Ricky Templet

Ricky James Templet (born February 4, 1963)^[1] is a businessman in Gretna, Louisiana, and Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

He did not seek a second term in the legislature. Instead, he was elected to the Jefferson Parish Council in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. In District 1, he defeated fellow Republican Michael O'Brien, 8,712 (60.9 percent) to 5,591 (39.1 percent).^[2][3]

On April 7, 2001, and again in the spring of 2005, Templet was elected without opposition^[4] to the city council in Gretna, the seat of suburban Jefferson Parish.^[5] He was thereafter elected to House District 85 in 2007, when the long-term Republican incumbent Joseph F. Toomy was term-limited. To win the legislative seat, Templet handily defeated in a runoff election fellow Republican Billy Arnold, 6,687 to 2,410 votes.^[6] Templet served on the House committees on Ways and Means, Administration of Criminal Justice, and Judiciary and the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay.^[3]

Templet owns and operates two food-catering businesses in Gretna. His family is certified to care for foster children. He was the founding member and past president of the Gretna Economic Development Association and the Gretna Heritage Festival. A lifelong resident of the West Bank of the Mississippi River, Templet remained behind when Hurricane Katrina struck and worked with law enforcement officials in recovery efforts.^[4] District 85 incurred huge damage from Katrina in 2005, but residents have mostly repaired their homes. Many commute to jobs on the East Bank of the river. Others work within Jefferson Parish in shopping centers, small businesses, and offices that are located along the West Bank Expressway.^[4]

Templet was endorsed for the legislature by his predecessor, Joe Toomy, the interest groups the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Louisiana AFL-CIO, and the Alliance for Good Government.^[4]

In his announcement of candidacy for the District 1 seat on the parish council, Templet outlined his legislative accomplishments as having secured funding for the West Bank Violent Crimes Task Force, maintaining the Jefferson Parish infrastructure, and completion of the hurricane protection system. If elected to the parish council, Templet outlined his future goals as fighting crime, providing greater hurricane protection, and clearing coastal areas impacted by storms and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.^[3]

Templet is a graduate of West Jefferson High School in Jefferson Parish, of which is wife, Dr. Christine Templet, has been since 2010 the principal. The institution is now a magnet school.^[7] He is the father of two children.^[3] Templet is Roman Catholic^[8] and a member of the Knights of Columbus men's organization, Rotary International, and Ducks Unlimited.^[1]

Bryan Adams defeated fellow Republican Stephen Leonard for the right to succeed Templet in the House, effective January 9, 2012. Adams received 3,942 votes (57.2 percent) to Leonard's 2,948 votes (42.8 percent).^[2]

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