Several parents, grandparents and long-time Lake Arthur residents are speaking up about the town's public parks.
Life-long Lake Arthur resident and bus driver, Phyllis Robinson said she questions how a $225-thousand-dollar grant from the Louisiana Division of Administration was spent on upgrading both the MLK West End and Lake Arthur Parks.
"I need somebody to be accountable because we are tired of getting the money stolen from us," Robinson said. "They have been getting these grants from the state. One of them came from HUD and another organization who came together to donate 230-thousand dollars for both of these parks."
Robinson said she is concerned about the safety of the children who visit MLK Park regularly, specifically because of the infrastructure.
"It’s no way that just these little, three items cost six-thousand dollars," Robinsons aid. "And then, you turn around and then you gave us the turf for almost 8-thousand dollars, there’s no way possible."
Robinson is not the only resident concerned about the MLK Park.
Edmona Charles said the park has looked the same since she was a child and something needs to be done.
"I want these pavilions upgraded, I want to see the bathrooms re-done, I really want to see this baseball field back up and running because we had so much fun as kids on that baseball field," Charles said.
I reached out to Lake Arthur Mayor Sampson LeJeune for an interview.
While he declined to comment on camera, he said the grant funds were split between both Lake Arthur Park and the MLK West End Park.
Additionally, Mayor LeJeune said a 501-C3, called Team LA decided to donate additional funds to Lake Arthur Park, and the park upgrades did not come from the city.
"All of the pavilions in this park were paid for by a grant and Team LA," LeJeune said. "The town didn't pay a penny, the basketball court in this park was paid for by Team LA, not a penny from the town, the basketball goals were paid for by Team LA, not a penny from the town."
The Mayor encourages anyone who would like to speak up regarding the town's parks to attend the next city council meeting on May 2.
