‘Absolutely crazy’ or ‘next level’ idea? Group wants to abolish position of parish president in Ascension – The Advocate

GONZALES With an attempted bribery indictment hanging over the head of Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa, a group of business people are pressing to abolish the position of elected parish president in favor of an appointed parish manager.

The nonprofit A Better Ascension, a group formed in February with leadership that includes Eatel Corp. president John Scanlan, wants to change the parish home rule charter and create the new parish executive position. The parish manager model follows the leadership structure of large companies with a CEO and board of directors.

The group, which has been meeting for eight months, plans for a public roll-out of their idea in mid-August. They would not only need to convince voters of the concept, but the proposal would likely have to be put on the ballot by the Parish Council.

"We believe the Parish Manager-Council form of government will bring Ascension Parish to the next level," Scanlan said in a statement this week. "This style of government has proven to be much more effective and efficient than our parish government's current model."

The group pointed to a 2011 IBM study, titled "Smarter, Faster, Cheaper," that compared 100 cities and concluded that municipal governments with a city manager were nearly 10 percent more efficient than cities with a strong elected mayor.

ANational Association of Countiesanalysisfound in a May 2015 study that 43 percent of counties are run by appointed administrators.

Matassa said the proposal would take away "people's right to vote."

GONZALES Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa said Thursday that parish leaders will d

"This isnt a grassroots movement. Its an attempt by a secretly funded group of special interests to take control for themselves," Matassa added in a statement. "The people want to elect their president, their sheriff and their mayor. Im with the rights of the people, not the special interests.

Under the Ascension proposal, the new parish manager would be required to have a master's in public administration or business administration, and have at least five years of experience as a government executive. The manager would also have to take ethics training and be an Ascension Parish resident at least 90 days before taking the job.

But the proposed change would take away power from voters, who now directly select parish government's only parishwide elected official. The proposal calls for an appointed board to vet candidates for manager, while the final choice would be made by the 11 elected members of the Parish Council.

After narrowly beating surveyor Clint Cointment in the fall of 2015 runoff, Matassa's administration has run into head winds. He was caught on tape last year allegedly trying bribe a candidate to drop out of a Gonzales City Council race last year. Matassa has disputed that allegations, saying he was discussing a loan and offering political advice.

GONZALES For the first time, the Ascension Parish Council on Thursday will try out a new a

Matassa and Olin Berthelot, one of his businessman allies also caught on tape in the alleged scheme, were indicted March 10, about a month after A Better Ascension filed its nonprofit incorporation papers, on counts of attempted election bribery.

But Jamie Bourgeois, another member of A Better Ascension's board, said their plan isn't a response to Matassa's troubles, but concern about the lack of infrastructure investment despite Ascension's growth and strong revenue.

He said the proposed structure would model the parish school system. The School Board selects a superintendent and the superintendent has autonomy to hire and fire and manage the school system. The board hires and fires the superintendent.

"So this is the same type of concept," said Bourgeois, an industrial project manager from St. Amant who served on the School Board for one term that ended in 2014.

Unlike the School Board, however, a five-member citizen board with heavy business leanings would vet and nominate candidates for parish manager. That board would be made up of the parish school system superintendent, one Ascension Rotary Club member appointed by the Parish Council, one business executive appointed by the Parish Council and two members appointed by the Ascension Chamber of Commerce.

J Hudson, a spokesman for A Better Ascension, said the Parish Council could select up to two city manager candidates from the nominating committee but could not independently select replacement candidates. The nominating board would have to restart the process if the council rejects candidates.

A Better Ascension says in a statement that the group's members want this selection structure to ensure "Ascension citizens who have experience in hiring qualified employees lead the Parish Manager search."

A major structural change to parish government, the proposal would require an amendment or possibly several to the home rule charter, Ascension's broad plan of government adopted in July 1993. The charter shifted Ascension away from the old police jury system to a parish council-parish president form of government.

A majority of voters in Ascension must approve any change to the charter, which has never been amended. In May 2010, voters soundly rejected 28 proposed changes to the charter incorporated into eight ballot amendments, which included a series of technical changes but also a pay boost for the parish president under the argument then that a heftier salary would attract a better parish leader.

Ascension Parish is about to receive a big batch of federal reimbursement dollars for money

For the A Better Ascension proposal to get on the ballot, which backers say they want to do this fall, at least eight members of the 11-member Parish Council would have to agree. The group could also start a petition drive but would need the signatures of one-third of the parish's registered voters, which is about 25,000 voters.

The group plans informational meetings at 6 p.m. on the following dates: Aug. 14 in Gonzales, Aug. 15 in St. Amant, Aug. 21 in Donaldsonville and Aug. 22 in Prairieville. Meeting locations will be announced later.

Hudson provided a list of A Better Ascension's board members Friday at The Advocate's request. He said the group would be gradually identifying donors who wished to be identified.

In addition to Scanlan and Bourgeois, other members are Brandon Trosclair, Bryan Melancon, Don Ramsey, Jeremy Epps, John Diez, Marty Martin, Pat Bourque and Vance Daigle.

Some Parish Council members, like Teri Casso and Aaron Lawler, expressed in an interview and written social media posts their interest in the idea or at least openness to letting voters decide.

Councilman Randy Clouatre said he is also open to the idea, but wants to learn more first. Councilman Travis Turner said he wanted more information.

Councilman Daniel "Doc" Satterlee, one of Matassa's toughest council critics who pushed for and got a non-binding vote of no-confidence against the parish president this spring after the indictment, is fiercely opposed to the concept.

He called it an "absolutely crazy idea" that essentially does away with one of the three branches of government, a "tried and true" system upon which the nation was founded.

"The problem we have right now is that we have a corrupt leader of our executive branch, so we shouldn't, in my mind, be throwing out the baby with bath water by eliminating the entire executive branch thinking that that's going end corruption," Satterlee said.

He said he has found examples of city and county manager-type governments with corruption problems by those managers.

At the same time, Satterlee said he is still weighing whether to vote to put the changes on the ballot so voters can have the final say. Satterlee has taken the same approach with tax proposals he has opposed.

Councilman Bill Dawson, whose career was spent in the oil and gas industry, said he has worked under the type of management structure that A Better Ascension is proposing throughout his working career and is open to the idea, but has not decided.

As council chairman, Dawson also sets the agenda with Matassa. He said he will give the proposal "serious consideration," but considers the threshold to bring an idea forward for public debate fairly low.

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'Absolutely crazy' or 'next level' idea? Group wants to abolish position of parish president in Ascension - The Advocate