Acadia jurors hire former Crowley councilman as secretary-treasurer

Former Crowley City Councilman and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Bryan Borill was appointed secretary-treasurer of the Acadia Parish Police Jury during a special meeting Wednesday, just one day after he first presented his resumé to the committee charged with making the selection.
In fact, Borill only just presented his resumé 15 minutes prior to the start of committee meetings on Tuesday night and was recommended for hire about an hour later by a 6-1 vote with one committee member absent.
The Secretary-Treasurer Committee consisted of the police jury as a whole. Wednesday night’s special meeting was called before the committee met Tuesday to decide a recommendation.
With five jurors voting in favor of the appointment and three abstaining, Borill replaces A.J. “Fatty” Broussard, who served as a member and past-president of the Police Jury for 12 years and had held the position of secretary-treasurer for the past two years.
Before the roll call vote Wednesday night, A.J. “Jay” Credeur read from a prepared statement:
“The public perception will be that this jury that got elected because of the previous actions of the old jury and we are doing the same and not following proper protocol in choosing the best qualified candidate from the resumés that were submitted and instead making it a political appointment.
“If that was the case, why didn’t y’all just do it on January 13 to avoid the humiliation of the candidates that applied and put their names out there, some of which possibly jeopardized their present job.”
Credeur continued, “It is past time that these jurors put their vendettas aside and work together with transparency.
“With this said, I am abstaining from voting tonight because of the chronology of this process to protect the integrity of this parish police jury.”
Pat Daigle and Jimmie Pellerin joined Credeur in abstaining.
Walter Andrus took issue with Credeur’s statement, explaining that he looked at all of the candidates’ resumés and voted for who he thought was the best choice.
“This is not the same old politics,” Andrus said. “I’m not trying to play politics, I’m looking out for the people of the parish.”
Voting in favor of Borill’s appointment were Andrus, Jeff Morgan, Gordon Ray Morgan, Steve Comeaux and Chance Henry.
Borill’s appointment became effective immediately.
Borill had been employed by Lamm Family Care Home Health and Hospice in Crowley since 2014. Prior to that he was employed as a marketing representative for various healthcare companies.
He is a long-time official for area high school and college football, a member and past-president of the Crowley Lions Club, member of the Crowley Town Club Revelers and past member of the Kiwanis and Jaycee clubs.
He served as a member of the Crowley City Council for eight years.
Only Credeur voted against recommending Borill during Tuesday night’s committee meeting, explaining that he felt there was a more qualified candidate.
Credeur had recommended that the police jury hire Stephen Sislock during a special meeting on Jan. 28. Only Pat Daigle, who was absent for committee meetings, voted with Credeur in January.
Andrus, Jeff Morgan, Gordon Ray Morgan, Pellerin, Comeaux and Henry voted to recommend Borill.
On Dec. 11, 2019, five of the jurors-elect — Comeaux, Gordon Ray Morgan, Jeff Morgan, Daigle and Henry — petitioned the sitting secretary-treasurer, Broussard, to advertise for the position, setting a Jan. 3 deadline for receipt of applications and resumés.
Broussard contacted David Savoy, who was still president of the jury, for approval to advertise since none of the petitioners were jurors. Savoy approved.
Four applications were received by that deadline.
Then, on Jan. 8, a fifth resumé was received.
When the police jurors were sworn in on Jan. 13, appointment of a secretary-treasurer was delayed when members voted to appoint a special committee to review applicants for the four-year post.
That “committee of the whole” was appointed during the jury’s first meeting the following night.
A meeting of the committee was set for Jan. 21 to interview potential candidates. By that meeting date, the number of resumés received by the police jury administrative office had risen to nine.
However, only five of those nine interviewed for the position. Two candidates didn’t show up for the meeting and two had indicated to staff that they had not even submitted an application when they were contacted about the session.
Another special meeting was called for the following Tuesday, Jan. 28, when an appointment was expected. However, before noon that day, two more candidates called the parish office to withdraw their names from consideration, leaving three candidates.
Comeaux recommended that the appointment be reconsidered by committee and, by a 6-2 vote, the group agreed.
Credeur and Daigle opposed, having earlier pushed for the appointment of Sislock.
Tuesday night, when the committee convened, Andrus pointed out that a new resumé had been received that night.
Borill introduced himself to jurors and talked a little about his qualifications before Comeaux moved to recommend his appointment.