VIDALIA, La. – Filling the shoes of longtime Police Juror Fred Falkenheiner may be tough, but two Concordia Parish residents are willing to give it a shot.

Randy Temple, is running on his previous Police Jury experience; &uot;Hoss&uot;&160;Davis, on the skills he has gained from 40 years in the oil business.

Falkenheiner served 30 years in the Police Jury’s District 3, Place A seat, which covers much of Vidalia, including 12 years as jury president. But he decided not to run again due to persistent health problems.

Temple was elected to the jury in 1983 for District 3, Place B but moved to Place A halfway through his term. He ran unsuccessfully against Falkenheiner in 1987, then decided to wait to run again until Falkenheiner quit the jury.

During his time on the jury, Temple chaired the Finance Committee. He also helped pass an ordinance forbidding the sale of fireworks within 1,000 feet of city limits and pushed for a state law to limit commercial fishing.

&uot;My strength is that I’ve been there before, preparing the budget and working with parish and state governments,&uot;&160;Temple said.

In the future, he hopes to get more state incentives to attract industries to Concordia Parish and push for building new recreational facilities, including a new girls’ softball complex.

He would also like to work with area legislators to reinstate revenue sharing or get other funds to improve roads and drainage.

But Davis believes his business experience will be just as big a plus if he is elected. His time in the oil industry has included 20 years in the well servicing business, and he now operates Reliable Production Service in Vidalia.

&uot;I’ve been supervising and working with heavy equipment for years,&uot;&160;Davis said. &uot;My business has taught me about managing money and meeting the public.&uot;

Since the Police Jury uses lots of heavy equipment for its public works projects, experience with such equipment would be a plus for any juror, he said.

&uot;I have as much experience as anybody,&uot;&160;Davis said.

If he is elected, Davis’ first priorities would be to see where the jury can get funds, including government grants, to make road and drainage improvements.

&uot;And I&160;will work with Vidalia officials to improve the Vidalia area,&uot;&160;he said.