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Council considers vote on appointed police chief

Patterson voters may soon decide if the chief of police should be appointed rather than elected.
That was one of three proposed amendments to the city charter introduced at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
If the amendment is approved at the council’s July meeting, the proposal could be on the ballot as early as Nov. 18.
Currently in the city’s charter, the police chief is elected to a four-year term. The amendment would empower the mayor to appoint the chief. The mayor could then remove the police chief at any time, and the police chief would serve at the pleasure of the mayor.
“Patterson and Bald-win are the only two with an elected chief,” said Mayor Rodney Grogan.
Also, currently in the city’s charter, the mayor has the power to hire, suspend and terminate city officials, including those within the police department. Another proposed amendment would give the power to hire, suspend and terminate city officials within the police department to the chief of police. The police chief would still, however, need the advice and consent of the mayor and council.
Russel Cremaldi, attorney for the city of Patterson, said the charter gave the power to hire and fire city officials to the mayor after being in the hands of the board of aldermen under the Lawrason Act.
The third amendment introduced Tuesday would impose term limits on an elected chief of police.
The proposed amendment says that a person who has served as police chief for over 2½ four-year terms in a consecutive three-term period couldn’t run for a fourth term.
The council declined to introduce proposed amendments imposing term limits on the mayor and council members.
The push for the amendments to be introduced had to deal with the deadlines to get the propositions to the Louisiana secretary of state to get on the ballot for voting. If the council approves the amendment at its July meeting, it will miss the June 14 deadline for the Oct. 14 election. It can still beat the Sept. 25 deadline for the Nov. 18 election.
Also Tuesday, Ryan Aucoin, representative of the Planning and Zoning Department, presented a rezoning request from council member Sandra Turner and husband Ronny Turner. The Turners want their 1.28-acre property on Martin Luther King to be rezoned to accommodate a mobile home park. The property is currently zoned residential.
The rezoning request met all requirements set by the city and was approved by the council.
The council also dis-cussed a “Quiet Zone” to address citizens’ complaints about the trains honking their horn during early morning hours.
“You don’t hear the horn during the day-time,” said Grogan.
Grogan mentioned that as a municipality, Patterson has the right to pass a noise ordinance to submit to the railroads but he understood that, by law, the railroads still have to honk the horn for places along the rail-roads that don’t have a crossing and on approach to the city.
“It’s a safety aspect that they have,” said one Patterson resident. “If you want to give up safety for a noise ordinance, then you don’t want to be safe.”
“You are wasting time to pass it because there is no way to enforce it,” said another Patterson resident. “It becomes a hear-say with the rail-roads.”
A representative for Patterson Police Department spoke on behalf of Chief Patrick LaSalle. The Patterson Police Department requests that citizens be more careful with their driving because of children being out of school and highway construction. Also, the police department asks the citizens to check supplies and that generators are working properly for hurricane season.
In other business the council:
—Adopted the 2017-18 operating and capital outlay budget.
—Adopted ordinance for the 2017 tax year for levying a general alimony tax of 8.20 mills.
—Adopted ordinance for the 2017 tax year to levy millage rates for Public Improvement Issues for Waterworks.
—Approved can shake request for Mount Pisgah for 8 a.m. to noon June 24 on Catherine Street. The can shake will be used to raise funds for scholarships for two Patterson High School seniors.
—The Daily Review was appointed the official journal for the city.
—Adopted resolution to authorize the mayor to execute a maintenance agreement including mowing and litter pickup with State of Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Office of Engineering.
—Adopted resolution of local government support for the Recreation Trails Program for the Teche Project.
—Two police vehicles and concrete/riprap by boat landing declared as surplus.
—Discussed the lease purchase of a trash truck.
—Construction on the water plant will begin June 19.

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