EAST HOUMA REC BOARD CHANGES

A plan to increase the number of members sitting on an east Houma recreation board, under consideration by the Terrebonne Parish Council this week, was expected to pass its first hurdle with few difficulties, sponsors of the measure said.

Terrebonne Recreation Board 3-A currently has five members, but Councilman John Navy has proposed increasing it to seven. The matter was taken up Monday night by the Council’s Community Development Committee.

At issue, Navy said, is the geographical balance of the board. Currently there is one member from the Village East subdivision and there are four from Lafayette Woods.

“People in Village East are paying more taxes into the recreation district, but not getting the services and parks that those in Lafayette Woods,” Navy explained.

Terrebonne’s recreation boards oversee construction and maintenance of parks, gyms and similar amenities. They are authorized by statute to levy taxes to pay for those

venues and their upkeep.

The Council, whose members select the people who will sit on the boards, were recently given greater oversight of recreation district operations.

An independent organization, Rec Reform for Terrebonne, is currently seeking change in how the system operate overall, and wants a ballot initiative that will allow voters to mandate re-drawn districts, and a restructure of the millage rates which they say will make the process more equitable.

That plan does not, however, include most of the parish’s bayou community districts, nor the one whose expansion is currently under consideration. Recreation boards that primarily serve central Houma and areas to its north are the subject of reform attention.

In District 3-A, which is not among those being considered for a revamp by voters, Navy said the stakes for residents are particularly high, and involve more than issues of whether fields can be dedicated to softball or football. The Village East neighborhood, he noted, is the place where five years ago a 14-year-old was shot and killed by a Terrebonne Parish deputy as he and some friends were gathered in an abandoned home that youngsters had dubbed a “clubhouse.”

“One of the biggest issues and one of the biggest complaints after that shooting was that there were not enough positive things for the kids,” Navy said, noting that recently he has been able to direct some parish money into after school and summer programs designed to keep kids safe.

“With idle time after school we can build some kind of positives in this community,” Navy said. “I am trying to use recreation as a mechanism to deter crime and put kids in more positive directions. “I am trying to save lives.”