PLAQUEMINE -- The mayor of Plaquemine will be decided in a runoff election on Dec. 7. The two candidates running are JB Barker (I) and Timmy Martinez (D). The winner will take over in January for current mayor Ed Reeves, who is set to retire after his term ends.The election headed for a runoff when neither candidate reached 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 5 election. Barker received 1,569 votes, or 44 percent of the vote. Martinez came in second with 983 votes, beating the third-place finisher Tonya Harmason (I) by just 33 votes.The two candidates expect a lower voter turnout since the presidential race was on the November ballot, which brought more people to the polls. However, they both say they like their chances right now.The two candidates spoke to WBRZ about a variety of topics. The first question centered around why they felt they were the best choice for the job. Both of them said their experience justified why people should vote for them."I got experience in city government. I know what it takes to get things done and I know how to get things done. I was on the council for 16 years, Mayor Pro-Tem for 4 years," Martinez said."My education. I had two good teachers in school that really sparked my interest. I went on to college and ended up majoring in government. I think that's a big separation there, but I also have experience on the local level and the parish level with Iberville Parish, but I also have state experience, the state government. I was executive director of the state plumbing board," Barker said.Both candidates said that the most common issue for voters is the cost of utilities. Each shared their vision for how they would approach it if elected."It's something we got to do. We have to look into it. We have to get these utility rates down any way we can. We just have people who can't afford them. They can't afford to pay their utility bills," Martinez said."Power rates, we have to address them and get some people some relief, but there's also a big sewer rate problem in our city. Part of that problem is we're treating water unnecessarily. There's an intrusion, with heavy rains getting into the old infrastructure," Barker said.Martinez says one of his biggest goals is to ensure improvements for the schools and provide more activities for the children of the town."We got a great city here. We got to make it better we got to have things for people to do. We don't have anything, especially for young people, we got to keep young kids off the street, we got to have things for them to do," Martinez said.Barker says one of his biggest goals is to provide more opportunities for the current small businesses in town to thrive while making the town more attractive for new ones."I know what Plaquemine was. I know what it can become. There's no sense in anybody having to drive to Baton Rouge for your daily needs. That's the promise of Plaquemine, to bring it back to where you have commercial, retail, residential," Barker said.Saturday the 30th is the final day of early voting before the runoff election on Dec. 7.Permalink| Comments