Residents react after Fenton finances investigated

FENOTN, La. (KPLC) - Speeding tickets have generated the Town of Fenton more than one million dollars in revenue. And residents are asking, where is the money going?

As part of an investigation into Fenton by our sister station, you hear Mayor Eddie Alfred talking about the need for police to write more tickets, when he says “We need to write more traffic tickets. I talked to the chief yesterday.”

But those who live in the neighboring area say it’s hurting more than it’s helping the tow and they want answers.

“Like it’s annoying, it’s annoying, it’s really annoying,” Fenton resident Cody Brock said.

Brock says if you are speeding then he believes you deserve a ticket, but he what he doesn’t understand is how the city expects people to avoid it when every few minutes the speed limit changes as you drive.

“I don’t understand how sometimes it be like 45 then 50 and like it should be straight until you get into a town, but, if it’s not in a town then I don’t understand, like down there,” he said.

And he’s not the only one. Resident Danny Alfred also had some things to say as well.

“I came back here to raise my kids because I really thought it was going to get better. I think I made a mistake,” Alfred said.

Alfred says it doesn’t make sense and he wants to start holding someone accountable for all the traps that it seems the city is intentionally setting up for the residents. And there’s one big question residents have.

“Where is the money going? there’s only one person that has access to it,” Alfred said.

The City of Fenton generated more than a million dollars in revenue from fines and fees last year and residents we spoke to want to know where it went.

Alfred says there are ineffective water systems, open ditches, and a lack of spaces for children to play.

“We just spent $112,000 on a library with one computer and eight books and not one person went through the doors, nobody even work there so what is it? I mean we don’t even understand what it is, that’s the kind of stuff they doing and then they get mad when we say something,” Alfred said.

However, something that will make a difference with their tax dollars is the following:

“I would love to see them put money into something that the children can do, somewhere they can go because why would you not? We need a community center that’s what we need,” Alfred said.

But for now, it’s the rules of the town and the residents are dealing with the speeding tickets.

“You can’t avoid it all, sometime you might not be able to see,” Alfred said.

“It’s insulting to us, it’s almost making us like feel like, we know you know but we don’t care.”

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