Saturday election decides MC mayoral race

Local voters will head to the polls Saturday, with a St. Mary Parish ballot highlighted by runoffs for a new Morgan City mayor and two 16th Judicial District Court judgeships.
Also on the ballot are a proposition regarding the combining of the property taxes from two districts that have been consolidated, a millage proposition for St. Mary Parish Recreation District No. 4 (Patterson area) and a statewide amendment concerning appointments on the state’s three college system government boards.
Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
Morgan City voters will determine their next mayor, with businessman Lee Dragna (Republican) and former Parish Councilman Kevin Voisin (No Party) squaring off in a runoff to replace Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi.
In the Nov. 3 general election, Dragna received 48% of the vote, and Voisin finished with 38% to beat political newcomer Don Hicks’ 14%.
Dragna has served on local government boards, but he has campaigned mainly on his record as a businessman, building LAD Services from a small barge-building company into an enterprise with hundreds of employees.
Voisin also has experience in business, but his key campaign point is his 20 years as a Parish Council member, which included service as the council’s finance committee chair.
Time and again in forum appearances, Voisin talked about bringing people together to tackle issues such as economic development and diversification, downtown revitalization and housing.
Meanwhile, parish voters will help determine the runoffs of the 16th JDC Election Section 2, Division F between Republicans Anthony “Tony” Saleme of Morgan City and Natalie Broussard of New Iberia and the 16th JDC runoff in Election Section 1, Division H between Independent candidate Roger P. Hamilton Jr. and Democratic candidate “Alicia” Butler.
The 16th JDC covers St. Mary, St. Martin and Iberia parishes.
Broussard, who is currently an Iberia Parish Council member, was the leader in an evenly divided primary Nov. 3. She got 38% of the vote. Saleme received 32% to edge St. Martinville attorney Keith Thibodeaux out of the second runoff spot.
Saleme is running on his experience as a prosecutor in the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where he has served since 1997, most recently handling criminal cases in St. Mary.
Broussard points to her experience on the Iberia council as well as in a general law practice representing clients in civil and criminal cases.
Hamilton was the top vote-getter in the primary with 45% of the vote. Butler got 32% to beat Thailund “Thai” Porter-Green for the second runoff spot. Porter-Green drew 22% of the runoff vote.
Also on the ballot is the St. Mary Parish Council’s proposition to combine the property taxes for two districts that were combined into St. Mary Consolidated Gravity Drainage District 2A in April. The district was formed by combining District No. 2 in the Morgan City-Siracusa area and District No. 6 in the Amelia area.
Combining the property taxes would mean a single property tax of up to 7.30 mills for 10 years, beginning in 2021, would be collected.
A mill is 1/10th cent of tax applied to every $1 of a property’s assessed valuation. The ballot language says the 7.30 mills would raise about $1.3 million per year.
Parish President David Hanagriff said the merger would reduce administrative overhead and put both districts in better position to perform their work.
Hanagriff appeared on a KQKI Facebook stream to clear up what he said is misinformation about the tax proposition.
The Dec. 5 proposition won’t increase taxes, Hanagriff said. The resulting tax will be 6.68 mills across the combined district.
“If anything, we’ve lowered the main amount,” Hanagriff said.
Voting down the tax proposition won’t reverse consolidation, he said. But it would create a situation in which the new district would require three audits for separate district finances and the consolidated district’s finances.
He also said rumors that passing the tax would lead to the decertification of the local levees are untrue.
In a KBZE live stream, Parish Council Chairman Dean Adams urged voters to say no to the proposition.
Adams said Amelia had the opportunity to lower the tax there by 2 mills but didn’t at the urging of the parish administration.
“All the money will go into one pot,” Adams said. “The money will be distributed according to how the board sees fit.
“One of the two districts will suffer.”
Voters in the City of Patterson and those in unincorporated areas to the west of the Wax Lake outlet will consider a tax for operation and maintenance for St. Mary Parish Recreation District No. 4.
The tax, which had been on the books for 10 years, did not receive voter approval for renewal last year and expired at the end of 2019, Vice Chairman Bill Miller said.
The 10-year, 2.24 mill tax is expected to raise about $125,000 per year.
“That is used for the maintenance and operation of the Patterson (Area) Civic Center and to support recreation programs,” Miller said.
Miller said the district, which had built up three years’ worth of savings before the tax failed, used savings to operate this year.
Miller said passage of the tax is “crucial” to continue operating the Patterson Area Civic Center. He also said it is vital for recreation programs, too.
Also on the ballot is a proposed amendment that would allow the governor to appoint up to two out-of-state residents to serve on each of the state’s three college system government boards.