In the Calcasieu Parish Police Juror race, Brian Abshire, District 2; “Ron” Hayes, District 1; Chris Landry, District 7; “Tony” Stelly, District 10; Roger Marcantel, District 11, Judd Bares, District 12; Joe Andrepont, District 13; “Randy” Burleigh, District 14 and “Tony” Tramonte, District 15 are unopposed.

Mack Dellafosse Jr. and incumbent Tony Guillory are in the race for District 4. In District 9, incumbent Anthonie Bartie and Felicia Frank are on the ballot. In District 8, it’s Mary Kaye Eason, Emily Fenet-Parker and Scott Washington going after Guy Brame’s seat, which he held for 18 years. In an email to the American Press, he expressed his thanks to constituents, supporters and friends, as well as to fellow Police Jurors and staff for their help during his time of service.

Brame said, “It has been a great honor to serve. I know without a doubt that God put me in that position, and I have honored that my entire time of service. I leave the Police Jury proud of numerous accomplishments and grateful for the many friendships and relationships I’ve made. It’s those memories I will cherish the most.”

The American Press asked Calcasieu Parish Police Jury candidates to answer the same two-part question to help voters in their districts make up their minds on Saturday, Oct. 14. The question: ‘If you are limited to accomplishing only one goal if you are elected to office, what is the one thing you would like to accomplish, and how would you do it?’ 

Here are the responses from Police Jury District 4 candidates:

Mack Dellafosse

Since the majority of District 4 residents live in the city limits of Lake Charles, I think it is paramount that these residents receive a greater return on the amount of property tax dollars that they pay to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury every year. Of particular interest are three property taxes: 003-maintenance, 008-road maintenance, and 074-gravity drainage.

The Police Jury collected over $18 million in 2023 from residents living within the city limits of Lake Charles.

When I talk to residents in the district, and I look around the neighborhoods of District 4 that lie within the city limits, I do not see how these tax-paying residents have benefited from their substantial tax payments to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury.

More collaboration and focused discussions between Parish and City officials are needed in order to create an equitable funding matrix that results in greater and equitable distribution of Police Jury funds for drainage, roads, laterals, parks, and economic development in District 4 neighborhoods.

With additional funding from the Police Jury as described above, the City of Lake Charles could accomplish more for District 4 residents in a shorter period of time. Many of the issues (i.e. flooding, roads in need of repair, etc.) that continue to plague District 4 neighborhoods (some of which have existed for years) in the city limits of District 4 could be addressed and resolved with greater contribution of funds from the Police Jury to the City of Lake Charles.

Tony Guillory

I am fortunate that in my term in office of Police Juror for District 4 I have been a part of many significant accomplishments like investing millions of dollars in roads, millions in drainage, millions in sewer, millions in water, and millions in our parks system, among other major infrastructure that has benefited so many people.

In addition, the Police Jury was the lead agency in response to many disasters during my time in office so far, and we outperform other areas across the country in getting back on our feet and protecting the people that I serve.

However, if I could change one thing, it would be to improve our quality of life, especially through housing. Investing in our parks and amenities we can offer our residents to enjoy with their families is important to ensure that people love living here and stay.

However, we must have better housing options across this parish that are nice, affordable, and accessible to people from all walks of life. I would do it by incentivizing good housing developments that can meet these needs and investing in the infrastructure to facilitate and protect these housing developments to make them resilient.

Clean water, sewer access, good roads, and drainage infrastructure are examples of infrastructure that we can be proactive with, to make this goal achievable. As I have done in the past, I will support those investments that improve the quality of life of all residents in District 4, and all of Calcasieu Parish.