The New Planning & Zoning Commission

On December 19, 2011 the lame duck Ascension Parish Council fired all nine Planning & Zoning Commissioners and reduced the board to seven members with terms of one and two years.  Seven new members were appointed on February 8th by the Council:  Morrie Bishop, Robert Burgess, Jackie Calendar, Gasper Chifici, Paul Nizzo, Joshua Ory, Donald Songy.  Donald Songy was chosen as the Vice Chairman at the February 15th meeting, but no Chairman was chosen.  Mr. Burgess was absent and the Commission wanted to put him as chair.  At the March 14th meeting, Robert Burgess was seated and unanimously chosen as the chairman.


Placed on the March agenda for both the Planning and Zoning Commissions was a discussion to eliminate all subcommittees.  At the recommendation of Planning Director, Ricky Compton, all but two of the Commission were ready to eliminate subcommittees.
Because Robert's Rules of Order does not allow action on an agenda item up for discussion, no action was taken at this meeting.  It appears that all work will be done at the regular meetings on the second Wednesday of the month.  The present by-laws of the Commissions do designate two standing committees:  Subdivision Ordinance subcommittee and the Zoning subcommittee.  The previous Commission also had a Bylaws Subcommittee and a Master Plan subcommittee.


Most public bodies use subcommittees to do their work.  This allows for more discussion and additional public input in these meetings. Citizens need to follow the work of the new Commission carefully.


Planning staff has begun work on the Master Transportation Plan.  Each road in the parish will be placed in a category with specifications.  The concept of complete streets with sidewalks and biking paths is included and requires more right of way.  
Complete Streets were presented in the proposed Master Plan that was rejected by the public. Hwy. 42 is presently being redesigned as a complete street. 


The Commission will be addressing the Master Transportation Plan in upcoming meetings. Parish administration are discussing a half cent sales tax to be placed on the November ballot for roads.

The New Ascension Parish Council

Parish redistricting was completed and accepted by the courts in August 2011. Multiple candidates qualified in many of the Parish Council races in September.

Members of Concerned Citizens actively participated in many of these races. All races were decided on October 22nd except the Council District 4 seat, which had a run-off on November 19th. Because four councilmen ran unopposed, there were only seven races. It is encouraging to have four new councilmembers. The following are the members of the Ascension Parish Council which were sworn in on January 2nd for a four year term:

Council District 1 Oliver Joseph

Council District 2 Kent Schexnaydre

Council District 3 Travis Turner (new member)

Council District 4 Dan "Doc" Satterlee (new member)

Council District 5 Dempsey Lambert

Council District 6 Randy Clouatre (ran unopposed)

Council District 7 Chris Loar (ran unopposed)

Council District 8 Terri Casso (new member)

Council District 9 Todd Lambert (ran unopposed)

Council District 10 Bryan Melancon (new member)

Council District 11 Benny Johnson (ran unopposed)

Concerned citizens will continue to follow the Council and are hopeful that they will strive to put the community first in all decisions.

The first scheduled meeting will be this coming Thursday, January 5th, at 6:00 p.m. in Donaldsonville.

All Members of the Planning & Zoning Commission Removed

The outgoing Ascension Parish Council acted out of the ordinary at their last meeting on December 1st by introducing an ordinance to remove all nine existing members of the Planning & Zoning Commission, to reduce the Commission to 5 members and to set their terms. The agenda did not list the person who proposed the ordinance, but sources inside the government have verified that Parish President Martinez was behind the removal and reduction of members. This move came after a decision by the Planning & Zoning Commission on October 13th calling for an investigation of the Martinez administration, the planning staff and at least one commissioner for actions which were possibly unethical or criminal in nature. That investigation though not mentioned by the local media is still ongoing.

Although a newspaper article stated the reason for the ordinance would be explained by the parish president, Mr. Martinez did not speak about the ordinance at the introduction or at its passage on December 19th. The final ordinance passed differed from the original proposal:

1. Commissioners were removed immediately instead of serving until new members were appointed.

2. The original reduction of nine (9) members to five (5) was increased to seven (7).

3. The terms proposed were three (3) with 2 yr. terms and two (2) with 4 year terms, thereafter all serving 4 year terms. The final version was three (3) with 1 year terms and four with 2 year terms, thereafter each member shall serve a 2 year term.