Minimum wage would be a hike for St. Mary’s leader

Paul Naquin, president of St. Mary Parish, earns roughly $6.25 an hour n less than the federal minimum wage, less than Terrebonne and Lafourche councilmen and not even comparable to his Tri-parish counterparts.

That amount is based on a weekly schedule of 40 hours. Naquin, and other parish presidents, estimate that they put in closer to 60 per week.

Based on a 40-hour workweek, Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet earns $39.47 per hour; Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph earns $35.22 per hour. The Terrebonne position hit its ceiling in 2005; Lafourche parish president compensation is set to increase by 2 percent until 2027.

According to preliminary numbers for the month of November released by the Louisiana Workforce Commission, average earnings in the Houma Metropolitan Statistical Area totaled $20.21 per hour.

“I do not have any complaints,” said Naquin, who earns $12,000 annually. “I knew what I was getting into, and that was to better St. Mary and not for the betterment of Paul Naquin.”

Naquin said he attends anywhere from four to seven meetings daily.

The St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter does not specify if the parish president position is a full-time job, but Naquin, who supplements his salary with retirement checks from Texaco, said he works about 60 hours every week.

“The job is really demanding after the four hurricanes and the oil spill for any parish president right now,” Naquin said. “You’ve got to be at every meeting they’ve got if you want to be a part of the cut in the monies from Baton Rouge or even Washington. I’m thinking I’ll be in Washington at least three times this year.”

Six months ago, the parish appointed a review committee to recommend changes to the Charter. The committee advised labeling the position as part-time and increasing the salary to $36,000 or full-time and $65,000 annually.

The parish council cannot vote on pay raises, but must approve the measure before it can be brought before the general public on a ballot – which it failed to do.

St. Mary Councilman Craig Mathews said the dissent was in the timing and the council felt it would be best served to wait before going to the people to ask for salary increases.

“For whatever reason, that night the recommendations of the charter review committee failed to get the proper vote that it needed in order for this to happen,” Mathews, 1st District, said. “I was and still am simply appalled by that.”

Compensation for St. Mary council members is based on districts. The council has eight single-member district representatives, who are compensated $5,400 a year, and three at-large members, whose salary is set at $9,600.

Elsewhere in the Tri-parishes, Terrebonne councilmen earn a maximum $12,666 salary and Lafourche councilmen took home a $12,484 salary in 2010.

The review committee also recommended increases in the councilmen’s salaries.

“The thing that concerns me is that just further exacerbates the fact that as a population, as a parish, generally we are behind the curve in terms of grasping the reality of future growth and enhancement of the quality of life of the people that live in our parish,” Mathews said.

“We are failing repeatedly to enhance and to advance as a parish. It’s just a shame that we don’t have open-minded people on the council and in St. Mary Parish in general.”