Councilmember and parish president clash over scribble on document
At a Wednesday evening Council meeting tempers flared.
At the tail-end of a Terrebonne Parish Council meeting, May 15, Councilman Steve Trosclair confronted Parish President Jason Bergeron with a photo, presented on three television screens, showing a parish ordinance "defaced" by a scribble. Across the ordinance - a parish version of a law - was a line with a loop drawn through it that cut through the official writing. The ordinance was set to be filed as parish law.
"This appears to be a defacing of official government documents," Trosclair said. "We need to backtrack to see who has done this."
Parish President Jason Bergeron answered plainly while on camera. He said it was his understanding that the Parish Attorney Michelle Neil had told him that she had met with all members of the council to discuss the wording of the document. Bergeron went on to say it was his understanding that the document's wording was not legal enough for passage so he did not sign it.
Trosclair said he was part of no meeting, though other councilmen said they were.
Parish law says that after 10 days without a signature it passes into law, with or without a signature. Bergeron did not veto it so it passed, making its way from his desk to the council's staff. How? He said he did not know but would look into it to see who handled the document. He said he assumed no foul play.
After the meeting adjourned Bergeron approached Trosclair.
"There was no way you could call me about that? I feel like that was a cheap shot," Bergeron said to Troslair.
Questioned about it, Bergeron said he didn't believe the scribble was intentional but would look into it.
"We're going to look into it, somebody accidently marked on it. What are we going to do, fire them?" he said.
The ordinance involved Bergeron's changing of the parish seal. The Parish recently adopted a new seal that is the outward face of the parish for normal matters. For official matters it retained the old seal that requires Bergeron's approval for usage. The soon-to-be Ordinance 9568 was amended Monday, May 13, by the Council to say that members of the Council do not require Bergeron's approval for its usage.
The public still requires Bergeron's approval, according to the ordinance.
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According to Bergeron he was unhappy he was blindsided by Trosclair's raising of the issue in front of the public. Parish Council's are a separate body of the government from the parish president and are part of the checks and balances of the government. Parish councils are the legislative body of the government; while parish presidents are the executive body of the government. Parish councils do not require approval from the executive branch for their agenda items.
That said, Parish Councilman Danny Babin attempted to cool emotions.
"I don't like the way this was done but the point still remains that this is a learning experience," Babin said.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Councilmember and parish president butt heads over scribble
