Coming off the shocker of a loss at the polls on Saturday in the sales tax rededication vote, a host of our public officials in St. Tammany Parish were right back to the work of the people when the Home Rule Charter Commission (HRC) had a meeting set on Monday night at the council chambers.
It was clear there was a cloud over the meeting before things began since the 11-member HRC panel had to get back to other business following the disappointing loss at the polls on Saturday.
It was obvious how much the loss was on the minds of the public officials there, since the topic came up a number of times.
Consistently discussed by many was the fact there is a “lack of trust for St. Tammany Parish government” and it had a direct impact on the defeat of the rededication vote.
But still, here were the 11 members of the HRC, other than Parish President Mike Cooper, who decided he would skip another meeting after he made the decision to serve on the committee. And the Monday meeting was deemed the most important of any they had to date, but maybe Cooper didn’t want to face the music from others after the tax defeat.
For that matter, Cooper also has skipped some Library Board meetings after deciding he would also serve on that board, despite the fact a parish councilman used to be selected to fill that position given to the administration.
We have already addressed what has been a lack of leadership from the parish president in today’s editorial on this page, so I will let that speak for itself.
But what made it all so stark was the fact all the rest of the HRC members were there to do the job they said they would do—and you know they were all feeling the effects of the rededication loss.
As I sat in the audience watching them put in this volunteer time—many hours that will be required—I couldn’t help but think about the time so many of our public officials give. District Attorney Collin Sims, for one, couldn’t have a more busy and important job. But he added to his already long days by going to dozens of public speaking engagements the last two months, hoping to convince the electorate to support the rededication vote.
Then, he also has a seat on the Home Rule Charter Committee as Cooper does. But Sims has made most every meeting, including on Monday night after a very disappointing loss at the ballot box on Saturday.
There are many others I keep noticing, four members of the Parish Council, who accepted the nomination for the HRC. It is something that requires hours-upon-hours of extra work, frequently at night meetings. And it is not to go to a fun campaign party or receive accolades from a public organization—this is pure and simple hard work to study the parish charter, then make what will be very difficult decisions.
I have only mentioned a few of our officials and I know for a fact there are many others on the Parish Council who spend countless hours working on issues that they believe to be important for the quality of life in St. Tammany. For that, I hope most of you will appreciate what they are doing, since so few people are willing to take that on.
In the end, I keep hearing them go back to one key point for we as parish residents—quality of life.
Whether it was the work to get the sales tax rededication passed, or the HRC work that hopefully brings about improvement in our parish operation, they are really working for us all. And for that, I hope many of you will pass along an occasional “thanks” for any you see putting in the work and time.
—-
Think it’s easy getting older? I ran into two wonderful friends I hadn’t seen in a while when I stopped by Sedra Bistro. There was Jody and Cheryl Riviere, whom I got to know when Jody ran one of the first cable TV stations here in Slidell…oh, so many years ago. He got me to do a weekly local sports show on Jackson Cable and I must say it was fun.
When Jody and I see each other there is always a little talk about “how old are you?” and that kind of conversation. But Jody did one-up me that day when he said he was at a grandson’s baseball game, when a ball came over the fence near him. He picked it up and threw it over the fence back to the team, “and I tore something in my shoulder! I couldn’t even throw a ball without hurting myself!” He said he ended up going through weeks of physical therapy!
Luckily, he has always been a guy to laugh at the drop of a hat, so we both did so together, knowing that the next issue with the senior lifestyle isn’t far away.
I don’t like it!
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.