Noel "Gene" Byars

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Noel Eugene "Gene" Byars
Mayor of Minden, Louisiana, USA
In office January 1, 1983 – January 30, 1989
Preceded by	Jack Batton
Succeeded by	Robert Terry Tobin
Born	1939
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Cecilia O'Rear Byars (born 1940)
Occupation	Educator
Religion	Baptist

Noel Eugene "Gene" Byars (born 1939) is a retired educator from Beaumont, Texas,^[1] who served from 1982-1989 as the Democratic mayor of Minden, a small city in northwestern Louisiana and the seat of Webster Parish. Byars was recalled at the midway point of his second term, January 21, 1989, through a citizens' initiative after it was revealed that he had charged the municipality for personal expenses on his city credit card.

Contents 1 Family 2 Election as mayor 3 Recall election 4 1988 congressional race 5 References

[edit] Family

Byars was the son of Noel Randolph Byars (1908-2003), a Minden banker and a native of Bearden, Arkansas, and the former Thelma Rowland (1909-2002).^[2] His paternal grandparents were Benjamin Joab Byars and the former Lucy Jane Chambliss. Byars, who is Baptist, graduated from Minden High School in 1957.^[3]

[edit] Election as mayor

In 1982, Byars, then a sixth grade teacher at Phillips Middle School in Minden, ran for mayor when the one-term incumbent Jack Batton, a local businessman who had first been elected in 1978, declined to seek a second term. Batton had also served on the Minden City Council. originally as streets and parks commissioner, from 1950-1978. He was the younger brother of former Webster Parish Sheriff J.D. Batton.^[4]

In the primary election, Byars led two other candidates, insurance agent James T. "Jim" Branch and former Mayor Jacob E. "Pat" Patterson, who had preceded Batton in the position, having served from 1974-1978. Byars polled 1,957 votes to Branch's 1,446, and Patterson's 1,207. In the all-Democratic general election on November 2, Byars handily defeated Branch, 2,642 to 1,468. Voters also replaced the police chief, Jim Lee Stanfield, with businessman Chester Adcock, 2,721 to 1,852 votes.^[4]

Byars hence assumed the position on January 1, 1983.

[edit] Recall election

The recall election engendered a heavy turnout. Voters repudiated Byars remaining in office, 3,241 (78 percent) to 914 (22 percent). He lost all fourteen city precincts. Opposition leaders Thomas L. Hathorn (born 1951) and Billy Sherman Cost (born 1948) formed the interest group, "Citizens for Responsible Government for Minden", which used phone banks to contact voters. "During the last few days, we targeted people who were non-petition signers," explained Thomas Hathorn in regard to the success of the initiative.^[5]

A month later Byars was convicted by a six-man jury in the 26th Judicial Court of felony theft. The court determined that Byars cashed a $2,166.60 personal check on July 22, 1987, to his personal account, of which $1,815 of that amount was to have been distributed to eleven other individuals for expenses incurred in regard to a fact-finding trip to Nevada in May 1987 regarding nuclear waste. Byars was also found to have altered travel receipts for double reimbursement and allowing a son to use the long distance phone card in the amount of $2,400 worth of calls. The son was found guilty earlier of felony theft.^[6]

While Byars could have faced ten years imprisonment and heavy fines, District Judge Harmon Drew, Jr., lectured him on his ethics and sentenced him to five thousand hours of community service. Byars was required to teach inmates at the Wade Correctional Institute in Homer over a four-year period. Judge Drew said that he had "bent over backwards to be fair" in the case though Byars had complained that officials were had a "political vendetta" against him.^[7]

Drew questioned why Byars had been compelled from two undisclosed school systems in Texas and required to make restitution for funds that he allegedly misused. "The disturbing thing is your pattern of behavior. You consistently denied wrongdoing (in Texas), and the bottom line is that no criminal charges were filed." The judge said that Byars had misled Webster Parish school officials when he procured doctorate compensation while employed by the local school system for a degree from the University of Sarasota, which the judge called a "diploma mill". Drew added: "Your poor judgment has made you and your family suffer a great deal. Drew delayed implementation of the sentence pending Byars' appeal ny his attorney, Richard Goorley, to the state circuit court of appeal. However, the circuit court in turn declined to overturn Judge Drew's ruling.^[7]

On conviction, Byars forfeited the mayor's position. Om February 6, council member Robert T. Tobin, an African American, was named interim mayor. He served until his defeat in the special election held in November 1989.

[edit] 1988 congressional race

On March 8, 1988, nearly a year before he left office, Byars ran for the Fourth Congressional District seat in a special election to choose a successor to incoming Governor Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer, III, then of Bossier City. Byars polled only 2,018 votes (2 percent). Also in the running was Stanley R. Tiner, then a public relations officer for a natural gas company, who had been the editor of the Minden Press-Herald from 1969-1970. Tiner placed third, with a second round of balloting held between then State Senator Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish and Roemer aide, James Otis McCrery, Jr. McCrery defeated Campbell and has since held the Fourth District House seat.^[8]

[edit] References

Preceded by Jack Batton

Mayor of Minden, Louisiana Noel Eugene "Gene" Byars 1982–1989

Succeeded by Robert T. Tobin (interim)