Terrebonne project, Bayou Chene floodgate added to Coastal Master Plan
March 21, 2012Funding for mental ills critical
March 21, 2012
The Lafourche Parish Library System has been ordered to install plaques commemorating current and previous elected officials on each of its buildings by May 22.
Susanna LeBouef, the public libraries director, said the system would adhere to the amendment, all but closing the book on a nearly two-year-old debate over what amounts to $5,200 in library funds.
“They are already ordered,” LeBouef said of the plaques. The library director said production issues could stall the installation beyond the timeline dictated in the ordinance but iterated the library system would work to meet the timeline.
The council approved an amendment to an almost two-year-old ordinance that required the library system to research the project by a 5-4 vote. The amendment requires the system to designate the funding by March 27.
Aaron Caillouet, Mike Delatte, Joe Fertitta, Jerry Jones and Lindell Toups voted in favor, and John Arnold, Phillip Gouaux, Jerry Lafont and Daniel Lorraine opposed the amendment.
The plaques, a few feet in size, are to be placed on all library-owned buildings, said Jones, who sponsored the ordinance. Each commemoration will bear the names of the elected officials who were in office when construction or purchase of the building was approved.
Jones has championed the issue throughout the process. He said the plaques would document history for future generations and added it is a “standard, routine” incorporation on many parish-owned buildings.
Library officials have resisted the council’s overtures that the board pay for the installation of plaques for more than a year.
The initial ordinance, which approved the installation of plaques and called for the library system to research who was on the council when the libraries were constructed, passed in May of 2010.
Library officials argued that the ordinance did not stipulate their board had to fund the plaques. In the time that passed, some said it was not the system’s responsibility to pay for plaques that revere a separate body.
Jones said the cost is negligible. “For the amount of money it will cost, it’s not an issue, especially with what was spent on the libraries already,” he said.
The library system had a fund balance of close to $9 million in December 2011, according to bank statements presented by Parish President Charlotte Randolph.
Considering more pressing matters facing the parish, such as drainage concerns, hurricane protection and the need for a new jail, no money should be spent on plaques, Gouaux said.
Gouaux also said he’s voted against most of the library construction, so he doesn’t think his name should be used as an acknowledgement.
The councilman said he opposes the proliferation of libraries in the parish because technology is facilitating new reading opportunities and transportation options are making it easier for residents to travel to centrally located sites.
“When the library call went out to the voters, the plan was to put three libraries in Lafourche Parish: south, central and north,” Gouaux said. “Now there’s (nine). I don’t see where one, that’s justified or needed and two, I’d rather see them put money to a better cause.”
