Filling board, committee slots challenging in Terrebonne

Some seats on various Terrebonne Parish boards, committees and commissions have been notoriously hard to fill.

“We’ve had some vacancies where if they didn’t select some additional members, they couldn’t get a quorum,” Parish President Michel Claudet said.

If vacancies have not been long-term, then they are ever present because of members’ terms expiring every so often or resignations.

One board that has had a long-standing vacancy is the Bayou Blue Fire Protection District Board. It has had a vacancy for nearly two years.

The board oversees the Bayou Blue Volunteer Fire Department and ensures that firefighters everything they need to fight fires and provide safety for the community. The board’s duties have a profound impact on the community since a fire department’s capacity to fight fires, measured by its fire rating, directly affects homeowner’s insurance premiums, said Pete Lambert, Terrebonne Parish Council chairman.

“If fire rating would go up, people’s insurance would go up, then you’d have hundreds people applying for the position,” he said.

One reason why people may be reluctant to serve on boards and committees may be the result of rules put in place in by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s ethics reform legislation passed in 2012. These rules require public officials to make disclosures about their personal finances and to take ethics classes, among other things.

“It’s very hard for people to get involved because there are all of these extra requirements that have to be fulfilled in order to serve on these boards, like ethics classes and financial disclosures,” said Arlanda Williams, Terrebonne Parish councilwoman. “[Councilmembers] don’t have a problem with it because we as elected officials are mandated to do this and we do it every year.”

Each board also has unique requirements as well. For example, the Bayou Blue Fire Protection District Board requires that board members be property owners in the district, Lambert said.

Also, the boards, commissions and committees are completely voluntary, Williams added.

“Some of them may get a stipend for mileage,” she said. “I think it’s just very difficult for people to find the time in their schedules to serve on these boards.”

Another reason the fire board has had a vacancy for so long may be that it serves Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, Lambert said. The board’s proportion of Lafourche to Terrebonne councilmembers is set by the state Legislature. Considering there are more people living on the Lafourche-side of Bayou Blue, maybe the ratio needs to be reviewed, he reasoned.

Despite the various reasons deterring people from serving on boards, there are incentives to answer the call to public service.

“You have an opportunity to participate in your community,” Williams said. “It’s an opportunity for people to have a relationship with their government.”

People seeking a career in local politics may also be inclined to begin by serving on these commissions.

“A lot of people that are in political office today got their first taste of how the government works by serving on these boards,” Lambert said. “They use it as a stepping stone.”

Anybody interested in serving on a Terrebonne Parish board, committee or commission should contact the Council Clerk’s Office at 985-873-6523 or email Council Clerk Venita Chauvin at vchauvin@tpcg.com.

Applicants must submit an application to serve form, obtained through the council clerk, a resume and a letter of interest.