Vallo: ‘Don’t vote for me to be a Gueydan council member’

GUEYDAN — For the next three months, Scott Vallo will have to do a different campaign in Gueydan.
He will tell everyone in Gueydan not to vote for him despite his name being on the city council election on November 8.
For the last 13 years, Vallo has been a city council member in Gueydan. Two weeks ago, he and seven others qualified to run for council members in Gueydan.
However, Vallo learned of the Hatch Act, which deals with Federal Employees and elections.
Vallo is an employee with the U.S. Post Office, making him a Federal Employee.
He is also a Gueydan council member.
The Hatch Act states that federal employees can not participate in a bipartisan election.
Vallo and seven other candidates sought the five Gueydan council seats in the November 8 election.
The November 8 election is bipartisan, so Vallo resigned his present seat on the Gueydan council, and last week, he went to the Vermilion Parish court house to remove his name from the November 8 ballot.
However, he missed the deadline to withdraw his name from the ballot by four days. So, when voters in Gueydan go to the voter’s booth, they will see eight names on the ballot seeking five places. The top five vote-getters will be named as the Gueydan council members.
“I will tell people not to vote for me,” said Vallot. “As the election gets closer, I will run ads in the Gueydan Journal asking everyone not to vote for me.”
Here lies the problem if Vallo is elected as an alderman. If he wins, he will have to be sworn in as an alderman. Then he has to resign because he can not hold office.
Once he resigns, the city council has 20 days to name a replacement. Then, a special election in Gueydan has to take place to select the fifth alderperson.
That special election could cost the town more than $15,000.
Now, if Vallo does not make the top five, then none of this takes place, and he goes on with his life working for the post office.
“It is crazy, I know,” said Vallo. “I am taking not being an alderman hard because I love Gueydan and enjoy serving the people.”