By Christopher Tidmore, ctidmore@louisianaweekly.com

    It was not exactly a surprise when Ed Muniz decided against another term as Mayor of Kenner, at least since the tax increase debacle.
    For months, Muniz had told supporters that he planned to stand for another term in office, sending out the clarion call to potential opponents to be aware of

of plotting to loudly.   Then, he asked for a tax increase.
    Of the myriad of local governments in the metro area and throughout the river

parishes, Kenner is arguably in one of the worst structural positions.  It has some of the lowest property taxes and a growing number of urban challenges that have caused a huge deficit.

    Muniz had cut the budget, repeatedly--even denying the $30,000 annual appropriation to the Toy Train museum in Rivertown, closing it.   Still, the negative deficit picture convinced the Mayor that he needed a millage increase so large that the average homeowner would pay $20 more each month.
    In property-taxophobic Louisiana, such a suggestion would be politically toxic by itself, except Muniz's timing made the proposal even worse.   He suggested the tax increase four and a half months before an election.
    The Kenner City Council, even the Mayor's usual supporters, rebelled.   From At-Large member Joe Stagni on down, the Councilpersons decried the idea of boosting taxes at Christmas, in the middle of the worst recession in two generations, and (though it was not spoken aloud at the meeting) right before the entire body faced the voters on March 27, 2010.
    They called for higher budget cuts, noting that Kenner's per capita public employment figures still remained higher than other parishes.   Muniz, who had built his political career on fiscal probity, argued that there were no more cuts to be made without destroying vital public services from police to fire to recreation.     
    The Council disagreed overwhelmingly, and so did the public.   Kenner citizens, upon seeing Muniz, began to complain about the proposed tax, saying they could not afford $20 more a month.   The Mayor called such talk ridiculous, declaring that the city would become unlivable if its residents did not step up to fund its services.
    As Muniz himself replied as part of his statement over why he would not run for another term, "“The city must either cut services, or increase revenue.  The economic woes of a nation are taking their toll here at home.  Sales taxes are down considerably.”  He pegged much of the problem with Kenner’s financial resources on a heavy use of sales taxes instead of dedicated millages.  
    Muniz noted that his office has already saved as much as $4 million from budget cuts, but he is already staring at another $3.8 million in necessary cuts in 2010.  He offered a solution.  
    “Kenner is the largest city in Jefferson Parish and operates on a levy of just over 18 mills,” he said. “Meanwhile, Gretna uses almost 44 mills to serve its citizens.  I recently proposed to the council a 5.5-mill increase for voter consideration.  In plain words, I wanted to give voters the opportunity to decide their own fate - either by paying additional millages to support our city services including police and fire, or by continuing to cut a balanced budget.  Voters should have the right to decide on their own future.”
    Since the Council refused to put the measure on the March ballot, Muniz pledged to campaign for the higher taxes, instead of running for Mayor once more.  And, not spoken, Muniz implied that he would support a candidate independant of those who opposed him on the tax issue.     
    Kenner's challenge is that the city has begun to experience many of the inner city problems that New Orleans encountered forty years ago, from deteriorating

infrastructure to rising crime.   Demographically, the city is no longer the white, suburban enclave of popular perception.  The historic African-American population continues to rise, but it may be outstripped by a skyrocketing Hispanic population in the next decade.   
    Kenner could easily become a minority/majority city at current rates of growth in the next 25 years, a process that mirrors the overall changes occuring in Jefferson Parish as a whole--though at a slightly slower rate.    
    Like urban areas everywhere, roads are aging, and White and Middle Class African-American flight has caused some neighborhoods to begin to deteriorate   (Percentages of blighted properties in Kenner's Susan Park and Lincoln Manor neighborhoods rivals many troubled areas in Orleans.)
    Keeping a city alive, in Muniz view, from encountering urban depopulation requires sufficient funding.  His critics note that in 1978, New Orleans only charged one mill more than Jefferson.  A similar increase in taxes, they claim, help accelerate, not decelerate the departure of urban middle class populations. 
    Nevertheless, Muniz was seriously disillusioned by the entire experience.   According to one insider source, the Mayor briefly considered resignation, but in the end, he opted just not to run again--and reportedly support someone who reflects his "viewpoint".
    In that decision does the future Mayor of Kenner potentially emerge.
    It is important to remember that Muniz's victory four years ago was based on the dual antipathy that the voters had towards the two major factions in Kenner politics--the backers of the Congemi family and those who supported then-incumbent Mayor Phil Capitano.   As a City Councilman, Capitano had been a thorn in the side of Mayor Louis Congemi.  When Congemi won election to the Parish Council, Capitano then ran for Mayor against Congemi's hand-picked successor, the Mayor's brother Police Chief Nick Congemi, and defeated him.  After two and a half years of political warfare between Nick Congemi, still Chief, and Capitano, the two faced a rematch in the regular election.
    Poll after poll showed that the electorate was sick of the fighting.   Muniz, who had narrowly lost election to an at large seat on the Parish Council, jumped into the Mayor's race at the last minute.  He used his loyal voters in Kenner's 3rd and 4th Council District, playing a ward and precinct ground campaign that propelled him into the runoff, and ultimately to victory over both men.
    Now, Louis Congemi, term limited from the Parish Council seeks to return to his old job, and Phil Capitano, narrowly ousted by Muniz reportedly wants another shot at the office.  Muniz blames allies of both men for the defeat of his tax proposals, and according to sources close to the Mayor is ready to use his still not inconsiderate influence on behalf of a candidate unattached to both camps--and interested in becoming Mayor.
    The only elected official that makes that grade appears to be Kenner Justice of the Peace Kevin Centanni.   Despite popular opinion, a JP is not a judge in the sense of the Judicial Canons that he or she cannot seek other non-judicial public offices without giving up their current position, the way a Municipal or District Court Judge might.   The State Supreme Court has ruled that a JP can run for a parish or city office, without risking his post.
    Centanni has a strong political base independent of the two factions, that links the area of his birth, once Italian (and now African-American/Hispanic) South Kenner with the more conservative parts of North Kenner.  Since the Judicial Canons did prevent him from speaking out on political issues, he has, as one friend of Centanni put it to The Louisiana Weekly and Bayoubuzz, "not offended anyone--unlike just about everyone else."
    In an interview with this newspaper, Centanni admitted to strongly considering a run.  "All of my life, I have wanted to be Mayor of my hometown of Kenner.  We need to make so many changes to insure the great quality of life we have here continues.. This could be the gateway to New Orleans.  We could parlay the airport and our geographic advantages into countless jobs and economic development for the city."
    It is hard decision, Centanni admits.  He is currently on the representing the Justices of the Peace across Louisiana on their board, and is involved in creating a set of rules for the entire body.  He is also in line to become the head of the state organization that oversees the JP throughout the state.  And, in his private HR work, becoming Mayor of Kenner would involve a signficant financial sacrifice.
    Nevertheless, Centanni says, "I am seriously considering a run."
    With an electorate that has re-elected him previously, and likely support from other Jefferson Parish officials, Centanni would be a formidable candidate.  He would start the race without the financial resources of Louis Congemi, nor the frustrated supporters of Capitano, but in a city that breathed a sign of relief when the fighting ended four years ago, Centanni might have a chance.
    It remains to be seen if Muniz would actively or covertly campaign for Centanni, but the two men are close friends.  And, Congemi declared his intentions to run to close supporters before Muniz decided against another bid.   Capitano has seen just as determined.  The election is March 27, 2010.