More pay for dept. heads nixed by Lafourche Parish Council

Lafourche Parish government department heads shouldn’t expect any additional compensation for the extra hours they work any time soon.

Councilman Jerry Jones, who was absent at last Tuesday’s parish council meeting, submitted an ordinance for ratification looking to pay the parish’s top managers. The measure, however, failed.

Under the current setup, Lafourche Parish department heads are scheduled to work 70 hours per pay period for a set salary, ranging from about $45,000 to $65,000. However, these workers have been forced to work far more than 35 hours a week due to such a heavy workload.

“When you designate hours and time to a department head then they should only work those hours for that salary,” said Councilman Rodney Doucet. “They’re working these hours and not getting paid, and there’s not one person that would want to work extra time and not get paid.”

Although the department heads are not being compensated for their overtime, they can count their time as compensatory time. Therefore, they can choose to take those hours off at any time. However, Doucet argued that if they chose to take time off, the effects would be immense.

“All these department heads work 50 hours every week, and they cannot take that compensation time,” said Doucet. “If they would take a week off, a councilman would be down their throat wanting to fire them, and they’ll never catch up cause that’s the backlog.”

Councilman Joseph Fertitta agreed with Doucet and also voted for the ordinance, but he provided a long-term approach. He argued that it may be difficult to hire quality people in the future if they are not paid adequately.

“We talk about hiring professional people with education and expertise, but if you want somebody who’s a professional with expertise, you have to pay them,” said Fertitta.

However, the ordinance failed because no other councilmen voted in favor of it.

Councilman Phillip Gouaux argued for the opposition citing the differences between salary employees and hourly employees.

“If you’re a salary employee, and your job takes 80 hours, you do 80 hours. If it takes 40 hours, you do 40 hours. In the real world that’s the way it goes,” said Gouaux. “I’m not saying they don’t deserve more money. I’m just saying in these tough economic times, we need money for flooding and we need to build a jail.”

Lafourche Parish will also need money to fund the remodeling of the Mathews Government Complex. The “old Walmart” will be converted into a parish office, costing more than $1.3 million. Thibodaux architect Richard Weimer has been assigned to this project, and he presented his latest proposal to the council Tuesday.

“We’ve decided the project will be done in phases,” said Weimer. “Part one would be to do a secure front entrance lobby, two front restrooms, a council chamber that fit at least 150 people, necessary air condition revisions, electrical modifications, and a fire alarm system.”

Weimer said the first phase would cost about $300,000, and these budget proposals will be voted on in a later meeting.

Ordinances passed at Tuesday’s meeting included:

• Establishing a 15 miles per hour speed limit on Plaisance Drive, as well as giving grant monies to fix the salaries of some unclassified parish employees.

• Resolved to support local merchants making and/or selling “Who Dat” merchandise.

• Resolved to oppose the closing of the Office of the Department of Motor Vehicles in Golden Meadow. Parish President Charlotte Randolph said the DMV could remain open, with or without the council’s support, if the DMV begins to collect a fee from its customers.

• Endorsed Halliburton Energy Services in Larose and Allport Services in Leeville to participate in the benefits of the Louisiana Enterprise Zone Program.

• Approved a contract between the State of Louisiana, Division of Administration and Lafourche Parish Government for the FY 2009-10 Louisiana Government Assistance Program Funding.

• Approved Amendment No. 1 to the contract entitled Maintenance Contract Road Sales Tax District 2 between Lafourche Parish Government and Picciola Construction Company.

• Resolved to appoint two Commissioners to the Fire Protection District No. 7 Board and one Commissioner to represent a local non-profit organization on the Lafourche Parish Children and Youth Planning Board.

With a 6-1 vote, the council also resolved to provide $50,000 to the Lafourche Parish Water District to upgrade a water line in Chocktaw. Gouaux stood as the only opposition, because he felt it’s not the parish council’s responsibility to subsidize another government entity.

“If we’re going to do that then we need to set a certain amount of money to divvy up among the whole parish, or give it to the water district and let them prioritize,” said Gouaux.

However, the money had been previously approved for the budget by the council, so passing the ordinance was a formality.

The following ordinances will be up for ratification next meeting:

• Ordinance to approve the Department of Public Works director, the parish president or her designee to be able to approve all land development for proper drainage in the parish.

• An ordinance requiring all subdivision developers in Lafourche Parish mush conduct a full engineering study of the impact to the parish’s drainage system in which the development will drain.

• A proposed 3-way stop at the intersections of West 11th street.

• A variance for Expert Riser Solutions, LLC from FEMA and Parish Elevation Requirements at 274 N. J. Theriot Road in Golden Meadow.

• A servitude agreement between Jacob J. Guidry and the Lafourche Parish Council

• Amending Ordinance No. 4682 to increase the wastewater user fees for public wastewater systems.