Parish election on Saturday

By Chris Rosa

Vermilion Parish will have a parish-wide election Saturday, and the biggest turnout is expected to be in the city of Kaplan.

The polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. throughout the Parish.

The residents of Kaplan will be deciding who their mayor, police chief and councilman at large will be.

The race in Kaplan that is getting a lot of attention is the mayor’s race.

Mayor Linda Hardee decided not to seek a second term, which opened the door for new blood.

The two candidates who want to be Kaplan’s next mayor are good friends heading into Saturday’s elections and they plan to remain good friends when the election is over.

The day Kirk Champagne decided he wanted to run for mayor of Kaplan, the first person he asked was his wife and when she signed off on it, he later contacted J.J. Landry, who also wanted to run.

The two men met and decided their campaign would be clean.

The day before the election, their campaign has been clean as a whistle.

“We are friends and he is a great guy,” said Champagne. “Our kids went to school together.

“What we are doing is putting our resume on the streets and letting the voters decide.”

Both candidates are qualified to be mayor. Champagne, who owns Kaplan Sheet Metal in Kaplan, has been the Councilman-At-Large and the Pro-Tem of Kaplan for the last 3 1/2 years. He took over the seat of Hardee when she was elected mayor.

Landry is a former Kaplan c

ouncilman. He was councilman for 12 years in District D. He tried unsuccessfully four years ago to run for mayor.

Landry, a retired Slemco worker, said, “I want to be mayor because I love Kaplan. I want to give back to the people.”

Champagne said the reason he wants to be mayor is to continue the town’s progress made under Hardee

“I want to keep the progress we started,” Champagne said.

There are three people seeking the Kaplan chief of police office. Boyd Adams, Ray Gaspard and Virgie LeMaire, who are all Democrats, hope to be the new chief in town after Steve Perry retires in June.

Because Champagne is running for mayor, the alderman at large seat is open. Dolores “Ms Dee” Broussard and Herbert Gaspard Jr. are vying for that office.

Abbeville residents who live in District A will be voting for a city councilman. Councilman Joe Hardy and Rita G. Fuselier are on the ballot.

Parish voters will be voting on a 10-year, 1.5 mills property tax renewal for the Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District Proposition.

This tax-renewal proposition is nothing new. The first tax tax passed in 1970, then again in 1980, 1990 and 2000.

The Teche-Vermilion Basins Project brings fresh surface water to the Vermilion River north of Opelousas. The fresh water flows down the river, keeping the river clean.

The water is supplied from the Atchafalaya River and pumped to the Vermilion River and the Teche in Iberia Parish.

Voting on the renewal will also be Lafayette, Iberia, St. Martin parishes.