Parish Council Balks at Parish President's Finance Director Appointment

Some St. Landry Parish Council members took issue with Parish President Bill Fontenot’s choice for a finance director and delayed ratification of her appointment at the March meeting.
Asking questions ordinarily reserved for executive sessions, some council members discussed aspects of the qualifications and the resume of Novella Moore, a former council clerk.
Fontenot said he is confident in Mrs. Moore’s abilities and that he hoped that the council would ratify his choice. He said that he did not feel, however, the matter was one for public discussion.
“I would not have appointed someone to be finance director if I didn’t think that they could do this job,” said Fontenot. “And whereever I have been in my 35-year career, those that have been put in those positions have satisfactorily performed the duties. And this person would do that as well.”
District 5 council member Ronald Buschel inquired into whether or not Mrs. Moore is a resident of St. Landry Parish or of Lafayette Parish.
“Has Mrs. Moore moved back to St. Landry Parish or is she still living in Lafayette Parish?” asked Buschel. “I want it noted that Mrs. Moore worked for this parish for a considerable while and did not live in St. Landry Parish. We are handing out jobs to other parishes that try to make us look like fools. That’s what Lafayette is trying to do all the time. When (Lafayette) couldn’t dump their sewerage here, it made them mad. And they’ve been reacting ever since.”
“I’m not sure where she’s living,” replied Fontenot. “I know it’s not a requirement of this job. And she has probably hundreds of relatives in this parish. And I’m going to look here as well as outside of the parish and the state for the best people to do the job that I need done. I’m here. I’m the president. And it’s my authority to appoint the best and I have done that.”
The president has the appointing authority under the parish charter, while the council has ratification authority.
District 3 member Fekisha Miller-Matthews saw no objections with hiring Moore. She noted that Moore was previously a council clerk. Some other members did not agree.
“Mrs. Miller-Matthews you just made the point,” said District 8 member Pam Gautreaux. “Mrs. Moore was a council clerk. We all saw her resume when we voted to hire her to be our clerk. There was nothing on her resume that spoke of any type of finance experience, none. Not as a bank teller, not as anything related, nor are there any degrees or anything related to finance. Do you not think that it’s in our best interest as a parish, with the amount of monies that we are now entrusted with, to have a qualified finance director? That’s all I’m asking. And I think we need to not act in haste. A council clerk does not a finance director make.”
Miller-Matthews responded to the intimation that Moore appeared unqualified due to the lack of a college degree in a finance- related field.
“I just want to add that sometimes experience and learning things on a job, if a person is diligent they just about learn about anything on the job,” she said. “It’s not all about education, although I am a supporter of that. I just want to put that out there, you know, that it’s easy to get a degree in business and finance on-line. So, we might want to think about that.”
District Two councilman Leon Robinson spoke in favor of Mrs. Moore’s appointment and urged the council to ratify it.
While the council did not take the necessary steps in amending the meeting agenda in order to vote to ratify the appointment, it was determined by District 1 member Jerry Red and council attorney Lance Pitre that Mrs. Moore would retain her appointment with no impending deadlines for the council’s vote on ratification.
It is unknown at this time if the council will place the matter of ratification on the March agenda.