Administration
Port operations are supported by legal, accounting and engineering professionals.
Jerry Merchant
Port Director
A life-long resident of Vinton, Merchant currently serves as the director of the Town of Vinton Civil Defense Office. A graduate of Vinton High School in 1965, he attended McNeese State University in Lake Charles. After owning and operating Vinton Electric Service until 1981, he was employed as an electrician by PPG Industries in Sulphur, La., and retired from the company in 2009 as emergency response supervisor. He has been a member of the Vinton Fire Department since 1967 and has served as the department’s chief since 1990. He also is a member of the Calcasieu Parish LEPC and has served as a member of the Calcasieu 911 program for 20 years. He is has been a certified EMT for 34 years, and was the director of the Vinton Ambulance Service for 11 years. Merchant also has served two terms as a city alderman from 1973–1981.
Lee Lancon, Jr., P.E.
Port Engineer
Lancon was born in Sulphur, La., and has lived in Southwest Louisiana virtually all of his life. A 1975 graduate of Sulphur High School in Sulphur, La., he received a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from McNeese State University in 1980 and was licensed as a Professional Engineer in the State of Louisiana in 1988. Formerly with the engineering firm of Meyer and Associates in Sulphur, he has been the co-owner of Lancon Engineers, Inc., since January 1997, specializing in commercial, municipal and state capital improvement projects. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, Louisiana Engineering Society, and the Chamber Southwest Louisiana.
Mary Vice
Port Secretary
Vice was hired part-time in 1999 as Secretary of the Vinton Harbor and Terminal District and in 2000 as Secretary of the Gravity Drainage District #2 of Calcasieu Parish. A lifelong resident of Vinton, Vice is a 1982 graduate of Vinton High School and a 1985 graduate of McNeese State University. She served as deputy clerk for the City of Vinton from 1988-1999. In January 1999, she was named City Clerk, the position she currently holds. Prior to working for the City of Vinton she worked for West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital for four years. Vice is a member of the Louisiana Municipal Clerks Association and has achieved the Master Municipal Clerk Certification from the association. She served as president of the Louisiana Municipal Clerks Association in 2011, and she is serving her second term on the Municipal Employees Retirement System Board. She is an active member of the Welsh Memorial United Methodist Church.
David Bruchhaus
Port Attorney
422 E. College Street, Suite B
Lake Charles, LA 70605
Tel: (337) 562-2327
Fax: (337) 562-2391
www.lakecharleslawfirm.com
