Mayor Pro-Tem Washington Says He’s Considering Race for Mayor

CENTRAL — Mayor Pro-Tem Ralph Washington said Wednesday he is considering running for Mayor in next spring’s municipal elections.  Washington has served as Mayor Pro-Tem since Central was incorporated in July 2005.

Washington is a proven vote-getter.  In Central’s first municipal election in 2006, he ran first in a field of 13 candidates, winning 67 percent of the vote.  In 2010, he was the second-highest candidate among nine seeking five seats on the Council.  In that election, he won 61 percent of the votes cast.

Washington said he is considering running for Mayor because, “I feel that I’ve made a difference on the City Council, and I feel I could make a difference for our citizens as Mayor.”

When CH2MHill had the contract to run Central’s privatized city government, Washington was a frequent critic of the company.  This brought him a lot of criticism from supporters of CH2MHill.

Washington said, “I kept pushing for a better City Services contract, and I feel that my efforts on the Council were one of the reasons we were able to replace CH2MHill.  Today, I think we have better services for our citizens as a result.”

In his first five years on the City Council, Washington was often on the losing end of 4-1 votes.  But, with the election of a new City Council in March 2010, Washington found himself joined on many issues by new Councilmen Tony LoBue and Wayne Messina.  They often prevail by a vote of 3-2.

Washington said, “I’ve tried to be a watchdog on the Council, looking out for the interests of the taxpayer, especially on spending and city services.”

The Mayor Pro-Tem said he is also proud of having pushed hard for public access to Public Records in Central’s privatized city government.  He was a leader in the fight to demand that CH2MHill provide public records.  When the company refused, he pushed to notify the company that their city contract would not be renewed.

“I’ve tried to be fair and balanced in my approach to issues coming before the City Council, and I’ve had an open door to everyone.  That’s the same approach that I would have as Mayor.”

Washington said he believes the biggest problem facing Central is infrastructure.

“We have serious problems with our roads.  They are unsafe, and we have to make major improvements on Greenwell Springs Road, Hooper, Sullivan, Wax, Frenchtown, and others.  They are narrow and lack shoulders.  There’s no margin for driver error.”

“At the same time, we have to eliminate the bottlenecks and improve the flow of traffic. One of the most important improvements is to build the new bridge over the Amite River at Hooper Road.  This will help move traffic through our community, instead of having long lines of cars waiting to cross Magnolia Bridge.”

Washington said one of the issues that is very serious but that gets little attention is the sewer system.  “We have filth in open ditches and problems with dirty water in the water system in some areas of Central.  Clearing up these problems is one of my biggest concerns.”

Washington said he would appreciate hearing from Central residents before making a final decision on whether to run for Mayor.  His number is 225-229-6895.

Central Mayor Mac Watts has not announced whether he will seek reelection next year.

Qualifying for Mayor, Police Chief, and all five seats on the City Council will be held Feb. 12-14, 2014, with the primary on Saturday, April 5 and the runoff if necessary on May 3.