Norman joins local law firm

Todd Clemons and Associates welcomes Jud Norman, attorney, to the firm.

Prior to joining the firm, Norman served as a state prosecutor at the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office. He is a graduate of Southern University Law Center and Louisiana State University.  Norman joins attorneys Todd S. Clemons and Micah O. Clemons.

Norman serves on the board for the Arts and Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana and is active with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southwest Louisiana.

Todd Clemons and Associates is located at 1740 Ryan St. The firm’s primary areas of practice are criminal defense, civil litigation, personal injury, and family law.

Shaffer named Optimum VP

Optimum, the local provider of internet, mobile, TV, and phone services, has announced the appointment of Michael Shaffer as vice president, general manager of the company’s mid central area serving Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, East Kansas, East Oklahoma, and West Mississippi.

As vice president, general manager, Shaffer is responsible for overseeing local sales, operations, and engagement efforts across the area, ensuring best-in-class service and support to the more than 300 communities Optimum serves across the Mid Central Area.

Shaffer, who has been with the company since 2008 in a variety of sales and operational leadership roles, most recently served as regional vice president – mid south, where he was focused on driving community and customer engagement across the company’s Optimum (formerly Suddenlink) footprint in the West.

Before joining Optimum, Shaffer spent several years with Time Warner Cable in various sales management roles across Louisiana, Missouri and Texas. He is based out of the company’s Lake Charles.

McGrath earns CMS designation

Calcasieu Assessor Wendy Aguillard would like to formally congratulate Carmen McGrath for completing all educational requirements needed to receive a special designation as a Cadastral Mapping Specialist (CMS) with the International Association of Assessing Officers.

The designation is one of the profession’s highest designations that recognizes professionalism and competency in cadastral mapping techniques that support proper valuation for tax purposes, property tax administration and property tax policy.

McGrath is the first CMS Designation recipient in Calcasieu Parish and is one of only four in the state of Louisiana. In addition to this designation, she is also a certified Louisiana Deputy Assessor and a Notary Public.

She has worked for the Calcasieu Assessor’s Office for the past seven years and is a lifelong resident of Calcasieu Parish.

Lanier named district director

BATON ROUGE — Rick Lanier of Lanier Plumbing has been named the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Louisiana District Director for Lake Charles.

The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Louisiana is dedicated to the promotion, advancement, education, and training of our industry, and to the protection of the health and safety of the public.

Rodriguez joins Visit Lake Charles  

Visit Lake Charles, the official destination marketing organization for Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana, has named Candy Rodriguez as director of communications.   

In her new role, Rodriguez will be instrumental in elevating Visit Lake Charles’ communication efforts through local media relations, partner and stakeholder engagement, and storytelling in printed and digital publications and media channels. Additionally, she will lead communication efforts in partnership with the Community Foundation to foster the awareness, growth, and enhancement of the Just Imagine SWLA initiative across Southwest Louisiana.

Born in California and raised in Texas, Rodriguez earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from Lamar University. Her journey to Visit Lake Charles is marked by a career spanning nearly a decade in communications, primarily as a journalist. She spent several years in Southwest Louisiana at KPLC-TV, where she served as the morning reporter. Most recently, Rodriguez served more than four years as a morning reporter and multimedia journalist at KXAN-TV in Austin, Texas.

Veteran named vice commander

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former state commander of the Louisiana American Legion was elected national vice commander of the nation’s largest veterans organization during its 104th national convention.

Charles D. “Charlie” Aucoin is a Paid Up For Life member of the William A. (Bill) Guillory American Legion Post 370 in Westlake since 1970. He served on active-duty in the Navy from 1967 to 1968.

Aucoin has been a post, district, and department (state) commander in Louisiana and has been a member and chairman of the department’s Americanism Commission for many years. He is also serving on the department Internal Affairs Commission.

At the national level, Aucoin served on the Membership & Post Activities Committee and the Foreign Relations Commission before being elected as Louisiana’s National Executive Committeeman in 2005, where he served for 18 years. He served as The American Legion’s national sergeant-at-arms from 1994 to 1995.

Aucoin also served on the Louisiana Veterans Affairs Commission from 1984 to 2005, with appointments from three different governors. He is a member of the Sons of the American Legion and is eligible through the service of his World War II veteran father. Aucoin enjoys gardening in his spare time.

Desselle, Harmon earn certification

CSE Federal Credit Union is proud to announce CSE Chief Marketing Officer Colleen Desselle and CSE Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Harmon have graduated from CUNA Management School and earned their Certified Credit Union Executive designation.

The program demonstrates enhanced credit union management and operation techniques. By completing all three years of the school, three exams, two projects and an oral presentation, attendees earn the designation.

Leubner receives service award

BATON ROUGE — Lt. James Leubner of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Financial Crimes Division has received the 2023 Law Enforcement Officer Distinguished Service Award. Each year, LBA recognizes outstanding officers who assist banks with the investigation of financial crimes.

The award recipients are nominated by bankers from across the state. “His meticulous investigative skills, tireless work ethic and remarkable problem-solving abilities have consistently yielded successful outcomes in complex cases. He has played a pivotal role in combating financial crimes, especially those affecting the banking sector,” said Jennifer L. Pugh of First Federal Bank of Louisiana.