Dave N. Norris
Mr. Norris is the Democratic mayor of his native West Monroe, Louisiana, a position which he has held since 1978 with minimal opposition. Norris was unopposed for a tenth and final term as mayor in the election held on April 5, 2014.Norris graduated from West Monroe High School. In 1963, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana State College. In 1965, he procured a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He obtained the Doctor of Business Administration from Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. From 1966 until his election as mayor in 1978, Norris was an associate professor of economics and director of the Small Business Institute at his alma mater, ULM. After becoming mayor, he continued to teach part-time at ULM until 1998. Under Norris, the city built the Ike Hamilton Expo Center, an indoor arena off Interstate 20 popularly called “The Ike”. Also under his term, the city built the West Ouachita Senior Center and expanded its recreational facilities to include Lazarre Park on the Ouachita River, Kiroli Park, a woodland experience in an urban setting, and Restoration Park, a wetlands park developed from a former gravel pit.