Ascension mulls charter changes

• By DAVID J. MITCHELL
• Advocate River parishes bureau
• Published: Nov 7, 2009 - Page: 3B

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GONZALES — Ascension Parish government officials said Friday they are undecided about how 28 proposed amendments to the home rule charter will be placed on the election ballot March 27.

Parish government spokesman Scott Rabalais laid out several scenarios Friday.

Among the options are putting all 28 proposed changes under one item on the ballot that requires an up or down vote, listing all items individually so each requires a vote or grouping the amendments in some fashion, he said.

Rabalais said those options are all a possibility.

In a Thursday special meeting in Donaldsonville, the Parish Council adopted the 28 amendments, which were recommended earlier this year by the parish’s Home Rule Charter Committee.

The proposed amendments include tying the parish president’s pay with the sheriff’s pay, reading summaries of proposed ordinances at council meetings instead of entire ordinances, limiting some of the council’s personnel power, giving the council the power to delay census  reapportionment by one year and other changes.

The charter, which is the parish’s governing document, has not been revised since it was adopted in 1993, Rabalais said in a statement Friday.

Another of the proposed amendments would require a complete review of the charter every 10 years, Rabalais said.

Parish attorneys Malcolm Dugas and Lindsey Manda have said the parish has the option of listing the amendments individually on the ballot or altogether.

In October 2007, East Baton Rouge Parish voters approved numerous changes to that home rule charter with a single up or down vote, Jacques Berry, Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne’s press secretary, said this week.

Parish Council Chairman Pat Bell indicated Thursday night that the amendments would be presented as one item on the ballot, but he said Friday that officials remained uncertain about the amendments’ final ballot format.

The State Bond Commission must give its approval before the proposed amendments may appear on the ballot. The deadline to place the amendments on the March 27 ballot is Jan. 15, the Secretary of State’s Web site says.