Court denies Walker mayor’s appeal to run

• By BOB ANDERSON
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Jul 25, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Walker Mayor Travis Clark is out of the race in which he sought re-election, the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal ruled unanimously Thursday.

The same five-judge panel unanimously ruled that Carl Martin, the chief deputy marshal of Denham Springs Ward II City Court, may remain in the race to move up to the marshal’s job.

Unless appealed to and reversed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, the decisions mean that Bobby Font would be unopposed on the Oct. 4 primary election ballot for Walker mayor and Martin would be one of three candidates in the race for marshal in Denham Springs.

In both cases, the appellate court determined there were no manifest errors in the findings of fact by the 21st Judicial District Court judges who heard the cases.

The key finding by District Judge Bruce Bennett in the Clark case was that Clark’s notice of candidacy was not filed until after the candidate qualifying deadline of 5 p.m. Friday, July 11.

Clark, who said he got snarled in traffic on his way to qualify, maintained he arrived on time; but testimony from Livingston Parish Clerk of Court Tom Sullivan and others in the Clerk’s Office indicated Clark arrived about two minutes late.

The court of appeal concluded it could not find error with Bennett’s decision and said, “Clark is ineligible to run in the upcoming election for mayor of Walker.”

In the Martin trial, District Judge Bob Morrison found that Martin has a high-school diploma and that the qualifications for marshal do not require that the diploma meet standards for a Louisiana high-school diploma.

“We have reviewed the record in its entirety, as well as applicable laws, and we find no error in the trial court’s determination, the five-judge panel ruled in Martin’s case.

The appellate panel that heard both cases consisted of Judges Vanessa G. Whipple, John T. Pettigrew, Robert D. Downing, J. Michael McDonald and Page McClendon.

Courts generally handle election issues on an expedited basis, and the parties have 48 hours to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to review the cases.

Clark’s attorney, Tom Jones, said a decision on whether to appeal probably would be made today.

Charles Brou, who challenged Martin’s candidacy, said late Thursday that he would ask the Supreme Court to grant a hearing on the matter.