District judge dismisses petition against Sanders in School Board race

Published 12:00 am Friday, July 23, 2010

By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

EDGARD – St. John the Baptist Parish School Board Vice President Patrick Sanders will be allowed to seek re-election this fall, according to a judgment rendered Wednesday by Judge J. Sterling Snowdy at the 40th Judicial District Courthouse in Edgard.

On July 15, Sanders’ opponent for the District 4 school board seat, Ferdinand Wallace, filed a petition that alleged Sanders’ primary residence was not in Reserve but rather on Magnolia Avenue in LaPlace. This would place Sanders’ primary residence in District 7.

After Sanders produced evidence such as his voter registration card and Entergy bill with the Reserve address, Snowdy found that Wallace had failed to satisfactorily prove his allegations.

Consequently, Snowdy dismissed the case.

Sanders, who has served on the board since 1999, said he was surprised by neither the petition nor the ruling.

“I expected it to some degree,” he said. “I knew I was in compliance. I am meeting the requirements for domicile.”

When he filed the petition, Wallace cited Sanders’ recent marriage to Jennifer Allen, who lives on Magnolia Avenue. The judgment read Wallace believed Sanders would have moved in with his wife after the two were married.

Sanders, who was represented in court by attorney Monica Gant Moton, testified that although he does occasionally reside at the Magnolia home, his primary domicile has been on East 31st Street in Reserve for at least the past four years.

“The burden of proof was on the plaintiff,” he said.

Sanders is asking for the judgment to be rewritten, however, as the “analysis” section contains a number of errors regarding the names of the involved parties.

Sanders said despite the petition he is confident heading into the fall elections.

“I’ve represented the people of District 4 to the best of my ability over the years,” he said.

School board elections will be Oct. 2.