Calcasieu Parish - Community Involvement

Calcasieu Parish leadership set up an effective structure to work with local governments, communities, the LTCR steering committee and task force work groups. Together they drafted their plan’s vision, needs and issues, goals and action strategies, opened a storefront, and conducted two town hall public meetings. While the LTCR planning team assisted the community with the process, the momentum and leadership was all provided by the local community.

The community is committed to developing stronger building ordinances and infrastructure, correct inadequacies in its disaster response and mitigation measures and developing a new parish-wide land use and transportation plan. Additionally, local officials committed to overhaul the downtown Lake Charles lake- and river-front within the next three years using the new Louisiana Speaks/Duany plan.      

Community involvement reached deeply, with more than 200 participants in the work groups. Attendance at public meetings was consistently strong. Although there is still more work needed in the communities of Vinton and Westlake, a foundation has been built with those who will be responsible for carrying out the future planning and implementation for their community and region. This community pulled together with a united voice and embarced the opportunity to build a stronger, safer, smarter future with their recovery.

Stakeholders
Calcasieu Parish

• police jury

City of DeQuincy

• mayor

Town of Westlake

• mayor

City of Sulphur

• mayor

Town of Iowa

• mayor

Town of Vinton

• mayor

City of Lake Charles

• mayor

City of Lake Charles

• administrator

Business and Industry

• SWLA Partnership for Economic Development
• Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning Commission (IMCAL)
• Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
• Louisiana National Guard

LTCR Steering Committee
The steering committee provides leadership and guidance for the Calcasieu LTCR planning process. Committee meetings were frequent (every 1-2 weeks) in the beginning, and now are conducted as needed. Recently, with the move into project development, the federal partners from HUD and USDA have begun to participate. The committee is currently addressing the transition from the federal LTCR team’s efforts into full local ownership and integration with the state’s efforts, and is developing a parish-wide endorsement of the plan’s final contents and priorities.

Task Force Work Groups
More than 200 diverse participants now form the seven focus-area working groups: housing and community development; transportation and infrastructure; economic development; environment and coastal; public safety; education; and health and family services. The group’s mission is to represent the community while it develops the Calcasieu LTCR Plan guided by general public input. Work group members include local government agency staff, local authorities and districts, state and non-profits and community group representatives, business organizations and leaders, providers of education, health and human services, and the general public.

The work groups have met four times. The first meeting served as the introduction to the process and general work scope. The second set of meetings reviewed the Town Hall I output and the preliminary identification of the needs, issues and key actions. The third set of meetings developed the goals and action strategies presented at the Jan. 21 LRPD open house. The fourth round of meetings reviewed Town Hall II prioritized goals and project list.

Between the meetings, the LTCR planning team frequently interacts with work group participants in smaller meetings and using a variety of communication methods.

Input Events
Scoping Meeting (November 2005) -The LTCR team and LRA representatives hosted a kickoff meeting in Jennings for about 35 local government officials and community leaders.  The LTCR parish team worked frequently with the parish and Lake Charles administrators, newly-designated LTCR local lead George Swift, and the FEMA area field office staff. These efforts resulted in the creation of the Calcasieu LTCR steering committee and the seven task force work groups.

Town Hall I public meeting (December 2005) - The steering committee held seven public meetings throughout the parish (Iowa, Westlake, Sulphur, Vinton, DeQuincy and two in Lake Charles) with more than 200 people in attendance and an average of 30 people per meeting. The purpose was to obtain input on six questions that were later used in the government workshops and work groups to identify the LTCR plan’s vision, guiding principles, needs/issues, goals and action strategies. Documents for each of these plan components were developed into a draft that was later presented to the public for additional input and review at the LRPD open house. The local newspaper and KPLC-TV reported on the event.

Louisiana Recovery Planning Day open house (Jan. 21) - This meeting, held downtown in the Lake Charles Civic Center, provided extensive outreach and brought new volunteers and organizations out to help distribute 30,000 flyers. Another 15,000 were delivered through churches and another 35,000 went out to parents through the school mail. Email contact lists grew exponentially. The Louisiana Speaks information and input stations presented the Calcasieu Parish draft plan elements (vision, needs/issues, and the new goals and action strategies), and even offered a children’s recovery story section. The event brought out 160 interested citizens, including a school board president, state senator and representative who participated in the stations.
 
Local officials meeting (Jan. 30, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Chamber Room) - The steering committee hosted officials to review progress, hear from the LRA and local officials and lead into the next steps, including projects and upcoming public meetings. All six mayors and eight of the 15 police jurors were present along with their administrators, the sheriff, and key department heads (planning, public works and public safety/OEP). The entire LTCR planning team and the media were present. The meeting was the evening and morning Top Story for KPLC-TV, which serves southwest Louisiana.

These activities were followed by visits in February by the LTCR team, HUD and USDA-Rural Development to each mayor, municipal department and other stakeholders for input on specific needs and possible projects.

Louisiana Speaks--Andres Duany “Development of Lake Charles Downtown Lake/River Fronts” planning charrette (Feb. 5-11) - About 120 people were present for the opening presentation and more than 200 people at the closing presentation. Town developers, property owners, business owners, architects and out-of-town interests participated throughout the week in several group and individual meetings. A city council public meeting was held at the damaged civic center to hear the closing presentation, during which the council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the Duany-proposed downtown development plan for Lake Charles. The media provided coverage throughout the week.

Town Hall II public meeting (February 2006) - About 60 people attended a town hall meeting in Sulphur guided by an Louisiana State University Agricultural Center facilitator to prioritize the recovery goals.  The attendees identified top three goals for each of the seven focus areas, which were passed on to the work groups for additional input.

Day-to-day interaction with local decision-makers, general public
The LTCR team has presented the LTCR process updates to council or parish police jury meetings. The parish planning team has had extensive interaction with federal and state partners, other authorities such as the port, IMCAL, housing authority, and even a university president. Residents regularly come to the storefront to meet with the planning team or with others working on the plan.

Local leadership of implementation
In upcoming meetings the steering committee will develop their strategy for transition to the implementation phase with their local stakeholders. A point of contact for implementation has not yet been identified.

View the Summary Page from Louisiana Planning Day (PDF)