Election Day is about two weeks away, and candidates in several races are vying for every possible vote. Dozens of issues are at stake in our local elections, and it is imperative that the citizens of our area are represented by officials who share their values and promote them throughout their course of service. To help our readers make informed decisions in the voting booth, The Ponchatoula Times is giving you the opportunity to ask questions to the candidates about the issues that you consider important.
How It Works
Beginning immediately, The Ponchatoula Times will accept questions via phone at 985318-7118, email to publisher@ tangitimes.com, or IM to The Ponchatoula Times Facebook page. All questions must be submitted by 11:59pm on Sunday, October 1. To best cover the issues that are important to the most readers, we will select the questions to present to the candidates based on the popularity of each issue. Each candidate per election will be asked the same set of questions, so questions should be submitted for a particular election, rather than to individual candidates.
Please submit questions for any of the following six elections: 1. Assessor (two candidates)
2. Clerk of Court (three candidates)
3. Parish Council, District 10 (two candidates)
4. Sheriff (six candidates
5. State Representative, 73rd District
(three candidates)
6. State Senate, 37th District
(three candidates) Each candidate will be invited to a private interview, where your questions will be presented to them individually. The questions will not be disclosed to anyone outside The Ponchatoula Times staff prior to the interviews, and the answers will be delivered extemporaneously.
The candidates for each election are: Assessor: Kevin Raiford, Arden Wells Clerk of Court: Carla Scarkino, John Smith, Gary Stanga Parish Council, District 10: Strader Dufreche Cieutat, Jimmy Schliegelmeyer Sheriff: Roy Lee Allbritton, Chris Gideon, Joyce Jackson, Vinny Mendoza, Gerald Sticker, Jimmy Travis State Representative, 73rd District: Michael Chatellier, Kim Coates, Braville LeBlanc State Senate, 37th District: Randy Bush, Ivan Scioneaux, Bill Wheat Transcripts of the interviews will be published in the October 12 issue of The Ponchatoula Times, and audio and/or video recordings of the interviews will be posted to The Ponchatoula Times Facebook page, with each candidate’s permission.
All above candidates will be immediately notified of this opportunity to allow them to schedule their interviews.