Erica Johnson, an urban farmer in New Orleans, won reelection to the Crescent Soil and Water Conservation District board on Saturday, the district announced. Johnson beat Lloyd Landry IV, a charter boat fishing captain from St. Charles Parish.
Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) help landowners implement practices that protect natural resources. There are 44 districts in Louisiana. This is only the seventh time this kind of election has been held in the state’s history, and the first time for the Crescent District, which includes Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Charles, and St. John the Baptist parishes.
“Thank you for your unbelievable support. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and so inspired by the engagement we saw at the polls,” Johnson said. “My time will be focused on my new baby, my family and the work of the board moving forward.”
Voters expressed their frustration after some polling places ran out of ballots early in the day.
Adrianne Montoya showed up to vote at New Harmony High School in New Orleans late Saturday morning and discovered the poll was closed.
“It's frustrating, and feels sketchy. These days it's easy to feel like our voices are being silenced,” Montoya said.
“A typical SWCD election in Louisiana normally has less than 200 ballots cast. Apologetically, we thought we were prepared for the turnout with 900 ballots in Orleans and St. Charles and 600 ballots in Jefferson,” the Crescent Soil Water Conservation District explained on its Facebook page.
Others pointed out that two parishes the district represents–St. John the Baptist and St. Bernard–didn’t have polling locations.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome and unfortunately, a lot of my supporters weren’t able to vote for me due to the poor planning of the organizers of the election. I’m grateful and humbled by all the support I received,” Lloyd Landry said. “If anything good comes out of this, I hope it has brought more attention to what this board does and opportunities it can offer to coastal restoration and small farmers.”
NOLA Food Policy Action Council said it reviewed the SWCD’s rules for elections and confirmed these rules were followed. Samantha Fleurinor, the council’s regional director, said the issues likely stemmed from the unusual nature of the election, given that the process is designed for districts with smaller voter populations.
“For this election, the entire election infrastructure and process had to be cobbled together by volunteers in a month. Such a process will come with gaps and challenges. Thankfully, challenges create opportunities to learn and do better,” she said in a statement.
Fleurinor said this election creates opportunities to improve the voting process and bring more attention to SWCDs and what they do.
“We can continue to learn about the possibilities and responsibilities that a SWCD holds for conserving our natural resources in our district,” she said.
The State Commission will certify the results at its next meeting. Johnson will continue to serve on the district’s Board of Supervisors, as she has for the past two years. Johnson said she will work to improve the election process.
“Now that the race is done, I will work with the rest of the Board and LDAF to understand what happened and how we ensure any future elections will not see these problems take place again,” she said. “Changes must happen to make sure that our board operates with integrity and accountability as we do the good work of conservation.”
“Hopefully projects and issues of all five parishes get recognized from now on and not left out like they were for this election,” said Landry IV. “Congratulations to Ms. Johnson and good luck serving the community and a huge thank you to everyone that supported me.”
