Changes

{{Infobox officeholder

{{Infobox officeholder

| name= William Ezra "Willie" Kees, Jr.

| name= William Ezra "Willie" Kees, Jr.

| office=[[Mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana]]

| office=[[Mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana]]

| term_start = July 1, 1946

| term_start = July 1, 1946

A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Kees was elected mayor at the age of twenty-nine. That same year a flood of the Red River spilled over into Pineville because of levee height and strength. However, the taller and stronger levee held in the sister city of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. Mayor Kees set forth to bring the levee on the eastern side of the river on par with that in Alexandria.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QGyaGsLxLYC&pg=PA226&lpg=PA226&dq=Willie+E.+Kees,+Jr.+of+Pineville&source=bl&ots=elegIHGf9X&sig=Men7nxEUB6L4Z5wlQaebU-o-JL0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBmoVChMI0rCm3_XyxgIVRo4NCh1L4Q7y#v=onepage&q=Willie%20E.%20Kees%2C%20Jr.%20of%20Pineville&f=false|title=Talk of the Town: The Rise of Alexandria, Louisiana, and the Daily Town Talk|author=Frederick Marcel Spletstoser|pages=125–126|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|location=[[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]|date=2005|isbn=0-8071-2934-8|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>  

A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Kees was elected mayor at the age of twenty-nine. That same year a flood of the Red River spilled over into Pineville because of levee height and strength. However, the taller and stronger levee held in the sister city of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. Mayor Kees set forth to bring the levee on the eastern side of the river on par with that in Alexandria.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QGyaGsLxLYC&pg=PA226&lpg=PA226&dq=Willie+E.+Kees,+Jr.+of+Pineville&source=bl&ots=elegIHGf9X&sig=Men7nxEUB6L4Z5wlQaebU-o-JL0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBmoVChMI0rCm3_XyxgIVRo4NCh1L4Q7y#v=onepage&q=Willie%20E.%20Kees%2C%20Jr.%20of%20Pineville&f=false|title=Talk of the Town: The Rise of Alexandria, Louisiana, and the Daily Town Talk|author=Frederick Marcel Spletstoser|pages=125–126|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|location=[[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]|date=2005|isbn=0-8071-2934-8|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>  

In 1948, Pineville had only one police car and one fire truck. With city finances at a low ebb, Kees went to his store, Kees General Store on the Red River to obtain gasoline for both vehicles. Nearly seventy years later the size of the city and its service employees have mushroomed beyond what many at that time would not have thought likely or possible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20060419/COMMUNITIES/50608024/Pineville-s-rich-history-dates-1714|title=Pineville's rich history dates to 1714|author=Oberia Price|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'|date=June 8, 2005|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

In 1948, Pineville had only one police car and one fire truck. With city finances at a low ebb, Kees went to his store, Kees General Store on the Red River to obtain gasoline for both vehicles. Nearly seventy years later the size of the city and its service employees have mushroomed beyond what many at that time would not have thought likely or possible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20060419/COMMUNITIES/50608024/Pineville-s-rich-history-dates-1714|title=Pineville's rich history dates to 1714|author=Oberia Price|publisher=''[[Alexandria Town Talk]]''|date=June 8, 2005|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

Kees resigned as mayor midway in  his second term in August 1952 to become director of the 1,150-patient Louisiana Colony and Training School at nearby Kingsville. He was succeeded as mayor by [[H. L. Willis|Horace Luther "H. L." Willis]], a five-year member of the Pineville City Council and a long-term building superintendent for his alma mater, Louisiana College.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20120826/OPINION/208260321/From-Past|title=From the Past|date=August 26, 1952|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>  Early in 1955, Kees was installed as superintendent of the state school. This brought him into conflict with clinical director William P. Hurder, a [[psychologist]] and [[physician]], with whom he had earlier shared authority. Kees' promotion touched off charges of "politics" in his selection. Then state Representative [[Cecil R. Blair]] of Alexandria defended the selection, but because of the controversy, Kees resigned from the school to return to the private sector.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm/ref/collection/LSUHSC_NCC/id/2319|title=Hurder takes post as colony superintendent|publisher=louisdl.louislibraries.org|date=January 19, 1955|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/24584268/|title=State Colony Resignation Brings Rift|date=January 19, 1955|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|page=2|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

Kees resigned as mayor midway in  his second term in August 1952 to become director of the 1,150-patient Louisiana Colony and Training School at nearby Kingsville. He was succeeded as mayor by [[H. L. Willis|Horace Luther "H. L." Willis]], a five-year member of the Pineville City Council and a long-term building superintendent for his alma mater, Louisiana College.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20120826/OPINION/208260321/From-Past|title=From the Past|date=August 26, 1952|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>  Early in 1955, Kees was installed as superintendent of the state school. This brought him into conflict with clinical director William P. Hurder, a [[psychologist]] and [[physician]], with whom he had earlier shared authority. Kees' promotion touched off charges of "politics" in his selection. Then state Representative [[Cecil R. Blair]] of Alexandria defended the selection, but because of the controversy, Kees resigned from the school to return to the private sector.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm/ref/collection/LSUHSC_NCC/id/2319|title=Hurder takes post as colony superintendent|publisher=louisdl.louislibraries.org|date=January 19, 1955|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/24584268/|title=State Colony Resignation Brings Rift|date=January 19, 1955|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|page=2|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>