Harlan Kirgan
An ordinance to activate the chief administrative officer job is headed to the Aug. 19 St. Landry Parish Council meeting.
The ordinance was introduced Wednesday prior to the Council’s committee meetings.
If the introduction is any indication of what’s ahead, creating the job may face a rocky reception.
Council member Mildred Thierry voiced concerns in the meeting conducted by teleconference.
“I have constituents right now, that with it raining as it is today, they have to leave their vehicle parked at the end of the road and can’t drive to their homes,” she said.
“I feel like that we need to focus on some of the things that is going to benefit some of the constituents who really have some issues that needs to be addressed that haven’t been addressed in a few years. Not just roads with drainage problems,” he said.
Council member Vivian Oliver offered the resume of a woman she said is qualified and would do the job for free.
The chief administrative officer job has been advertised with a $77,000 annual salary.
A consultant to parish government said 55 applications were received and they were narrowed to 13 applicants who were interviewed through Zoom by four people.
The list was then reduced to five candidates who Gautreaux, a former state senator, said would amaze the Council.
There are candidates from out of state who are people who want to come back to Opelousas, he said.
“Nobody knows who the top five are except two people in the office,” he said. He did not name the candidates.
But he said two of the five finalist candidates have dropped out.
Council member Wayne Ardoin is sponsoring the ordinance.
On July 29, the Parish Council held at meeting to introduce the ordnance but only five Council members attended the teleconference meeting, which is short of the seven needed for quorum.
In February Parish President Bill Fontenot announced he was taking a medical leave as he was being treated for squamous cell carcinoma, a skin cancer.
At Fontenot’s recommendation, the Council appointed Amanda Cain, chief financial officer, as the parish president designee.
Ardoin said Cain was handling multiple jobs until Richard Lucito began assisting her on a part-time basis. Lucito announced he would be retiring earlier this month.
“Now Mandy is stuck with three jobs,” Ardoin said.
“She cannot keep going the way she is going people,” he said.
The chief administrative officer would supervise department heads, employees and be in charge of finances, he said.
“Mandy can function as parish president and also watch over the financial problems and we have plenty of financial problems with the pandemic. I just don’t know how we are going to rebound,” he said.