Community leader led by example, spoke with conviction
May 20, 2015
1990 to NOW
May 21, 2015
Terrebonne Parish Council members and representatives for both Houma police officers and firefighters have entered discussions on pay raises, following requests for raises by representatives of both uniformed services.
Houma Police Association President Kyle Faulk and Houma Firefighters Association President Chief Terry Leonard were scheduled to meet with four council members Tuesday to discuss possibilities for salary increases.
Council members John Navy, Arlanda Williams, Gregg Hood and Christa Duplantis-Prather have been tasked, as a committee, with exploring those options.
“I want to find money elsewhere or redirect other millages towards the pay, not go ask for more millages to the people,” said Councilman Gregg Hood. “They’ve got organizations that get all kind of money and they’re not using it.”
Hood referred to surpluses currently in some organizations’ coffers. For example, the Terrebonne Council on Aging had so much uncommitted money the Louisiana Legislative Auditor issued a report earlier this year that said they needed to either spend it or collect less from property owners.
“The taxpayers shouldn’t be paying all this extra money if it’s just going to sit in a bank account,” Hood said.
Houma Fire Chief Terry Leonard echoed that sentiment, as did HPA President Kyle Faulk.
“We really don’t want to burden the taxpayers with a millage,” Leonard said. He said he wants the council to find money elsewhere.
During an address to the Council last week Parish President Michel Claudet said that while considering the requests from firefighters and police officers, members should not exclude other parish employees, who don’t have unions or professional associations, but are equally deserving of raises in their upcoming search for money to pay for these raises.
“Everybody does their part, and everyone is just as needy and worthy as the others,” Claudet said. “Again, I’m supportive of the police department raises, I’m supportive of the fire department raises, but somebody has got to speak up for out other employees.”
Council members had asked for someone from the parish’s finance department to sit on the committee, but Claudet decided against that because the most appropriate finance department officials that could sit on the committee have already made attempts to find money for more officer and firefighter pay raises.
Last month Faulk and other officers made a plaintive and public plea to the Council for consideration of raises at a meeting. Firefighters get a two percent annual raise but police officers do not, causing some Council members to question why firefighters are included in the current discussion.
Asked for a response to Claudet’s words after the meeting last week, Faulk said he had no problem with sentiments expressed by the Parish President.
Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet addresses Parish Council members and the public on the topic of police pay raises.
Houma police officers and their families attended an April council meeting to show their support for higher wages. The crowd applauded the council for placing a discussion to find public money to finance higher officer pay.
