[StBernard] Runoff candidates differ on recovery

[Westley Annis]

Cavignac's right.  Based on the people who voted in the primary, he would be
favored to win the run off - especially since he was right on Hoffmeister's
heels in the vote plus now has Acosta's endorsement.  Cavignac normally
would receive two-thirds+ of Acosta's vote.

The key here will be how many voters will go to the polls in the run off
(that voted in the primary)?  In this race, a lower turn out favors the
incumbent - and a lower turn out is anticpated.  It will be interesting.

John
 

-----Original Message-----
Runoff candidates differ on recovery
They compete for post in St. Bernard Parish Friday, November 09, 2007 By Bob
Warren St. Bernard bureau Neither candidate in the race for the District B
seat on the St. Bernard Parish Council is a stranger to a runoff. 

 
The incumbent, Judy Darby Hoffmeister, won a November 2003 runoff election
for the seat. 

Her challenger, George Cavignac, lost a May 2001 runoff election for the
post. 

Cavignac thinks he has the upper hand this time around. 

"Anytime an incumbent performs that poorly it means people are clamoring for
change," he said of the Oct. 20 primary. 

Hoffmeister would beg to differ. 

Noting that she led the primary with 41 percent of the votes, she said she
feels good heading into the Nov. 17 runoff. 

"I've got some work to do, but I'm confident," she said. 

District B covers central Chalmette. The post pays $7,200 annually. 

Hoffmeister, chief executive officer of the Red Cross in St. Bernard, said
she understands voters' frustrations with government. She said she shares
those frustrations. 

"I tell people I'm just as frustrated as you are," she said. "We had a war
with nature. I hope to God I never see anything like that again." 

Hoffmeister, 61, said she stresses to voters that she remained in St.
Bernard Parish during and after Hurricane Katrina, even sleeping on the roof
of the government building during one period, and is deeply involved in the
recovery effort. She said now is not the time to trust the district to an
inexperienced hand. 

"I'm a leader," she said. "I've been here through all this." 

Cavignac, 39, a railroad security investigator, said voters are "angry about
the unresponsiveness we've had in our representatives." 

"They want somebody who is going to be representative of the people," he
said. 

Cavignac is also critical of the relationship between the council and the
administration, saying the antagonism between the two branches of government
in recent years has stymied hurricane recovery. 

"That has really hurt us," he said, adding that voters have told him they
are tired of it. 

Cavignac has received the support of Kathleen Acosta, who finished third in
the three-candidate primary with 20 percent of the vote. 

. . . . . . . 

Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3363.