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In addition to voting on president of the United States, Lafourche Parish voters will decide the fate of Parish President Charlotte Randolph’s top assistant when they go to the ballot box in November.
The parish council approved a dual-pronged amendment to its Home Rule Charter last week that would require the parish administrator to live in Lafourche Parish and retroactively enforce the new rule. Current Administrator Crystal Chiasson lives in neighboring Assumption Parish. As with any amendment to the parish’s governing document, it is pending voter approval.
“There’s nobody that takes care of your property like you do,” said Councilman Phillip Gouaux, a longtime proponent of the residency amendment.
The ordinance, which calls for an election on Nov. 9, passed 6-2, with Councilman Michael Delatte absent. Councilmen John Arnold and Aaron Caillouet opposed the measure.
The Home Rule Charter amendment is effectively a referendum on Chiasson, to the dismay of those who believe in the requirement but not the retroactive enforcement.
“I think it will confuse the voters,” said Councilman Aaron Caillouet, who sponsored a failed amendment that would have separated the retroactive enforcement from the residency requirement. “She did not have the opportunity to move into Lafourche. She could have moved, if the ordinance had been in place.”
Chiasson, who works hand-in-hand with Randolph on many of the parish’s top-level issues, defended her residency by saying she shops, plays softball and goes to church in Lafourche Parish.
“I do own more properties in the parish (than she does in Assumption),” Chiasson said. “About all I do in Assumption is lay my head down and sleep.”
Chiasson spent more than $1,200 in tax on three Lafourche properties last year, according to receipts she showed reporters after the meeting. Chiasson also said 18 percent of parish employees live outside of Lafourche.
Even if Chiasson moved to Lafourche Parish now, she would be removed from the office, per the amendment’s wording. “If the current Parish Administrator has not been a resident of Lafourche Parish for one year prior to being named Parish Administrator, he/she shall be removed effective immediately …”
Jerry Jones sponsored the ordinance. It is a stark change from his previous position, which included supporting Chiasson on two prior occasions when her employment status came before the council.
Jones, who is heavily involved with the Office of Community Action, started to distance himself from the administration last month when the council hired Joni Tuck as the parish’s new Community Services director, as recommended by the administration. Tuck filled a newly authorized position that oversees recreation and community action, among other tasks. Jones opposed the hire.
Jones didn’t say much during debate over his amendment, besides that the district attorney had vetted the ordinance’s language and it is therefore within the law to retroactively enforce the law.
“Personal vendettas should be left at home,” Councilman John Arnold said during the discussion.
Randolph said afterward that she would “definitely” campaign on Chiasson’s behalf and doesn’t believe retroactive enforcement is appropriate. Randolph said a residency requirement for that position could be worthwhile but added that not many people in the parish want to leave a job to work in her administration and become a frequent target of council consternation. “It’s potentially a one-month job,” she said.
Randolph was referring to a months-long tug of war over former Planning and Permitting Director Frank Morris’s job and the council’s separate attempts to fire directors Thomas Turner, formerly of Community Services, and Nicholas Matherne, formerly of Coastal Energy and Environment within the past few years.
In less than a calendar year, the council brought three department heads before itself on four occasions with intent to fire.
Although it was not mentioned during the discussion, Gouaux has previously said he is against Chiasson holding the position, which is second in line to the parish president, because it changes the way government operates.
Since Chiasson does not live in Lafourche, she cannot fill a presidency vacancy should it arise, which means the duty falls to the next-in-line council chairman. Because Gouaux and others are not willing to forego their jobs to fill such a vacancy, they cannot serve as council chair, he reasoned.
Chiasson said she thinks she will keep her job.
“The people of Lafourche are smarter than they (the council) believe,” she said.
If she’s right, it won’t be the first time she survives the chopping block since being appointed by a 6-2 vote in March of 2008.
Per the Home Rule Charter, the parish president must submit the parish administrator and all department heads before the council at the start of each term. Chiasson was ratified by a 5-4 vote in January.
Her job was first in jeopardy in September 2009, when a resolution that would oust her failed despite a majority 6-3 vote. Seven votes are needed to fire the administrator or a department head mid-term, also dictated by the Home Rule Charter. Jones supported Chiasson on both occasions.
In addition to sponsoring the amendment passed at the last meeting, the Dist. 1 councilman proposed a second amendment to the Home Rule Charter that would reduce the amount of votes needed to fire a sitting department head from seven to six. It failed, despite a 5-3 vote.
