Berard retained as St. Martinville’s city CAO

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 20, 2019

ST. MARTINVILLE — The same night the St. Martinville City Council fired its Public Works superintendent, the council had a stern discussion with the city’s chief administrative officer, but with a different result.

Shedrick Berard was hired as the city’s CAO in November against the advice of the city’s independent auditor. In the last month, the absence of one of the city’s accounting specialists highlighted the probationary CAO’s lack of experience when employee payroll checks bounced on two successive pay periods, much to the frustration of councilmen.

“We are just trying to see where we are at,” said District 5 Councilman Edmond Joseph, who added a discussion of the agenda of Monday’s meeting. “It doesn’t look good when we keep making the (news)paper.”

“After that, was anybody fired?” District 1 Councilman Mike Fuselier asked rhetorically. “No.”

Mayor Pro Tem Craig Prosper brought the discussion beyond the payroll issues to the city’s ability to get its bills paid, even before the accounting specialist was on leave.

“Where are we on accounts payable?” Prosper asked. “We have bills that were due in December that people are asking me, ‘When am I going to get paid?’”

“I am not aware of that,” Mayor Melinda Mitchell said.

Prosper said one vendor, Guidry’s Uniforms, had called him asking about payments.

“We should be on top of this stuff,” Prosper told Berard. “We have people who turned in purchase orders in November who still have not been paid.”

The Daily Iberian requested a list of the city’s accounts payable last week. Berard answered that request Tuesday, saying that until the accounting specialist returns, there is no one in the office capable of outputting the report — including the CAO himself.

“We had problems with payroll the first time, then it happened again,” Prosper continued. “This is a problem that is going to get bigger.”

Mitchell ignored the purchase order comments and said there were not any problems until the accounting specialist took ill.

“It was over three weeks.” Prosper retorted. “Someone should have figured out that payroll had to go out. A supervisor should figure it out. If someone made the coffee every day and they were out, I guarantee you they would find someone to make the coffee.”

Berard said in his defense that in previous pay periods the accounting specialist handling payroll told him to do was handle the deposit.

“The only thing she said is to make sure that I make a $70,000 deposit,” Berard said.

“Is she your boss?” Prosper asked. 

“She’s not the CAO. The buck stops at the top. The first mistake I can understand. The second one I cannot.”

“We had one city send people to help the first time,” Fuselier said. “Then they said they could not come back. Then employees from (Breaux Bridge) came over to help. They said they walked into that office with a pile of bills on the table. Our employees left. Those employees who came to help said they are not coming back.”

Berard also admitted that in the four months since he took the CAO position he has not seen the payroll system because he does not have the same access as his accounting specialist. 

“I have not seen the payroll account,” Berard said.

“We have another payroll coming up in April,” Prosper said. “We better not have any problems.”

“I guarantee we will not have another check bounce,” Berard said.

Berard’s probationary period runs until late spring, when the city’s annual audit is complete. At that time, the city’s independent auditor will make a recommendation on his continued employment in the CAO slot. 

If he is removed, he will go back to his previous position as zoning and safety manager.