By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – When Dr. Charles Preston was asked to explain the justification in a request to the Parish Council for a hefty pay increase he had a simple answer.
“I’ve earned it,” the retired St. Tammany doctor with over 30 years of experience said, now serving as the parish coroner. “And it’s less than market value.”
Preston has never been known as an over confident individual even as his name and reputation have grown tremendously in the past two years, taking over a job that received much media attention and led to jail time for the former coroner, Dr. Peter Galvan.
But after more than two years as the new coroner in St. Tammany, and an impressive list of accomplishments and changes to bring integrity back to the department, Preston had no problem asking the Parish Council to begin paying him in line with similar jobs in the state.
After 90 minutes of debate, the Parish Council approved by an 11-3 vote a 64 percent pay increase for Preston from the current level of $84,000 a year to his new salary of $138,000 a year.
The reason for the large pay hike was that the council set a very low starting salary for the job after Galvan was convicted on corruption charges for issues such as misusing public money for his own benefit, not to mention giving himself pay increases to the point of making over $200,000 a year, making him the highest paid public official in the parish.
The Parish Council, understandably leery about who would become the next coroner and having no idea what qualifications they would bring to the table, set the starting salary at $84,000 long before a new coroner was known.
Preston said he has done exactly what he promised the public he would do—“work extremely hard and bring honesty and integrity back to this department, while operating it in a fiscally responsible way.”
After two years on the job, Preston said it was time for him to be paid a reasonable salary for the job. Earlier studies have indicated a coroner in Louisiana in a parish with the demands of St. Tammany can easily make close to $200,000 a year, as do several other state coroners.
Preston said his major accomplishments to date include:
–Improve several aspects of the Order for Protective Custody (OPC) system to always include a psychiatrist in the process, while also setting up digital recordings of all OPC interviews.
–Hire trained nurses to handle Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations (SAFE) in all sexual assault exams, unlike the past when emergency room personnel were in charge.
–Set up the all-volunteer Chaplain’s Corp of spiritual leaders in the parish to be on scene for all deaths, not just suicides, so there is additional support for family members or friends in any crisis.
–Set up the all-volunteer medical advocate system of trained individuals to provide a lay person for victims of sexual assault.
–Save over $200,000 a year by finding a more inexpensive vendor to handle toxicology screens. Saved $108,000 a year with a change in health insurance provider.
–Receive a “no findings” audit from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor in the second year of that review.
Preston said he has been misquoted numerous times by individuals who said he promised to never ask for more money than the original $84,000 starting salary.
“I never said that,” he claimed. “I said I was happy with that as a starting salary, but I never said I wouldn’t ask for a raise.
“That salary was set extremely low because they had no idea who was coming in, and it was right after all the previous problems,” he said. “I have done what I said I would do and $134,000 a year for a full-time coroner is very reasonable.”
Preston, 59, has had to endure numerous questions about his salary and department operation from the local watchdog group, Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany (CCST) who sent him a two-page letter of questions only two days before the Parish Council meeting.
Preston said he answered the first question, but “would have been typing for days if I tried to answer every other thing they asked about.” He said his response to CCST can be found on the Coroner’s Office website under Current News and Accomplishments.
He said he has had trouble understanding why the group, headed by local businessman Rick Franzo, has had so many questions when they don’t understand much about what he has accomplished.
“I have always responded to whatever questions they have, but I don’t understand the attacks when they don’t understand what we are doing,” he said. “I have offered Mr. Franzo several dates and times to come talk to me, yet he has never tried to do that.”
The Coroner’s Office has a 4-mill property tax approved by voters to support much of their $3 million annual budget and the office currently is using 3.6 mills, which Preston said he believes is adequate for now.
“But I don’t see any reason to drop below 4 mills,” he said. “I am as fiscally conservative as they come and we will always look for ways to run a tight budget, but still provide the services necessary to the public.”
Preston said he wants the public to understand that his job is not just to “handle death investigations. That’s all most people know, but this job has a lot more to it than that.”
He noted he is responsible for all death investigations, Orders for Protective Custody (OPC), all sexual assault exams and the complete administration of the office. He has also become active as a board member with the St. Tammany Behavioral Task Force and sits on the Jail Diversion Committee for the 22nd Judicial District judges.
“So far I’m most proud of setting up the Chaplain Corp and for the medical advocate system, and you need to realize they are all volunteers so it didn’t cost any money,” he said.
The 11-3 vote on the Parish Council had T.J. Smith, Richard Tanner and Maureen O’Brien voting no.