Natchitoches Mayor Ronnie Williams Jr. gave a State of the City address on Feb. 1 discussing the following topics:

1. There has been an increase in youth engagement through major investments from the Mayor’s Office with programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Mayors Youth Council, and the Natchitoches branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Louisiana
2. The recent utility rate adjustment was necessary. The City was heading for bankruptcy and his administration righted the proverbial ship, increasing the City’s water capacity in the process. Future plans to address the brown water issues plaguing residents includes replacing old cast iron pipes.
3. There is an unfortunate perception that crime is running rampant in the city. Planning to raise his children in Natchitoches, Williams said other cities have crime stats that are far more concerning that those of Natchitoches. There are key crime areas that are in fact declining. Illegal use of a weapon is down 234% compared to fall 2022-fall 2023. Juvenile complaints dropped from 111 to 68 compared to the same time period and general complaint calls are down 33%. Williams added that decisions were made by prior administrations that resulted in fewer budgeted police positions, leading to an understaffed department and an alarming turnover rate. It was common practice that raises were funded by taking a police department position away. This took the police department from 90 budgeted positions to the currently budgeted low 70s, which has been corrected while Williams has been in office.
4. Grant winning strategies with $40 million in grants over 3 years funding a wide range of projects including a safe streets action plan, a new fire station on university parkway, new sidewalks, the mold remediation of the MLK Rec Center, the Keyser lift station, and more.
5. The City has secured $3.1 million LA Watershed Initiative grant to address drainage issues in the Fairgrounds Road, Pan Am and South Town Communities.

“The state of our city is strong because our financial status is strong,” said Williams, who praised his finance team. “We’ve had clean audits and paid down the $5 million street deficit left by my predecessor to $2.5 million.”