City Council selects new member for vacated seat

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview City Council held a special meeting Tuesday night to fill the vacated seat of Doug Faircloth, who stepped down last month due to health concerns prior to his passing last week.

Seven candidates interviewed for the position. Alex Barthe, who was originally listed as a candidate was unable to interview due to having a contract with the city.

Each council member had the chance to ask candidates two questions, ranging from their goals to what they have learned about themselves through the process.

After a two-and-a-half-hour process, the council unanimously selected Harry LeBoeuf for the position.

LeBoeuf has lived in Crestview for 13 years. For the past six years, he has served on the city’s Board of Adjustment. He also serves as a board member for the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m very humbled,” LeBoeuf said. “Councilman Faircloth, I knew him. I have some really big shoes to fill and I don’t know if I can ever really fill those shoes.

“I feel so very honored to be able to continue his legacy because he was a visionary as well,” he added.

LeBoeuf said preparation for the future is one of his main goals.

“Crestview needs to more forward,” LeBoeuf said. “It’s a great place to live today, but if we want to continue to have a great place to live tomorrow, we have to move forward.

“We have to prepare ourselves for the challenges of the future. We don’t really know what those are, but there are some things that we can do to prepare us for whatever happens in the future and that’s what I want to help bring to the city,” he added.

LeBoeuf said making Crestview a secure place to live is important for the future. The way to make that happen, he said, is communication with the citizens.

“We represent the people and the only way we can do that is for the people to tell us what they need,” said LeBoeuf. “We can’t do everything for everybody. That’s physically and fiscally impossible, but we need to know what’s most important to them so we can know what direction we need to take.

“My most important role is to listen to the citizens,” he added.

LeBoeuf said he thinks the mayor’s “New View for Crestview” works well with the way he sees things for the city.

“That’s probably the real reason I wanted to be part of the city council was I wanted to help us establish the path that’s already been put, but now we can continue through the future,” said LeBoeuf. “I think we’ve done a lot of great things here, but I think we have a lot of great things in store for us in the future.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: City Council selects new member for vacated seat