Tim Lazaroe, Wayne Messina Seek to Fill Vacancy on Central City Council Mar. 20

The Governor has called an election in Central for March 20 to fill a vacancy in Central City Council District 1 left by the resignation of Aaron Moak, who was elected to the Metro Council. Tim Lazaroe was appointed by the Council to serve until the special election is held.

Candidates in the election are Larazoe and former Central City Councilman Wayne Messina.

Tim Lazaroe

Tim Lazaroe is married to Anita Turner Lazaroe, and they have two daughters. Natalie is a sophomore at LSU, and Claire is a high school senior. Tim is originally from Metairie. His wife is from Dry Prong. They met at Louisiana Tech and have lived in Central since 1998.

Tim worked for DSM Copolymer as a process control engineer for his first 15 years in Baton Rouge/Central. He now owns and operates RV Cams, Inc — a Central-based wholesale distributor of commercial-grade mobile audio/video equipment. He has also worked as a reserve deputy for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office since 1992 and holds the position of Reserve Lieutenant/Reserve Uniform Patrol Supervisor. 

Lazaroe has served on the boards for the Central Chamber and Cooking in Central and is also currently serving on the Industry Advisory Board for Louisiana Tech’s Instrumentation and Control Systems Engineering Program.

Tim’s motivation for pursuing the council seat is to make sure Central continues to retain the down-home characteristics that persuaded him and Anita to raise their family here 21 years ago. “Central is growing. Growth is normal and important. We just need to be sure that it grows into the kind of community where people continue to aspire to reside.”

Wayne Messina

Wayne Messina has been married to his wife Janet for the past 50 years. They have two children and four grandchildren. Wayne received his B.A. from Nicholls State and his Masters from LSU.

He has 18 years experience as a teacher and coach and 16 years as a principal and assistant principal, including principal at Baker High.  He retired from the school system after serving as Director of Security for 13 years.  Among his honors was being named Louisiana Assistant Principal of the Year. He is past Grand Knight of the St. Alphonsus Knights of Columbus.

Wayne served as an at-large member of the Central City Council for 8-1/2 years. During that time, he helped complete $4.1 million in drainage work for the City of Central and helped improve traffic flow throughout the city. As a member of the City Council, he attended countless meetings on the Comite Diversion Canal and the Amite River Basin Committee.

“Completion of the Comite Diversion Canal must be our No. 1 priority because there will always be another flood, and we need this protection,” he said.

One of the most important goals is construction of a new bridge over the Amite at Hooper Road. “This will bring commerce to the city as we capture revenue from the people who will travel on Hooper instead of through Denham Springs.” He said Central has potential for tourism, and he has plans for developing that potential, including the Greenwell Springs historic site.