By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Voters will go to the polls in two River Parishes Saturday for local special elections to fill a vacant council seat and renew property tax propositions to benefit the school system.

In St. John the Baptist Parish, two men with experience in community service will square off in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Division A Councilman-at-Large Richard “Dale” Wolfe, who resigned in October to become executive director of the parish Housing Authority.

Lucien Gauff III of LaPlace, a chemical operator at Dupont Elastomers, and Donnie Roybiskie of Edgard, a retired instrument technician at Dow Chemical, both Democrats, will compete for the opportunity to finish off Wolfe’s term, which expires in January. Once in office, the winner will not have much time to settle down with another primary election for a new four year-term scheduled for Oct. 22. Qualifying for that race begins Sept. 6.

Gauff, 47, a current member of the St. John Recreation Advisory Board, said one of his goals is to improve recreation for all parish residents. He wants to improve the tax base by working to bring in more industry.

Gauff was a volunteer in Parish President Natalie Robottom’s election campaign in 2010 and served as chairman for the recreation/health and human services subcommittee of Robottom’s Presidential Advisory Committee. He likes the direction the parish is going and said he wants to help the council and Robottom work together.

Roybiskie, 60, said he wants to work to bring communities on both sides of the river together instead of using the river as a boundary line.

He and his wife, Chermaine Roybiskie, have been active in the West Bank Civic Association for several years.

Roybiskie said one of his main concerns was ensuring that residents in rural areas of the parish have access to the same services that more populated areas of the parish have.

The Division A district includes Garyville, Reserve, western parts of LaPlace and all of the parish’s west bank.

About half of the registered voters live in the district.

Meanwhile in St. James Parish, the School Board is asking voters to renew three property tax propositions totaling 19.04 mills, according the Parish Assessor’s Office.

St. James School Superintendent Alonzo Luce has said that none of the propositions on the ballot are new taxes.

The parish tax rate will not increase if any of the propositions pass.

Proposition 1 is a 6.04-mill, 10-year tax for school maintenance funding and salaries and benefits for maintenance workers. The proposition is expected to generate $2.3 million a year.

Proposition 2 is a 10-year, 6-mill renewal for school employee salaries. The proposition is also estimated to generate about $2.3 million.

Proposition 3 is a 10-year, 7-mill tax that currently funds additional employee costs such as salary and health benefits. That proposition is expected to generate $2.6 million.

The fourth proposition on the ballot would authorize the School Board to issue up to $20 million in general obligation bonds to be repaid through existing millages for bond debt. The money would help fund renovations and rebuilding projects at Vacherie Elementary and Romeville Elementary, roof and siding replacement at five school gymnasiums, and construction of football stadiums and Lutcher and St. James High Schools.