By Bridget Mire Staff Writer @ Daily Comet. Posted at the Daily Comet website.
A Thibodaux attorney is among five recipients of this year’s Monte M. Lemann Award, which the Louisiana Civil Service League will present Thursday in New Orleans.
Nicholas Zeringue has held all offices in the Lafourche Parish Bar Association, including two terms as president. The association nominated him to the Thibodaux Civil Service Board in 2008, and he became vice chairman in 2010.
He has been chairman of the board since 2013.
Zeringue said it’s an honor to serve in his position, but Civil Service Director Kelly Chighizola and Mayor Tommy Eschete have made it easy. He also credits his fellow board members with stepping up when he can’t make a meeting because of his law practice or other duties.
“Since Kelly came on board, he does most of the heavy lifting,” Zeringue said. “Our function is to ensure that the employees are treated fairly, but this administration has been very fair with the employees as well. We haven’t had much to do. I think (Eschete) goes above and beyond. Even though sometimes his interests have been different, he still is fair.”
According to the Civil Service League executive vice president, Dan Sullivan, Lemann Award winners must be outside the classified civil service system but have contributed to the advancement of the public employment merit system. The award was named after “a staunch defender of the merit civil service law in its formative years.”
Zeringue said the biggest achievement since he’s been on the Civil Service Board has been working with a consulting group to revamp the pay structure to allow merit-based raises.
“It incentivized the employees in many cases who otherwise would have been capped out,” he said. “It took a lot of time and effort to do that, and we did have to consider a lot of individual cases that were kind of anomalies.”
A 1997 Tulane University Law School graduate, Zeringue has also been certified through the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council since 2011 and is currently a reserve officer with a commission in Assumption Parish.
He said he initially thought about representing law enforcement agencies, but although they haven’t become his clientele, he learned a lot being POST-certified.
“I can’t say I’m an experienced law enforcement officer, but I did get to know a lot of career law enforcement officers who trained me,” he said. “It’s helped me because I know some of what they go through. I know how tough their job is and how demanding. … I think they know that I’ll at least give them a fair shake.”
However, he emphasized that he wouldn’t make an unfair decision on behalf of law enforcement or treat them better than other civil service employees.
Chighizola nominated Zeringue for the Lemann Award. He praised Zeringue’s ability to work well with others, including the mayor, and said his experience as an attorney has also been an asset.
“That Civil Service Board position is a volunteer position, and he has gone above and beyond in his dedication,” Chighizola said. “He has put a lot of time and effort into the position. … Being an attorney, time is money, but that has never been an issue for him. I can call on him anytime, drop by his office anytime, and he’s always made time for me and the city of Thibodaux.”
Read the full article at the Daily Comet.
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