<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">I heard that Lake Charles has hired a city planner. Was this position advertised?</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: ‘Lucida Sans’;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">How much does this position pay? What are the qualifications and the job description for this position?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Mike Huber, a one-time Lake Charles city councilman and an erstwhile employee of Axiall, assumed the post of city planning director on Feb. 23 and will earn $95,000 a year, city officials said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Huber, one of several applicants for the post, “is a degreed engineer with extensive engineering and managerial experience,” City Administrator John Cardone said in a statement forwarded to The Informer.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“He is very well-informed on matters related to traffic congestion, drainage, the city water and sewerage system, as well as the city planning process and related procedures,”</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">reads the statement.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“As a result of his nearly 16 years of experience on the City Council, he is very knowledgeable on local zoning issues and the city legislative and budgetary process.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Cardone said the city planner oversees the planning and zoning office, managing staff and directing the city’s engineering and planning initiatives.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The planning office, he said, evaluates projects — reviewing their design and impact with architects, developers and engineers — before submitting them to the Planning Commission, which administers the city’s master plan and zoning code.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">City officials reassigned the previous planning director in August 2013 and put the department under the public works director’s supervision, Cardone said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Officials, between September and November 2015, advertised the vacant city planner job in the</span> <span style="font-style: italic;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">American Press</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">and on the city’s website and posted the opening on the sites of the American Planning Association and the Louisiana Workforce Commission, he said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">From the ad, which appeared, set off by a black box, Sept. 18-Oct. 1 in the</span> <span style="font-style: italic;" class="R~sep~ACopyBody">American Press</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">classified section:</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">Director of Planning</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">The City of Lake Charles has a challenging opportunity for an energetic individual to manage our Planning and Zoning Dept.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">The Director will provide vision and leadership while directing the overall comprehensive, long-range planning programs including annexations, historic preservation, zoning and subdivision reviews, and programs for utilization of land and physical facilities of the city. The Director will be responsible for the departmental budget and direct supervision of all employees in the Planning and Zoning Division.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyInfoBox">The ideal person should possess a BS Degree from an accredited university in civil engineering, geography, public administration, business, or urban/rural planning; and six (6) years of professional experience in urban planning.</span>

<span class="R~sep~AZaphdingbatdot7pt">l</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Online:</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">www.cityoflakecharles.com.</span>

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<span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">The I</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nform</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">er answers questions from rea</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ders each Sunday, Monday a</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">nd Wednesday. It is re</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">searched and written by</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">Andrew Perzo</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">, an</span> <span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">American Press</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">staff wri</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">ter. To ask a question, call</span> <span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">494-409</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">8 and leave voice mail, or ema</span><span style="font-size: 8pt;" class="R~sep~ACopyEditors~sep~endnote">il informer@americanpress.com.</span>