The LCDA held its annual Board of Directors meeting on October 12, 2023, at The Executive Center in Baton Rouge.
Chairperson Mary Adams opened the meeting and welcomed the newest members to the Board of Directors. They included: Mayor Charlotte Clavier of the City of Carencro, Mayor Wade Evans of the City of Central, Mr. Damon Hardesty of the Calcasieu Parish School Board, Mr. Dustin Rabalais of the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District, Mr. Jean Paul Bourg of St. Mary Parish, Mr. John Wascom of Livingston Parish, Mayor Rich Dupree of the City of Pineville, and Mayor Ryan Williams of the City of Ville Platte.
The most important business managed by the Board of Directors was the election of the 2024 Executive Committee members. Those elected for 2024 are: Mr. Guy Cormier representing St. Martin Parish – Chairman, Mr. Mack Dellafosse representing the City of Lake Charles – Vice Chairman, Mr. Jim Holland representing the Town of Oak Grove – Secretary/Treasurer, Mayor David Camardelle representing the Town of Grand Isle – At Large 1 Year, Mayor David Butler representing the Town of Woodworth – At Large 2 Year, Mr. Johnny Berthelot representing the City of Gonzales – At Large 3 Year and Mr. David Rabalais representing the Terrebonne Port – At Large 4 Year.
Executive Director, Ty E. Carlos, shared information related to bond issuance success for the year ending 2022 and for the year-to-date period ending September 30, 2023. Additionally, Mr. Carlos discussed the pipeline of projects in que, financials, the interest rate environment, hurricane recovery and legislation.
In the Executive Directors report, Mr. Carlos noted that for the year ending December 31, 2022, the LCDA issued bonds on twenty (20) projects for a total par of $4,570,318,000. It was the best year in the history of the LCDA. Included was the largest municipal bond issue done in Louisiana history for $3,193,505,000 for the LURC (Entergy Louisiana) project. The LURC project issuance was recognized by The Bond Buyer as the SE Region Deal of the Year.
The guest speaker for the meeting was Mr. Warren Morris. Mr. Morris was a member of the 1996 LSU baseball team and hit the game winning 2-run homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning with 2 outs to capture LSU’s 3rd National Championship at the time in Omaha, Nebraska. Mr. Morris played on the US Olympic Team and professionally for numerous years. He currently resides in Alexandria and works for Red River Bank.