[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish president's salary to jump almost 40 percent in 2012

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish president's salary to jump almost 40 percent in 2012
Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010, 9:29 AM 
 Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune 
 
The St. Bernard Parish Council has approved a significant salary raise for
the parish president, to take effect at the beginning of the 2012 term.

The raise was calculated as the average salary of the parish's judges,
district attorney, clerk of court, sheriff and assessor; the salary will
jump from the current $70,000 per year to nearly $128,000, according to
current salary levels for the other officeholders.

The St. Bernard Parish president's salary is currently among the lowest in
the metropolitan area and has remained at $70,000 for more than a decade,
after the Parish Council passed an ordinance in 1998 that raised the salary
from $45,000 to $70,000. 

Former Parish President Charles Ponstein, who began a second term in 2000,
was the first to receive the $70,000 salary.

The raise will not apply to the current term of St. Bernard Parish President
Craig Taffaro but would apply if he is re-elected in 2011. 
The new salary would put the St. Bernard president's salary in line with
several other local parish presidents and chief executives, although St.
Bernard's population is lower than many in the metropolitan area. 

Jefferson Parish President Steve Theriot currently makes $136,544, St. John
the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom makes $136,382, and New
Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu makes $140,000. At the lower end of the
spectrum are St. Charles Parish President V.J. St. Pierre, who makes
$91,091, and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who makes
$72,000.

The raise has been discussed for months by the parish's Charter Committee,
which is reviewing and recommending some changes to items in the parish's
charter. The parish's charter authorizes the council to increase or decrease
the salary of the parish president, as long as the salary change does not
take effect until after the president's current term.

The last time the Parish Council changed the salary, in 1998, it was a fixed
amount. Polly Boudreaux, a former parish councilwoman and council clerk who
sits on the Charter Committee, said the goal was to peg the new salary to
those of other offices in the parish that are governed by state law. That
way, local politics is kept out of the mix, she said.

Other local parishes peg the president's salary to judges' and sheriff's
salaries in a similar way. 

Currently Taffaro's $70,000 salary as parish president is less than that of
several other parish employees, including chief administrative officer Col.
David Dysart, interim Public Works Director Logan Martin and Council Clerk
Roxanne Adams.

All members of the council approved the raise except for Parish Councilman
Frank Auderer, who said the raise should be put to a vote of the people, and
Councilman Fred Everhardt, who was absent. During a discussion at last
week's meeting, some council members cited an attorney general's opinion
that noted the council should not call elections to decide issues that they
are authorized to decide on their own. 

Parish Council Chairman Wayne Landry said he believes the raise was prudent
in order to bring St. Bernard's presidential salary more in line with
surrounding parishes and to attract qualified candidates who might otherwise
be put off by the compensation.

"Whoever is in the president's seat and can do that job, it's certainly
worth more than $70,000," Landry said. "I know some people think that you
should be doing it for the good of government, but you want to attract
someone who has the qualifications to do that job and who can put the parish
in the best position as possible. They're not going to put their own career
on hold to come and take a lot less money for four years."

The $128,000 figure is based on the current average of the five other parish
positions. That figure could adjust upward by 2012, based on automatic pay
raises in place for positions such as judges. The salary will remain the
same throughout the four-year term, and will be adjusted based on the
average of the other salaries at the beginning of each presidential term.

Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3321.