Public Works director job to be re-advertised

The Public Works director position in Lafourche Parish has been vacant for nearly five months since former director Ronald Robichaux was relieved of his position in September.

That position will continue to remain vacant indefinitely as the parish council shot down Parish President Charlotte Randolph’s nominee, Chris Boudreaux, by a 5-3-1 vote during a meeting last Tuesday.

Councilmen Rodney Doucet, Phillip Gouaux, Joseph Fertitta, Lindel Toups and Daniel Lorraine were those who were against Boudreaux’s hire.

Voting in favor of Boudreaux were councilmen Matt Matherne, Michael Delatte and Jerry Jones.

Councilman Louis Richard, who is recovering from quadruple-bypass heart surgery, was absent from the meeting. The council said a prayer for Richard prior to the meeting and Lorraine said Richard was resting comfortably following the surgery.

Randolph suggested Boudreaux for the Public Works job after taking applications for the position.

Randolph said she had seven applicants and none of them impressed her. She then convinced Boudreaux to apply for the job.

But a lack of experience in public works and engineering led to most of the votes of “nay” on the council.

Boudreaux is a Thibodaux High School graduate, but he does not hold a collegiate degree as an engineer.

“This is nothing personal,” Fertitta said. “But I think we need somebody more qualified. This is a very important job.”

Toups agreed and said if Randolph wanted Boudreaux, she should have suggested him immediately after Robichaux was released.

“We had seven resumes come in,” Toups said. “He should have put his resume in then. It came in after the time passed.”

Boudreaux has served as the emergency director for the parish since 2005. Under Randolph’s nomination, he would have continued to hold that position, as well as serving as the Public Works director.

For his extra workload, he would have received a $20,000 a year salary increase, from his current $50,000 salary.

But the increase in responsibility was also a worry to Doucet, who said he thought Boudreaux might struggle with the extra workload.

“Chris does an excellent job in our emergency preparedness and I wouldn’t want that department to suffer, because he gives all of his attention to DPW,” he said. “By asking him to do both, something will suffer and I am scared about that. I really am.”

Gouaux said he didn’t believe anyone would be able to handle the workload Boudreaux was being asked to take on.

“There’s no way I can see him or anyone else keeping up with those two things,” he said.

Those who favored Boudreaux cited his hands-on approach as emergency director and said he should be given a chance to further his role.

“I think Mr. Boudreaux brought emergency preparedness up a long way,” said Jones. “He brought it up from nothing and … and we’re judging this man without even giving him a chance.”

Delatte said he supported Boudreaux after working with him throughout the years in emergency-related situations.

“He’s always done an outstanding job,” Delatte said. “You can go to college for seven years, but if you’ve never swung dirt in the bucket and if you’ve never had any on-the-ground experience, that doesn’t take you anywhere … Sometimes it just takes a little common sense … Chris has that.”

With Boudreaux out of the running, Randolph said the parish would re-advertise the position in the coming weeks.

Randolph said she is disappointed Boudreaux was not approved and there are a few qualities she will hold in high regard for whomever eventually fills the position.

“Perhaps the most important component of parish government is drainage,” she said. “And having a knowledge of the area is most important to choosing a nominee for this position.”

Charlotte Randolph – Nominee turned down because of education level