St. Mary Council OKs anti-abortion stance
November 25, 2009
Mr. Bermingham P. Hebert
November 30, 2009
The next elected officials to head the City of Thibodaux – mayor and city council – will get a pay raise that will likely cost taxpayers an extra $28,434 a year.
The council voted 4-1 last Tuesday for both measures. The new mayor’s salary will increase from $68,666 to $82,400 a year, a 20 percent hike.
The three district council members’ salaries will go from $9,600 to $12,700, and the two at-large council members’ pay will go from $11,400 to 14,100. Mayor Charles Caillouet said the at-large council members were singled out because they represent the entire city.
However, at-large members will not see as great a hike as their counterparts. That fact prompted Councilman-at-Large Chip Badeaux to cast the lone vote against the ordinances.
Badeaux did not say why he opposed the mayor’s pay hike, but did speak about the city council’s increase.
“Single district councilmen are getting a 32 percent increase, while the at-large council members that cover the entire city get a 24 percent increase,” he said before the vote. “The pay increase percentage should be the same for all council.
“You can either go down to 24 percent or go up to 32 percent,” he added.
Badeaux tried to amend the ordinance, increasing the at-large councilman percentage increase to 32 percent, but the measure failed for a lack of a second.
Thibodaux resident Ethel Knobloch, who is also a former city councilwoman, spoke against both ordinances. She said the economy is not stable enough to support pay increases at this time.
She posed several questions to the council last Tuesday, and they still remain unanswered.
“How can you vote for a increase when people are struggling?” she asked. “Why not defer this and wait to see what the economy’s going to be like in the next four years.”
Another concerned citizen Anthony Centanni said the increase was excessive.
“With unemployment increasing, I would hate for the city to vote for this and put themselves in a position like the state – having to make budget cuts and lay off employees,” he said.
The Finance Department made the recommendation for the council and mayor compensation increases based on a wage analysis that was performed by Georgia-based Slavin Management Consultants.
The consulting firm said the city’s pay schedule is 13 percent lower than those of similar-sized Louisiana cities. According to records, the last time city officials received a pay increase was in 1992.
Caillouet said it is not mandatory for city officials to receive pay raises each term. However, he said given the study results, it is time to get Thibodaux to the market level.
The compensation increase will take effect after the 2010 fall elections.
– The Associated Press contributed to portions of this article.
Charles Caillouet – Mayor said hike is in keeping with salary study
