The City of Lake Charles, Louisiana

It is a pleasure, as Mayor of the City of Lake Charles, to welcome you to our website. As you browse the site, you will find information regarding the history of our city, community events, online water bill payment, emergency information, city news and numerous local governmental topics.

The City of Lake Charles is actively involved with major downtown and lakefront development projects, as well as citywide infrastructure improvements that will bring new life and energy into an area of historic, cultural and economic significance.

The City Administrator is responsible for the professional management of the day-to-day operations of the City, including general supervision, administration and management. The City of Lake Charles operates under a Mayor-City Council form of government. Under this system, the Mayor appoints and recommends to the City Council and the Council votes to appoint the City Administrator, who is the chief appointed administrator for the City.

Hello and welcome to Lake Charles, Louisiana. I'm John Cardone, Jr., City Administrator for the City of Lake Charles. It is my privilege to introduce you to our city and a few of the many amenities of our area.

Located in the southwest corner of the state, Lake Charles is bordered by bayous, rivers, and lakes with a deep-water channel that leads to the Gulf of Mexico. Access to these waterways provides for excellent fishing, hunting and other celebrated sports activities in the Lake Area. Lake Charles is also known for its diverse arts and culture programming/events, casino resorts, many music venues, excellent cuisine and many great festivals that occur throughout the year.

Lake Charles covers just nearly 48 square miles, serves a community of more than 82,300 people and is a great place to raise a family. The city has a healthy economy, which makes it a prime location for business, industry and other development. 

Lake Charles City Government employs approximately 1000 employees and has an Operating and Capital Budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 of $273.1 million of which $93.2 million (including $10.9 million in operating transfers) is for the General Fund operations which include Fire, Police, Public Works, General Government, Finance, Human Resources and Planning and Development. The City also operates four Enterprise Funds for Water, Transit, the Civic Center and a Golf Course and has various special revenue budgets including Disaster Recovery, Wastewater, Gaming, Recreation and other Community Service funds. The total combined budget includes a Capital Budget of $47.3 million that will be combined with funds authorized in previous years for numerous large projects, ongoing rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and long-term disaster recovery projects.

On behalf of all our employees, we will continue to strive to provide the highest quality of professional service to the citizens of our community, and we welcome all to come and visit our proud "city on the lake."   

• Click here to see the City of Lake Charles Code of Ordinances

Please use the form(s) below to request to speak at a Regular City Council meeting.  The form(s) must be printed, filled out and brought the Clerk of the City Council or designated staff member before the meeting begins. 

• Request to Appear Form-Comments

• Request to Appear Form-In Opposition

• Request to Appear Form-In Support

  

Partnering with the Arts & Humanities Council of SWLA to distribute funds, the Lake Charles Partnership Assistance Grant provides much-needed assistance to arts organizations and art projects domiciled within the City of Lake Charles. Past recipients include organizations such as Artists Civic Theatre & Studio (ACTS), Black Heritage Festival, Lake Charles Community Band, Bulber Youth Orchestra, Children’s Theatre Company, Louisiana Choral Foundation, Children’s Museum, Cajun French Music Association, McNeese Banners Series and many, many more.

The City operates two cultural centers. Historic City Hall Arts and Cultural Center hosts numerous arts and cultural exhibits annually, including Pablo Picasso, Ansel Adams, Norman Rockwell, and one of the most-visited exhibitions Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. In addition, two local art galleries are housed in the facility: Black Heritage Gallery and Gallery by the Lake. Central School Arts and Humanities Center serves as an incubator for individual artists and arts groups and is home to the Arts & Humanities Council of SWLA.

The City of Lake Charles’ “Light Up the Lake” Christmas Festival and “Red, White, Blue and You” Fourth of July Festival have been recognized by the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 events numerous times. The City's four part concert series, Downtown at Sundown, is also one of the Lake Area's most loved events. This summertime staple event showcases local and regional talent from musical entertainers to culinary delights. These arts and culture events are just some of the reasons why Lake Charles was ranked in the top 10 happiest cities in America by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research.

^{Photo: Lindsey Janies, LJPcommercial.com}          

The City of Lake Charles has a unique downtown district that is quickly becoming the heart of the city. The City's lakefront and downtown area offer a variety of entertainment and economic options, attracting visitors, residents and businesses to the area.

LINKS

• Responsible for all personnel administration of the City of Lake Charles employees
• Administers the hiring, processing and orientation of all new employees
• Monitors personnel policies and new employment legislation as they relate to the City and our employees
• Provides advice on employment matters to the City Council, Mayor, and other departments

Visit the Homepage - Mallard Golf Club

To apply online for a permit please click here and then click on New Account and create an account. Follow the prompts and enter all information for each field. The last page will be where you will upload the electronic copies of your plans and documents. Make sure to upload all the required documents (building plans, site plan, grading plan, water and sewer availability form, storm water BMP photos etc.) and click submit.    NOTE:  SEPARATE PERMITS ARE REQUIRED FOR EACH TRADE.

The required forms are available for download by clicking here. Once our Permit Techs verify that all required documents have been submitted you will receive an email with an invoice with detailed instructions on how to pay online for the plan review. The application will then be forwarded through the review process. Once each Plan Reviewer reviews the plans they may electronically request more information, at which time you will be notified by email, or they will electronically approve the plans at which time the Permit Techs will invoice you for the cost of the permit which you can pay online. You will then receive an electronic copy of the permit.

The primary objective of the speed table program is the reduction of vehicle speeds on residential/subdivision streets. There may be certain beneficial side effects to speed table installations, such as a reduction in arterial traffic diverted to local streets, but the intended purpose is speed control. The following information is intended to answer the most common questions regarding the speed table program.

Speed tables are typically 22 feet in the direction of travel with 6-foot ramps on each end and a 10-foot flat section in the middle. The height of speed tables is approximately 3 to 4 inches high.  Click here for the criteria and participation forms.

Through their dedication, the men and women of the Lake Charles Police Department have made outstanding achievements in the area of community partnerships and fostering a greater sense of effectiveness while striving to reduce the incidence of crime and disorder in the City of Lake Charles.

The Lake Charles Police Department operates under the leadership of Chief Shawn Caldwell.

Born and raised in Lake Charles, Chief Shawn Caldwell is proud to call Lake Charles home. A product of the Calcasieu Parish School system, he attended Fairview Elementary School, FK White Middle School and graduated from LaGrange High School in 1989.

After graduating from high school, Caldwell attended McNeese State University before beginning his career with the Lake Charles Police Department (LCPD) as a patrol officer in 1993. It was not long after beginning his journey with LCPD that he met his future wife, Lorri.

In 1995, Caldwell moved from the Patrol Division to Community Policing and was assigned as a bicycle police officer. Another year passed before he moved to the Traffic Division and became a motorcycle officer. This year, 1996, would also be the year that he and Lorri married. They started a family together and today are the proud parents of three children, Jacob, Grant and Aubrey. Jacob, 21, is a student at McNeese State University. Grant, 18, is a senior at Barbe High School and Aubrey, 16, is a junior at Barbe High School.

In his early years with the department, Caldwell received basic police officer training, graduated from the local police academy and completed other basic requirements along with additional community policing training. His time in the Traffic Division, however, afforded him the opportunity to attend more specialized training and Caldwell became a Traffic Accident Reconstructionist. It is this training that Caldwell credits with preparing him to investigate fatal traffic crashes. Additionally, was awarded instructor certification in a partnership with the Louisiana Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST), the FBI and the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement. He also received training as a certified instructor defensive tactics instructor and many other certifications.

In 2003, Caldwell’s career with the department took a little different path. He was transferred to the Professional Standards Division as a Recruiting and Hiring Officer. In this new Division, he was also one of the department’s Internal Affairs (IA) investigators where he investigated allegations of misconduct against employees of the department. While this was not something he aspired to become, he remembers this time of his career as an enlightening time where he realized the importance of this division, as well as several aspects of police department administration, including discipline, civil service and many other areas.

After two years in Professional Standards, Caldwell was promoted to Sergeant in 2005 and became a patrol shift supervisor. This was another new aspect of law enforcement for him to learn as in this new role he was now responsible not only for supervising fellow officers, but also motivating them. He attended additional training courses and brought this new knowledge back to the department.

Caldwell continued to supervise that shift of men and women until 2010 when he once again answered the call to serve in Professional Standards Division as an IA Investigator.

In 2013, 20 years after his career with the department began, he would take the next big step with LCPD when we was promoted to Deputy Chief over the Support Bureau. He once again found himself with new opportunities grow his law enforcement experience, including budget and fleet management, narcotics task force supervision and other duties now under his command. Once again, he sought the training needed to carry out his new responsibilities and in 2015, the same year he graduated from the FBI National Academy, he moved from the Support Bureau to the Operations Bureau where he served until being appointed the new Chief of Police at the end of 2018. He officially assumed his role as Chief of Police on January 16, 2019.

Chief Shawn Caldwell’s now 30-year career with LCPD has provided him with many opportunities to train and become a better, more well-rounded police officer. Beyond his time on the front line, he says his experiences with LCPD have also made him a better person, husband and father.

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