The Ascension Parish Council could become the first government in Louisiana to hire a city or parish manager if a grassroots coalition of business and community leaders has its way.
A Better Ascension has spent the past few months drumming up support for their plan—which voters must approve—to replace the parish president with a hired parish manager.
The current form of government is fiscally inefficient and, at times, poorly managed, say members of the coalition.
“What has driven this group is that we want to see efficiency in our local government, and when it’s all over none of us want to run for office,” says John Scanlan, CEO of EATEL, a fourth-generation telecommunications company based in Ascension Parish. “We have seen years and years of a lack of professional management, and we need to do better.”
To get the measure before voters, A Better Ascension needs supermajority approval from the parish council. If successful, voters could get their say as early as March, says J. Hudson, co-founder of 3 Strategies, the Baton Rouge political consulting firm helping A Better Ascension craft its message.
A growing number of counties and cities have adopted the manager-council form of government, according to the International City/County Management Association, with ICMA surveys indicating its use has grown from 48% in 1996 to 55% in 2006.
Under the manager-council structure, the Ascension Parish Council would be responsible for hiring the parish manager, a paid professional held accountable for executing the parish’s stated goals.
A Better Ascension is recommending those goals be spelled out in a three-year rolling budget approved by the council. The parish manager must hold a Master of Public Administration or MBA and have at least five years of experience working in local government. If the city manager fails to get the job done, the individual can be replaced by a supermajority of the parish council.
“When we can make our case to people about the benefits of a system of like this, they can’t find much wrong with it,” says Brandon Trosclair, co-owner of Gonzales-based Ralph’s Market. “The biggest challenge is educating people, since this really doesn’t exist yet in Louisiana.”
