| Terry Wayne Gee, Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Louisiana State Representative from District 86 (Jefferson and Orleans) parishes | |
| In office 1980–1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Sam A. LeBlanc, III |
| Succeeded by | Stephen J. Windhorst |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 21, 1940 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced from Wanda Webb Gee |
| Children | Terry "Buzz" Gee, Jr. GEE Construction LLC Regina Gee Esbeck |
| Alma mater | Louisiana Tech University |
| Occupation | Oil and natural gas executive; formerly on the Loyola faculty |
| Religion | Baptist |
Terry Wayne Gee, Sr. (born September 21, 1940), is an officer of Ecoloclean Industries, Inc., who formerly served three four-year terms as a Republican member of the Louisiana state House of Representatives. Gee represented parts of Jefferson and Orleans parishes from 1980 until he was defeated for a fourth term, effective 1992. He resided in the Algiers section of New Orleans, when he was a legislator. Early in 2005, Gee was named Ecoloclean's assistant vice president of capital sourcing.
Gee was retained by Ecoloclean because of his "working knowledge of Louisiana government policies and regulations." Company president and CEO Royis Ward said that Gee would have "all necessary support to assist in the growth of our company. His work ethic and experience in a variety of industries will enhance Ecoloclean's management infrastructure while cultivating future opportunities in the marketplace."
Ecoloclean, founded in 2001 in Crystal City, southwest of San Antonio, Texas, engages in the manufacture and sale of machines for the treatment of contaminated water. In 2005, the company was retained by officials in Biloxi to provide drinking water to Hurricane Katrina victims and to establish water remediation needed in the aftermath of the storm along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
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As a young man, Gee worked for a time as a roughneck and field hand in the Mississippi oil fields. He obtained a bachelor's degree in personnel management and public relations from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish. He received a master's degree in business from Loyola University in New Orleans. Thereafter, as a Loyola faculty member for seven years, he taught various classes in management and behavioral sciences.
When he filed his candidacy papers for state representative in 1979, he listed his employment as Executive Director of Associated Builders and Contractors.
Gee's experience in the oil and gas industry stems from being a managing partner of Resource Consultants, Limited, for nine years. After eleven years as the assistant to the CEO and chairman of the board of Louisiana Power & Light (a subsidiary of Entergy), he came to LOOP. Gee was the executive director of the Louisiana Offshore Port Authority ("LOOP") from 1996 until 2004. He was appointed by Republican Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., and left when a Democratic governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, took office. Under his leadership, LOOP was developed as America's first and only deep water port which operated under both U.S. and Louisiana licenses. Gee said that LOOP "is a good corporate citizen that employs over 100 people ... and has a tremendous safety and performance record." In 2008, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal named a former Democratic legislator and Louisiana Public Service Commission member, Dale Sittig of Eunice, as the new LOOP director.
In his initial legislative election, Gee benefited from the successful gubernatorial candidacy of then Jefferson Parish resident, David C. Treen. Still, there were few Republicans in the legislature when Gee served. In Gee's first term, two other Republicans also represented parts of Jefferson Parish, Charles D. Lancaster, Jr., and Charles Grisbaum, Jr., a former Democrat who had opposed Treen in a 1974 Third District congressional race but had since switched parties and become a Treen friend and ally. Another Gee colleague, Democrat Charles Cusimano of Jefferson Parish switched parties in 1984.
Gee was a member of the Ways and Means, Commerce, and Labor committees during his House tenure. In 1987, Gee joined nine legislative colleagues in filing suit against Governor Edwin Washington Edwards in a vain bid to halt what the lawmakers saw as runaway state spending, which was adversely affecting both the general fund and dedicated accounts. Gee and his colleagues were joined by several trade associations and contractors, including the Louisiana Good Roads Association.
Gee was known in the legislature for his sense of humor. He and two colleagues, including Metairie Republican Quentin D. Dastugue (pronounced DAS TOOG), introduced a "bill" in 1991 to "regulate the hunting and harvesting of attorneys by any person with a valid state rodent or armadillo hunting license." Some of his legal colleagues did not find his proposed "open hunting season" on lawyers to be particularly amusing. "We thought this was definitely 'good government' legislation, but the lawyers outnumbered us, and we got beat!" Gee said in a conversation with columnist Smiley Anders of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.
Gee was unopposed in his last legislative election in District 86 in 1987. In 1991, however, he was unseated in a Louisiana-style general election by a fellow Republican. In the jungle primary held on October 19, Gee had led the balloting with 4,512 votes (45 percent), compared to 3,734 (37 percent) for attorney Stephen J. Windhorst (born 1957) of Terrytown and 1,847 (18 percent) for the only Democrat in the race, Cynthia Davidson. In the November 16 general election, Windhorst was the big winner, 7,576 (61 percent) to Gee's 4,845 (39 percent). Windhorst, a son of State Senator Fritz Windhorst, who represented parts of Jefferson and Orleans parishes from 1972–1992, later left the legislature to assume a judgeship.
Gee and his former wife, Wanda Webb Gee, have a son Terry W. "Buzz" Gee, Jr. (born 1960), a construction company owner in Mandeville, and a daughter, Regina Gee Esbeck (born 1963). Gee is Baptist.
| Louisiana House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sam A. LeBlanc, III, (D) |
Louisiana State Representative from District 86 (Orleans and Jefferson parishes)
Terry Wayne Gee (R) |
Succeeded by Stephen Joseph Windhorst (R) |