John Brennan Hussey
| John Brennan Hussey | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana | |
| In office December 31, 1982 – December 27, 1990 | |
| Preceded by | William T. Hanna |
| Succeeded by | Hazel Beard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 29, 1934 Place of birth missing |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Southfield School Law school missing |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
John Brennan Hussey, Jr. (born May 29, 1934),[1] an attorney who specializes in contracts, served for two terms from 1982 to 1990 as the Democratic Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana. Before serving as mayor, he was a one-term member of the Shreveport City Council and in 1980 the council chairman.
Hussey graduated from the private elementary and junior high institution, the Southfield School in the South Highlands neighborhood of Shreveport and was inducted in 2008 into the school hall of fame.[2]
In 1978, Hussey was an unsuccessful candidate for the new single-member districting scheme implemented for the Shreveport City Council. He was defeated by fellow Democrat William Hardy "Bill" Bush (1943- 2014), with whom he later became friends.[3]Bush also ran for mayor in 1990 and finished in a relatively weak third place in a 12-candidate field.[4]
In 1982 and 1986, Hussey defeated then Democrat Donald W. "Don" Williamson, a former member of both houses of the state legislator from Caddo parish, in two races for mayor. Thereafter, Williamson, in political retirement, joined the Republican Party. Williamson was considered a better campaigner than Hussey, but the former lawmaker was mostly identified with northern Caddo Parish, rather than Shreveport, where he had relocated several years earlier.
In 1994, Hussey sought a comeback as mayor but ran third in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 11,833 votes (22 percent). In the ensuing general election, the Republican Robert W. "Bo" Williams defeated the African-American Democrat Roy Cary. Williams served one term until his defeat in 1998.
Hussey was also an elected member of the first Shreveport City Council under the mayor-council single-member district format, having served from 1978 until 1982, when he became mayor. On the council, Hussey drafted the rules to govern city council proceedings. He developed good working relationships with the council's then three black members as well as the council's first president, former Mayor James C. Gardner, and Charles J. Peatross, who went on to become a judge. In his memoirs, Gardner said that Hussey "had read everything available on politics and government."
Though a Democrat, Hussey appointed a Republican, Harriet Belchic, to the Shreveport Women's Commission.
| Preceded by William T. "Bill" Hanna |
Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana
John Brennan Hussey, Jr. |
Succeeded by Hazel Beard |
References
- ↑ "John Hussey, May 1934". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ↑ "Southfield Hall of Fame". southfield-school.org. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
- ↑ KEES (AM), October 2, 2014
- ↑ "Official Election Results Results: 10/6/1990". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
James C. Gardner, Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II (Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006), pp. 225, 253
John B. Hussey, Oral History, Louisiana State University in Shreveport Archives
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