New Avoyelles Assessor takes oath of office
After a 14-month wait, Avoyelles Assessor Heath Pastor (center) took the oath of office during a formal ceremony in 12th Judicial District Court on Jan. 13. District Judge Kerry Spruill (left) administered the oath as Pastor’s family (from left) -- wife Angie, son Kannon and daughter Emma -- stood beside him. Pastor was elected to the office in October 2015, but due to the way taxes are administered the assessor’s term begins more than a year after the election. {Photo by Raymond L. Daye}
Heath Pastor sworn in as Avoyelles assessor
A journey that started two years ago finally ended when Heath Pastor of Bordelonville was able to take the oath of office as Avoyelles tax assessor.
Pastor, who served as chief deputy assessor under Emeric Dupuy since 2001, defeated Cottonport Mayor Scotty Scott in October 2015 to succeed Dupuy.
All other winners in the fall 2015 elections -- from the governor on down to local officials -- began their terms on Jan. 1, 2016. However, the assessor must wait a year -- a full tax cycle -- before the new term begins.
For Dupuy, that meant he had to wait another year before retiring.
For Pastor, he remained in his office as chief deputy assessor counting the days before he could move into the top office.
Pastor said the opportunity to serve the parish as its assessor is worth the wait.
Although he started his term on Jan. 1, Pastor delayed his official swearing-in ceremony for a few weeks to enable family members to fly in from out of state to share the event with him.
Pastor said he is proud of the modernization efforts that occurred in the Assessor’s Office over the past 16 years and promised to continue updating the office to become more efficient and better serve the public. Records are now accessible by computer instead of requiring someone to track down and read through paper documents.
Dupuy told those in attendance that he also had a 14-month wait before he could begin his tenure as assessor.
He said he was elected in Oct. 1999 and took office in January 2001. He spent those months preparing to take office, and one of his major decisions was in finding a chief deputy.
He said he was fortunate to convince Pastor to take the job.
Pastor recalled that job offer as Dupuy telling him he didn’t know what he could pay and wasn’t really sure what the chief deputy would have to do.
“He said he didn’t even know for sure what he was supposed to do,” Pastor said with a laugh.
“At that point, it wasn’t looking too good,” he continued. “Then he said we would learn together and would do it the right way.”
Pastor named Taylor Riche of Evergreen to be his chief deputy assessor.
Pastor said he felt good about the job after that and is grateful for the opportunity Dupuy gave him to work for the public in the assessor’s office.