Tell us a bit about yourself. What do you want the citizens of Lake Charles to know about you personally?
I was born and raised in North Lake Charles, the oldest of five children, with one brother and three sisters. I graduated from Washington High School, McNeese State University and LSU Law School. I’ve been married for 33 years to Dr. Paula Simien, who’s the love of my life and my best friend. We have three children, Marshall III, an LSU graduate and computer engineer with Nucor Steel in Indianapolis; August, an LSU graduate and May 2025 graduate of Tulane Law School; and Grace, who is entering her sophomore year at Texas A&M in College Station.
I’ve been a practicing attorney for 33 years and have owned my own law firm for over 20 years. I’ve represented businesses like Sasol, CHRISTUS St. Patrick and AIG. I’ve also worked with numerous families throughout Southwest Louisiana.
I love listening to smooth jazz music while riding my Bad Boy mower. Working in my yard brings me a strong sense of peace, and I’m blessed that my mom lives on my property right next door. We get to drink a cup of coffee together nearly every morning.
Tell us how you came to be involved in politics. When did you first feel called to public service and why?
While practicing law in New Orleans, partners in my law firm successfully managed Marc Morial’s first campaign for New Orleans mayor. They also managed retired chief justice Bernette Johnson’s first Louisiana Supreme Court campaign. When I moved back home to Lake Charles, our then-Governor Kathleen Blanco dissolved the entire Lake Charles Port Board because of mismanagement. I was asked to submit my name for appointment to the new port board, which would be charged with getting the port a clean legislative audit report. That was the first time I personally felt the call to public service.
Eventually, I was one of seven individuals selected out of over two hundred applicants to serve on that reconstituted port board. It was only then that I began to realize the full scope, breadth and strategic importance of Southwest Louisiana.
In the two years I served on the port board, not only were we successful in getting the port a clean accounting report, but we opened L’Auberge Casino, the cornerstone of the most successful gaming industry in the state of Louisiana; and entered into agreements with Sempra Energy that laid the cornerstone for Cameron LNG and transformed our area into the largest exporter of LNG in the entire world. We saved the jobs of numerous longshoremen whose benefits were directly dependent on the amount of cargoes going through the port and set the port firmly on the path that has led to it being nationally recognized as the 10th largest port in the entire United States.
What pushed you to run for mayor in 2017, and what did you learn from that campaign?
During my time on the port board, my city councilman, Rev. Samuel Tolbert, told me he was being called back to the pulpit full-time. He asked me to run for his seat representing District A. In mid-2005, within a couple of months after having been elected, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina struck and devastated most of South Louisiana, with direct hits on Lake Charles and New Orleans. We worked very hard and were able to recover by the time the national economy went into a recession in 2008. By the time I finished my second term on the Lake Charles City Council, Southwest Louisiana had the strongest economy in the entire country.
Then, mayor Randy Roach announced he would not seek re-election after having served for 17 years. At the time, Rita was called a “once in a lifetime” hurricane event. I wanted to run for mayor to strengthen our city and our region. I also wanted to help prepare the next generation for the next “once in a lifetime” hurricane, which I imagined would come after most of us were gone.
Little did anyone realize that the next “once in a lifetime” hurricane would strike us directly only 15 short years later. During that 2017 campaign, I learned firsthand how fractured the national two-party system was. It was simply not adequate to address the wants and needs of our residents, culture or life here in SWLA. Back then I ran as a Democrat in a fractured and loaded field of Democrats that, predictably, split votes. I missed making the runoff election by 100 votes.
During that campaign, I also learned that the entrenched ideologies of the national two-party system were severely misaligned with my personal ideologies on many levels — fiscally, religiously, racially, socially, and in regard to community safety and the economy, just to name a few.
You’ve said “I’m in government, not politics.” What does that mean to you?
My undergraduate degree from McNeese was in government. That means the representation of people at the grass roots level, the providing of services to protect people and to enhance their overall quality of life, and to operate within policy-directed guardrails so as not to unreasonably impede the operation of the private sector or compete with overall free commerce.
Government runs more effectively and responsively when it focuses on the generational progress and prosperity of people and society as a whole, as opposed to giving in to influences from special interests that may be focused on the wants and needs of groups to the contrary to the greater good of all society.
I believe sometimes politicians make decisions based on getting re-elected, while statesmen make decisions based on the next generation. One should not exist at the expense of the other. There must be a sweet spot — a balance between political decisions and statesmanship.
I believe that if those in elected office make the right decisions for the right reasons, all of society will benefit, and we will all be better for it. That may sound idealistic, but our founding fathers broke away from monarchial rule based upon that principle, a continuing experiment we call democracy.
What are your long-term goals as mayor? What do you want your legacy to be? When your term ends, what do you hope Lake Charles residents will say changed under your leadership?
One of my long-term goals is to bring our city together where we operate as one Lake Charles so that when adversity comes at us, whether it’s related to weather, economics, culture, race or public safety, we can move together toward solutions that take into account every perspective. I think that’s really, really achievable.
During my campaign, I ran across a lot of talented younger people who are somewhat disengaged with the political process in general and public service in particular, because there’s been very few places for them to be engaged. One of my goals is to identify talented young people, engage them, and give them ample opportunities to become public servants. Many will not choose to continue, but some will. That will benefit us tremendously if they can be groomed and seasoned to grab the baton and continue generational progress.
Another long-term goal is to strengthen our city and prepare it to survive hurricanes. I want our community to thrive in the aftermath of a hurricane. We cannot control the weather, but as a city we can affect our recovery in a positive way. The mid-city transformation project is to build a resilient community with FORTIFIED Gold construction standards. Project Build-A-Future has received support to build its first resilient subdivision on Fitzenreiter Road right across from Combre-Fondel Elementary School.
During the time I served on the executive committee of the Community Foundation of SWLA, we went through the Just Imagine process, which resulted in the 50-year resiliency plan and 10 catalytic projects aimed at strengthening our city and its assets, and becoming as resilient as practical when facing these events. That was my goal in 2017 and will continue with my administration.
My legacy? I want Lake Charles to have finally realized its potential and to have begun running on all eight cylinders. I want my legacy to be that we did so as one Lake Charles — North, South, East and West all at the table, pulling their fair share of the load and pulling in one direction: toward steady progress.
I want my legacy to be that Lake Charles has the strongest economy, once again, in the entire United States. I want my legacy to be an enhanced Lake Area with diverse and extensive entertainment options, a safe environment with rich cultural experiences, absolutely incredible people, and an overall amazing quality of life. When my term ends, I hope everyone will say that this not only began occurring under my leadership but steadily manifested itself throughout my term.
Being the first black mayor of Lake Charles is a historic milestone. What does it mean to you personally and what do you hope it will mean to the community?
I’m quite honored to be the first black citizen elected to serve as mayor of Lake Charles. I felt my dad’s presence on election night as I was officially declared the winner. I felt the presence of all the older folks who raised me and were part of my life who are no longer with us. My mom’s tears confirmed what this occasion represented. Many, many people thanked me for finally making them feel that their vote counted. The energy in the room that night was incredible.
Everywhere I go people tell me they’re elated, like a great weight has been lifted. People of all races and creeds have expressed genuine and heartfelt happiness with the outcome of this election. It was especially important to me that there was substantial crossover vote. I saw our community come together to make this happen. We truly experienced the power of one Lake Charles, and I’ll take that with me in this term of my administration.
As we near the start of another hurricane season, do you feel Lake Charles is prepared? What are your priorities for the city as your first hurricane season as Lake Charles mayor approaches?
Although I have not had the opportunity to fully evaluate our hurricane preparation status, I feel our city remains vulnerable, especially in areas that have received little or no attention since the previous hurricanes devastated our area nearly five years ago. My priority is to help us recover faster by having sessions to provide much needed information to our citizens on resources available to assist with hurricane preparation including evacuation planning, documenting contents and other property, and confirming insurance coverages.
I’ll also prioritize preparation of resiliency centers that can act as staging areas to support neighborhood recovery efforts; having self-sufficient power systems; and providing charging stations, internet services, food preparation and delivery and potable water, among other things. I’m going to prioritize removal of hazards that could cause, or prolong, loss of power during storm events.
You’ve mentioned that Lake Charles needs to “better position itself at the table” when it comes to natural disaster relief and funding. How do you plan to do that?
The Trump administration has indicated its intent to restructure emergency response away from FEMA and to give that responsibility to the states. I’m concerned that natural disasters know no boundaries and could have various areas competing with one another for much-needed resources during recovery efforts.
I’m concerned with how Lake Charles would fare if a hurricane struck our area along with Baton Rouge, New Orleans or even Lafayette. Whose recovery would be prioritized? How would overall funding for recovery be allocated? What if a hurricane struck southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana? How would recovery under that scenario be prioritized? I plan to highlight the national and strategic importance of Lake Charles and the Southwest Louisiana region, which provides and distributes energy throughout the United States, along with the importance of our manufacturing capabilities.
I will maintain constant dialogue with our entire federal and state congressional delegations, including U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Clay Higgins and our U.S. Senators, to keep our needs at the forefront of their agendas to the fullest extent possible. I would also ask local industry and other businesses whose headquarters are located in other states to maintain similar dialogue with their congressional delegations to stress the importance of maintaining and protecting their assets located in Southwest Louisiana. I also plan to build and strengthen our economy to generate more funds in both the private and public sectors to help better leverage our position at the table when it comes to overall growth and recovery.
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