessary financial support for critical legal and law enforcement operations in 2022 and 2024. The result? A costly cycle of back-and-forth negotiations, emergency funding requests, and last-minute reallocations that leave taxpayers footing the bill for his inability to lead.
Year after year, the DA’s office faces budget shortfalls due to inadequate funding from the parish. But rather than solving the issue proactively, Cooper waits until the problem reaches a crisis point, forcing rushed decisions that create financial instability. This cycle doesn’t just hurt the DA’s office—it affects the entire criminal justice system, leaving law enforcement and public safety services underfunded and ineffective.
The True Cost of Cooper’s Leadership
Cooper’s administration has become a masterclass in financial mismanagement, where problems are ignored until they explode—forcing taxpayers to pay even more for last-minute fixes. Instead of making responsible, forward-thinking choices, his administration repeatedly creates bigger issues that cost residents more money than if they had been handled correctly from the start.
This pattern has led to emergency funding crises, redirected funds, and deferred maintenance that ultimately comes back to haunt taxpayers. Nowhere is this more evident than in the DA’s budget battles, where the failure to properly fund the office in the first place has led to repeated financial chaos. The result? Taxpayers end up paying twice—once for the initial decision and then again when Cooper’s administration is forced to backtrack and fix its own mistakes.
Cooper's predictable cycle:
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Neglect an issue.
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Deny it's severity.
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Scramble for a fix when public outcry forces action.
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Drain taxpayer resources with emergency budget patches.
Leadership That Puts Politics Over People
The problem with Cooper’s leadership is simple: He prioritizes political survival over responsible governance. Instead of making the right choices from the beginning, his administration focuses on optics, making decisions based on what is most convenient rather than what is most effective. The result has been years of costly mistakes that the people of St. Tammany simply can’t afford to keep paying for.
St. Tammany Parish deserves leadership that understands the value of a dollar, respects the hard-earned money of its residents, and makes decisions based on long-term stability rather than short-term political gains. The cost of keeping Mike Cooper in office is simply too high, and the people of this parish shouldn’t have to keep paying for his mistakes.
