St. John the Baptist Parish Councilman Marvin “Butch” Perrilloux Jr. sits in a unique position when he gathers with his fellow board members.

The first-term District 4 representative is running unopposed in this month’s election, making him the only current Parish Council member guaranteed a leadership spot in 2016 and beyond.

The Council consists of representatives in District 1 through 7, as well as At Large positions in Divisions A and B.

Including Perrilloux, 23 candidates have qualified for the nine spots.

Some turnover is guaranteed, as incumbent Division A Councilman At Large Lucien J. Gauff III and District 7 Councilwoman Cheryl Millet are not seeking reelection to their seats — Gauff is running for tax assessor and Millet is vying for the St. John Parish Council At-Large Division B seat.

Millet’s run against fellow sitting Councilwoman Jaclyn Hotard, and District 5 Representative Michael P. Wright’s move to run for parish president and follow-up backtracking to seek Council reelection have added to a jumbled race not seen before by many in this parish.

“I’m a lifelong resident of St. John Parish, and this is the first time I have seen so many people enter the various races,” Perrilloux said. “I don’t know the reason. I don’t know if people want to get their feet wet, but I don’t know the reason. I don’t know these candidates; they’re young.”

Perrilloux did tell me this week acrimony between Parish Council members and Parish President Natalie Robottom contributed to negative feedback from residents.

The Parish Council called for two formal investigations into Robottom’s administrative practices this summer.

During a special-called meeting June 19, the sole agenda item listed was “Council investigation based on Attorney General findings and District Attorney recommendation.”

Robottom was not in attendance at the meeting, which began at 2 p.m. and was immediately called into executive session. At 3:24 p.m. the executive session ended, and the Council — with all district representatives present — unanimously voted to launch the investigations.

“The residents see from the outside, and I heard it — that we didn’t have a lot of communication or spirit of communication,” Perrilloux said.

“Like I always say, we have a Home Rule Charter. When you get elected to a position, everybody has to know their role. If you know your role, you will have no problems going forward to do the duties of running St. John Parish. But, you have to know your role.”

Following the first round of elections this month and the guaranteed runoffs next month, Perrilloux said his priority would be to gather a team of Council members to go to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Louisiana delegation and fight for money to construct the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Levee Project.

“Let’s do something,” Perrilloux said. “I’m looking to fight for that.”

The recommended plan includes construction of a $718 million levee system around the communities of Montz, LaPlace, Reserve and Garyville. The project would consist of approximately 18 miles of earthen levees and floodwalls, four floodgates, a drainage canal running parallel to the levee, a flood-side ditch to maintain hydraulic connectivity between wetlands north and south of the system, two drainage structures and four pump stations along the alignment.

Perrilloux said he is “150 percent sure” St. John’s elected leaders will get back on track with all projects next year.

“We’re going to pick them up and go full steam ahead with more projects,” he said. “We have like $70 million worth of projects on the books, and we’re going to see those come to pass.

“I know (the election) is a distraction. The day after it’s over, we’re going to meet and say it’s time to move this parish where it needs to be, where we can put St. John Parish on the map in Louisiana.”

Stephen Hemelt is publisher and editor of L’OBSERVATEUR. He can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.