Amelia recreation board members remain in their posts

Members of the recreation district board serving Amelia are still in their posts after a Tuesday night Parish Council meeting called to discuss their removal.
Their fate seems likely to be discussed at the council’s next regular meeting Aug. 13, probably in a closed-door session.
Once more, the Parish Council found itself wrestling over its relationship with the boards that run a patchwork of more than 40 special-purpose districts providing services across the parish.
Council Chairwoman Gwendolyn Hidalgo of Bayou Vista called the special meeting to discuss disbanding the current board of St. Mary Parish Recreation District No. 1.
Hidalgo cited an open meetings law violation. She spoke of her desire to avoid a hostile workplace and to protect the jobs of district employees.
She referred to “complaints that have only come up since this board has been in place” earlier this year.
She also said she wants to “keep a facility that has been one of the most well-run and well-kept and has been an asset to the Amelia community for 15 years or more from becoming a source of chaos and drama and a liability to the parish.”
Friction between the district and Central Catholic High also came up at the meeting, although it’s not clear if it played a role in the attempt to remove the board members. Central Catholic has paid for improvements at the district’s facility and pays a small fee to use it for baseball and softball games.
Legal counsel Eric Duplantis called the Central Catholic matter a “tertiary issue.”
The decision to put off action until Aug. 13 came after members heard about security video, but not about what it might show. When the video issue arose, Duplantis suggested postponing discussion until an executive session can be held Aug. 13. No executive session was on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting.
The council agreed, passing a motion by Councilman Mark Duhon of Amelia to table the discussion.
Andrew Gros Jr., one of the district’s board members, defended the work of the district since the current board was seated. Gros told the council he believes the move to remove the board members “is not rooted in objective investigation of legitimate procedural concerns.”
He linked the move to “retaliatory motives” related to the board’s supervision of Director Mike Beadle.
Another board member, Russell Blanchard, also offered a defense of the district. But when Blanchard began to list occasions when Beadle didn’t carry out board instructions, Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews of Jeanerette stepped in to question whether a personnel matter should be discussed in open session.
Bridget Gros Mabile, Andrew Gros’ daughter, and Andree Hebert both defended the district’s work in remarks to the council.
Mathews and Councilwoman Dr. Kristi Prejeant Rink both spoke about what they feel are flaws in the relationship between the council and the special-purpose districts.
Rink said council members are sometimes unaware of problems as they develop.
“We wait until it snowballs into a major issue,” Rink said, “and then we want to remove board members instead of engaging with those board members.”
Mathews sees systemic problems on the part of both the board members and parish government.
The council often sees problems created by the actions of a single board member, acting without approval by the full board, which is then liable for a misstep, Mathews said.
He also cited “a gross failure on the part of our council, of St. Mary Parish, the St. Mary Parish government, to provide adequate information and training to the people appointed to these boards.”
Serving on the Recreation District No. 1 board with Gros and Blanchard are Denise Chaisson, Tyrone Richardson and Cheryl Dugas.
If the Recreation District No. 1 Board is removed, Chief Administrative Officer Paul Governale would oversee the district operations until a new board is appointed by the council. Governale is getting lots of practice.
In May, the council disbanded the Consolidated Gravity District No. 2A board in the wake of the Morgan City pump station failures during Hurricane Francine. The council appointed new board members who elected their officers Monday.
Mathews had also placed discussion of the performance of the Water and Sewer Commission No. 4 board on Tuesday’s agenda.
He withdrew that item as the council dealt with the recreation district item.