Abbeville Council to interview five for parks, rec director

There will likely be a new director of the Abbeville Parks and Recreation Department by this time next week.
The Abbeville City Council will interview five finalists prior to next Tuesday’s regular council meeting.
The five finalists come from a list of 27 original applicants. Fourteen of those applicants, including the finalists, went through the testing process with the city.
“Our civil service director has graded those tests and has certified a list,” Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said Tuesday morning.
The five finalists are Trenton Baudoin of Abbeville, Clifton Francis of Carencro, Demetrius Trey Hopson of Gautier, Miss., Starya Moore of
Abbeville, and Donald Wood of Anniston, Ala.
The new director will be the third the city has hired since February 2012. When the council hired Jerry Martinez in ‘12 and then Jerry Smith last October, it did so under civil service guidelines that included requiring the hire to have a college degree in the field of parks and recreation. That requirement has since changed.
“We will be hiring under the new civil service guidelines,” Piazza said. “A college degree is preferred. The degree can be in any subject. It does not have to be in recreation.”
While preferred, the degree is not required.
“We can also consider experience in a recreation related field in lieu of a college degree,” Piazza explained.
That allows a wider range from which the council can select a new hire.
“It gives so many more options,” Piazza said. “Our hands were tied in the past if someone didn’t have a college degree in recreation. They couldn’t even be considered. Many of the ones who had degrees did not have experience.
“The council and I felt that the experience was as important, if not more so, than the degree.”
Timing plays into next week’s interviews with the start of the city’s rec basketball league on the horizon.
“That will start in October,” Piazza said.
The city conducted baseball at track programs during the summer after the council did not grant Smith permanent status after his six-month probational period ended in April. The Vermilion Football League is currently in its season.
“The track program was well organized,” Piazza said. “Baseball had its ups and downs. The fact that we had a baseball season is a success, thanks to the help of several volunteers. We are very fortunate that we had those volunteers to help come in an put it all together.”
As far as the new hire, he or she will not have to move forward alone.
“We have re-established the parks and recreation board,” Piazza said. “They are meeting on a regular basis and have spent a lot of time at the parks. That is a good thing and important for the rec department.”
The board is comprised of Anita Levy, who serves as the chairperson, James LeBlanc, Chuck Sonnier, Ricky Frederick and Lawrence Williams.
“We have good, active board members.”