“Like many women, I went to LSU, got married and raised a family,” says Trilby Lenfant. “The only possible ‘career’ I ever foresaw for myself was getting a law degree.”

As her children grew, Lenfant became involved in quality-of-life issues. Eventually this led her appointment to the Mandeville Planning and Zoning Commission.

“My five years on the P&Z were great,” says Lenfant. “What an eye-opener! There are laws to consider at every level, from local to federal; there’s proper planning and zoning practice; dealing with a public that can’t be expected to understand the process; there’s a judicial aspect to P&Z decisions; and unfortunately, politics often rears its ugly head. You quickly learn that you just can’t please everyone-all you can do is your best.”

As local elected officials have the final word in setting planning and zoning policy, Lenfant developed an interest in serving on the city council. In 2000, she was elected unopposed.
“My P&Z experience has allowed me to be a strong advocate of good planning on the council,” says Lenfant. “The majority of our citizens are already on the right side of quality-of-life issues, and it’s wonderful to be able to get things done.”

Lenfant is particularly proud of the city’s ordinances that protect the character of the gateway corridors through design control; its efforts to reach a cooperative annexation agreement with parish officials; and the new controls on big box developments. She is also excited about “Neighborwoods,” an initiative which would turn an old sewage treatment pond and undeveloped lands on the west side of Mandeville into a large park area. She hopes the concept will be expanded to other sections of the city.

When this planner was asked if she had any further political plans, Lenfant said, “The only better job in Mandeville is being mayor, and I’m certainly not going to run against Eddie-I love working with him.”

Copyright 2004, M&L Publishing, all rights reserved.