Locals come through for feds in need

Agreement by TPCG and TPSO reached
January 30, 2019
Earline Monroe
January 30, 2019
Agreement by TPCG and TPSO reached
January 30, 2019
Earline Monroe
January 30, 2019

For some local families depending on federal paychecks, a record-length government shutdown ended at a crucial time, as they experienced a second pay period with no compensation.


Back pay has been promised and should arrive soon, and in some cases perhaps already.

But meanwhile adjustments still must be made, and derailed finances put back on track.

Terrebonne and Lafourche are not federal agency centers. But some key federal agencies do have a strong and vital presence, among them U.S. Coast Guard.


The agency’s “Guardian Ethos” was defined by its commandant in 2008 as the essence of the “contract the Coast Guard and its members make with the nations and its citizens.”

When the nation dropped its part of the bargain — compensation as promised — Coast Guard members held up theirs. Recues on the water, drug interdiction and ship and boat inspections continued uninterrupted. For some, the stalemate between President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Democratic congressional leaders, which prompted and prolonged the shutdown, was a somewhat bearable if unpleasant inconvenience.

For others, particularly newer Coast Guard members with salaries on the lower end, not a lot of savings to rely on and in some cases children to feed, the shutdown was a harrowing experience, especially when it reached the second-paycheck mark. No less than 23 Coast Guard personnel made use of a Houma food bank.


Relief efforts exist within and without the Coast Guard for service members, among then the Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Association New Orleans chapter. The New Orleans chapter’s president, Nick Alphonso, agreed that from his perspective, the problem was very real and for some Coast Guard families critical.

Some local Coast Guard members got a boost at the tail end of the shutdown. When Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr., CEO of Cenac Marine Services, learned of how dire things had become, he arranged for the association to receive twenty-five $100 gift cards from Cannata’s Family Markets. The cards were specifically intended for members of the Dulac-based Aids to Navigation Team, which maintains buoys and lights in waterways adjoining Terrebonne Parish and vicinity, as well as the Marine Safety Unit, based in Houma.

“We have offered this gift as a small token of our appreciation to the men and women who work to keep our waterways safe,” Cenac said Friday. “No Coast Guard family should have to wonder where their next meal is coming from.”


The cards were presented shortly before President Trump announced in a White House Rose Garden address that he and Democratic leaders had come to an agreement, or at least a temporary one.

“I’ve received nothing but sincere gratitude from the Coast Guard members that received the grants,” Nick Alphonso said. It is good to know that when times are tough, if needed, the Coast Guard can depend on the community.”

Alphonso said that due to the timeline of pay processing, Coast Guard members are expected to receive their checks by this coming Friday.


“It normally takes five business days to process, so those cards will help this week,” Alphonso said.

The lifting of the shutdown is conditional, the president said, on negotiation that will result in funding for the southern border wall that he favors. There is a three-week deadline that ends Feb. 15.

“I don’t know that both sides will come to an agreement,” Alphonso said. “We will be watching intently and CGTLEA will be starting to make our preparations for another potential shutdown”


A local member of Congress has taken several steps to aid federal workers and made a gift to help Coast Guard members in particular. Rep, Garret Graves R-Baton Rouge has donated his December salary from the time of the shutdown to Coast Guard Mutual Assistance and to the Coast Guard Foundation. He has also made donations to food banks, churches and other organizations helping unpaid federal workers, and also donated meals to Transportation Safety Administration workers, who were required to work without pay.

While several members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation have made partisan political hay over the shutdown, Graves has taken a less partisan, soothing tone, looking toward workable solutions rather than seeking to pin blame on either side of the impasse that occurred, and which may rear its ugly head in less than a month.

“It’s just wrong that federal workers — people who aren’t responsible for and who don’t have control over this shutdown — are caught in the crossfire of what has devolved to nothing more than a political and personality fight,” Graves said last week, then spoke of bills he and other members of Congress have been working on to provide financial relief while allowing the nation to move forward on border security. “We hate the way that all federal workers at home are being affected by this mess — particularly our Coasties who play such an important role in south Louisiana.”


Toward that end, Graves is a co-sponsor on a bi-partisan bill (HR-367) that would take the Coast Guard out of that crossfire. The bill provides that by classifying them in like manner to members of the other military services, who still get paid during shutdowns. “Coast Guard men and women are unique in that they have to sign a commitment. They are obligated to come to work and do their jobs,” Graves said. “They can’t just pick up and go to work elsewhere.”

Graves has also directed the House Chief Administrative Officer to withhold his January pay until the shutdown was resolved, and to treat him like any other federal employee working for agencies that had been shut down.

Another community member who readily pitched in during the shutdown is Perina Graves Colman, owner of Waggin Tails Healthy Pet Products in Houma. She said Coast Guard members needing food for their pets would be able to get help at her store.


“I would hate to see dogs given up for the sake of a meal,” she said, noting that she is keenly aware of what was occurring because she has Coast Guard relatives. “Let’s not forget the puppies.”

Locals give Feds relief