The Gubernatorial Primary is October 14, and early voting is already underway.
We've sent out questions to all of the candidates in some of Acadiana's hottest races, and we're posting the questions and each candidate's responses online so our viewers can get some information about the people who are asking for their vote.
We sent the questions to each candidate using the email address they provided to the Secretary of State when they qualified for the race. If we didn't hear back by the deadline we provided, we called them using the telephone number they provided to the Secretary of State when they qualified for the race.
If we receive any responses after this story is posted, we will update it when we do.
The position of St. Mary Parish Sheriff is open after current Sheriff Blaise Smith announced he would not seek re-election following extended health issues. Running for the job are Gary Driskell, Jason Granger, Kenny P. Scelfo Sr. and Cody J. Thibodaux.
Here are the questions (in italics) we asked, followed by the full response received from each candidate:
GARY DRISKELL
Please give us a brief summary of your qualifications for this position.
I served in the United States Army as a Military Policeman before entering law enforcement for a combined 37 years of experience. As a law enforcement officer, I have worked in corrections, patrol, detectives, narcotics, and administration. I was a supervisor in each of these areas and these valuable years of experience make me uniquely qualified.
Why do you want to be sheriff?
I often tell people that I have done almost everything at the Sheriff’s Office in my career except one important role. I want to serve the people of St. Mary Parish as their Sheriff. We are definitely on the right track, and I want to see the good work that we have started continue.
What do you believe is the single biggest challenge facing parish law enforcement?
Manpower shortages have affected many agencies, including ours. Over the past two years, we have taken a multi-pronged approach to tackle this issue which has led us to strengthen our staff numbers dramatically.
What are your specific plans to address the issues facing the sheriff's office?
We have several initiatives and projects that are in progress now to address not only manpower shortages but also juvenile crime and violent crime issues. For example, we received a new grant for a juvenile program that will work with the school and court systems to identify at-risk juveniles. Our intervention counselor will take steps to get them “back on track” before they commit more serious crimes, resulting in more stringent correction actions. For violent crime, we developed a violent crime initiative aimed at taking guns and drugs off our streets. During the implementation of this data-driven program, we took over three times as many illegal guns off the street as in the previous year. We will continue to adjust and implement this plan going forward.
The current sheriff has not been active in this role for some time due to serious medical issues. If you were to fall ill, would you continue to hold the office?
If that should happen to me, I would retire.
Would you try to implement any changes if elected? If so, what would they be?
In recent years, we have made many positive changes at the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, and I am proud to have been a part of those. However, we are not done, we have more to do.
JASON GRANGER
Please give us a brief summary of your qualifications for this position.
I bring a military mindset with fresh eyes. The same ole same ole isn’t working anymore.
Why do you want to be sheriff?
I want to show kids no matter what anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Our kids are our future. They need a safer world to grow up in.
What do you believe is the single biggest challenge facing parish law enforcement?
Personnel is our biggest issue. We need to do a better job at recruiting so we will be better staffed to better serve the community.
What are your specific plans to address the issues facing the sheriff's office?
We need to rebuild trust with the community with there help more cases can be solved.
The current sheriff has not been active in this role for some time due to serious medical issues. If you were to fall ill, would you continue to hold the office?
The only way I would hold the office due to a lengthy illness would be if it was cheaper than calling for a special election. Due to the nature where I’d be out for a significant amount of time I would step down.
Would you try to implement any changes if elected? If so, what would they be?
Yes, I want to have more transparency between the victims and the sheriffs
office. I’d also like to implement a panel of citizens and law enforcement so we can deal with complaints instead of being judged off a 15 sec Facebook video that doesn’t show the whole story.
KENNY P. SCELFO, SR.
Please give us a brief summary of your qualifications for this position.
I have worked for a natural gas pipeline company for 42 years, where I worked as a mechanic, operator, control technician and lead tech, in charge of the men and operations of a gas platform.
I served with the Franklin Police Department for over 18 years and performed all the everyday duties of policing.
I was elected to the Franklin City Council 4 times where I served as Chairman of Public Safety and Mayor Protempore. I have balanced budgets while on the council and served the citizens of Franklin in all capacities.
Currently I work in damage prevention for a natural gas company and serve as a 2nd Lt. with the Air Force Auxiliary, where we do search and rescue.
Why do you want to be sheriff?
I have always had an interest in Law Enforcement and serving the public. I feel people should not live in fear. I feel everyone should be treated fair and feel protected by their law enforcement.
I want to do more to protect our children in school.
I want better training for our deputies and better protection for them.
I want to add deputies so we can increase the amount of road patrols and I would like to increase their pay.
What do you believe is the single biggest challenge facing parish law enforcement?
We need more manpower. The law enforcement shortage across the country is one of the biggest challenges for most agencies. We need leadership in our department that will make deputies want to work for the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's department. Under my leadership, deputies will be treated fairly and given promotions and raises accordingly.
What are your specific plans to address the issues facing the sheriff's office?
We will have to give pay raises to keep the deputies we have on staff now, and we will have to make sure our starting salaries are competitive with surrounding agencies to attract new deputies. We will make sure our deputies continue to get the best training to keep up with new developments in our field. We will make sure all deputies' concerns are being heard and handled accordingly.
The current sheriff has not been active in this role for some time due to serious medical issues. If you were to fall ill, would you continue to hold the office?
If I am unable to fully perform my duties as Sheriff, I would not continue to hold office. Our parish needs a full time Sheriff and I would want the people to be able to elect another person to take over the job.
Would you try to implement any changes if elected? If so, what would they be?
Yes I would make some changes within the department and parish. I would want security at all schools, I would implement a mental health database for the safety of our deputies and residents, I will find out what our weaknesses are as a department and get the proper training to fix those weaknesses and I will send a message to the criminals in our parish that we are a strong department and will hunt them down if they commit crimes in our communities. It's time to take back our parish!
CODY J. THIBODAUX
Please give us a brief summary of your qualifications for this position.
I am Cody Thibodaux. I am running for St. Mary Parish Sheriff on October 14, 2023. I have 16 years of law enforcement experience. In those 16 years, I have worked in corrections, dispatch, patrol, warrants, detectives, traffic, and administration. I have also worked for several different departments, allowing me to see what works and what doesn't work firsthand. I feel that for the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office to better serve the citizens of the parish it needs to have fewer people in the office and more people on patrol, in the jail, and in our schools. I plan on restructuring the department to better serve St. Mary Parish citizens and visitors. I plan on getting better and more training for department personnel. I and the administration I would put in place would work with their divisions and not be in the office alone. The persons I would have in the new administration bring many years of experience and dedication to St. Mary Parish. I feel that a completely new administration would bring a great deal of better leadership and knowledge to the St. Mary Sheriff's Office.
Why do you want to be sheriff?
I am seeking to be elected as the St. Mary Parish Sheriff to be able to
bring more personnel, better pay, and better training to the St. Mary
Parish Sheriff's office. The deputies have been doing a great job of
keeping the parish safe and it is time for them to get paid accordingly.
I would also restructure the department to be able to have less
administration and more patrol deputies. With less administration, the department as a whole would be able to have better pay and better equipment.
What do you believe is the single biggest challenge facing parish law
enforcement?
The biggest challenge facing St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement is the short
staffing on patrol and in the jail. This problem causes the parish to not
have enough personnel to be able to thoroughly patrol the parish and assist the city police departments as needed.
What are your specific plans to address the issues facing the sheriff's
office?
I plan on increasing the pay and changing the administration to bring more deputies to the parish to better serve the citizens and visitors of St. Mary Parish.
The current sheriff has not been active in this role for some time due to serious medical issues. If you were to fall ill, would you continue to hold
the office?
If I was to be elected and fell ill due to serious medical reasons and was
not able to return to my normal role as Sheriff in a short period I would
step down as Sheriff and appoint my Chief Deputy as acting Sheriff. I would
not continue to be the Sheriff if I was not able to continue to serve the
parish in my full capacity.
Would you try to implement any changes if elected? If so, what would they be?
Yes, many changes would be implemented if I were to be elected as Sheriff. I will start a cyber crime unit due to increased online crime. I will also start an elderly victims unit to take care of our elderly citizens who are victims of abuse, neglect, and being taken advantage of. I would try to have School Resource Officers in every school in St. Mary Parish by the end of my first term if elected.
