Ricks, council compromise on director
LIVINGSTON — Parish President Layton Ricks on Monday retracted his recommendation to the Livingston Parish Council to hire Laurie Durnin as the parish’s new finance director.
Ricks said that while he still felt that Durnin was qualified to serve as finance director, he withdrew her name for consideration to show he is willing to work with the council and to move forward to address “more pressing matters.”
Following Ricks’ announcement, the council voted to approve a resolution calling on Durnin to “cease and desist from signing any more Livingston Parish checks.” The council also approved a resolution that calls for Councilman Marshall Harris to sign any checks, along with Ricks, until a finance director is nominated by Ricks and approved by the council.
All checks must have two signatures.
The council balked at approving Durnin’s permanent appointment at its January meeting because of questions about her authority to sign off on a check to an engineering firm that was issued shortly after Ricks became parish president in January.
Among Ricks’ first actions as parish president was to pay an outstanding bill of $435,000 to engineering firm Alvin Fairburn & Associates, his former employer, for work accomplished in planning for future parish road improvements. Durnin, as interim finance director, also signed the check that was subsequently cashed by the company.
Council President Cindy Wale commended Ricks for reaching out to the council in seeking a resolution to Durnin’s appointment.
“Mr. Ricks made some changes in his position and we should make some in our stance. We should all try to work together to help move this parish forward,” she said.
In other business Monday, the council:
LOT SIZE PROPOSAL: Councilman Jim Norred withdrew his proposed changes to the parish’s subdivision code, which would have required that residential lots be a minimum of 10,500 square feet with a frontage of at least 70 feet. He noted that the parish still has no master plan and no zoning code for unincorporated areas.
A long line of speakers disagreed with Norred’s proposal and said that today’s homebuyers cannot afford larger, more expensive lots.
PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR: The council approved the appointment of Sam Digirolamo to the position of director of public works/planning. Digirolamo was a member of the former Livingston Parish Police Jury. He said he is very familiar with the parish’s needs and assured the council that he could fill both areas of responsibility.