St. Landry Parish Chamber of Commerce hosted a forum tonight in LSUE's auditorium that allowed voters to hear from the candidates themselves. KATC's Marcelle Fontenot was a moderator at the forum.
The forum focused on questions asked by business owners in the parish.
Tonight's participants included candidates for Parish President, Sheriff, Tax Assessor, House District 42, and Senate District 28.
Parish President
Three candidates are challenging current Parish President Bill Fontenot (DEM) for the seat.
Those candidates are Ken Marks (IND), Don Menard (DEM), and Tanisha Wiltz (DEM).
We asked each candidate at the forum what he will bring to the job.
Current Parish President Bill Fontenot said that he plans to continue what he already started. He wants to restructure the parish government "on the inside to where it doesn't take as many people in the administration so we can provide more services." He said he believes balancing the budget while also providing those services poses the greatest challenge.
Ken Marks believes that the greatest change he can bring to the parish government is "coordination and organization skills." He also intends to create a strategic plan to have in place and ready to go so the government knows "what needs to be done, where it needs to be done, and when it needs to be done."
Challenger Don Menard said he plans to bring accessibilty and accountability to the government. He added that under his tenure, he would "manage the business of government on a daily basis." He added that he did so for the previous eight years he served as Parish President, and that it is the most important thing.
To read more about these candidates, click here.
Sheriff
There are also four candidates for St. Landry Parish sheriff. Current sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz is running for re-election.
His three challengers are Paul Dicapo (REP), Carl Hardy (NOPTY), and Lawrence "Gum" Richard (DEM).
To find out more about the candidates running for sheriff, click here.
Tax Assessor
Three candidates are in the running for parish tax assessor - Blair Briggs (DEM), Garett Rhyn Duplechain (DEM), and Sherri Zeringue McGovern (DEM).
To find out more about Briggs, click here.
For more information on Duplechain, click here.
To learn more on McGovern, click here.
House District 42
Current District 42 Representative John Stefanksi is running for re-election this year. To find out more about Stefanski, click here.
Senate District 28
Three candidates are running for State Senator for District 28.
These candidates are: Heather Cloud (REP), Robert Johnson (DEM), and H. Bernard LeBas (DEM).
To find out more about Heather Cloud, click here.
For more information about Robert Johnson, click here.
To see more about H. Bernard LeBas, click here.
Election Day is October 12. To find information on races state and parish-wide, head to katc.com/elections-local.
