It’s easy to see why Acadia Parish Assessor James “Jimbo” Petitjean has never lost an election.
The former five-term mayor of Rayne possesses a “never met a stranger” aspect to his personality. When he speaks to Acadia Parish residents who come in for business, there’s the possibility that another subject — albeit their families, football or the weather — may pop up and he’ll wind up making a new friend. And by their second visit, he’ll already have a nickname picked out for them (“Big Daddy” or “Playboy”, for example).
He has made the time and work they are required to do at his office much more efficient than it was only four years ago. For example, much of the work a person would have to do at the Assessor’s office, such as looking up property owners, property lines and even elevation levels, can now be done from their home computers. The clumsy folios that people used to have to look through, now seem like antiques.
Then there’s the fact that his office staff could have one of the happiest work environments in Crowley. It’s rare that will you see anyone in his office that appears to be upset with anything. Surely it’s happened before. But when it does, there aren’t many witnesses. Prior to Friday’s inauguration to his second term as Acadia Parish’s assessor, he seemed more excited about seeing his staff (which consists of five people who remained from former Assessor Mike Goss office) sworn in than himself. And he is very proud of the fact that of the 10 people on his staff, nine are Certified Louisiana Assessors.
“You can’t do it by yourself and I’d be willing to bet there isn’t another parish in Louisiana with an Assessor’s Office where 90 percent of the staff are CLAs,” said Petitjean on Friday. “Whenever people look forward to coming to work you know you’re doing something right. Over here I emphasize that everyone should learn everyone else’s job just so that they possess the knowledge should it ever be needed.”
And it isn’t just compliments that he gives them. A complete renovation of his office on the Acadia Parish Courthouse’s second floor was completed just prior to Thanksgiving. Anyone who hasn’t been there in a year wouldn’t recognize it. And his employees are overjoyed at the extra space they currently have compared to the “cubicles” separated by a few inches that they formerly worked in.
But when speaking to Petitjean on Dec. d30 he made it clear that the key to his 33 years in public service can be his dedication to relationships. Whether it’s with the people of Acadia Parish, the employees in his office, or other parish agencies, Petitjean’s desire is to help their work or interaction with his office as simple as it can be.
“After all we’re dealing with taxes,” he said. “Nobody likes to hear that word and if any property or business owner comes here, either myself or my staff is willing to walk them through every step of any process they must go through.”
Petitjean is a man who truly has risen through the ranks. He began working as the Rayne Recreation Director at age 23. From there he ran for Mayor where he served for the next 22 years, prior to his election victory for assessor.
In one of the closest Acadia Parish elections in recent memory, Petitjean defeated Goss by a mere 235 votes in his 2011 election. The final tally was 7,948 votes for Petitjean to 7,713 for Goss, or as Petitjean joked at the time, “a landslide victory.” He ran unopposed in 2016.
In keeping with Petitjean’s style, Friday’s ceremony seemed like a family reunion — with everyone in attendance. He introduced his entire family, his voice cracking when he introduced his wife Lyn.
“I’m so blessed,” he said. “She’ll never know how much I love her because I don’t show her as often as I should.”
He then mentioned his mother (“You’re not supposed to say a woman’s age but she’s the most beautiful 83-year-old woman ever.”), his staff (“They’re so great it hurts when I miss work.”), Judge Cunningham (A great neighbor with a gate in our backyard leading to his pool. He’s the Hugh Hefner of Rayne.”), the afternoon’s emcee Paul Molbert with Lafayette General Health (“A longtime friend...it means so much to have him here) as well as nearly every elected official and friend in the room.
“There is never any failure in trying something and not succeeding,” concluded Petitjean.”There is failure in not trying something for fear of failure.”
Of all the aforementioned personality traits Petitjean possesses, it may be his “gift of gab” that has endeared him to the Acadia Parish residents.
It certainly did to those in attendance.
