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Mire granted 90 more days as Abbeville parks, rec director

Abbeville Council to continue looking at direction of departmen

As the end of 2016 approached, so did the deadline for the Abbeville City Council’s provisional hiring of Denise Mire as the director of the parks and recreation department.
The council named Mire to the position on a provisional basis last July after Trenton Baudoin resigned in the wake of an indictment on of sexual battery and child molestation.
Based on Civil Service rules, provisional hires are only allowed to serve for six months. Mire does not meet qualifications to be the permanent director.
The Abbeville City Council now has a little more time as it determines the direction of the department.
Mayor Mark Piazza announced during Tuesday’s regular council meeting that the Abbeville Municipal Civil Service Board informed him that it will grant Mire’s provisional hiring to go on for 90 more days. The Civil Service Board made that determination during an emergency meeting last week.
“Denise will be good until March 29,” Piazza said. “That gives us a little bit more time and more leeway to make some decisions on that position. The Civil Service Board was gracious enough to grant us an extension, because we had run out of time.”
Where the department goes from here remains up for discussion. Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. expressed had expressed interest in outsourcing the sports leagues, in a simliar fashion to how the Vermilion Football League runs under the city’s umbrella.
“Why have a director if we are going to outsource?,” Touchet said in December. “We may not (need) a director if we choose to outsource.”
Councilman Francis Plaisance said during the Dec. 20 meeting that he feels a director is needed, regardless of whether outside leagues handle various sports.
“Even if you outsource it,” Councilman-at-Large Francis Plaisance said, “in my opinion, you still need to have a director.
“We are not going to outsource every aspect of the department.”

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