AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – Two of the three members of the St. John the Baptist Parish Council who recently attended the National Association of Counties Convention in Philadelphia said they returned with information that will benefit the parish as a whole. Councilmen Allen St. Pierre, Cleveland Farlough and Lester Rainey Jr. were the only members of the council to attend, arriving in Pennsylvania July 13 and returning July 18. St. Pierre, who was attending a seminar Tuesday on safe drinking water in Monroe, said the seminar was “very gainful concerning state regulations pertaining to water.” But, from the National Association of Counties convention, he said he would like to join committees at the national level to be more involved in what is going on nationwide and at the convention itself. “I thought it was very nice,” he said about the convention. “But, unless you are a committeeman on the national level, you’re just a regular meeting member. Those on committees, subcommittees and steering committees all meet beforehand. Then we meet. You do get a lot out of it, but more if you’re on a committee. “The key to a national convention is to belong to a committee ahead of time.” St. Pierre said he wants to become more active and is in the process of filling out forms in hopes of joining a committee or two. He said he is most interested in serving on environmental, drainage, roads or welfare committees. “I would choose something that would have more impact. When you are on a committee you attend conferences and set yourself up for knowing what the rest of the country is doing,” he said. The seminar in Monroe also proved to be beneficial, he said. “It was about regulations on how to run an effective system, the responsibilities of public officials to protect the environment and answer to the people,” he said. Next year’s national conference is scheduled to be held in New Orleans, which St. Pierre said will be convenient for the parish’s council members. “I’m hoping I will fill the obligations and be on a committee then. I would be more than glad to serve on one or two, whichever would be available,” he said. Farlough said he found the national conference interesting because the committees discussed drainage and sewage. “All the things we’re always talking about here,” he said. According to Farlough, the conference dealt with the kind of problems that counties and parishes face throughout the country. He, too, would like to join a committee, he said. “I plan to look into getting on one, because there are some interesting ones out there,” he said.