Mayor candidates meet at Berwick forum

Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur and challenger Jessie Boudreaux appeared Monday at a St. Mary Chamber forum at the Berwick Civic Center.

Their race for Berwick mayor is the only municipal race in east St. Mary this election cycle.

Early voting is underway for the Nov. 8 primary and will continue through Monday, except for Sunday. Voters may cast early ballots 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Arthur is completing his first four-year term as mayor after serving three terms on the Berwick Town Council. He is also a former Berwick police chief and has served as the parish’s director of homeland security.

Arthur retired after a 30-year career in the Army as a sergeant major.

Boudreaux, a Country Club Subdivision resident, said he has worked in the energy industry for more than 40 years. He has acquired experience working with engineers and with budgets, he said.

“I want to make Berwick better,” Boudreaux said.

He said he hopes to bring more industry to Berwick and will make school security for students and teachers a priority.

Arthur said that when he took office in 2019, all five Town Council members were new. But they turned out to be “the perfect council,” Arthur said. Members often come to him with ideas, he said.

First-term accomplishments cited by Arthur include providing water and gas lines to the five-plot Southern Oaks Subdivision, drainage improvements for Golden Farms, Fairview and Cantrell Heights subdivisions, a $600,000 project raising and improving Front Street, a new roof on City Hall and new equipment that includes three police cars and three trucks for public works.

“We’re close to finishing the job,” Arthur said. “Please help me finish that job. I’d like four more years.”

The two candidates disagreed over drainage work in Country Club Estates, where flooding fueled complaints after two heavy rains in 2019 pushed water into homes.

Arthur said the city has obtained a state grant for drainage improvements, including subsurface work, expected to cost more than $1 million.
Boudreaux, who often said during the forum that he wasn’t trying to assess blame, said the town government would do better to keep drainage ditches clear.

In an earlier campaign, Boudreaux had raised the possibility that major retailers, including Walmart, Rouses and even Amazon, might find highway frontage in Berwick to be attractive. Arthur said Monday that he’s still waiting for the trucks to arrive.

Arthur said he has talked with a grocery store owner, currently looking at a Maurice location, about studying the feasibility of opening a store in Berwick.