(November 2023) Phase I of St. Francis Parkway extends roadway from Heritage Crossing westward to Darla Ave.
A unanimous Gonzales City Council appropriated $3.4 million in road construction monies last night, the allocation earmarked to build a connection from St. Francis Parkway for rear access to St. Elizabeth Hospital on Hwy 30. Fleet and Fire Department requests were also approved bringing the total close to $4 million. The appropriation followed Councilman Kirk Boudreaux’s motion to amend the Capital Outlay budget on August 11, the five-term member offering the amendment without foreknowledge of Mayor Tim Riley’s administration.
It was not the last time (nor the first) Boudreaux waited until the meeting to do so. He did it again on August 25, twice. The first was introduction of an ordinance prohibiting employment of anyone unable to be insured. That ordinance was approved unanimously on Monday.
The second was Boudreaux’s motion to amend Mayor Riley’s proposed General Fund Budget…
Councilman Boudreaux’s August 25 General Fund Budget Amendment
The council adopt the General Fund Budget with Boudreaux’s amendment in a 4-1 vote on August 25. The “Pages” referenced in the motion list employment positions in various departments funded by the General Fund.
- Fire Department
- Police Department
- Administration
- Planning & Development (Code Enforcement)
- Sanitation
- Streets and Drainage
- General Government
- Recreation
- Buildings and Grounds
Mayor Riley “signed the budget ordinance, as amended by Mr. Boudreaux’s motion” after the City Clerk signed it. Insufficient, according to Boudreaux and two more council members (Tyler Turner and Terri Lambert) who declined to approve the August 25 Regular Meeting minutes last night. Approval of minutes, as perfunctory as any governing authority function could be in normal times, seems beyond the capabilities of the current Gonzales Council majority.
“Preparation of the minutes was done in keeping with common practice going back decades, attaching the signed budget ordinance summary without including the entire budget,” explained Chief of Staff Wade Petite. “All twelve pages of Councilman Boudreaux’s August 25 amendment were numbered and attached to Mayor Riley’s General Fund ordinance in the Book of Ordinances, precisely as the amendment directed.”
The “pages” were not included in the minutes “because they are only minutes, not a full-blown transcript of the meeting.”
Boudreaux and Terri Lambert insisted that the minutes did not accurately capture the former’s amending motion because (to paraphrase Lambert) the amounts did not change in the budget itself.
“That’s because Councilman Boudreaux’s amendment did not direct the alteration of a single line item in the General Fund Budget,” Mayor Riley countered. “All the amendment called for was the ‘adding’ of twelve pages, ‘to be included in the proposed budget.’ That is exactly what was done, and it’s time to move on.”
It seems doubtful that three council members share that sentiment.
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