The Breakdown: Jefferson Parish voters to decide on Home Rule Charter amendment [Video]

HARAHAN, La. — In your Ballot Box Breakdown: Jefferson Parish Voters will be asked to decide on a possible Home Rule Charter amendment this election, which deals with the administrative organization of the parish.

First, some background:

The Parish has a few categories of employees.

“Classified employees” make up most parish government jobs. Their appointments, promotions, and firings are outlined by a specific set of rules.

Some of those classified employees are considered “special non-competitive limited term” (or SNCLT) employees. They work in parish councilmembers’ offices or the parish president’s office. They are hired at-will, but protected from dismissal until the end of the elected official’s term.

There are also “unclassified employees” – known sometimes as ‘at-will’ employees – like the Chiefs of Staff and administrative aides, who are subject to more traditional hiring and firing rules than classified employees.

The amendment on the ballot seeks to convert those “special non-competitive …