[StBernard] Proposals would increase St. Bernard Parish Council's power

[Westley Annis]

Proposals would increase St. Bernard Parish Council's power
ST. BERNARD CHARTER AMENDMENTS EYED

BY RICHARD THOMPSON
RTHOMPSON at THEADVOCATE.COM
June 16, 2014

The St. Bernard Parish Council this week will take up proposals that would
amend the parish's home rule charter to give the council more authority to
hire staff, make appointments and approve major contracts - moves that would
shift power away from the parish president.

The measures, introduced earlier this month by Council Chairman Guy McInnis,
are slated to be voted on Tuesday. If approved by the council, they could be
scheduled for a public vote in November.

Under one change, the Parish Council would be required to approve all
contracts worth $25,000 or more. At present, the president approves all
contracts.

Under another, the council would be able to hire its own staff, "including
clerical assistants to the clerk of the council." The charter currently
allows the council to hire only a clerk.

Another proposed amendment would give the council more control over board
appointments, by putting members in charge of submitting names for the
parish president to choose from, rather than accepting the president's
single selection.

Currently, a five-member Appointments Review Board, made up of business and
community leaders, considers applicants for boards or commissions and
selects three names for each open position. They are sent to the parish
president, who then selects one name and puts it before the council for
approval.

Parish President David Peralta said Friday that he opposes the proposed
changes, which he said would push the parish back toward a police jury form
of government, where the council ultimately controls both the legislative
and executive branches.

Peralta and McInnis - considered likely opponents in the race for the
parish's top post next year - have different views of the policy jury setup,
which was abandoned by the parish decades ago. McInnis believes it "wasn't
necessarily bad for our type of community," but Peralta contends that it
"doesn't function well."

"All this (package of amendments) does is it sets up a system that's going
to tie the administration's hands completely, and it's ridiculous," he said.

Peralta, who was indicted by a state grand jury in April on a charge of
sexually battering his wife, said he believes the proposed changes are
politically motivated. At the time, three Parish Council members, including
McInnis, called on him to resign in the face of his legal problems.


Peralta's wife, Sharon Peralta, has said her husband raped her in October at
their Meraux home. Peralta has denied it, saying the couple instead engaged
in "rough sex" on her 49th birthday, at her request.

Last month, an Arabi resident began a recall effort against Peralta that
seeks to remove him from office before his term ends next year.

Peralta, who described the proposed amendments as "regressive" and "somewhat
of a personal attack," said the idea of giving the council the final say on
appointments and contracts is misguided.

"What they're essentially trying to do is handle the executive side," he
said. "There's no need for this. We have total transparency in this
government, and I don't think that will ever change."

But McInnis sees it differently and said the proposals should be put to a
vote so residents can decide.

He wants the council to be able to hire additional employees to "provide
more oversight of the executive branch," and he suggested that having
someone oversee parish contracts and projects would be beneficial.

"The budget needs to be an ongoing thing. Right now, you have a finance
department that is 100 percent controlled by the executive branch. We need
that, but on the other side, all you have are seven part-time councilmen,
and most of them have full-time jobs," he said.

McInnis said it's not that the council needs a lot of extra help, but that
the citizens "need more eyes on the ball, if you will."

He added, "That's not to say anything is wrong that's going on now, but we
still don't have a lot of information that this independent branch might be
able to put together for us."