Wayne Messina Seeks Third Term On Central City Council at-Large

Wayne Messina is running for his third term on the Central City Council, seeking one of your votes for the two at-Large seats. Messina, who served 47 years as a teacher, coach, principal, and administrator in public schools, said his time as an educator was devoted to serving the public. “Being on the Council is a continuation of being a public servant,” he said. “It’s a chance to help people!”
Messina was assistant principal and coach as his alma mater, Istrouma High, and then was principal at Baker High. Later in his career, he was director of security for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System with a $2.5 million budget and responsibility for protecting 7,000 employees and 45,000 students.
Messina said Central is much better off because of incorporation and having its own school system. “Before incorporation, Central had suffered 30 years of neglect. It wasn’t only about the need for our own schools. Think about the last time the City-Parish cleaned the ditches or resolved any drainage issues before incorporation. It was in the early 1990’s!”
Messina said the City of Central reacted and helped citizens after the flood of August 2016 in ways that were not seen in Livingston, Baton Rouge, Baker, or the proposed City of St. George. “We were back up and running at least a year before any of those areas,” Messina said.
“You have to credit Mayor Jr. Shelton for a lot of the good things that happened here after the flood. I saw him there at City Hall 20 hours a day — from early in the morning until late at night — taking care of the people in Central who were suffering,” he said.
Messina is proud that over the years, he has never failed to return constituents’ phone calls and tried to address their needs.
He is also proud of having worked to increase the budget of the Central Police Department and giving them the tools they need.
He has worked hard to take care of citizens’ road and drainage problems. He’s worked on funding for Blackwater and Beaver bayous, off road and roadside drainage, and bigger culverts across Hooper.
He and his wife Janet have two children, Fran, and Todd, and four children. Wayne loves to hunt. However, he said his friends say he is such a bad shot they suspect he is a member of PETA!