Firing power measure up for vote

“Two-thirds plus one” is no longer the way the nine-member Lafourche Parish Council wants to conduct business when it pertains to relieving a department head of his or her duties.

At last Tuesday’s council meeting, the council passed an ordinance to have Lafourche constituents vote to amend the Home Rule Charter, giving the council the authority to terminate a department head with six votes, instead of seven.

The measure passed 7-2. Councilmen Jerry Jones and L. Phillip Gouaux voted against placing the amendment on the Oct. 2, 2010, ballot.

Councilman Daniel Lorraine and other former councilmen have twice attempted to revise this same portion of the charter and failed.

However, this time, Lorraine said he would campaign for the amendment.

“I will vote for it, and I hope others will, too,” Lorraine said. “Regardless if it passes or fails, I will respect that choice from the people of the parish. I will go to many civic organizations to explain this. I just think if one person can fire whoever they want, this council should be able to remove someone with a two-thirds vote.

“Congress takes two-thirds, the state of Louisiana takes two-thirds,” he added. “And Lafourche takes two-thirds plus one, that’s not fair.”

Lorraine researched Lafourche’s prior Home Rule Charter as it pertains to removing department heads. Before 2000, the council was 15 members strong; 10 votes were required at that time to fire a department head.

After 2000, the council was reduced to nine, dropping the needed votes to six.

Lafourche voters last revised the Home Rule Charter in 2004, specifically stating that seven council votes were needed to remove a department head.

“I feel the deck is stacked in this charter,” Lorraine said. “It’s unfair to the council because the parish president can fire whoever he or she wants, but the council needs a super majority to fire a department head.”

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph argued that Lorraine just wants the authority to fire employees.

“I’ve never considered myself as having power,” she said. “And I never considered this a struggle between the president’s office and the council. Mr. Lorraine has had more work done in his district over the last five years than he has seen in his term.

“This is very disappointing. I believed that we have worked well together,” she added. “This is an affront to me. It’s a way of getting back at me and this is even more disappointing.”

Lorraine countered that the administration has too much power, and the council doesn’t have enough.

Councilman Lindel Toups, who is also helping to spearhead the amendment, said he works for a company that has nine members on the board of directors. And if six directors wanted to remove him of his duties, he said, “They wouldn’t have to fire him because he would quit.”

Councilman Joe Fertitta was a member of the Home Rule Charter Committee in 2004 where he lobbied for the seven-vote revision. However, now the councilman has had a change of heart.

“We need a balance of power,” he said.

Former councilman Mark Atzenhoffer came before the council in an attempt to discourage them from changing the charter.

“We found this fight at the beginning of the Home Rule Charter,” Atzenhoffer said. “I said it should take a super majority to fire a department head. A department head is someone who the parish president has put on her team. If we disagree with her, then oh well. Let’s face it, I was the first one trying to fire someone. But it’s not our team. The person the council is in charge of firing is the council clerk.

“The public has already spoken twice. If you really want to fire a department head, get the seven votes. It’s not the Home Rule Charter that needs to be amended. You have to make your case to six other members besides yourself.” Editor’s Note: Staff writer Kyle Carrier contributed to this article.

Charlotte Randolph says the proposed change is retaliatory