Council selects Fontenot as interim mayor

Scott Fontenot, Ward 4 councilman and mayor pro tem, was named Eunice’s interim mayor during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Claud “Rusty” Moody resigned as mayor on Oct. 7.
Fontenot is resigning his council position to take over the mayor’s job.
“I want to let the people of Eunice know I’m honored and humbled to accept this position,” Fontenot said.
Fontenot was re-elected unopposed to a second term as Ward 4 councilman in 2014. He was first elected in October 2010 with 53 percent of the vote in a three-way race with Dale Soileau and Gary Bult.
“I fully intend to be a full-time mayor and in March I’m going to give 100 percent to run for this job,” Fontenot said during Tuesday’s meeting.
An election must be held to fill Fontenot’s Ward 4 seat. However, until an election can be held the council is to make an interim appointment to represent the ward.
The secretary of state set a March 5 primary and April 9 general election dates for mayor and the Ward 4 council seat. Qualifying is Dec. 2, 3 and 4.
Fontenot has served as mayor pro-tem and increasingly this year has stepped in to assume the duties of mayor as Moody underwent treatment for cancer.
Fontenot, 33, said he may be the youngest mayor ever for Eunice.
“I believe when I got elected the first time I was the youngest elected official in Eunice history. So, I know I’m probably the youngest mayor now,” he said after the meeting.
Fontenot said he plans to be in the mayor’s office full-time and will have an open-door policy.
Fontenot is the son of former three-term police chief Gary “Goose” Fontenot.
The new mayor owns Superior Auto Specialists in Eunice. He and his wife, Katie, a third-grade teacher at Eunice Elementary, have two children.