Longshot resolution tries to derail HRC hot button topic
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL –Since talk first began about a total review of the St. Tammany Parish government operation, which would be conducted through a Home Rule Charter Committee (HRC), the matter of reducing the number of Parish Council members has been the top issue on the agenda—even before the committee began to meet.
The HRC has had two meetings so far and barely talked about the potential reduction of the current 14-member council body, but Councilman David Cougle is apparently not waiting for an outcome before pushing what he believes is a critical decision on the matter.
Starting in recent months when the Home Rule Charter Committee was being formed, Cougle was outspoken on the question of reducing the council to nine or seven members. No one else has been so vocal about what he believes would be a dire mistake by having fewer council members to represent the growing constituents in the parish—now over 275,000.
To that end, Cougle will introduce a resolution at this Thursday’s meeting, March 6, which asks the entire council to oppose any reduction—long before the matter gets out of the HRC debate.
“The public should understand, particularly in light of the push for more efficiency in Washington D.C., that this entire ‘reduction’ push is about one thing: replacing DEMOCRACY, through your elected representatives, with BUREAUCRACY, with dozens of full-time, unelected government bureaucrats,” Cougle wrote on his Facebook page.
HRC Chairman Kevin Davis, who can rightly claim plenty of experience with St. Tammany Parish government as a three-time former parish president, continues to insist that no decision on reducing the size of the council, or keeping it the same size, is anywhere close to happening.
“I’ve said all along that each issue will be handled the same. We will discuss it, listen to public comments, review all the information we can put our hands on, and then the committee will decide if it’s best for St. Tammany residents or not,” Davis said.
Any decisions the Home Rule Charter Committee makes about changes to the parish charter would then be forwarded to the full Parish Council, which will decide whether to put them on the ballot or not. In the end, voters will decide if any changes go through.
The last time the council tried to make changes to the charter was in 2015 when they put nine issues on the ballot, only to see eight of them fail.
Cougle’s resolution this week, which will not be voted on until the April meeting, is reportedly facing a tough uphill battle to get council support, according to several council members who spoke off the record.
But it hasn’t slowed the first-time councilman from pushing hard on his measure, with a few statistics to make his point.
With discussion on the matter from other councilmen already looking to Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish as a model, where they represent far more people with fewer council members, Cougle said that it would be a mistake for St. Tammany to follow that example.
“We need only look to Orleans, with more than seven times the council staff, and Jefferson, with more than 10 times the council staff of St. Tammany Parish, to know exactly where this would be headed,” he said.
Cougle said that if the St. Tammany Parish Council went to a smaller total number of representatives, which would likely also turn the current part-time councilmen into full-time employees of the parish, it would be very costly for the budget and provide less representation.
“St. Tammany is a largely rural parish, with five times the land of Orleans Parish and nearly three times the land of Jefferson Parish. A reduction in our council members would further dilute the vote and representation of the rural communities in St. Tammany,” he pointed out.
Councilman Jimmy Strickland, the only African American on the council, has stated all along that he is concerned about a reduction in council size because he is afraid it would leave the body with no minority representation. Additionally, the Town of Pearl River passed a resolution in December, stating its opposition to reduction of the Parish Council size.
But Council Chairman Joe Impastato, who is one of the 11 members of the HRC panel, said there are two sides to the issue. He believes full-time council members would have more time and support staff to devote themselves to issues and their constituents, even if they represent more people. Currently, each Parish Council district has approximately 18,000 residents, but a smaller council could double that number.
“Reducing the number of council members would increase each remaining member’s number of constituents and therefore reduce access of individual St. Tammany residents to their representatives,” Cougle added.
He also believes that a smaller council would mean a big increase in support staff, not to mention full-time salaries and benefits for those full-time council members. Cougle even stated in his resolution that the smaller council would likely need “dozens of new offices, likely requiring a new council building.”
“This model (a smaller council) would explode the council budget at a time when we are seeking the public’s trust with how we spend their money,” he said. “This resolution sends a clear message that we are serious about good, accessible governance, and wise use of their tax dollars.”
Cougle also believes a change in the makeup of the council would transfer more power to the executive branch, further disrupting the balance of power between the legislative branch (Parish Council) and the executive (Parish President.)
Another argument that has been heard about reducing the council size is that some believe it would make it easier for public officials or members of the public to get the necessary votes to pass issues for special interests, such as developers or commercial businesses.