A clarification of procedure at Monday’s Jeanerette Board of Aldermen meeting led to a dispute between board members and the mayor.

Alderwoman Mariah Clay, the newly elected alderwoman for District 1, asked Mayor Carol Bourgeois Jr. about the procedure for getting an agenda item submitted for the meeting. After Bourgeois said that the mayor determines the agenda, legal counsel Lucretia Pecantte disputed that claim.

“If you submit an item four days prior to the scheduled meeting, you have procedures in place,” Pecantte said. “You don’t need the mayor’s approval; he sets the agenda and if an alderman wants something on the agenda, he can’t remove it.”

Jeanerette operates under a special charter that has bylaws specific to the municipality. When Bourgeois said that his understanding of the rules came from predecessors and observing other municipalities, Pecantte said other towns’ rules don’t apply because many of them are governed by the Lawrason Act.

“Had we been Lawrason, that’s another ball game,” Pecantte said. “We’re a special charter. It comes down to the fact that if your ordinance provides a way to put things on the agenda, it cannot be denied.”

The issue emerged after Clay sought a discussion on a Jeanerette Police Department matter during the meeting. However, Bourgeois said he had already talked to the police chief, who did not want the matter on the agenda.

Clay, however, said that wasn’t true.

The issue mounted when the agenda was expanded to allow the board to vote on a liquor license approval for a Dollar Store in town. Pecantte said that even that expansion could be a violation because the charter only allows for expansion in cases of extreme need.

Bourgeois took issue with allowing any requested agenda item to be put on the agenda.

“Anything under the sun that will be presented, I am supposed to allow it to go forward? I find that preposterous,” the mayor said.

“If we as a council can’t get something on the agenda that you consider (preposterous), that’s just wrong,” Board member Ray Duplechain said. “We should be able to get something on that agenda. We are elected councilmen.”

“I am not the issue, all we’re trying to do is take care of the city’s business and go forward,” Bourgeois responded.