Sales tax passes, smooth St. Landry ride ahead

Eunice-area voters endorsed by a 2-1 margin the rural sales tax  approved Saturday by residents of incorporated areas of St. Landry Parish.
The approval sets the parish on the way to selling a bond issue, perhaps as early as late spring 2014 that will finance a 15-year road improvements plan.
Ward 6 (Eunice area) voters approved the 2-cent tax by a 575-266 count.
The 68% approval margin is higher than the 60.8% approval for the entire parish.
Parish President Bill Fontenot was at the forefront of those advocating passage of the tax. He spoke at meetings large and small over a period of weeks leading up to the vote.
He had the support of the sheriff and the district attorney as well as that of most parish council members, including Eunice-area members Jimmie Edwards and Gary Courville.
Now that the tax is official, work begins on laying the groundwork for the bond issue as well as beginning to prioritize the work scheduled for the 800 miles of parish roads.
The tax, levied only in those parts of the parish outside municipal limits, is expected to generate about $7 million a year.
Fontenot said during the campaigning that creating the priority construction list will be a process much the same as that done for state highways, a process he is familiar with after a career with the Department of Transportation and Development.
In other St. Landry elections Saturday:
Dist. 3 voters elected Milton “Coach” Ambres to the School Board over Faltery Jolivette, 51.4%-48.6. He succeeds John Miller, who resigned the seat.
Dist. 6 voters elected Donnie “Coach” Perron to the School Board over Bambi Polotzola, 62.9-37.1%. He succeeds the late Ronald Carrier and had held the post with an interim appointment until the special election.
St. Landry voters living in the 5th Congressional District preferred PSC Commissioner Clyde Holloway for the post given up byRodney Alexander. Holloway got 34.8% of the St. Landry vote.
But Holloway finished fourth district wide, with 10.8 percent.
Republicans Neil Riser, 31.9%, and Vance McAllister, 17.7%, will be in a runoff for the seat.