Parish CAO will lead fire district after board resignations

The St. Mary Parish Council turned leadership of the Bayou Vista fire protection district over to the chief administrative officer temporarily after four district board members resigned.

Also at a special meeting Tuesday, the council formally declared the four seats on the St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District No. 7 board vacant and authorized advertising for replacements.

The resignations, dated June 12, were submitted by four of the five members of the St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District No. 7 board: Myron J. Bourque, Bryan Roy, Lana Luke and David Picou.

Roy’s letter cites “a lack of support from St. Mary Parish Council, which allows Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department to be accountable to no one and operate unethical.

“We, the District Board Members, have had the best interest in maintaining the equipment with taxpayers’ money and working with a planned budget. The Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department is treating the board as an open check book for their Wants and not their needs.”

Bourque, the board chairman, cited “a lack of cooperation within this municipality.”

Identical letters from Luke and Picou also spoke of the lack of cooperation and said they “feel there is no alternative solution to be reached.”

The fifth member of the board is Andros Williams.

Chief Administrative Officer Paul Governale will not only be in charge of keeping the district running, but will also look at the district’s financial records.

Councilman David Hill, who represents Bayou Vista, suggested an audit of the fire district’s finances – not because he had reason to suspect wrongdoing, he said, but to give the new appointees a fresh start.

Councilman the Rev. Craig Mathews suggested an audit would be an extra expense so close to the end of the budget year Sept. 30, after which another audit would presumably be conducted. He suggested hiring a certified public accountant to examine the district records.

But Governale asked for a chance to look at the records before any other action is taken.