Parish charter changes proposed

Some area industry leaders oppose the four proposed amendments to the St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter on the Nov. 4 ballot while the parish president supports the amendments that would increase term limits and compensation for the parish president and council.
St. Mary Parish voters will have four proposed amendments to the Home Rule Charter on the Nov. 4 election ballot.
The following text of the proposed amendments is listed on the Louisiana Secretary of State’s website.
Proposition No. 1 says that any council member elected after the effective date of this provision, who has represented any council district for more than two and one-half terms in three consecutive terms, shall not be elected for the succeeding term for any council district.
The parish president is currently limited to two consecutive four-year terms, St. Mary Parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange said.
Proposition No. 2 says that compensation of council members shall be $750 per month, except that council members elected by all voters in the Parish shall receive $1,100 per month. No increase in the compensation shall be made to any council member who was not elected after the effective date of the increase.
“Currently, the charter provides a two consecutive term limit for the same council district,” LaGrange said.
Proposition No. 3 says the parish president shall be elected at large from and by the qualified electors of the parish according to the election laws of the state for a four-year term. Any person elected after the effective date of this provision who has served as president for more than two and one-half consecutive terms shall not be elected president for the succeeding term.
The parish president is currently limited to two consecutive terms and this provision would extend the term limit to three terms, LaGrange said.
Proposition No. 4 says the salary of the president shall be $36,000 annually. No increase in the compensation shall be made to any parish president who was not elected after the effective date of the increase.
The parish president currently makes $12,000 per year, LaGrange said.
If passed, the pay raises would go into effect at the start of the next term in January 2016, LaGrange said. The new term limits would go into effect immediately, if passed, allowing candidates who had already served two terms to serve a third term and run for re-election in the Fall of 2015, LaGrange said.
The directors of the St. Mary Industrial Group believe amendments to the Home Rule Charter should be discussed and possible changes made to correct the term limit dodging by councilmembers and to start the process of bringing their compensation to levels consistent with other parishes in south Louisiana, according to a news release.
St. Mary Industrial Group President Greg Roussel said term limit dodging refers to the capability of current councilmembers to serve two consecutive terms as a single-member council representing a single district. Under the current rules, the councilmember could then run for two consecutive terms as an at-large seat representing the entire parish, Roussel said. Theoretically, councilmembers could continue to go back and forth between single-member and at-large council seats, thus, in effect, dodging the term limits, Roussel said.
However, the directors do not believe any amendment to the Home Rule Charter should take effect to benefit the current councilmen or president in office, the release stated. Any term or compensation changes approved by the current councilmen should only go into effect for future councilmen and parish presidents, according to the release.
Therefore, they oppose all four amendments as presented, the release stated.
St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin said one proposed amendment would give the parish president the opportunity to run for one more term, but that candidate would still have to get elected. The Parish Council’s idea behind putting the proposed amendments on the ballot was that the council would have to eventually bring them to a vote at some point anyway, Naquin said.
“You might be 20 years down the line before you could get all your council members termed out at the same time and your parish president termed out at the same time,” Naquin said. “They had to start it somewhere.”
In two terms or eight years, which is the current limit for the St. Mary Parish president, the president is just getting familiar with all the different agencies, Naquin said. Naquin served 14 years on the Parish Council, and Naquin needed that much time to get to know all the congressmen and state legislators, he said.
In regard to the pay raise proposal for the parish president, Naquin is not looking for a pay raise for himself, he said. Naquin, who is in his second term as parish president, believes the next parish president should be compensated closer to the amount parish presidents in surrounding parishes make, several of which make more than $100,000 annually, he said.
The parish president and Parish Council have been making the same salaries since 1984 when the St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter was enacted, he said. “If people are going to do like I do, I am a full-time parish president,” Naquin said. “I put in many, many hours over the week for the parish.” Naquin said he was not complaining because he knew what the job would be when he first ran for it.
Early voting for the Nov. 4 election runs from Tuesday to Oct. 28. Hours for early voting are 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Early voting will be conducted at the St. Mary Parish Registrar of Voters’ office on the third floor of the courthouse and at the registrar’s branch office in Morgan City at 301 Third St. Voters may cast ballots early in either office regardless of their addresses.