A.J. “Fatty” Broussard is adjusting to his new role as a parish administrator.
After 12 years as an elected member of the Acadia Parish Police Jury, Broussard is now six weeks into his appointed job as parish secretary-treasurer. He has one set of committee meetings and one meeting of the full jury under his belt.
“It’s different,” he laughed. “As a police juror I’d get calls from my constituents. Now it’s all eight jurors calling me and asking, ‘can you help me with this?’”
Broussard said he’s relying a lot on his years as a juror to navigate the ins and outs of the new job.
“I was on the jury for 12 years, three or four of those as president, so I spent a lot of time in here working with whoever was in here at the time,” he said from behind his desk in the administrative building. “I think I have a pretty good working knowledge of the office.
“On the other hand,” he added, “There are some things taking place in here that I didn’t know a lot about,”
He wouldn’t expound on those newfound obligations except to say that the administrative staff has been a big help.
“The whole staff here has been really helpful,” Broussard said. “I told them the other day, ‘Melinda, Ruby and Peggy, you’ve all got enough time in to retire — but you’re not, at least not for the next two years.’”
By state law, the parish treasurer is appointed for a two-year term. Since the secretary’s post is tied to the treasurer’s post in Acadia, that means Broussard’s current appointment expires at the end of 2019.
However, legislation is expected to be introduced during the upcoming regular session (beginning March 12) to address that issue in Acadia Parish.
If adopted, Acadia’s treasurer — or secretary-treasurer — would be appointed for a term of four years to coincide with the election of police jurors.
“It’s just for Acadia Parish right now,” Broussard said. “But you can never tell what amendments might be added when and if it’s debated.”
Not only is Broussard working with the administrative staff, he’s working with eight police jurors, three of whom voted against him when the appointment was made.
“It’s true that I didn’t get a 100 percent vote,” he said. “But it’s like I told them, you can’t please all the people all the time.
“I promised that I would treat them all the same because we’re all in the same boat trying to make Acadia Parish the best place we can.”
Besides the ongoing problems with the reclamation and replacement of trash carts in conjunction with the new solid waste collection contract going into effect on March 1, Broussard said the biggest challenge he sees for the jury going forward is funding — “monies for our General Fund, specifically,” he added.
“There is no dedicated tax for the General Fund,” he pointed out. “A lot of people look at our overall budget and say, ‘They have $30 million.’
“Well, we don’t. Most of that money is dedicated. It can only be spent for the purpose for which it was approved by the voters.
“The General Fund pays the salaries for the administrative staff, the jurors, the district attorneys and the secretaries and staffs for the district judges, but the biggest expense is the correctional center,” he said.
“That building belongs to the parish, not to the sheriff, so we’re responsible for all the maintenance, repairs, upgrades ... everything out there. It’s our biggest single expense — and there’s no dedicated tax for its maintenance, either.”
Broussard’s move from police juror to secretary-treasurer is not unprecedented in Acadia Parish history. The late Katry Martin served as a police juror and as secretary-treasurer for a combined 10-plus years.
Broussard is a native of Crowley and a 1976 graduate of Crowley High School. He was first elected to the police jury in 2004 and served until 2016, including three years (2007, 2012 and 2012) as president and three years (2004 - 2006) as vice president.
