St. Martinville council to discuss term limits, making mayor part-time

Published 9:00 am Sunday, September 20, 2020

ST. MARTINVILLE — The St. Martinville City Council will begin discussions at its regular meeting Monday night to place term limits on council members and the mayor, in addition to making the mayor’s position a part-time job.

“There is no reason the mayor of St. Martinville should be on a full-time salary,” said Mayor Pro Tem Craig Prosper, who added the discussion to the meeting’s agenda. “The salary we offer is so low it’s not going to attract people who are more successful, who are earning more in the private sector. Those people can’t afford to work for that money. But there are successful people in the community who can do it on a part-time basis.”

If the proposal comes to fruition, St. Martinville will become the second Teche Area community in recent years to move to a part-time mayor/city administrator system. In 2019, Carol Bourgeois was sworn in as the first part-time mayor of Jeanerette.

The move to make the changes come amidst the tumultuous first term of Mayor Melinda Mitchell, who has been involved in a running battle with the council since her inauguration in 2018.

The proposal, as noted on the council’s agenda, would not take place until the new mayor and council took office in 2022. It would require amendments to the city’s special charter by way of an ordinance.

The notion of hiring a city administrator to handle day-to-day business and having the mayor in a part-time capacity has been discussed since before former Mayor Thomas Nelson’s last term in office, but has not been brought up for an official hearing before the council until now.

The mayor’s position had previously been a part-time position decades ago.

Prosper said that the initial proposal for term limits would allow for three terms maximum for council members and the mayor. Currently, that would preclude only Prosper, District 1 Councilman Mike Fuselier and District 3 Councilman Dennis Paul Williams from seeking new terms in 2026. The other two council members, District 4 Councilman Juma Johnson and District 5 Councilman Edmond Joseph, along with Mitchell, are serving their first full terms.

The council is also scheduled to go into executive session Monday night to take up a discussion of the issues at the Evangeline Mobile Home Park. That conversation had been scheduled for last month, but was tabled.

The St. Martinville City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the city council meeting room of city hall, 120 New Market St., St. Martinville.