VIDALIA &045;&045; The race for mayor of Ferriday garnered much attention Wednesday as six residents qualified for the March election.

There was no lack of interest in the race for mayor of Ferriday. Ferriday Mayor Glen McGlothin is seeking re-election to the post but the list of challengers after Wednesday was at five &045;&045; Gene Allen, Justin Conner, William &uot;Peanut&uot; Cornwell, Alex Promise and Freddie L. Quinn.

Incumbent Wilbur Washington qualified Wednesday for mayor of Clayton, and incumbent Hyram Copeland qualified for mayor of Vidalia.

Allen said he is running for mayor of Ferriday to &uot;get Ferriday moving again.&uot;

&uot;Ferriday is one of the most aggressive cities in this country,&uot; Allen said. &uot;Ferriday has a lot of potential and all we need is just new leadership. We need to get some industry in Ferriday; we need to get the water straight in Ferriday; and we need to clean Ferriday up.&uot;

Cornwell said he is running for Ferriday mayor to improve the town and fix some of the things he sees as problems &045;&045; the water, drugs and jobs.

&uot;I’m concerned for where Ferriday is going and I would like to see if I can’t get it turned around and get things back on the right track,&uot; Cornwell said. &uot;And get the community to working together instead of against each other.&uot;

Quinn said he is running because Ferriday needs a change. &uot;There are a lot of changes that need to be done around here and there needs to be changes in the overhead,&uot; Quinn said. &uot;New beginnings for a new generation, new solutions for the same situation.&uot;

McGlothin is running for re-election &uot;because I love Ferriday. I love the hometown I live in. It’s a labor of love for me.&uot;

McGlothin also said he wants to finish many of the projects he has started in Ferriday and see them come to fruition.

And he

is touting his experience and working relationship with other mayors, state legislators and the governor for his re-election. &uot;I think I offer experience and hard work to the job,&uot; he said.

Promise said he is running for mayor of Ferriday with the priority of establishing programs for the youth of the community.

&uot;My decision to run for mayor was prompted by the many initiatives I attempted to accomplish working for the current mayor&uot; that were not accepted, he said,

&uot;particularly the programs pertaining to our children.&uot;

Promise also talked about Ferriday as a whole. &uot;I do not see where the current administration has been effective on building and growing Ferriday,&uot; Promise said.

Conner could not be reached before press time.

Only 10 people qualified the first day for the nine school board seats and one of the seats did not even have a qualifier Wednesday &045;&045; District 1, Place A, the seat held by the Rev. Johnnie L. Brown.

&uot;I’m surprised that we haven’t had more for the school board,&uot; Webber said.

School board elections were postponed until this spring because of delays in getting reapportionment plans approved.

Those signing up Wednesday were:

District 1, Place B &045;&045; Incumbent Mary H. Campbell.

District 2 &045;&045; Incumbent Raymond T. Riley Sr.

District 3, Place A &045;&045; Gary P. Parnham.

Donald Joseph currently holds this seat.

District 3, Place B &045;&045; Incumbent Darrell &uot;Bubba&uot; Crofford and Bill Staggs Sr.

District 4, Place A &045;&045; Incumbent Ricky Raven Sr.

District 4, Place B &045;&045; Cindy W. Harper and Incumbent Jimmy Wilkinson.

District 5, Place A &045;&045; Incumbent Martha Rabb.

District 5, Place B &045;&045; Incumbent Ernest Lynn White.

Other Wednesday qualifiers included:

Vidalia Chief of Police &045;&045; Lynn McNemar.

Billy Hammers is currently the chief of police in Vidalia.

Clayton Chief of Police &045;&045; Clarence W. &uot;PaPa&uot; Skipper.

Democratic State Central Committee member in the 21st Representative District, Office A &045;&045; Incumbent Rena Pitts.

Republican Parish Executive Committee member, at large &045;&045; Clayton Starling.

Democratic Parish Executive Committee member, District 1, Place A &045;&045; Incumbent Clarence Hymon.

DPEC member, District 4, Place A &045;&045; Incumbent Mack H. Moore.