Do You Qualify to Be a Lake Charles City Councilman?

🐊 KNGT 🐊 | Lake Charles, LA — Ever sat around the table, drinking coffee, watching a Lake Charles City Council meeting on TV, and thought, “I could do that”? You are not alone. A lot of folks around SWLA have wondered what it takes to serve on the Lake Charles City Council and if they even qualify.

Good news. The rules are pretty clear, and they are not as scary as some people think.

According to the City of Lake Charles website, there is a section called Sec. 2-03 that spells out the qualifications to be a city councilman. This is the part that tells you who can and cannot hold that office.

What are the Rules to be a Councilman?

First things first. You have to be a qualified elector of the city. In plain talk, that means you have to be legally able to vote in Lake Charles. You have to live here, be registered to vote, and meet the normal voting rules set by the state. If you can vote in city elections, you check a big box right out of the gate.

Next up is the job part. A city councilman can't already have a job with the City, no "double dipping". There are a couple of exceptions though. You can still be a Notary Public, or serve in the National Guard or a Reserve Defense group. Those roles are allowed and do not knock you out of the running.

Now here is where things get serious. If a councilman stops meeting these qualifications, they are done. If you move away and are no longer a qualified voter in the city, that creates a vacancy. Same thing if you take on another public office that is not allowed. The seat does not stay warm waiting on you to fix it. It becomes open.

There is also a hard line when it comes to the law. If a councilman is convicted of a felony, they are immediately disqualified. No long process. No waiting period. That seat becomes vacant right away.

So now that you know some of the Rules, does this sound like a position that you would want to fill? For me its going to be a hard pass. I would imagine this is a pretty stressful position and lets face it, im not grown up enough to my these decisions.

So if you know about roads, drainage, neighborhoods, and making choices that affect real people every single day, this is the position for you.