Mansura delays vote on council pay hike

By RAYMOND L. DAYE
Co-Editor
With both the mayor and mayor pro-tem in the hospital, the Mansura Town Council chose to delay acting on a proposal to increase aldermen’s monthly pay by $100.
However, some individuals took the opportunity at the Aug. 17 meeting to voice disapproval of the measure.
Mayor Pro-Tem Gaon Escude was absent due to being hospitalized for pneumonia for several days. Mayor Kenneth Pickett was taken to the hospital for health concerns earlier on the day of the meeting.
Councilwoman Judy Bazert chaired the meeting and asked her other three colleagues to table the matter to the Sept. 14 meeting, when Pickett and/or Escude will be present to address questions that might be posed.
Before a motion to table was presented, a few in the audience asked to be able to make comments.
Mansura Chamber Commerce President Al Lemoine said those choosing to run for public office should do so out of a desire to serve the public and “not always expect to be paid” for that service.
He said the proposal to raise the alderman pay from $200 a month to $300 a month “amounts to a 50 percent raise. Anyone would love to get a 50 percent pay raise. Is it fair to raise your salary 50 percent when your employees will get only a miniscule portion of that?”
Councilwoman Lucille Hayes said that even though the raise is 50 percent, it is still a small amount because it is only $100.
She said those elected to the Town Council ran for office to serve the public, and raising the monthly stipend for an alderman by $100 “won’t change our attitude for what we are doing.”
Glenn Paul McKinley, who ran unsuccessfully for alderman this past November, said the town “is not in a position to give raises to council members.”
He said the town should focus its resources on issues such as providing recreation opportunities for the town’s children before it considers increasing officials’ pay.
Consider less
Victor Dugas asked the council to consider approving asking for a smaller pay increase.
Julia Boston, a former councilwoman who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in November, said she believes the town’s residents do not oppose an increase for the aldermen’s pay, but are opposed to a $100 increase.
Town Engineer Ron Bordelon said he has no position on the pay raise, but said he had to respond to comments that the raise would amount to aldermen being paid $150 an hour. The average council meeting lasts about two hours.
“There have been many times when one of the council members will meet me at a project to inspect the progress,” Bordelon said. “You take calls from constituents about their problems. You do a lot of work during the month. It is not just attending a two-hour meeting once a month.”
The issue was then tabled on a 3-1 vote.
Councilman Delas Huddleston voted against tabling the raise. He said the matter had been fully discussed, all questions had been addressed, and there should be no reason to delay action.