St. Landry committee forwards multiple appointments, withdraws assistant-chief nomination pending bylaw review

The St. Landry Parish Administrative Finance Committee voted to forward multiple nominations to the full council for final appointment and temporarily withdrew one nomination while staff check board bylaws.

Committee members approved forwarding applications for appointments including candidates for the Parish Communications District (9-1-1), the Parish Tours Commission, a Waterworks District vacancy, a Tourism Commission appointment, and the Agricultural Arena Authority. The motions to forward were carried by roll call votes recorded at the meeting.

A substantive exchange arose over whether an assistant police chief may serve on the Communications District board. One council member recalled a past instance when "Paul Januso" had to step down from the board after becoming an assistant chief. Committee members asked staff to review the board's bylaws to determine whether the current nomination of Assistant Chief Mark Guidry would be permissible. The committee voted to withdraw that nomination from consideration pending that review and to resubmit the application at the next meeting if appropriate.

The clerk and staff agreed to provide the relevant bylaws and documentation before the next meeting. Several other nominations were advanced without objection; the meeting record shows each forwarded item carried on a roll call with affirmative votes noted by the clerk.

Committee members also noted a bookkeeping matter: the finance packet provided to members was dated Oct. 31 and staff said they would reprint or provide the November report before the next meeting.