Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Charter Amendment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council to ask voters to let it hire staff and set salaries; home rule charter amendment introduced for ballot
Summary
The council introduced an ordinance to amend Home Rule Charter Section 2-9 to allow the council to appoint a clerk, hire staff to assist council duties and to fix salaries by ordinance; staff estimated a parish-wide ballot cost of about $16,000 and the earliest ballot placement could be December.
The Natchitoches Parish Council voted to introduce an amendment to the Home Rule Charter (Section 2-9) that would explicitly permit the council, by majority vote, to appoint a clerk and to hire additional employees to support the council’s work and to fix salaries by ordinance. The proposed change was read into the record as part of an ordinance the clerk labeled for introduction to place a question on the parish-wide ballot (item described as B2).
Council discussion focused on the scope and cost of putting the amendment to voters. One member said a parish-wide ballot could cost "about $16,000 or so," and several members said they were reluctant to change the charter without broad public input. Staff said the earliest the amendment could be placed on a ballot would be December, and that final timing would be determined after attorneys review the introduced ordinance.
A motion to introduce the charter amendment for placement on the ballot was made, seconded and approved by roll call. Council members agreed that if the measure moves forward, the ballot language and effective dates will be finalized through the attorney and clerk review process.
