Changes

|residence=Shreveport, Louisiana​

|residence=Shreveport, Louisiana​

|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1961)​

|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1961)​

|religion=[[Southern Baptist]]

|religion=[[Southern Baptist]]}}

}}

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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. 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==

Guin was born in [[El Paso]], [[Texas]], to James Frank Guin (1882-1930) and the former  Bessie Aline Reeves (1898-1991),<ref name=vitalstats/> both originally from Bienville Parish in northwestern Louisiana. The Guins had moved to El Paso in the hope that the dry climate would alleviate the impact of the [[tuberculosis]] which James Guin had contracted during [[World War I]] while serving in the [[United States Army]]. After his father's death, Mrs. Guin relocated with their three-year-old son to [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Louisiana, where they lived with her mother.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ovguide.com/billy-j-guin-9202a8c04000641f800000000472d84f#|title=Billy James Guin: Videos and Interviews|publisher=ovguide.com|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref> Bessie Guin subsequently married James E. Fitch, Sr., an [[Ohio]] native, and the couple resided in Shreveport. In addition to Billy, there was a second son, James Fitch, Jr. (born c. 1937).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.com/1940-census/billy-guin-la-14073283|title=Billy James Guin in the 1940 Census|publisher=archives.com|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref>​

Guin was born in [[El Paso]], [[Texas]], to James Frank Guin (1882-1930) and the former  Bessie Aline Reeves (1898-1991),<ref name=vitalstats/> both originally from Bienville Parish in northwestern Louisiana. The Guins had moved to El Paso in the hope that the dry climate would alleviate the impact of the [[tuberculosis]] which James Guin had contracted during [[World War I]] while serving in the [[United States Army]]. After his father's death, Mrs. Guin relocated with their three-year-old son to [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], Louisiana, where they lived with her mother.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ovguide.com/billy-j-guin-9202a8c04000641f800000000472d84f#|title=Billy James Guin: Videos and Interviews|publisher=ovguide.com|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref> Bessie Guin subsequently married James E. Fitch, Sr., an [[Ohio]] native, and the couple resided in Shreveport. In addition to Billy, there was a second son, James Fitch, Jr. (born c. 1937).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.com/1940-census/billy-guin-la-14073283|title=Billy James Guin in the 1940 Census|publisher=archives.com|accessdate=July 24, 2014}}</ref>​

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