Mayor Perkin's has dodged a bullet in his effort to be elected with the 4-3 decision by the Louisiana Supreme Court that allows him to stay on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Now the votes of the retired city employees, especially the firefighters and their families, will become much more important to Perkins as well as the other contenders.

The new health care plan being discussed by the Health Care Board of Trustees is not favorable to senior retired city employees.

Perkins, CAO Whitehorn, and CFO Brown are voting members of the committee. Their votes will certainly become a campaign issue.

The same can be said about the vote of council member Jerry Bowman Jr., who is also a committee member. His wife Urusla Bowman is a candidate to replace him in Nov.

Perkin's term as mayor started with a major fiasco in the award of a city insurance contract that was not properly vetted.

Now the actions of these Trustees, scheduled for vote on Sept. 7, may set another unfavorable marker for Perkins' re-election effort.