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Meet Mayor Bobby Font
Mayor Bobby Font
City of Walker
Walker Municipal Building
10136 Florida Boulevard
Walker, LA 70785
Phone: 225.665.4356
Send an email
On About.me
Mayor Bobby Font has been serving the people of Walker since January 2009. As leader of one of the fastest growing communities in Louisiana, his mission is to build upon the city's alluring quality of life on all fronts, from recruiting the businesses that will most benefit our residents, to preserving and expanding our cultural offerings.
Since taking office, Mayor Font and his team have introduced a number of significant improvements to the community, including:
» Working with the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development to make the widening of the La. 447 overpass a state priority. Shread-Kuyrkendall & Associates, the Baton Rouge engineering and planning firm, is in the process of completing a feasibility study, which is the very first step in the project. Mayor Font's team also has prioritized six other critical road improvements throughout the community, including the addition of turning lanes at four high-traffic intersections.
» Launching a comprehensive online presence that gives residents unprecedented insight into the workings of municipal government —- including how their tax dollars are spent —- and easy access to the services we provide. Residents can keep up with government through a website, a regular e-newsletter called 'The Walker Report,' as well as Facebook, Twitter and instant text alerts.
» Initiating multiple beaufication projects, including planting more than 4,000 magnolias and crepe myrtle trees and Indian Hawthorne shrubberies along Hwy. 447; planting flowering trees at our interchanges; lining drainage ditches with white rocks [also improving drainage]; and mulching our existing flower beds. The city also entered into a partnership with the Livingston Parish Citrus Revolution to plant dozens of fruit trees in Sidney Hutchinson Park for residents to enjoy.
» Expanding recreational opportunities for children, including securing $90,000 in private donations and a major grant from the National Park Service Land & Water Conservation Fund to upgrade Punk Smith Park; upgrading our ballfields with high-grade baseball dirt, lighting and other improvements; and contracting with the Livingston Parish Soccer Association to erect a dozen soccer fields on city-owned property near the ballfields. His team also brings the LSU Tigers and Southeastern Lady Lions to provide free baseball clinics to teach children important playing and teamwork skills. The city also now offers Summer Art Camps for Kids and other creative enrichment classes at The Walker Museum taught by some of the most talented instructors in the region. This year, the city began extending the walking trail at Sidney Hutchinson Park to incorporate the "hidden trail" around the lake.
» Ensuring our police department is well equipped to meet the community's needs and keep us safe. Since Mayor Font took office, the city has hired 19 new police officers and purchased six new vehicles for the department — including a K9 and seven patrol units. His administration also set aside funding for CrimeStar — a state-of-the-art law-enforcement software to assist officers in the field, as well as a professional statistician to ensure accurate reports and records. The city has also secured $146,000 in grants for the police department to pay for radios, high-tech crime-fighting equipment, bulletproof vests and overtime to patrol high-crime areas. During Mayor Font's tenure, the police department's operating and capital outlay budget has risen to $2 million — more than 17% of the city's total spending. Walker is now above the national average when it comes to law-enforcement funding.
» Introducing and expanding family-friendly events and activities, including Movies Under the Stars; a three-day Centennial Celebration; an annual Country Christmas festival featuring a 30-foot tree adorned with ornaments made by the community's schoolchildren; our first-ever Mardi Gras Parade; an annual CityFest with fireworks and other activities; and art classes for children and adults, like the Summer Art Camps for Kids, Art on a Saturday Morning and Art After Dark. All of these activities are free or very low cost. The City of Walker also hosted the first-ever Livingston Parish Veteran's Day Celebration & Parade, with military representatives from all over the region and country.
» Formulating Walker's first comprehensive master plan. Using a grant it secured, the city hired national award-winning planning consultant Kendig-Keast Collaborative to oversee the citizen-based process. The Southeastern Louisiana University Business Research Center also completed an intensive demographic and business overview study, giving us insight into commercial trends that will guide us into the future. And Mayor Font hired John Dardis, an experienced South Louisiana urban planner certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners, to work with us in determining the best course of growth for our community. His efforts have included a survey of the people of Walker on what you want to be our top priorities.
» Forging strong relationships among Walker's businesses, in part by implementing regular gatherings, where we can network and share ideas for making Walker the best community it can be.
» Introducing a recycling program that will expand as demand warrants.
» Establishing The Walker Museum & Community Art Gallery to preserve this community's rich history — reaching back to our founding as Milton Old Field in 1861 — and share it with future generations. It also serves as a cultural center for the city, providing a place to showcase regional artists and offer classes to foster future creative talent. In 2011, the museum added a special exhibit, 'Honoring Those Who Serve,' which showcases unique military memorabilia on loan from families throughout South Louisiana. For more information, click here.
» Improving the city's financial condition. Shortly after taking office, Mayor Font's team refinanced our sewer bonds, which added $899,000-plus to the general fund and saved taxpayers an additional $350,000 per year in bond payments. That allows us to provide more services and negates the possibility of an increase in sewer fees. In 2010, the city ended the year with $13 million in revenues and $11 million in expenditures. Under Mayor Font's leadership, the city spent 12% less on general government expenses and more on public safety and parks and recreation. The city also now has its first-ever Rainy Day Fund, money set aside for any emergencies that may arise. Annual audits have found zero deficiencies in financial practices.
» Making Walker more competitive for grants and corporate contributions. Mayor Font's team aggressively pursues both to supplement city revenues, and those funds are entirely directed toward improving our quality of life. Since Mayor Font took office, Walker has secured more than $1.5 million for 25 different projects. Among the improvements made possible: Sidewalks linking our schools. Landscaping along La. 447. Additional police patrols. Sewer system upgrades. A new pavilion at the park. Better playground equipment. Litter removal. Energy efficiency and conservation for public facilities. Improvements to The Walker Museum. And a comprehensive master plan that will act as a blueprint for community development in Walker through the year 2030.
» Enhancing Animal Shelter services, including hiring a certified supervisor, renovating the shelter to include an outdoor exercise area for the animals in our care, and expanding adoption opportunities throughout the community to match available pets with new families. The city also secured a grant to improve the veterinary laboratory and a quarantine area to address health concerns of animals that are either picked up or dropped off. The team also added an annual Orphan Animal Fun Day to educate the community on the importance of proper pet care and encourage shelter adoptions. Since Mayor Font took office, the shelter has matched 329 homeless animals with their forever families. Adoptions have climbed 24%, and the rescue rate, 181%.
» Making badly improvements to utility service and drainage in a number of neighborhoods, repairing culverts, and cleaning out ditches. Major projects include the Greenwich Village and Ina Drive/Ann Drive areas, the Eastside Force Main along U.S. 190 and upgrades to sewer service in Peaks Crossing subdivision. Since Mayor Font took office, the City of Walker has won the Energy Conservation System of the Year Award from the Louisiana Rural Water Association, and the community's water rating has improved 30 points on the Department of Environmental Quality's Municipal Water Audit. The city also installed a new ultraviolet system to disinfect effluent water at the treatment plant to improve performance and lower our maintenance costs.
» Adding miles of sidewalk along Burgess Avenue, linking Walker Elementary, Westside Junior High, Walker Freshman High and Walker High schools, making it safer for our children to walk or ride their bicycles to school.
Mayor Font has devoted his life to public service. He has served on the Executive Board of the Livingston Economic Development Council, which recruits new business and industry to the region and provides resources to existing firms. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce. He is a board member for the Louisiana Municipal Gas Authority and serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Baton Rouge Urbanized Area Metropolitan Planning Committee.
He retired from law enforcement after 32 years; before that, he worked in the office of the mayor of the City of Baton Rouge. He is married to Penny Font, and is blessed with four daughters and five grandchildren.