By Stacey Tinsley, stinsley@bossierpress.com
Friends, family and special guests celebrated Bossier City Mayor Lorenz “Lo” Walker Thursday as he seeks to make history.
Mayor Walker made his candidacy announcement for re-election as Mayor of Bossier City for a record fifth term official at a special reception at the Silver Star Smokehouse in Bossier City. Walker exclusively revealed as much to the Press-Tribune in November of last year.
“I decided to hold this event at this time to let people know how serious I am about running for mayor,” Walker explained. “I enjoy what I’m doing. I have an outstanding team, council and administration that work extremely well together.”
If elected, Walker would be the longest serving mayor in the history of the City of Bossier City. He is currently tied with the deceased former mayor George Dement, who also served four terms.
Before announcing to the public today his candidacy as mayor of Bossier City, Walker’s campaign manager, Bob Robinson, said that many people came to Walker asking him to run again.
“I really had no idea that he was looking at running again. So many people came to him asking him to run again and continue the progress in Bossier. He’s a great mayor,” Robinson said.
Showing her support for Mayor Walker at the event, local resident Debbie Martin says he has helped the Bossier City during his time in office.
“He is a great mayor, we’re so proud of him. He does run a tight ship, but he has helped the City of Bossier so much and we look forward for him being re-elected,” Martin said.
With his history as the director of the Bossier Civic Center, Chief Administrative Officer under former Mayor Dement, and now his service as mayor, Walker has more than 30 years with Bossier City.
Many of those years have seen tremendous success with steady population growth, the location of riverboat casinos, the building of the CenturyLink Center, the development of the Louisiana Boardwalk, and the redevelopment of central Bossier City as the East Bank District, among others.
“In my administration, we believe in growth. A lot of people ask me what makes Bossier different. And I say, ‘There are a lot of reasons, but one reason is how our elected officials work with one another.’ We just have things going for us here in Bossier City and Bossier Parish,” said Walker.
Mayor Walker, a native of Shreveport, graduated from Fair Park High School in 1951 and enrolled at Louisiana Tech University a year later. He graduated Cum Laude in 1956 as Outstanding Business School Graduate, Distinguished Military Graduate, Who’s Who, and was commissioned as an officer in the US Air Force. And, just this past year, Mayor Walker was honored as the Louisiana Tech Alumnus of the Year.
Two months after graduation from Tech, Walker went on active military duty as a pilot trainee and earned his pilot wings a year later. After serving 30 years in the Air Force, he retired with the rank of Colonel in 1986.
The next city election will be held in spring 2021.
