Lafourche OKs pay raises for top staff

The Lafourche Parish Council approved salary increases for six employees in its 2010 Capital and Operations Budget last week.

The council voted 6-2 last Tuesday to increase the per-hour pay of Human Resource Director Donna Adams; Grants and Economic Development Director Gretchen Caillouet; Coastal, Energy and Environment Director Nicholas Matherne; Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Director Greg Sanamo; Parish Administrator Crystal Chiasson and Council Clerk Carleen Babin.

Finance Director Joel Doty said department heads, the parish administrator and council clerk currently work 70-hour pay periods. The adjustment increases the staffers’ pay period to 80 hours, Parish President Charlotte Randolph.

Councilmen Philip Gouaux and Lindel Toups voted against the measure. Councilman Matt Matherne abstained, saying the six work for a set pay standard.

“Why should I vote on something that is already wrong,” Matherne said. “We are not following the Home Rule Charter. If you take a job for a set pay, you do your job for that pay.”

Gouaux opposed the salary adjustment because of the failing economy.

“The department heads knew the extent of their job when they were hired,” he said. “It should be in their mindset that they have to work 80 hours because if they have employees working 80 hours and they just work 70, then that’s 10 hours people will be unsupervised.

“The increase is senseless,” he continued. “Everyone is cutting back on his or her salaries to stay afloat and we are giving more money. The parish’s capital budget has already been reduced and salaries are increasing between $5,000 and $7,000. That’s not fair to the people we serve.”

According to the Finance Department, the increase will cost taxpayers over $47,000 more than the previously budgeted salaries.

Randolph said the parish can afford to pay its top executives. The salary adjustments, she explained, are warranted because several department heads earn less than the workers they supervise.

“It’s not going to affect any services for us to do this,” she said. “There’s never a good time to increase salaries. We are trying to be fair with everyone and keep our employees happy.”

The Lafourche Parish 2010 fiscal budget includes a 2.5 percent across-the-board cost of living pay raise for all parish staffers. The final $54.4 million budget was approved at last week’s council meeting.