.
............................................................
Council denies pay raises
20K increase voted down 7-4
The St. Landry Parish Council, in one of its last acts of the year, voted down a $20,000 pay increase for parish President Don Menard.
A crowd applauded after the 7-4 vote, which killed the raise.
The pay hike would have increased Menard's annual salary from $65,000 to $85,000, and each parish council member from $12,672 to $14,400 a year.In the wake of the November elections, eight of the current 13 council members will be replaced.
Three of those taking office in January told the council during a public hearing that preceded the vote they opposed the pay raises.
Claude "Jay" Guidry, council member-elect for District 11, said the council knew what the pay was when they were elected and didn't need a raise. He also questioned how it could vote on a raise when members are constantly looking for money to fix roads.
Kenneth Vidrine, council member-elect for District 4, said he thought the whole matter was unnecessary.
"I did not run for the money, and I don't want any more money," he said. "It should go on the roads."
Jerry L. Red Jr., council member-elect for District 1, said he thought what the council and the president were making was too much. He said the council needs to provide better services before it asks for a raise.
Several citizens also voiced their opposition during the hearing.
Keith LaJack, a parish resident and Slemco employee, said he didn't think a 33 percent pay raise was warranted for the parish president. He questioned why Menard and the council wanted one in the first place.
"You're supposed to be doing it to serve the parish, not yourselves," LaJack said.
He added he didn't think Menard was doing a bad job, but he thought the parish president was asking for too much.
Menard said the raises can only be voted on at the end of the council's term every four years as spelled out in the parish charter. It will not come before the board again until 2011.
He said the state Legislature provides raises to the other parish officials and some of them, such as the clerk of court and assessor, make more than $100,000. He said he is asking for only $85,000.
He said if he were a CEO running a corporation worth $13 million - the parish's total budget - he would be considered grossly underpaid.