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

[Westley Annis]

Perhaps someone else could clarify, but I think the Office of Parish
President requires the fulltime status of the office holder; they cannot
hold another job or position.  Not to say they cannot continue their
investments or vested interests in LLCs, partnerships and businesses.
 
On the other hand, the Parish Council was designed to be parttime, unlike
Orleans and Jefferson which are designed to be fulltime positions.  The St
Bernard Parish Council is not prohibited from their day or night jobs.
Heck, this council volunteers more of its time and continues to appoint
themselves to various commissions, committees and boards; but they chose to
appoint themselves instead of others.
 
 
SJK




-----Original Message-----
John,

Used to be (whether it was just lip service or what) people would say they
were running for office for the "honor and privilege" of serving the people
or the community or whatever.  Nowadays they frequently mention how "hard it
is to live on, say, a Congressional salary (The current salary (2010) for
rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year.).  

My first instinct is to say "no one is forcing you to run for this office".
Some of these folks have private businesses (such as Mr. Landry) which I'm
sure provide add'l income to them.  Craig had his private practice and other
things that provided him compensation. 

It has also been said that if you don't make the salary attractive enough,
only rich people will be able to run for political offices because the
typical person could afford to campaign for office, etc.  I don't buy that.
It's certainly not terribly expensive to run on the local level.  

How this is handled will speak volumes about our local elected officials.

JY