Ferriday candidates to talk at MLK service

Published 12:01 am Saturday, January 14, 2012

FERRIDAY — The four candidates running for mayor of the Town of Ferriday will share their visions and goals Monday with an audience attending the third annual Martin Luther King Jr. service.

The event, sponsored by the Doty Road Church of God and Ferriday Community Action, will bring together the community to pay tribute to Dr. King while also hearing from the mayoral candidates, said the Rev. Simeon Green.

“I hope that members of the community will come together and hear our candidates, but also pledge together that we will, as a citizens of the community and residents of Ferriday, support whoever God sends to be the mayor of Ferriday,” Green said. “With that, we can help Ferriday to become a better place and to be known once again.”

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The four men who will contend for the position are no strangers to town government.

Gene Allen was Ferriday mayor from 2004 to 2008. He ran in 2008 but lost to current Mayor Glen McGlothin.

Johnnie Brown currently serves the town as District D alderman. He has served multiple terms as alderman and run an unsuccessful campaign for mayor in the past.

Joe Sontoyo is the longtime Ferriday Fire Chief.

Justin Conner, who recently resigned as District 1 Justice of the Peace, has run for a variety of town and parish offices, including his most recent unsuccessful campaign for state representative.

The event will allow each candidate to speak to the audience followed by a few questions from the audience, Green said.

“It’s not just limited to Ferriday, we want to invite the entire parish and Adams County as well,” Green said. “This is a Miss-Lou issue, not just Ferriday.”

The service will be Monday at the Arcade Theatre on Louisiana Avenue at noon.