Westwego Mayor Johnny Shaddinger said city picks up where Jefferson Council on Aging left off.
Westwego Mayor Johnny Shaddinger said Monday he's making plans to continue the city's senior citizens programs in the wake of its split from Jefferson Council for Aging. The JCOA announced in May it would not renew a five-year agreement it had with the city to provide meals and services at the city's Ernest J. Tassin Senior Center, where Shaddinger said 50 to 60 Westwego senior citizens participate in various programs.
The split, effective July 1, has been somewhat contentious, with JCOA accusing Shaddinger of being uncooperative, a charge he denies. Since July 1, Westwego senior citizens have reported being turned away from recreational activities at the JCOA's center in Bridge City. Shaddinger said seniors were asked to not go to the Bridge City center in Westwego city vehicles.
The latter allegation led Jefferson Parish Attorney Deborah Foshee to write a letter to the JCOA's executive director, Al Robichaux, on Friday (July 12), telling the JCOA to stop the "discriminatory behavior." The parish government provides more than $900,000 to the JCOA annually, about half of which is proceeds from a millage, she wrote.
"The parish will not tolerate discrimination against its senior citizens" Foshee wrote. "This behavior must stop immediately."
Westwego City Attorney Joel Levy said that after Foshee wrote the letter, the JCOA apparently posted a message on its web site, welcoming Westwego seniors to its Bridge City senior center.
Westwego Mayor Johnny Shaddinger "We're moving on," Shaddinger said following a 20-minute City Council special meeting Monday evening. "At the end of the day, I believe our senior citizens will be well served."
The three City Council members who attended Monday's special meeting, Johnny Nobles Jr., Norman Fonseca and Garrison "Gary" Toups, authorized Shaddinger to seek telephone and Internet services for the Tassin center. The JOCA used to pay those bills for Westwego. "They basically say they want the phones back," Shaddinger said.
Westwego spends about $240,000 on its senior citizens programs, and the lion's share comes from the city's general fund. The city also dedicates 5 percent of traffic fine revenues to senior programs, Shaddinger said. The JCOA provided the city with about $40,000, but after Westwego paid some costs, such as a driver to deliver meals, the city's financial pinch will be minimal, Shaddinger said.
The Jefferson Parish Council, through Councilman Paul Johnson, will provide $22,000 annually for two years to Westwego's senior programs, Shaddinger said.
On a separate front, Shaddinger said he will seek to have his senior programs coordinator to become a salaried position instead of one that pays hourly. This, after his appointed coordinator Ted Bergeron ran up more than 700 hours of comp time over 20 months. State law caps comp time at 240 hours per year.
Shaddinger said the city has paid $7,600 to Bergeron's for comp time. Bergeron will be paid $14.05 per hour once a 2-percent raise is factored in at the end of the month. He has not provided a proposed salary, Shaddinger said. The mayor has not recommended an annual salary.
"So this really comes down to us adjusting his pay in an effort to eliminate his overtime and comp time, or asking him to spend less time at the senior center," Shaddinger told the council.
In an unrelated matter, Nobles introduced an ordinance Monday evening that would lift a moratorium on new permits or licenses for new airboat tour companies in Westwego. The city enacted the moratorium in July 2005, in hopes of heading off problems residents in Lafitte and Crown Point were experiencing with airboat operators, said Shaddinger, who was newly elected City Council member at the time.
Todd Vinet of Mandeville, who owns Ultimate Swamp Adventures, asked the City Council last week for a permit to open a business in the city that would include airboat tours in the swamps just minutes from Westwego. His business plan includes a museum and restaurant.
"That restaurant really has me excited," Nobles said.
Saying it's economic development for the city, Shaddinger said Vinet would use an empty restaurant on Louisiana Street. Toups said the airboats would be berthed on the Company Canal, and their operators would not open their engines full throttle - when they're the loudest - until the boats are away from residential areas.
By introducing the ordinance Monday night, the council can consider it for vote during its Aug. 12 meeting, Nobles said