After two tries, Erath has not named a new fire chief

ERATH – The town of Erath still has not chosen a new fire chief after two attempts.
The town’s ordinance says the Erath mayor must submit one of three candidates for fire chief.
Volunteer firefighters give the mayor two names, and honorary volunteer firefighters submit one name as well.
After the mayor submits a name, the aldermen vote on that nomination. If they do not approve the choice, the mayor is expected to submit another name, or so the aldermen believed.
At the Erath council meeting in December, Mayor Taylor Mencacci submitted the name of former Abbeville Fire Chief Jude Mire for the Erath fire chief job.
Mire recently retired from the Abbeville Fire Department after 36 years. He also volunteers with the Erath Fire Department.
Even with his experience, the council voted 3-2 against hiring Mire as the new chief.
At the January meeting on Monday, the selection of a new fire chief was again on the agenda.
Once again, Mayor Mencacci submitted a name. This time, it was Jude Mire—the same candidate the aldermen rejected last month.
After the mayor submitted Mire’s name, Alderman Jason Connor, who had voted against Mire last month, asked the mayor why he was submitting the same name the council had already rejected four weeks earlier.
“Last meeting, you submitted the name, Mr. Mire, and we voted it down,” said Connor. “In this meeting, you submitted the same name. Are you expecting a different vote?”
Connor then asked Mayor Mencacci what would happen if the aldermen voted down Mire’s name for a second time.
“Do we go to the next name, as the ordinance says?” Connor asked.
Marlene Menard, a retired attorney, stood up in the audience and read the ordinance to Mayor Mencacci. She read from her phone that if the council votes down the name or there is a tie, the mayor “shall” submit another nominee from the list.
“Am I correct?” asked Menard.
City attorney Bart Broussard was not at the meeting, so he could not clarify the next step based on Menard’s reading of the ordinance.
Mayor Mencacci looked for a printed copy of the ordinance. After about 15 minutes of reviewing it, he suggested the aldermen table the issue until Attorney Bart Broussard could give his opinion on the next step.
The motion passed 5-0, and the aldermen are expected to vote again on Feb. 10.