The Chataignier Village Council at Monday’s meeting hired a new police officer on a probationary basis and approved the purchase of new tires for its police unit.
Both items were added to the agenda upon the recommendation of Police Chief Clint Brasseaux.
Brasseaux suggested the hiring of Caleb Aymond “to reward him for all the good work that he’s been doing for free.”
Aymond had been a volunteer officer for the village for about the past eight months.
The recommendation at first drew concerns from Mayor Jackie Thomas Malveaux, who commented, “the funding for the village compared to where we were last year at this time is not quite up to par.”
She continued, “We do value the volunteer work that Caleb has been doing. It’s just, as of right now, we have to be aware of the funds that we do have available for the community. We have to have the money to distribute among all of our bills and things we actually have to do.”
Chief Brasseaux responded to the mayor’s concerns, “I just know the money that we bring in without him will be a lot less than with him. He’s been patrolling and writing most of the tickets. He’s been coming out in the middle of the night to help us out, and he’s done a lot when I’m not in town. He’s been an asset to the police department and to the community, in my opinion.”
Wanting to make the decision as a team, the mayor encouraged the council members to state their positions on the issue.
“(Caleb)’s bringing in enough revenue to pay his own way, so I’m good with hiring him,” said Councilman J.B. Brasseaux.
Councilman Joseph Simien asked how much revenue Aymond is bringing into the village. The village clerk replied that he is bringing in the majority.
Village administrator Gail McDavid, who is also a police officer for the village, said, “Sixteen tickets, if the people are forced to pay them, is going to be somewhere between 16 and 25 hundred dollars depending on how many violations is on each ticket. So, if you don’t put Caleb on, then you’re going to lose more than half of that because he’s writing more than I am.”
He added, “ I can’t see throwing away $1500.00 a month because you don’t want to put up $300.00 or $450.00 or whatever it costs you to do it.”
At first, Councilwoman Debra Fontenot expressed her reservations until the chief suggested paying Aymond $300.00 a month and putting him on a 90-day probation period.
“I know Caleb has been doing his job because I see him at night when I’m leaving on a job,” said Councilman Simien. “If we have the money in the budget to cover the $300.00 per month for the 90-day probation, then we should go ahead and hire him. He’s bringing in the revenue. I don’t have a problem with it.”
The council voted 3-0 to hire Aymond.
The council also voted 3-0 to purchase the new tires for the unit. McDavid stated that the tires “are high performance tires made especially for police cars.” He added, “I did some checking around to see if I could find some type of assistance, and the State has a program that will aid police departments in the purchase of new tires.”
McDavid also stated that Conoco in Eunice is approved by the state and will charge the village $596.28 for a new set of tires that is “mounted, balanced, and ready to go.”
The Conoco station will file with the state, according to McDavid, for the remainder of the amount for the tires.
The council also set the date for the Christmas parade as December 9, 2018, at 3:00 p.m. and approved the nomination of Dorothy Jack as parade marshal.
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TONY MARKS Associate Editor