Town Talk Church Point
Town Talk Church Point
Honoring Errol "Slu" Comeaux: Reflections on A Life of Community Service and Leadership in Church Point
Today we gather in remembrance of Errol "Slu" Comeaux, a man whose very name was etched into the heart of Church Point. With a heavy heart, we recount the narrative of his fifty-three years charting the course of high school football as its dedicated statistician, and his unwavering thirty-two years in public office. As we discuss his admirable journey, including the momentous time spent as mayor pro tem, we also ponder the future of District 5, now that Jerome Landry steps into the interim councilman role, leading to a pivotal special election come November.
The echoes of Slu's contributions reverberate through Church Point, a testament to a life spent in service to others. This episode is a mosaic of the memories and the indelible marks he left on our town's soul—his meticulous attendance at events, his precision in statistics, and the warmth he extended to every corner of our lives. Join us as we embrace the ethos of a man who was not just a community leader but a beacon of hometown pride, and discover how our mayor, along with other voices in our town, encapsulates the poignant void sleww's departure leaves in our collective spirit.
We're back again another episode of the Town Talk podcast.
Speaker 2:It's been a little while, been a while, kate, and it's 100% my fault.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, I know you've been busy Mayor. You've been handling a lot of things and juggling a lot of things.
Speaker 2:Well, this is the time of year where my personal businesses I work there at night and do this there today so I'm burning the candle at both ends, but it was time to get back to it. So here we are.
Speaker 1:Now we have a couple things that we want to talk about today and we're going to record a couple episodes, yeah, but obviously you know the one thing, and we want to do it on this episode here, and that is the legendary Errol Slucomo who we lost a week and a half ago. And a guy man, I dare to say the ambassador of Church Point. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:or not, yeah big time.
Speaker 1:I mean any civic event. He was there to help any. I mean, how long has he been helping the Church Point High football team? As a statistician, 53 years and then being a councilman for the town of Church Point, that has to be almost 50 years too.
Speaker 2:No, it was 88. 88. Yep. He won every election and then he ran one for mayor. So he had to sit, sit out for four years, but he did 32 years of service. The lma had gave him an award for 30 years. But I'll tell you and that's what the people in church point never seen is him at a lma conference. That's the municipal conference like I was walking with him. It felt like I was walking with George Street Everybody knew him.
Speaker 2:Dude, I'm telling you, like the mayor of Grand Isle was like, I'm like what?
Speaker 1:You're walking with greatness.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean, and he accepted that award. I mean he had a good time doing it, you know. But you know, and I've said this before, there'll never be another person as dedicated. There may be some that are dedicated, but not like him. There wasn't a night that he wasn't at American Legion, Knights of Columbus, everything that you can imagine. He was there. I mean, when they would call me the night before for an interview at 6 am, I wasn't doing that. Call a slew, I'll get it. He was ready and raring to go and, like I said, he was so dedicated to this town I could have said you know, I'm rolling to Houston for something, I'm coming. He was ready.
Speaker 1:Houston for something I'm coming. He was ready Now. Not only was he a servant for the town of Church Point as a councilman since 1988, but he was also the current mayor, pro tem right. Yes.
Speaker 2:We had got him as the mayor pro tem my first year in 2019. And I think that was the first time he had had that position.
Speaker 1:If there's somebody listening to the podcast. What exactly is a Mayor Pro Tem? What do they do?
Speaker 2:That's the guy that in case I, he's the vice president, kind of in a to where the people understand, like if I were to pass he would have taken over duties until an appointment was made, or something like that. Or if I would ever go underneath anesthesia he would have to have been ready. Kind of stuff like that, just kind of in case and like I'd missed a couple of meetings. I had some things to do and he presided over the meeting, stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Do all the mayors like? Have we always had a mayor pro tem?
Speaker 2:Yes, so you have to have that as part of the administration. Exactly, yeah.
Speaker 1:Now we had the April town council meeting, and so now we have a new mayor pro tem and we also have, for right now, an interim councilman for District 5.
Speaker 2:You want to talk?
Speaker 1:a little bit about that and that whole process.
Speaker 2:Mr Dale Wimberly was voted as the mayor pro tem. The new mayor pro tem and the District 5 councilor was voted on to be Jerome Landry. Good guy, young guy. I think he's ready to learn, you know, and I think he's ready for the task, you know. But that's the hardest part of it is when something like this happens and it feels to me almost callous. But the state of Louisiana gives you 20 days to have a replacement and deliver to them. So While you're mourning, you have to move on.
Speaker 2:And it sucks. I mean, I'm going to be honest with you.
Speaker 1:Let's face it, and this is nothing against Jerome. Jerome's a good guy. All the other council members, past and present. I don't know if we're going to see another slew.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I really don't know if we will. Man, I don't think ever.
Speaker 1:I mean 50 years, Somebody better get a jump start right now 50 years of service, that's a long time, man, I mean. And when it comes to having that interim councilman in District 5, which was Sluice District. So now it will be held by Jerome as an interim and then a special election will also have to happen Is that something you can talk about too.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're delivering the paperwork tomorrow. I have to hand deliver it in Baton Rouge and then that will be put on the election for the presidential primary, which is, I think, november 5th. The sign-up is going to be in July. So what it is is Jerome's going to take the interim and then he's going to decide in July. If so, what it is is Jerome's going to take the interim and then he's going to decide in July if he'd like to continue and he'd sign up or whoever sign up, and then it's a regular election. It would be just like any normal election.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and then in two and a half years they would run again. Okay it just. When you're 18 months or less, the person takes the position and keeps it until the next election. But when it's 18 months or more to the next election, you have to have a special election.
Speaker 1:So it just depends on how it happens and the time lapse of it, yeah. So, yeah, I mean that's pretty interesting stuff. I mean obviously it's probably something that you didn't think you'd have to deal with. No, I mean obviously, and I was something that you didn't think you'd have to deal with.
Speaker 2:No, I mean obviously, and I was hoping I didn't have to deal with and that was a huge learning curve. Because you're talking I mean you're trying to mourn and the state's saying you better get it, you better get us a name.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now you had to do, was that Mayor Pro Tem and the councilman, or just the councilman? Mayor Pro Tem and the councilman, or?
Speaker 2:just the councilman. Mayor Pro Tem is an internal thing, but we've got to get the oath of offices and all the stuff that normally the thing about it is. Normally you're elected in maybe November, december and then you don't take office until January. Well, in this case it's an emergency interim. So what we normally have a month to do our paperwork, to send in our stuff, this, that and the other. Well, we have the 12th to get it to them and then we have a certain amount of time to get it filled out and get it back to them.
Speaker 1:I mean days, basically. Oh yeah, it's very strange that that is. Did they give you a reason why there's such a short window? Is it just? It's just a governmental thing? I'm sure yeah.
Speaker 2:They sent a letter and it's not 20 days from when they receive it. It's 20 days from when he passed Wow, so I mean it's yeah it's.
Speaker 1:It's a move quick, yeah, but and obviously you probably didn't want to move quick, obviously, I mean losing somebody like Slough was a definite hit to the entire town of Church Point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean it's. It's a big void you know, I mean he had a wealth of knowledge that I don't think many people around here have.
Speaker 1:You didn't have to go back to the book sometimes you just asked Slew what happened, right?
Speaker 2:And I would say and this has happened many times when you think this ordinance would have been done, you know thinking like a year, you know in the mid 80s. You know, to narrow it down, he'll be like February 1981. Jesus, and like he wasn't even the councilman at that point.
Speaker 1:He just knew.
Speaker 2:He just knew it was. And if he did know you'd see him walk away quiet and then in about 20 minutes he'd come back with a sheet of paper and there it is and say here it is this is the answer you need right but man, it's uh, it was definitely, I think, a blow to everybody.
Speaker 2:Obviously you know his, his family too, and you know slew had battle leukemia for what that was almost three years yeah and that is a very painful thing the bone marrow and all that stuff. And he was getting it constantly and you could tell he was in in pain, but he'd never, you'd hey how you, how you doing, oh, I'm good, I'm good, I'm I'm all right, you know, and I'll, I'll never forget he.
Speaker 2:Uh, he never missed a council meeting. Okay, so during covid he was fighting leukemia and they had COVID out there I said, sulu, don't come to this meeting. Well, he comes in and I'm like, what you doing here? I'm going to just stay in your office. I said, okay, that's weird, but you know okay, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Then the meeting starts and you know, and you do the pledge and the prayer, all of a sudden the door over. Then he slides in and he goes sit down. I'm like, dude, he couldn't take it, he couldn't he. He wanted to be there, you know. But uh, like I said, it's a unfortunate thing and we're going to miss him a whole lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Uh, but we want to thank him and memorialize what he's done for this town. So I mean you're going to see a lot of stuff coming up that's going to honor all he's done for this town.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome and I know you're going to do it right. And again, our thoughts and prayers to his family and Miss Kathy and everybody, and I know he's going to be and and I know he's gonna be missed. Oh, you know I know he's gonna be missed there's a.
Speaker 2:The past two weeks, you know, I've even had you, naturally, come into work. You do things and you're like well, who do we talk to about this? And you know the answer nine times out of ten was that was sleww. And so it's like well, okay, well, I got to go research it now, you know like we don't have our guy here anymore with the answer that's.
Speaker 2:But, like I said, we appreciate the time that we had with him. I mean, he was 76 years old and, like I said, he did a lot for church, for him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely so, and we kind of talked about it at the beginning. I don't think there's ever going to be another one like him.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think a person has enough time.
Speaker 1:No, Some of the things he did. You think where do you get the time to do all that?
Speaker 2:He was at everything. There ain't nothing that he wasn't at.
Speaker 1:Yeah he was. He was always somewhere and and supporting everything that happened in town I mean he was president of booster club.
Speaker 2:He was, uh, I mean he.
Speaker 1:I mean I mean to be the statistician for 53 years. 53 years and that's every friday night and he would run yeah run, and he did that until he was 73 years old.
Speaker 2:I mean, it was when the leukemia hit him that he couldn't run them sidelines anymore. But when I say he'd, run he was going.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, he was following the plays, that's for sure. And the stats weren't wrong either. Oh no, the stats were right.
Speaker 2:Oh, and if you, dwayne, had said a few things wrong and he would no, no, no what I wrote. Pretty much like they say if I tell you there's cream cheese on the moon, bring your crackers.
Speaker 1:Oh, slu man. Anything else you want to add, mayor?
Speaker 2:Well, like I said in the council meeting, every time we would run, everybody would say you know, a vote for Shalhoub is a vote for you. And you know what? They were 100% right, Because he did everything he could for every person in this town. So a vote for Shalhoub was a vote for you, and we're gonna miss him.