3 new faces to join Lafourche Parish Council

Three new lawmakers are set to join the Lafourche Parish Council in its newest iteration following a local election cycle in which voters opted against widespread change.

Six incumbents won re-election, and there will be no run-off campaigns for the parish’s nine district law-making seats, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State. Voter turnout was 37 percent across the parish.

Aaron Caillouet, District 3, John Arnold, District 5, and Jerry LaFont, District 8, are the new faces on the parish’s governing board.

Caillouet, who served one term as Lafourche’s parish president from 1996-2000, procured 49 more votes than his opponent Mike Matherne, which gave Caillouet 50.8 percent of the vote. The Thibodaux hopefuls ran for the seat vacated by outgoing Councilman Louis Richard.

“I need to assess the needs of my particular district, but at the same time, I represent the entire parish,” Caillouet, no party affiliation, said. “I know we have some real big problems in the parish regarding drainage, and I hope to help with that effort.”

Caillouet also said he would advocate for a two-term limit on council seats as well as the parish presidency. “None of us are irreplaceable,” he said.

Arnold unseated council veteran Matt Matherne in District 5 with 55.5 percent of the vote. With 727 votes in his favor, the 37-year-old owner of White Water Restoration will be the youngest councilman to serve next term.

“Once I’m inaugurated and into the system, I’m going to do everything I can to make the community of Bayou Blue and Lafourche Parish a better place,” Arnold, a Republican, said. “We’re going to start with the drainage situation. I’ve spoken with the parish president, and we’re putting our heads together to see if we can work out some of the drainage problems we’ve got.”

Jerry LaFont won the District 8 seat by default. LaFont, the 46-year-old owner of a salon, ran unopposed after outgoing Councilman Rodney Doucet announced his bid for parish presidency.

“I want to bring pride back to Lafourche, and I really want to try to work on economic development in the parish,” LaFont, no party affiliation, said.

Jerry Jones, the District 1 incumbent, won re-election by the narrowest of margins. With 793 votes in his favor, the Democrat tallied 50.2 percent of the vote to win outright against Tyrone Williams, a former councilman who gathered 30.6 percent of the vote, and Jimmie Wilson, who shared 19.3 percent of the vote.

“I’m going to start today on my erosion project, pumping station and drainage,” said Jones, who will serve his second consecutive and fifth overall term on the council. “I’m going to focus on Marydale and Abby, on those deplorable buildings. They’re all going to have to come up to our standards or be torn down.”

District 2 incumbent Michael Delatte also won outright despite a crowded field. The Democrat garnered 1,406 votes, worth 51.2 percent and bested Jared LaJaunie, 26.3 percent, Jonathon Rodrigue, 17.3 percent, and Brady Brock, 5.2 percent.

“Work a little bit harder,” said Delatte, who will serve his third consecutive term. “I’m a little bit smarter, a little bit wiser with the experience of being in there, and if I think anything is taking too long to get done that I need done, I’m going to be pushing it a little bit harder to make sure we don’t have two months or three months or six months of downtime.”

In the 4th Council District, incumbent Joe Fertitta won in a landslide after he collected 72.5 percent of the vote. The Republican tallied 1,751 votes and defeated hopeful Jason Poneville.

“I have several projects on the books already that I want to see finishing, hopefully in the next year especially the pump station in the Dugas Canal,” said Fertitta, who won his second consecutive and third overall term. “I also want to get some of the shell streets paved that I have in my district.”

Lindel Toups held on to the 6th District seat when he collected 1,376 votes. The Democrat defeated Leo White to win his fifth consecutive term with 57.8 percent of the vote.

“I plan to serve the public,” Toups said. “There are a few things I would like to see in Lafourche, to try to make the parish one. The road districts, fire districts and even the levee districts, everything is divided. I’m going to work to cut down some of the boards, finish our roads and just focus on doing a better job.”

Incumbent Phillip Gouaux won 57 percent of the District 7 vote and his fourth consecutive council term when he bested Greg Sanamo, the parish’s former parks and recreation director. Gouaux, a Democrat, collected 1,266 votes.

“We plan to develop in my new area new projects that are needed as well as continuing to develop needed projects in my old area,” Gouaux, a Democrat, said. “There is a pump station (in north Lockport) that is in dire need of upgrading; it’s almost in a deplorable shape, so we need to start working on that.”

In the 9th District, the longest-tenured councilman collected 56.8 percent of the vote and secured his eighth consecutive council term. Voters punched Daniel Lorraine’s name 1,360 times, and the veteran Democrat beat first-timer Will Lasseigne.

“Continue working on the streets,” Lorraine said. “There shouldn’t be a busted street in Road Sales Tax District 2 at all. … I’m going to keep doing some drainage projects, and I’m pushing real hard for that boat launch in Leeville.”

The council term begins anew on Jan. 1, 2012.