Fontenot wins mayor’s post; Soileau elected W4 alderman

Scott Fontenot, 33, won election as Eunice’s youngest mayor by defeating three other candidates in Saturday’s election.
Fontenot, who has been serving as interim mayor since Claud “Rusty” Moody resigned in October, will fill Moody’s unexpired term ending in December 2018.
Dale Soileau won election as Ward 4 alderman, filling the newly elected mayor’s previous position.
Fontenot won with — 1,435 votes — 69 percent of the vote defeating Roland Miller, 16 percent; William “Mr. Bill” Thompson, 13 percent; and Tim Longman, 2 percent.
Soileau won with 62 percent — 296 votes — of the vote in a field that also included James “Donnie” Fontenot, 22 percent; and Shantell Arrendondo Ward, 16 percent.
Soileau was winning the Ward 4 seat back. He was defeated for the seat by Fontenot.
Connie Thibodeaux was named by the Board of Aldermen as interim Ward 4 alderwoman. She did not seek election.
There were 2,084 votes cast in the mayor’s election and 479 votes in the Ward 4 election.
Fontenot was a victory party at Ruby’s Saturday. “It is a great feeling. It is good to be able to serve the people of Eunice,” he said. “It is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Fontenot added, “I dreamed about being mayor and talked about it in high school. To be able to be here and have it happen is unbelievable. It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’ve been mayor for the past five months, but this is different. This feels like the people want me and they trust me.”
Fontenot believes he is the youngest mayor serving in Louisiana.
Moody’s resignation in October resulted in the appointment of Scott Fontenot as interim mayor and a challenge to the former Ward 4 alderman’s candidacy for mayor.
The Louisiana Supreme Court in January denied a challenge to Fontenot’s candidacy by the state Board of Ethics, which had been contacted by Miller.
Questions about the timing of Scott Fontenot’s appointment as interim mayor and resignation from is Ward 4 alderman’s position. The court case also settled that an interim appointee could then run for election in his position.
Fontenot won his case in the 27th Judicial Court District and in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal.
The next election for mayor and alderman’s races will be in the fall of 2018. The current mayor and board member terms end Dec. 31, 2018.
The annual salary for the mayor is $46,410. The mayor also may receive $500 a month if using their personal vehicle.
Aldermen are paid $7,120 annually. The alderman at-large pay is $13,700 a year.
There were 115 votes cast in Eunice by the end of early voting for Saturday’s primary election, which includes a special election for mayor and Ward 4 alderman in Eunice.
There were 110 votes cast in the St. Landry Parish portion of Eunice and five on the Acadia Parish side.