By Megan Wyatt
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
LAFAYETTE — City leaders are considering increasing the salary of the Lafayette police chief and reopening applications after just five people applied for the appointed position.
City Council Member Kenneth Boudreaux on Tuesday proposed an amendment to the upcoming 2024-25 budget to increase the salary of the police chief from $135,880 to a range of $150,000 to $170,000. To fund the pay bump, Boudreaux proposed defunding the deputy police chief position, a newly created role for the upcoming fiscal year with a budgeted pay of $124,765.
Boudreaux said Lafayette’s pay is not competitive enough to attract a wide array of candidates. During a joint council meeting on Tuesday, Boudreaux shared police chief pay for other Louisiana cities to support his argument for the amendment:
— New Orleans: $337,000
— Baton Rouge: $165,000
— Shreveport: $230,000
— Lake Charles: $133,000
“The hope is that by adjusting this range that we will increase the applicants to assure that we get the best possible situation in Lafayette,” Boudreaux said. “This has been a discussion with the administration as well — the range — rather than locking it in, it gives them some negotiation ability.”
City Council Member Andy Naquin objected the proposed budget amendment, which will be voted on during a Sept. 12 special joint meeting of the City and Parish councils for final adoption of the budget.
Naquin said after the meeting that his objection will allow additional time for research and for Council member Liz Hebert, who was absent Tuesday, to chime in.
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“Something may come up that we need to find out more about along the way,” Naquin said. “But mostly it was courtesy to her. I haven’t done any digging. I haven’t been too concerned about it. I understand the position needing a pay raise.”
Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet promised a national search after former chief Judith Estorge stepped down from the appointed position in May. Applications received by the Aug. 9 deadline, however, have been exclusively from south Louisiana residents.
After Tuesday’s council meetings, Boulet said her administration is actively negotiating a contract with the Police Executive Research Forum to try to cast a wider net of candidates.
“I do think we have good candidates,” Boulet said. “I don’t want to reflect negatively, but I do want it to be an honest search, and I want to open it up nationwide.”
Applications received as of Aug. 9 include:
— Dorian R. Brabham, a sergeant with the Lafayette Police Department
— Dana T. Coleman, the former Houma police chief
— Herbert Dobler, former attorney for the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office
— LeJon M. Roberts, a captain and commander for the New Orleans Police Department
— Paul A. Trouard, the interim Lafayette police chief
Rachel Godeaux, Boulet’s chief administrative officer, is leading the search effort for the next police chief.
Godeaux said she reached out to the state on Tuesday to ask about the possibility of reopening applications for the position. That process will likely push back the timeline for selecting a new police chief, which initially had been set to take place by Jan. 1.
The Office of State Examiner had not yet scheduled a date for applicants to take the civil service test.
Estorge, who was appointed police chief in October 2022 by former Mayor-President Josh Guillory , announced her resignation in May. She was the sixth person to hold the position since 2020.
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