Nancy Rollins
February 1, 2008Grand Isle voters to elect mayor
February 6, 2008The Terrebonne Parish Council’s Budget and Finance Committee discussed reviving the position of community problem solver at its Jan. 22 meeting.
The committee also discussed adding a recovery planner in the Parish Planning Department to manage Hurricane Rita and Katrina relief efforts.
A public hearing concerning both positions will be held at the council’s regular meeting on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
The community problem solver position was eliminated as part of parish government more than 10 years ago. New Parish President Michel Claudet advocated reviving it shortly after his election. The position has been called ombudsman in other areas.
The community problem solver is mainly responsible for fielding complaints about local government. He or she would receive complaints about drainage, roads and bridges, utilities, garbage pick-up, cable regulations and other matters.
The problem solver would send complaints to the parish employees responsible for the problem. The solver would then keep the person making the complaint informed about progress dealing with the problem.
The position would pay an estimated annual salary of $45,000. The parish will commit $5,000 to buy work-related equipment.
The new recovery planner would manage the parish’s Long Term Community Recovery Plan. At its Oct. 11 meeting, the Louisiana Recovery Authority-the state agency created to administer federal Katrina and Rita relief money-approved the parish’s Recovery Plan.
Terrebonne is applying for state Parish Recovery Planning Capacity Building Program money to partially pay for the new planner position. The state’s funding for the position will decrease on a yearly basis over a three-year period. After that, the parish alone has to fund the position.
Terrebonne is budgeting $9,100 to pay for the new planner position. In its application for the state money, the parish stated it will continue funding the position after the three-year period ends.
The application also states the planner will assist with developing federal Community Development Block Grant projects and with the demolition of storm-damaged structures.
The recovery planner will be directly supervised by Parish Planning Director Pat Gordon, who was reappointed by Claudet. The estimated yearly salary for the position is $50,000.
At last Wednesday’s Terrebonne Parish Council meeting, Claudet announced the appointment of Natalie Robottom as parish manager and Gregory Bush as director of the parish’s Public Works Department.
Claudet also announced the reappointment of Parish Chief Financial Officer Jamie Elfert; Utilities Director Tom Bourg; Planning Director Pat Gordon; Recreation Director Sterling Washington; Juvenile Detention Director Jason Hutchinson; Emergency Preparedness Director Michael Deroche; Human Resources Director William Torres; Housing and Human Services Director Darrel Waire; Coastal Restoration/Preservation Director Leslie Suazo, and Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center Director David Ohlmeyer.
The council will vote on the appointments at the Feb. 13 meeting.
