W. George Bowdon, Jr. - Revision history

BHathorn at 19:01, November 10, 2021

2021-11-10T19:01:44Z

BHathorn: /* Sixteen years as mayor */

2021-05-27T19:57:26Z

‎Sixteen years as mayor

BHathorn at 00:38, December 18, 2020

2020-12-18T00:38:01Z

BHathorn at 18:34, November 7, 2020

2020-11-07T18:34:10Z

BHathorn: /* Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972 */

2020-09-09T22:56:19Z

‎Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972

BHathorn at 22:53, September 9, 2020

2020-09-09T22:53:57Z

BHathorn: /* Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972 */

2020-09-09T18:02:51Z

‎Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972

BHathorn: /* Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972 */

2020-09-04T17:46:25Z

‎Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972

BHathorn: /* Death and legacy */

2020-06-11T18:13:48Z

‎Death and legacy

BHathorn: /* Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972 */

2020-06-04T03:18:24Z

‎Defeat and downturn, 1969-1972

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 Robert Scott Bowdon
 |religion=[[United Methodist]]
-|footnotes=Described by a friend as a "natural politician", Bowdon's career ended in scandal and a prison sentence. He rehabilitated his life in the [[real estate]] field.
+|branch=[[United States Marine Corps]]
 }}

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 ==Sixteen years as mayor==
-Bowdon was mayor under the since disbanded mayor-commissioner government, in which the executive mayor administered the fire, police, and sanitation departments and shared city council voting power with two full-time, elected commissioners of (1) finance and utilities and (2) streets and parks. Under his administration, the current City Hall office building was constructed, the municipal  water system was expanded, and new industries, including International Paper, Procter and Gamble, and Dresser Industries, came into central Louisiana. Under Bowdon, [[Ray R. Allen]] was elevated in 1963 to the position of secretary-treasurer. In 1977, Allen was named the first finance director under the new mayor-council government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20100407/NEWS01/100407042/-1/NEWSFRONT2/Ray+Allen++former+city+of+Alexandria+finance+director++dies+at+age+of+89|title=Ray Allen, former city of Alexandria finance director, dies at age of 89|publisher=''The  Alexandria Town Talk''|date=April 7, 2010}}</ref>
+Bowdon was mayor under the since disbanded mayor-commissioner government, in which the executive mayor administered the fire, police, and sanitation departments and shared city council voting power with two full-time, elected commissioners of (1) finance and utilities and (2) streets and parks. Under his administration, the current City Hall office building was constructed, the municipal  water system was expanded, and new industries, including International Paper, Procter and Gamble, and Dresser Industries, came into central Louisiana. Under Bowdon, [[Ray R. Allen]] was elevated in 1963 to the position of secretary-treasurer. In 1977, Allen was named the first finance director under the new mayor-council government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20100407/NEWS01/100407042/-1/NEWSFRONT2/Ray+Allen++former+city+of+Alexandria+finance+director++dies+at+age+of+89|title=Ray Allen, former city of Alexandria finance director, dies at age of 89|publisher=''[[Alexandria Town Talk]]''|date=April 7, 2010}}</ref>
 Mayor Bowdon also worked to construct the city courtroom, jail, fire stations, a $6.5 million electric power plant, highway underpasses, and water storage facilities.<ref name=notp/>

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 [[Category:Business People]]
 [[Category:Politicians]]
 [[Category:Mayors]]
 [[Category:Democrats]]

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 |term_start3=1948
 |term_end3=1952
-|preceded3=At-large delegation, including:
+|preceded3=At-large delegation:
 Crawford Hugh<br>"Sammy" Downs<br>
 Carl B. Close
-|succeede3=At-large delegation:<br>
+|succeeded3=At-large delegation:<br>
 [[Cecil R. Blair]]<br>
 James R. Eubank<br>
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 '''William George Bowdon, Jr.''' (October 18, 1921 &ndash; November 17, 2005), was from 1953 to 1969 the [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[mayor]] of his native [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] in central [[Louisiana]]. At thirty-one, he was (and remains) the youngest mayor in his city's history and the first to serve a four-year, instead of the previous two-year term.
-Prior to his mayoralty, Bowdon had filled a single term in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952. He succeeded Carl B. Close and Crawford Hugh "Sammy" Downs and served alongside Lawrence T. Fuglaar and T. C. Brister, a hardware store owner in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name=house>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2016|publisher=house.louisiana.gov|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}</ref> Bowdon was the youngest person to hold the representative's position in Rapides Parish. One of Bowdon's immediate House successors, [[Cecil R. Blair]], later served for fourteen years in the state Senate from Rapides Parish.<ref name=house/>
+Prior to his mayoralty, Bowdon had filled a single term in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1948 to 1952. He succeeded Carl B. Close and Crawford Hugh "Sammy" Downs and served alongside Lawrence T. Fuglaar and [[T. C. Brister]], a hardware store owner in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]].<ref name=house>{{cite web|url=http://house.louisiana.gov/H_PDFdocs/HouseMembership_History_CURRENT.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2016|publisher=house.louisiana.gov|accessdate=May 22, 2014}}</ref> Bowdon was the youngest person to hold the representative's position in Rapides Parish. One of Bowdon's immediate House successors, [[Cecil R. Blair]], later served for fourteen years in the state Senate from Rapides Parish.<ref name=house/>
 ==Background==

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 A series of scandals involving high municipal officials, including the finance and utilities commissioner, Democrat Leroy Wilson (1905–1978), were uncovered in Bowdon's last term as mayor, and two candidates claiming to be "reformers" went into a Democratic runoff primary. [[Ed Karst]], a lawyer originally from New Orleans, then defeated [[John K. Snyder]], a Pineville native, in a runoff election  for the right to succeed Bowdon. Meanwhile, [[Carroll Lanier]], an electrical contractor and future mayor, defeated Wilson for the utilities commissioner's post.
-Bowdon was indicted in 1969 on [[theft]] charges for allegedly using city employees to work on personal property. In 1971, he pleaded guilty to stealing $6,641 and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. He served less than a year at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/215567727/
+Bowdon was indicted in 1969 on [[theft]] charges for allegedly using city employees to work on personal property. In 1971, he pleaded guilty to stealing $6,641 and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. He served less than a year at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/215567727/|title=27 Persons Have Served as Mayor Here|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk|author=Billy Hathorn|date=March 29, 1977|accessdate=September 9, 2020}}</ref>
 W. L. "Jack" Howard, a long-term mayor of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], Louisiana, was similarly convicted in 1975 of using municipal employees for personal benefit, but he received a suspended sentence.

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 Bowdon was indicted in 1969 on [[theft]] charges for allegedly using city employees to work on personal property. In 1971, he pleaded guilty to stealing $6,641 and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. He served less than a year at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish.
-W. L. "Jack" Howard, a long-term mayor of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], Louisiana, was similarly convicted in 1975 of using municipal employees for personal benefit, but he received a suspended sentence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1091504/9/index.htm|author=John Underwood|title= "New Boys On The Block: From the day he's hired, a college football coach has two things in common with his predecessor—a belief he can do the job, a good chance he won't. Meet four fresh optimists|date=September 6, 1976|publisher=Si.com|accessdate=July 6, 2013}}</ref>
+W. L. "Jack" Howard, a long-term mayor of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], Louisiana, was similarly convicted in 1975 of using municipal employees for personal benefit, but he received a suspended sentence.
 Butch Crenshaw, an [[Independent voter|Independent]] former member of the Alexandria City Council, recalled that Bowdon "had a little misfortune at the end of his political career, but he came back. He lived a very good life."

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 ==Death and legacy==
-Bowdon suffered a heart attack in October 2005; he was a patient at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria until he returned home on November 16, and died the next day. Then Alexandria Mayor Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. (1942-2016) ordered that all city flags be flown at half-staff in Bowdon's honor until after the funeral services. Bowdon's "commitment and dedicated service . . . has helped to lay a solid foundation for the city of Alexandria and its citizens," Randolph said in a media release.
+Bowdon suffered a heart attack in October 2005; he was a patient at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria until he returned home on November 16, and died the next day. Then Alexandria Mayor [[Ned Randolph]] ordered that all city flags be flown at half-staff in Bowdon's honor until after the funeral services. Bowdon's "commitment and dedicated service . . . has helped to lay a solid foundation for the city of Alexandria and its citizens," Randolph said in a media release.
 Bowdon's father, William George Bowdon, Sr., was the mayor of Alexandria from 1941 to 1945. A Bowdon uncle and several other relatives were [[Methodist]] pastors. Bowdon, who was active in the First United Methodist Church of Alexandria, was survived by his wife, Ina Smith "Smitty" Bowdon (October 9, 1922 &ndash; February 26, 2008),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/OBITUARIES/80227020/1023|title=Ina "Smitty" Bowdon|date=February 27, 2008|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=June 6, 2014}}</ref> whom he met in Alexandria on the day that he returned from the Marines. The couple had a son, W. George "Bill" Bowdon, III,<ref name=notp/> of Baton Rouge, a retired  USMC officer, and two grandsons, William George Bowdon, IV, of [[Bossier City]] and Robert Scott Bowdon of [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], [[Texas]]. He was preceded in death by a brother, Thomas J. "Jim" Bowdon (1926–1996) and a sister, Margaret B. Verdin (1923–2008) of Hartsdale, [[New York]], and later Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, [[Maryland]].<ref name=notp/>

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 Bowdon's long political career, however, ended in the spring of 1969, when he lost a bid for a fifth term. He finished fourth in the Democratic primary with  1,784 votes (15.7 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Official 1969 mayoral returns, Alexandria</ref> Thereafter, Bowdon was employed in [[real estate]], which had been his source of income prior to being mayor full-time.
-A series of scandals involving high municipal officials, including the finance and utilities commissioner, Democrat Leroy Wilson (1905–1978), were uncovered in Bowdon's last term as mayor, and two candidates claiming to be "reformers" went into a Democratic runoff primary. [[Ed Karst]], a lawyer originally from New Orleans, then defeated [[John K. Snyder]], a Pineville native, in a runoff election  for the right to succeed Bowdon. Meanwhile, Carroll Edwin Lanier (1926-2012), an electrical contractor and future mayor, defeated Wilson for the utilities commissioner's post.
+A series of scandals involving high municipal officials, including the finance and utilities commissioner, Democrat Leroy Wilson (1905–1978), were uncovered in Bowdon's last term as mayor, and two candidates claiming to be "reformers" went into a Democratic runoff primary. [[Ed Karst]], a lawyer originally from New Orleans, then defeated [[John K. Snyder]], a Pineville native, in a runoff election  for the right to succeed Bowdon. Meanwhile, [[Carroll Lanier]], an electrical contractor and future mayor, defeated Wilson for the utilities commissioner's post.
 Bowdon was indicted in 1969 on [[theft]] charges for allegedly using city employees to work on personal property. In 1971, he pleaded guilty to stealing $6,641 and was sentenced to five years imprisonment. He served less than a year at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in West Feliciana Parish.
@@ Line 74: / Line 74: @@
 W. L. "Jack" Howard, a long-term mayor of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], Louisiana, was similarly convicted in 1975 of using municipal employees for personal benefit, but he received a suspended sentence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1091504/9/index.htm|author=John Underwood|title= "New Boys On The Block: From the day he's hired, a college football coach has two things in common with his predecessor—a belief he can do the job, a good chance he won't. Meet four fresh optimists|date=September 6, 1976|publisher=Si.com|accessdate=July 6, 2013}}</ref>
-Butch Crenshaw, a former [[Independent]] member of the Alexandria City Council, recalled that Bowdon "had a little misfortune at the end of his political career, but he came back. He lived a very good life."
+Butch Crenshaw, an [[Independent voter|Independent]] former member of the Alexandria City Council, recalled that Bowdon "had a little misfortune at the end of his political career, but he came back. He lived a very good life."
 Former Alexandria City [[Judge]] [[George M. Foote]], a friend of Bowdon's for seventy years, told ''The Alexandria Town Talk'' that Bowdon was "convivial. He was a natural-born politician." An avid outdoorsman, Bowdon will be remembered by his friends' children, whom he taught to hunt and fish ... He was respected for that," Foote said. Crenshaw said that he was twelve years old when he first met Bowdon, whose marksmanship in shooting quail was legendary. "That's how I met him. He was one of the best shots I've ever seen."