Amendments on ballot to increase term limits, pay of parish president, council

Four proposed amendments to the St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter that would increase the term limits and compensation of the parish council and parish president will be on the Nov. 4 ballot, St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange said Monday.
LaGrange was the guest speaker at the St. Mary Industrial Group luncheon meeting at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City. LaGrange discussed the four propositions to amend the St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter.
The parish’s Home Rule Charter was enacted in 1984. The charter provides for an 11-member parish council with three at-large members and eight members representing districts, and the parish president. The at-large council members are elected parish wide.
The parish council adopted four ordinances relative to amending the parish Home Rule Charter and called the propositions to be voted on by parish voters Nov. 4, he said.
Any proposed charter amendment requires passage of an ordinance with two-thirds vote of the council membership, LaGrange said. A public hearing was held prior to adoption of the ordinances, but the council received no opposition to the ordinances, LaGrange said.
Proposition 3 allows the parish president to serve up to three consecutive terms, which would be an increase from the current two consecutive term limit, LaGrange said. “The consideration for this amendment is that currently limiting the parish president to two consecutive four-year terms restricts the chief executive officer from achieving the goals and initiatives of his or her tenure,” LaGrange said. The parish president serves as chief executive officer of the parish.
The amendment would also provide the parish president the ability to develop new economic growth within the parish, he said. If the proposition is approved, Parish President Paul Naquin would be eligible to serve one additional term, LaGrange said.
Proposition 4 provides the parish president a $36,000 annual salary, which would triple the current annual salary of $12,000, LaGrange said. The increase would go into effect at the beginning of parish president’s next term, he said. The average annual salary for a parish president in the surrounding nine parishes is $131,000, LaGrange said.
Those nine parishes include Iberia, St. Martin, Iberville, Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Charles, St. Landry, St. James and St. John the Baptist, and have an average population of 63,463 people. The St. Mary Parish population is 54,650.
Proposition 1 allows any council member, elected after the effective date of the provision and who has represented any council district more than two and a half terms, the opportunity to serve up to three consecutive terms for any council district, he said.
“Currently, the charter provides a two consecutive term limit for the same council district,” LaGrange said. “For example, a councilman can now serve two consecutive as a single-member councilman, and, if elected, continue to serve two consecutive terms as an at-large councilman,” LaGrange said. A single-member councilman is one that only serves a particular district.
If Proposition 1 is approved by the voters, eight of the current council members would be eligible to serve an additional term, and three council members would be eligible to serve two additional terms, LaGrange said.
Proposition 2 provides for the compensation of council members at $750 per month except for council members elected by all council members at $1,100, he said.
“This proposition, if approved by voters, will increase the monthly compensation of both single-member councilmen and at-large councilmen by the reasonable amount of $300,” LaGrange said. The proposition would go into effect in January 2016 at the start of the next term, he said. Single-member council members currently receive $450 per month while at-large council members receive $800 per month.
The proposition was presented by the council because the present compensation for council members is inadequate with the time and effort required to prepare for and to attend council meetings, meet and hear from constituents and to attend other required meetings, LaGrange said. The parish council meets twice a month compared to the once a month meetings of other municipalities in the parish, he said. “Consideration for this increase is also due to the many new public disclosure requirements that elected officials are subject to including disclosure of personal business and finances,” LaGrange said.
A survey of surrounding parishes with home rule charters showed an average monthly compensation of $890 for single-member district council members, LaGrange said. The average monthly compensation for at-large council members is $1,175 per month, he said.