AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – Three St. John Parish Council members will travel to Philadelphia later this week to meet with fellow council members from around the country as part of the National Association of Counties convention. Councilmen Allen St. Pierre, Lester Rainey Jr. and Cleveland Farlough will attend the five-day conclave in order to exchange ideas with others and sit in on classes designed to teach public officials ways to handle council, or parish, problems. St. Pierre, who has attended the annual convention in the past when he served on the council from 1984-87, did not attend last year. “You kind of learn what goes on nationally and attend various meetings that could be beneficial to your community,” St. Pierre said. St. Pierre added that he does not belong to any committees but he might volunteer for some at this year’s convention. “It’s very interesting. I plan on participating in meetings that could be beneficial to St. John Parish,” St. Pierre said. “I’ll be attending the drainage and environmental meetings, and I’ll see what my schedule will allow me to fit in. “Hopefully, I can come back and report what I find out to the whole council.” St. Pierre is scheduled to leave Thursday, arriving a day before the other two council members from St. John Parish. All three are scheduled to return July 18, the day following the end of the convention, said St. Pierre. Farlough said he is looking forward to attending his first National Association of Counties convention. “I’m going to Philadelphia, and I would like for people to know that I’m not charging the parish for my travel expenses. I made my own arrangements. But the parish will be picking up the tab for the hotel and the meals,” said Farlough. Farlough said whenever he attends any convention, he tries to go to the sessions that will benefit his parish. “What I do is I go to the sessions that have some impact on this council. When I look at the brochure, I look at the programs to see what they have that will help us,” he said. Employees at the council office said they did not know whether or not Parish President Nickie Monica would attend the convention. According to Chief Administrative Assistant Chris Guidry, Monica was considering attending depending on if he could get away for the few days. According to Audrey Millet, secretary for the parish council, no staff members were scheduled to attend the convention. The cost of the trips to the parish was not known, as the council members will be required to submit their expenses later for reimbursement, but Millet said the cost for all three councilmen to stay at a hotel would be $2,800. The council members will be staying at the Crown Plaza Hotel, located across from the center where the convention will be held. They will be staying at the same hotel where 16 representatives from St. Charles Parish will be staying. Registration for the convention was $385 for each representative. Meals and other expenses would come out of parish funds, but the total cost could not be ascertained at this time, according to Millet.