Charmaine Neville

This Saturday Night

One of the most important responsibilities of local government is public safety. We in St. Tammany are fortunate to enjoy a relatively low crime rate. In Covington, I am grateful our City Council voted to increase the pay of our police officers. Subsequently, we went from being 50% short-staffed (-13 officers) to fully staffed (26 patrol officers). Our PD is now active and engaged.

The four-tenths sales tax on this Saturday's ballot specifically funds the prosecutorial and correctional functions of our Parish's justice system. These are important components of maintaining our public safety.

Side note: I, like most of us, do not care for new taxes. This is not a new tax, but rather a reduction and rededication of a past tax.

I ask that each of us consider this measure carefully.

Greater Starlight Baptist Church recently celebrated their 90th anniversary. I was asked to offer words of congratulations and/or a prayer. I am often moved by The New Battle of New Orleans Prayer spoken each Sunday at St. Paul's Mass ... so I offered this slightly modified version:

Loving and faithful God, through the years the people of our community have appreciated your blessings in times of war, disaster, epidemic and illness. We come to you, Father and ask you to help us in the battle of today against violence, murder and racism.

We implore you to give us your wisdom that we may build a community founded on the values of Jesus, which gives respect to the life and dignity of all people.

Bless parents that they may form their children in faith. Bless and protect our youth that they may be peacemakers of our time. Give consolation to those who have lost loved ones through violence. Hear our prayer and give us the perseverance to be a voice for life and human dignity in our community.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Mother Henriette Delille**, pray for us that we may be a holy family.

*This prayer is offered most every Sunday at Catholic Churches throughout the New Orleans area.

**Mother Henrietta Delille(1813 - 1862) was a Black Catholic nun from New Orleans who founded the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1836. One of their campuses is the site of Faith Bible Church today (corner of Columbia Street and N. Tyler Street). The old gym there was one of their buildings.