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'''Billy James Guin, Sr.''' (born November 14, 1927),<ref name=vitalstats>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/elpaso/vitals/births/1927/elpdhb27.txt​

'''Billy James Guin, Sr.''' (born November 14, 1927),<ref name=vitalstats>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/elpaso/vitals/births/1927/elpdhb27.txt​

|title=Billy James Guin|publisher=files.usgwarchives.net|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref> is a retired [[business]]man and [[engineer]] from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who from 1977 to 1978 was his city's last public utilities commissioner under the former commission system of municipal government.<ref>In [[Shreveport]] and in other cities with the commission form of government, the commissioner exercises both legislative and executive duties, on the five-member city council itself and as a department head. This position should not be confused with a county commissioner, most of whom were and still are elected by single-member districts. County commissioners are the "legislators" of a county (called parish in Louisiana), with the county judge normally in the role of the "executive" head of the county. In Louisiana, the executive of the parish can be the police jury president, the president of the parish, or a parish "administrator", depending on the structure of the parish government. City commissioners could not be chosen on a district basis, as their administrative duties affected the entire city. [[African American]]s were not then elected to city government in most parts of the Southern United States. Soon an outcry in the [[civil rights]] movement raised legal challenges to the city commission governments, and many were struck down as unconstitutional, including the Shreveport commission in a 1978 court case.</ref> Since 1961, Guin has been involved in the development of the Louisiana [[Republican Party]] to majority status in his state. In 1964, he and two others became the first members of their party ever elected to the Caddo Parish School Board and served a single six-year term.<ref name=zoominfo/>​

|title=Billy James Guin|publisher=files.usgwarchives.net|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref> is a retired [[business]]man and [[engineer]] from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who from 1977 to 1978 was his city's last public utilities commissioner under the former commission system of municipal government.<ref>In [[Shreveport]] and in other cities with the commission form of government, the commissioner exercises both legislative and executive duties, on the five-member city council itself and as a department head. This position should not be confused with a county commissioner, most of whom were and still are elected by single-member districts. County commissioners are the "legislators" of a county (called parish in Louisiana), with the county judge normally in the role of the "executive" head of the county. In Louisiana, the executive of the parish can be the police jury president, the president of the parish, or a parish "administrator", depending on the structure of the parish government. City commissioners could not be chosen on a district basis, as their administrative duties affected the entire city. [[African American]]s were not then elected to city government in most parts of the Southern United States. Soon an outcry in the [[civil rights]] movement raised legal challenges to the city commission governments, and many were struck down as unconstitutional, including the Shreveport commission in a 1978 court case.</ref> Since 1961, Guin has been involved in the development of the Louisiana [[Republican Party]] to majority status in his state. In 1964, he and two others became the first members of their party ever elected to the Caddo Parish School Board and served a single six-year term.<ref name=zoominfo/>

 

==Background==​

==Background==​

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https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=187986102|title=Nancy Jane Beale Guin|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=January 28, 2018}}</ref>​

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=187986102|title=Nancy Jane Beale Guin|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=January 28, 2018}}</ref>​

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Guin also served with the U.S. Army during the [[Korean War]]. He remained thereafter in the [[United States Army]] Reserve for three decades. On his return to Shreveport, he became affiliated with E. M. Freeman and Associates and United Gas before he formed the former B. J. Guin Engineering Company.<ref name=zoominfo>{{cite web|url=http://www.zoominfo.com/s/#!search/profile/person?personId=12658840&targetid=profile|​title=Billy James Guin, Sr.|publisher=Zoominfo.com|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref>​

Guin also served with the U.S. Army during the [[Korean War]]. He remained thereafter in the [[United States Army]] Reserve for three decades. On his return to Shreveport, he became affiliated with E. M. Freeman and Associates and United Gas before he formed the former B. J. Guin Engineering Company.<ref name=zoominfo>Billy James Guin, Sr., Zoominfo.com, July 24, 2014</ref>​

 

==Political life==​

==Political life==​

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===Public utilities commissioner===​

===Public utilities commissioner===​

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In 1970, Guin and McGuire did not seek reelection to the school board but instead ran for the Shreveport city commission, Guin at public utilities and McGuire for [[mayor]], then the "commissioner of administration". Both lost to [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], Guin to William A. "Bill" Collins, a former public relations specialist, and McGuire to Littleberry Calhoun Allen, Jr., who vacated the position of utilities commissioner after eight years to run successfully for mayor. In 1974, Guin again challenged Collins for utilities commissioner and improved his showing from 1970 by some 7 percentage points but still lost 57-43 percent. When Collins vacated the post in 1977, Guin won a [[special election]] on June 18 with 51 percent of the vote to fill the remaining seventeen months in Collins's term.<ref>''Shreveport Journal'', June 20, 1977, p. 1.</ref>​

In 1970, Guin and McGuire did not seek reelection to the school board but instead ran for the Shreveport city commission, Guin at public utilities and McGuire for [[mayor]], then the "commissioner of administration". Both lost to [[Democratic Party|Democrats]], Guin to William A. "Bill" Collins, a former public relations specialist, and McGuire to Littleberry Calhoun Allen, Jr., who vacated the position of utilities commissioner after eight years to run successfully for mayor. In 1974, Guin again challenged Collins for utilities commissioner and improved his showing from 1970 by some 7 percentage points but still lost 57-43 percent. When Collins vacated the post in 1977, Guin won a [[special election]] on June 18 with 51 percent of the vote to fill the remaining seventeen months in Collins's term.<ref>''Shreveport Journal'', June 20, 1977, p. 1.</ref>​