Terrebonne gains approval of police jurors

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Facilities, entertainment and of course food were lead topics of discussion as Police Jury Association of Louisiana members completed their 88th annual convention Saturday at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.


Dorothy Walker of Webster Parish has been attending these conventions for more than two decades with her husband and police juror, Charles. “Wonderful,” she said of the three-day event. “I’ve had a wonderful time.”


In addition to committee meetings on Friday and general assemblies on Saturday, the event offered a showcase of the region that included tournament action among attendees at the Atchafalaya Golf Course in Idlewild, 90 exhibits, museum and plantation tours, entertainment with a post-holiday Mardi Gras parade including floats, dancers and musicians, banquets and awards for participants.

“We’ve got record setting numbers for attendance [with more than 1,000 registered participants],” PJAL Executive Director Roland Dartez said. “Terrebonne and St. Mary Parishes, along with the surrounding parishes of Iberia, St. Charles, St. James and Lafourche all got together and welcomed attendees from 64 parishes. We’ve got four congressional members and four state legislators here, parish administrators, so we are excited about being in Terrebonne Parish.”


“This is the largest group we’ve had at any [PJAL convention] that I have attended,” St. Mary Parish and outgoing PJAL President Paul Naquin said.


Business included the approval of eight resolutions by parish representatives on Saturday. “These are presented to our [legislative] representatives in Baton Rouge to let them know what is important to us,” Naquin said.

Among the resolutions that were accepted in the general business session, although the committee that compiled the list from other committees did not itself have a quorum to be able to officially recommend them, called for legislation that would allow state employees time off to fill responsibilities in part-time local elected positions.


A second resolution urged the legislature to amend state law and allow for the purchase of vehicles and equipment without a requirement of bids up to $60,000.


Police jurors also wanted to see state law changed to increase state contracts on the purchase of equipment up to $150,000.

Two resolutions emerged specifically from Jefferson Parish. They included having the state delegation from that parish to introduce legislation that would require seizing creditors to maintain foreclosed property pending title transfer. The second resolution calls for the same delegation to introduce and back legislation that would require restaurants serving seafood to disclose the source of their seafood in term of it being domestic or imported.


The sixth resolution recommended that the PJAL go on record by opposing the transfer of the Governor’s Office on Elderly Affairs into the authority of the Department of Health and Hospitals and any proposed elimination of Supplemental Senior Center Funds.

Police jurors passed a resolution that would urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District to follow recommendations of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Office of Coastal Management that would implement fair and reasonable regulations of wetland habitat assessment and compensation for wetland impact.

The final resolution offered by police jurors paid tribute to members of the U.S. military that served in Iraq.

From the floor, parish representatives adopted a resolution that called for legislation to outlaw any organization or private entity from using the word “parish” in its name. The purpose was to head-off any misrepresentation that might lead residents of Louisiana to believe correspondence, email or telephone calls from those agents contains or constitutes official government business.

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said that as a member of the coastal caucus, discussion was held among PJAL members in committee that addressed the state coastal master plan that previously drew a great deal of public criticism. “We need a long term plan,” Randolph said, “but we need to get dirt on the ground now. Our disappointment with the coastal master plan was there was not anything addressing the immediate conditions. We’re concerned about the protection for La. Highway 1 and building the marsh around there. We’re coming to the realization that acquiring $320 million to complete that section may not be in the near future. So we need a plan B.”

“It has been very informative and innovative,” Terrebonne Parish Councilwoman Christa Duplantis said of the event. “I’m on the committee for health and hospitals and we are concerned about our rural membership and looking at ways to change community care so we will be looking more at that.”

The election and appointment of officers was part of the agenda. This included naming Beauregard Parish Police Juror Gerald “Mike” McLeod as the new PJAL president. Additional new officers include: Vernon Parish Police Juror Melvin Haymon as first vice president, St. Martin Parish Councilwoman Lisa Nelson as second vice president, Caddo Parish Commissioner David Cox as third vice president. Newly elected PJAL Executive Board Members at Large include Caddo Parish Commissioner Ken Epperson and East Carroll Parish Manager Major Watson.

“People have been amazed by our facilities and what we have done,” Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center Director Janel Ricca said. “How we do with this convention will influence other organizations to have their conventions here. We’ve had so many complements. We couldn’t be happier.”

“And the food,” Walker concluded. “Hey, we don’t cook that good up in Webster Parish.”

 

St. Martin Parish councilwoman and Police Jury Association Lisa Nelson and St. Mary Parish President and outgoing PJAL President Paul Naquin prepare for the organization’s business session in Houma. 

MIKE NIXON | TRI-PARISH TIMES