Leo Pahlke
October 8, 2007October 10
October 10, 2007District 1
Clark Nixon, Democrat
A lifelong resident of Terrebonne Parish, Nixon is a single, self-employed trucker. He is a member of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. This is first time running for political office.
Clark promises to improve levees. He said he wants to treat people as he likes to be treated and vows to put his best foot forward to solve problems fairly.
Alvin Tillman, Democrat
Tillman is the incumbent councilman.
District 2
Aurestile Scott, Democrat
A native of Terrebonne Parish, Scott is married with two children. He is a deacon at St. Luke Baptist Church, a board member of the Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens and junior vice commander of the United Veterans League. He recently retired from the Houma Police Department.
Scott wants an ordinance barring appointees to seats on the Terrebonne Parish Council from running for that seat in the regular election. He said he will work with proper authorities to fight drugs, crime, and flooding, and improve drainage, transportation, roads and recreation. He also wants a north-south road built for evacuation.
Arlanda Williams, Democrat
A single mother, Williams is a native of the parish. She graduated from Terrebonne High and has degrees in political science and criminal justice from Southern University.
Williams chairs the Council on Aging’s advisory board and is a member of the board of directors of Bayouland YMCA. She is employed by Gilsbar Insurance Co.
The incumbent said she will continue to push for the revitalization of neighborhoods, and will work to increase economic development in north Terrebonne and Gibson while maintaining neighborhood sanctity. She also vows to seek grants for sewer projects in areas of her district that are not part of the parish’s sewer system.
District 3
Floyd Bergeron, No Party
The Terrebonne native is married and has two daughters. He is a retired oilfield products salesman, and this is his first run for political office.
Bergeron said he will deal with traffic and drainage problems, watch government spending, and will work to restrain the amount of public money spent hiring engineering firms.
Charles “Speedy” Collins, Democrat
Married with two sons and five grandchildren, Collins grew up in Terrebonne. A Nicholls State University and Univ. of Louisiana-Lafayette graduate, he is a member of a U.S. Coast Guard advisory group, and certified by the Coast Guard as a licenser. He is also an instructor in the Marine Technical Division at Fletcher Technical Community College.
Collins said he will work to improve cable television service, and deal with influx of younger people in his district, older persons moving out. He will also work to make out-of-town companies doing work in the parish contribute more in taxes.
Billy Hebert
A Terrebonne native, Hebert is married with three children and three grandchildren. A South Terrebonne High graduate, he holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Nicholls State.
He is a member of the Bayou Cane Fire District, Terrebonne Association for Retarded Citizens and vice chairman of the board of the Terrebonne Parish Waterworks District. He is also a former Terrebonne Parish finance director.
Hebert said he will work to regionalize garbage disposal, trucking garbage to New Orleans. He also wants to build levees with a sales tax and a first-class public boat launch with aid of state funds.
Greg Hood, No Party
A native of Terrebonne, Hood is married. He holds bachelor degrees in government and in history from Nicholls State, and has worked as a farm laborer and in retail sales. He is a telecommunicator supervisor for the Terrebonne Parish Communications District.
Hood said he will combat street flooding in his district, especially along Westside and Bayou Gardens boulevards and Alma Street. He wants to build a skateboarding park, reducing the use of the Southland Mall parking lot by skateboarders, and is a strong supporter of the arts.
District 4
Teri Cavalier, No Party
The incumbent is a native of Terrebonne Parish. She is divorced. Cavalier graduated from H.L. Bourgeois, and has a master’s in educational counseling from Nicholls State. She is a school counselor.
Cavalier said she will continue securing funds for public works projects in her district, such as a sidewalk in front of Evergreen Junior High School, a sidewalk connecting to Linda Ann Avenue and a complete replacement of Eureka Drive. She will also deal with safety issues in her district, and will push to have drainage surveys done for the Alamo, Horseshoe and Jena subdivisions.
Lucretia McBride, No Party
The mother of three children (she has five grandchildren) studied forensic education at the St. Louis University School of Medicine and at the University of Alabama. She is a former Terrebonne Parish deputy, cemetery administrator and women’s commissioner. She is also an independent forensic consultant.
McBride said she will combat dishonest government and urban crime, and will focus on flood protection prior to major hurricane protection levees being built. She will improve services and housing for the disabled and elderly, and will tap existing federal funding programs to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to schools.
Clayton Voisin Jr., Republican
A Terrebonne native, he is married and has three stepchildren and one biological child. He graduated from South Terrebonne High, and is an operations manager for Warrior Energy Services.
Voisin said he will work to improve recreational opportunities in the parish, and to take care of the elderly. He also promises to deal with drainage and flood protection issues.
District 5
Otis Logue, Republican
A native of Vicksburg, Miss., Logue came to Louisiana in 1963. He is married and has five children. A founding member and former president of the South Central Industrial Association, he is on the Louisiana State I-49 Task Force and Louisiana State Project Task Force Louisiana Highway 1. He is also a Shriner and past master of the Terrebonne Fellowship Masonic Lodge, and former chief administrator of Terrebonne Parish government.
Logue serves as a liaison for the South Louisiana Industrial Coalition, and is a corrosion engineer and vice president of administration for Energy Services International.
He wants accountability and responsibility in government.
Amos Mosely, Democrat
The single Terrebonne native graduated from H.L. Bourgeois High School and is a former offshore cook. The high school softball umpire is also a salesman for Pro-Valve Services.
Mosely wants to improve recreation. He said he will run for parish president if he has successful terms on the council.
John Pizzolatto, Republican
A native of Baltimore, Md., Pizzolatto moved to Terrebonne Parish as a teenager. He is married and has two children, three grandsons and two great-grandchildren. He graduated from Terrebonne High, as well as the U.S. Army command and staff colleges.
He is a former Terrebonne Parish School Board member and president, former electrical and plumbing contractor and retired lieutenant colonel in the Louisiana National Guard.
“We know about the problems. It’s not necessary to repeat,” he said. He touts his independence, noting he no ties to the major organizations in the parish.
District 6
Donald “Donnie” Cockerham, No Party
A resident of Terrebonne Parish for 45 years, Cockerham is married and has three children and two grandchildren. He graduated from South Terrebonne High School, and is a former commercial pilot. He is an oilfield products salesman for Master Valve.
Cockerham wants to improve roadways, such as the Valhi Boulevard extension, and widening Hollywood Road and Louisiana Highway 311. He also wants a four-lane corridor connecting with the Gramercy/Lutcher Bridge for access to I-55 for quicker evacuations.
Leland Robichaux, Republican
The Terrebonne native is married with four children. He is a former board member of South Central Industrial Association and is on the board of the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce Robichaux is employed by Oil States Skagit Smatco.
He wants to widen La. Hwy. 311 to four lanes and extend Valhi Boulevard to Savanne Road, then to U.S. Hwy 90. Robichaux said he will work on coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, and hurricane protection and evacuation issues, and will work to improve drainage, education, road lighting and parks.
District 7
Reggie Bourg, No Party
The Terrebonne native is divorced. He has a GED, and studied engineering technology for three years at Nicholls State. He retired due to disability.
Bourg said he will focus on barrier island preservation and flood threat from the Houma Navigation Canal, and that he will ensure easy access to government records and that the public is informed. He vowed to also work to preserve ways of life in rural areas.
Nathan Trosclair, Democrat
The native of Terrebonne Parish is single. He graduated from South Terrebonne High and completed four years of course work in general studies at Nicholls State. He is currently not employed, but intends to return to retail business.
Trosclair said he will work to build levees in his district and will exercise fiscal discipline. He said he wants to bring professionalism back to government.
Clayton Voisin, Democrat
The Terrebonne native is married with five children. He works in real estate and the retail business.
The incumbent said his focus is on levees, coastal restoration and barrier islands. Voisin said he “pretty much coined the phrase ‘three tiers of protection.’ One is the barrier islands. Two is the major hurricane protection system. Three is the smaller locks and levees we’ve been building for many years.”
District 8
Joey Cehan, Democrat
The Terrebonne native is married with two children. A graduate of South Terrebonne High, he is a former electrical contractor. Cehan is vice president of the Terrebonne Port Commission. He owns Kwik Kopy Business Center
Cehan said he will focus on coastal erosion, drainage, education and crime, and will make necessary repairs to interior levee system. He also wants to place rock jetties on barrier islands.
Carl Chauvin, Democrat
A native of Terrebonne Parish, Chauvin is married with four children. He attended St. Joseph High School, and has served on the South Terrebonne Tidewater Board and the Atchafalaya Levee Board. He is district manager for Vacco Marine.
The former councilman said he will focus on drainage and building levees. He also wants to improve recreational opportunities for children to “get kids off the street.”
Dirk Guidry, Democrat
A native of Terrebonne Parish, he is married with two children. A graduate of South Terrebonne High and a U.S. Air Force veteran, Guidry is a member American Legion Post 380 and the Better Business Bureau of Terrebonne Parish. He is the owner and operator of Pizza Express and Gator Mini Storage.
Guidry said he will focus on drainage and hurricane protection, and wants to improve the lifestyles of the people. He also wants the parish permitting process to be consolidated into one place and said he will accommodate young couples starting homes.
Peter Rhodes, No Party
The incumbent is married with three children. A graduate of Terrebonne High School, Lambert is a former Terrebonne Parish School Board member, and sits on the Metropolitan Planning Organization. He owns Pete’s Appliance Service.
Lambert said he will focus on drainage, recreation, roads and bridges. If re-elected he will resurface Grand Caillou Road.
District 9
Chris Chaisson, Republican
Homeschooled, Chaisson owns a landscaping business, and is a motivational speaker and minister. He is vice president of the Montegut/Pointe Aux Chenes Fire Department.
Chaisson wants town meetings, and promises to deal with flooding issues in his district. He wants to bring back accountability to government.
Danny Henry, Republican
A native of Terrebonne Parish, Henry is married with three children. A graduate of South Terrebonne High, he attended Nicholls State. He is a restaurant and hardware store owner.
Henry said he will focus on flood protection, drainage, widening Country Drive and building a St. Ann Bridge.
Pete Lambert, Democrat
The incumbent is married with two children. A Vietnam War veteran, he is a telephone repairman.
Lambert said he will push for hurricane protection, improved infrastructure and will continue to secure funding for turn lanes.
