Photograph: Milton Batiste, III (Photograph by Freddie Herpin.)
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
St. Landry Parish School Superintendent Milton Batiste III says that he intends to remain as a member of the Opelousas Board of Aldermen until another person is elected to replace him.
Batiste, who was reelected in November for a second term in District A, said in an interview that he submitted his resignation as a member of the Board to the Louisiana Secretary of State last week.
The resignation, Batiste added, will become effective following the official results of a special election that will be held for filling the District A seat.
A three-day candidate qualifying period for District A begins Aug. 8, according to Opelousas City attorney Travis Broussard.
In May Batiste was chosen as superintendent by the St. Landry Parish School Board.
Batiste said his decision to remain on the Board until an election in District A is decided, came after speaking to voters in the election district he represents.
It was evident to him following several conversations with District A voters, Batiste said, that a consensus of constituents are in favor of selecting a new representative in an election.
“I could have had another three years (as an elected alderman), but the magnitude of being the superintendent would have been too much of a load for me to continue to handle. Many of the voters in (District A) told me they wanted to elect their own representative rather than have (an interim) selected by the Council,” Batiste said.
On Friday morning the Board voted unanimously to hold an election in District A on Oct. 14. Batiste did not attend the meeting held at City Hall.
The Friday morning meeting was originally set for July 5, but Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor said that the Board could not vote on requesting the District A special election until Batiste handed over his resignation to the Secretary of State.
A special meeting for declaring the District A seat vacant was required last week Alsandor said, since the deadline for placing the issue on the ballot is July 11.
The Board has a regular monthly meeting scheduled Tuesday, but the meeting time is set for 5 p.m., which would have been too late to satisfy the special election deadline, said Alsandor.
Broussard told the Board on Friday that state law requires a special election to be held in municipalities when there is a vacancy of more than 18 months.
