By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

CONVENT – St. James Parish President Dale Hymel, who is leaving office in January, said he has spent the past few weeks working with Parish President-elect Timmy Roussel to ensure that the transition of power is smooth.

“I think the transition is going extremely well,” Hymel told the parish council at Wednesday’s meeting in Convent. “We meet about every other day, and he sits in on various meetings and discussions about ongoing projects.”

Roussel said the regular meetings with Hymel have offered a “good exchange of information” and that he and Hymel had accomplished a lot since the meetings began about four weeks ago.

“Everything I ask for when it comes to records or other paperwork within the office I get,” Roussel said. “We meet for about one to three hours a day and discuss something different each day.”

Roussel said he wants to make an immediate impact as parish president and said he will look to focus on improving government services from the inside out. As part of the transition, Roussel said he has spent time visiting with each in-parish department and meeting with individual employees to discuss their needs, their plans for the future and what they see as potential problems.

“I’ve almost got it all,” Roussel said. “I’m looking forward to getting going.”

Hymel said Roussel has been along with him during meetings with industry leaders in the parish including Nucor Corp., which is building a multi-phase steel and iron plant in Convent and NuStar Logistics, which is in the middle of a large expansion project at its petroleum tank farm facility on the west bank.

Roussel said he wants to work with industry leaders but also wants to make sure small businesses in the parish are getting the help they need. He also wants to work to address the unemployment rate in the parish, which has grown to 11 percent.

“We need to identify how this 11 percent is classified,” Roussel said. “I want to find out what our residents need to do to get involved in the jobs that are coming to this parish through the new industry. I think that it is important that these new industries hire locally.”

In addition to regular meetings, Hymel said Roussel is getting regular updates on the status of several ongoing projects in the works in the parish. He was also present for several discussions pertaining to the 2012 proposed budget, which was approved at Wednesday’s council meeting.

“I’m sure there will be challenges for him, but he will be ready,” Hymel said. “Timmy has been around the parish for a while, and he knows what it takes.”

Roussel is no stranger to public office within St. James Parish. He served 16 years as a parish councilman before vacating his seat in 2007 to run against Hymel for parish president, a race he lost by just 91 votes. Roussel also spent five years on the board of aldermen for the town of Lutcher.