Terrebonne earns an A; Lafourche a B in Common Core testing
November 4, 2015
LPSO cutting down on boat launch vandals
November 4, 2015
Voters in Lafourche Parish Council District 5 will return to the polls in March 2016 to decide who will represent them in the parish’s legislative body.
Incumbent Councilman John Arnold was disqualified from the October primary election for failing to pay $5,000 in late fees for not filing financial disclosure statements to the state Ethics Administration on time. Prior to his disqualification, Arnold was unopposed in the October race.
The council will appoint an interim representative, according to Councilman Philip Gouaux. Lafourche’s Home Rule Charter does not allow candidates to serve as an interim on the council. Since Arnold intends to run for re-election, he cannot hold the seat between early January, when the council is seated, until the March 5 election.
Qualified volunteers may submit their résumés to the council, which will then vote to ratify one to serve in the meantime.
Councilman Daniel Lorraine, who has served on the council for 32 years, said the last time a special election had to be called to fill a vacancy was in 1998 after voters recalled Audie Levron, who represented District 6.
Arnold will likely face opposition in the March election. Holly “Scooter” Lebouef, a Raceland resident, said she is considering running for the District 5 seat.
“I just think I can make a difference,” Lebouef said. “I think we need a new face, not necessarily because I’m a woman. I just think we need some new ideas.”
Lebouef said it was Arnold’s failure to fulfill the Ethics Administrations’ requirements that prompted her to run.
Since his disqualification, Arnold said he has paid all of the fines. He said the Ethics Administration admitted to mistakenly charging him an extra $2,500 and that he would be reimbursed that amount.
“My clerical errors that cost me the $5,000 is what has put us in this position, and I don’t think that the voters should have to pay for that,” Arnold said. “I’m looking forward to round two … There’s a lot of stuff that I’ve started that I haven’t completed yet and I wanted the opportunity to have another four years to complete all of my projects.”
District 5 extends along the southwestern reaches of the parish to Pointe-Aux- Chenes and contains part of Gray, Bayou Blue and the area south of Raceland.
Qualifying for the March 5 election is Dec. 2-4. •
