ST. MARY PARISH — Four members of the St. Mary Parish Fire Protection District No. 7 have resigned.
And now the parish has appointed an official with temporary leadership over the fire district.
St. Mary Parish President Sam Jones and the council accepted the four resignations at a special St. Mary Parish Government meeting on Tuesday.
They also announced due to an ordinance, temporary leadership of the fire district was appointed to Chief Administrative Officer Paul Governale.
This comes after four out of five District No. 7 members Chairman Myron J. Bourque, Lana Luke, David Picou and Bryan Roy resigned effectively and immediately, on June 12.
I requested the four resignation letters and all four mentioned they were stepping down, “due to the lack of cooperation within the municipality.”
According to Bourque, he alongside the other board members who resigned, felt that there was a conflict of interest between new member Andros Williams, who is also a volunteer at Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department.
He said he and Roy brought this to the attention of Jones and after no action was taken after three weeks, they resigned.
Roy said in the letter, “The Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department is treating the board as an open checkbook for their wants and not their needs."
And, "A lack of support from St. Mary Parish Council, which allows Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department to be accountable to no one and operate unethical.”
St. Mary Parish District 1 Councilman Rev. Craig A. Mathews said the resignations caught him off guard.
"That is quite alarming to me because it's the first time I've heard that type of allegation, which you know just reading that and my perception of it, if there's any validity to it, it is quite alarming,” Mathews said.
“My hope would've been that the commissioners that resigned would've come forward to the council with their concerns prior to taking this, what I consider drastic action.”
I reached out to the Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department Chief Gerald Price and Jones and have yet to hear back.
