Parish council discusses possible charter revision

St. Mary’s more than 30-year-old home rule charter is long overdue for revision, members of the parish council say, but opinions vary on what those changes should be.
Central to the discussion was the role of the parish president and the corresponding pay. The charter specifies a $12,000 annual salary, yet does not specify if the position is full-time, part-time or something in the middle.
Councilman Dale Rogers returned to an ordinance document he proposed several months ago that outlined suggested changes, primarily setting the parish president’s salary at $78,000 and requiring a full-time presidency. The president would also be the parish’s economic development figure, with the power to appoint and set the salary and have direct supervision over a director of economic development, with approval of the council.
Councilman Patrick Hebert said the proposed salary may still be insufficient compared to other parish employees. He also questioned removing salary authority for the economic development head from the council.
Rogers said discussions with other council members indicated a desire to have the president be responsible for economic development.
Councilman Craig Mathews said he did not feel that the duties of the parish president were adequately presented. “I’m open for exploring options,” he said. “But I don’t think we’re there yet. If we’re going to do it, we should do it right.”
Councilman Paul Naquin said St. Mary’s charter is “completely different than any other parish. It was written in 1983 to take politics out of (the council) and given to the chief administrator…if we want to go to a full-time position—and I’m not ready to do that for sure, because (Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange) is the best administrator in this state. He’s taken a lot of the politics from us. Until we put the CAO under the parish president, I’m not going to vote for it.”
“A full-time parish president should not be handling day-to-day operations in the parish,” Rogers countered.
Council Chairman Kevin Voisin said he’d prefer to see the parish president serve as the economic development officer, and save the $56,000 current director’s salary.
“Economic development in this parish hasn’t gone anywhere in 10 years,” Rogers said. “Maybe we need to change something.”
“We’re the lowest paid parish president and council members in the state,” Naquin pointed out. “That needs to be changed, but if we’re not going to give the parish president full duties…I traveled everywhere in this state in my 10 years as parish president, you’ve got to stay involved.”
Mathews said a full-time parish president must work 35 hours a week under federal law to be considered full-time. “If we’re saying we doing so…to increase economic opportunity, and that doesn’t happen, then what are we saying, that the parish president himself is unsuccessful? There are a lot of factors that also come into play on whether companies come into this parish and we’ve seen some of those unfold in these meetings very recently.”
The deadline to put a ballot item before the voters is June 21 for the November election.
Councilman Glenn Hidalgo said he’s talked to constituents who’ve offered input. He said term limits of boards and commissions were brought up. He suggested term limits of various lengths based on the term structure of the parish’s more than 40 boards and commissions, which stipulate various tenures.
Hebert asked if a sitting board member could continue to serve, even if termed out, if no one applied to serve. Legal counsel Eric Duplantis said that under state law that in any position, a public servant continues to serve in their position until replaced.
Duplantis also pointed out that much research would be required into the specifications of boards and commissions because many are created by state statute and may mandate terms and/or their limitations.
Mathews said sometimes board members serve so long they feel they “run the board,” and that he favors some manner of term limits.
“It’s nothing personal, but I think some people have been there too long,” Mathews said.
Hidalgo also suggested that if a councilman runs for another seat, while currently serving, that councilman would lose their existing position, whether or not they win.
Rogers asked council members to submit any other ideas to the council clerk for further discussion. The council will meet in special session again on March 14 prior to the first regular meeting of the month.