Mark Stephens resigning from Morgan City Council

Tuesday’s Morgan City Council meeting was the last for Councilman Mark Stephens.

Stephens, a retired firefighter who has served on the council since his election in 2016, announced that he’s resigning to take a private sector job.

The appointment of a temporary successor is expected at the next regular fourth-Tuesday meeting April 23.

“It’s been fun,” Stephens said before the meeting Tuesday. “I’ve enjoyed it.”

Stephens, a Morgan City native, retired from the Morgan City Fire Department in 2015 after serving for just more than 29 years. He advanced from an entry-level operator’s rank to become assistant chief, and was the interim chief for seven months before current Chief Alvin Cockerham’s appointment in 2015.

The next year, he ran for City Council from District 2. He won a close race against Dean Adams, another former firefighter and now a St. Mary Parish Council member, 403-400.

In November 2020, Stephens qualified for re-election without opposition.

“I had a good career in the Fire Department,” Stephens said. “And the last few years have been great, working with Lee.”

That’s Lee Dragna, who was elected mayor in November 2022.

Stephens said he had advocated the hiring of a grant-writer for the city government. Dragna made that happen with the hiring of Hannah Roy.

Since then, Morgan City has qualified for millions in grants, including money to upgrade the city gas system and its water plant.

Roy has proven to be able to deal with grant compliance as well as grant application, Stephens said.

“There’s a lot of money out there,” he said. “You just have to know where to find it.”

Stephens said he timed his resignation to give his interim successor time to settle in before the July 17-19 qualifying dates for the next council election, which will be Nov. 5, the same date as the presidential election.

If runoffs are necessary, they’ll be Dec. 7.

Early voting for the Nov. 5 primary will be Oct. 18-29. The in-person voter registration deadline is Oct. 7.