Parish councilman has charter amendment vote recommendations

Oct. 31, 2014
To the Editor,
Public servant or career politician, it is your choice.
Please don’t be confused when you go out to vote on Nov. 4th. A yes vote for proposition #1 of the St. Mary Parish Charter amendments does not extend the term limits of the parish council. It is a vote for true term limits for the parish council. This proposition is a recommendation of a charter review committee.
When you vote yes on proposition #1, you will put a stop to what has come to be known as “term limit dodging” of council members. The three-term limit stops members from running for two terms in a single district, then jumping to run for two terms in an at-large district, and then back again, for an unlimited number of times.
A yes vote will affect sitting members as well. Sitting members such as myself, who have served two consecutive terms, will only be allowed to run for one more term in any district. Sitting members who have served one term will only be allowed to run for two more terms in any district.
On the other hand, a yes vote for proposition #3 will extend the term limits of the parish president to be comparable to the council. This proposition is a recommendation of the parish administration.
A yes vote will allow a parish president to run for three consecutive terms, as opposed to the two term limit imposed in the parish charter now. This will affect the sitting president, allowing him to run for one more term.
Please pass this along to your family and friends. I urge everyone to go out and vote. It is a right that many men and women have fought and died for. Also, read all of the amendments carefully, the verbiage or wording can be very confusing.
Glen J. Hidalgo
Parish Councilman
District 4