Aldermen Deny Pay Increase
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
(Photo By Bobby Ardoin)
A city employee who is in charge of the water and sewer departments was denied a pay raise request on Tuesday night following a 3-3 vote by the Board of Aldermen.
Matthew Zachery was asking the Board during the special meeting to augment his annual salary from $35,015 annually to $51,000.
The Board retreated into an Executive session almost immediately after convening the meeting and then discussed the matter openly for about 30 minutes.
Legal advisor Travis Broussard did not attend the meeting.
The Louisiana open meetings law does not require that an attorney is required in order for an executive session to proceed.
Following a lengthy debate Marvin Richard, John Guilbeaux and Chasity Warren voted to approve the proposed pay raise for Zachery.
Those voting “no” were Delita Broussard, Charles Cummings and Sherrell Roberts.
Mayor Julius Alsandor said he was not required to break the deadlocked vote since the pay raise proposal involved an ordinance.
Those Who Voted No
Roberts said she voted against the raise proposal because she is unsure how Zachery would be paid from city funds.
“I also did not have time to prepare for this. Maybe if (the Board) had received more notice, like 72 hours, we would have had more time. This is the people’s money and we have to know what we are doing,” Roberts said..
Cummings said the matter of the raise proposal should have been discussed first by the municipal civil service board, while Roberts agreed that Civil Service has a pay scale that needs to be consulted before any action could be taken.
Broussard said the meeting had no legal advisor to comment on the pay raise proposal.
Voting Yes
Guilbeaux pointed out that Zachery has been performing numerous roles with the city and needs to be compensated for the entirety of those tasks.
Richard pointed out that Zachery has obtained an operating license for the water and sewer plant operations in addition to working with crews that are helping fix water leaks.
Before Zachery received his operating licenses, Richard said the city was paying contract operators $3,500 monthly to operate the water plant.
Opelousas Downtown Development District executive chairperson Lena Charles questioned those who voted “no.”
“Why are we voting no when we want better water?” asked Charles.
Alsandor said Zachery has been instrumental in getting multiple certifications to operate water and sewer functions in addition to helping train other city employees.
The Board was presented with a letter from city engineer William Jarrell III which underlined how Zachery has helped stabilize the water department operation.
“While there is still a long way to go, allowing Matthew Zachery to run the utility department has been the single most important positive management decision the city has made towards achieving a more stable and regulatory compliant system,” Jarrell wrote.
Aldermen Deny Pay Increase
