Friday, August 13, 2021

Remembering the Late Gov. Edwin W. Edwards in Sabine Parish

PART IV

1990-1992

As 1990 was ending, more folks were starting to let Edwin know they wanted him to run even though the election was still two years off. My Marthaville school-mate Jerry King called and said he would like to get Edwards out to his store for a rally. Jerry was very successful with his Longwood General Store in the little community out from Shreveport.

I contacted the Governor and we set the date for Saturday, Oct. 20, 1990. He flew into Shreveport Regional Airport and I picked him up and took him to Longwood. When we drove up, there were about 400 enthusiastic supporters waiting in front of the store. A big banner proclaimed, “Edwards Is The One in ’91.”

Speaking of Gov. Buddy Roemer’s actions, he said, “I knew it was either a lottery or taxes. I tried to avoid taxes. I didn’t get my way and you got them both.”

He reminded the audience of his track record, his penchant for plain-talking and the relentless controversy that plagued his tenure. He blamed the controversy on his ability to get things done, adding, “Anything different and new you propose is going to be controversial.”

I ran across a letter in which EWE’s wrote:  “Maybe you and Ken Simmons can come for lunch on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 1990. If not acceptable, call and we shall set another time.” I did not remember going, so I called Simmons. He said he does remember going for the occasion.

Ken Greer threw a big fundraiser for Edwards at the Toledo Lions Club Building on July 10, 1991 and asked me to serve as Master of Ceremonies.

The former governor told the audience he was glad to be back in Sabine for a special reason. Said he, “It is in this parish one year ago, that the people in this area were kind enough to invite me to a parade. I was concerned about the reaction I would get in an area once served by Buddy Roemer in Congress when he ran for governor four years ago. But, when I saw all the enthusiasm, I walked away from that parade knowing I was right – people had found out about Roemer.”

He reminded the citizens he was involved in bringing Garan to Many and the Rail Car Plant to Zwolle. “We brought the new Vo-Tech school to Many, built the North Toledo Bend State Park and Rebel Park, and extended the runway of the airport to provide better accommodations and air travel for the area.”

“I made mistakes last time and took some things for granted,” he continued, “and I was taken away from my job for a year and a half to a courtroom in New Orleans, was wrongly tried and twice acquitted. That was not my fault, but I did pay a price.”

“During that time, when the state so badly needed a governor, and I needed to be at my job, I had to be somewhere else and I felt cheated,” he recalled. “I want a chance to show you I can do better. Those things are behind me now and I’ve learned from them.”

“I don’t want to leave this earth without the opportunity to vindicate myself and to show you that I am the same Edwin W. Edwards that led this state to glory and prosperity and to great heights in the early 70s,” he stated.

He added, “I would say to you that I have been in Many, at Toledo Bend and in Sabine Parish five times more than every Governor put together who served this state since 1960.”

Former Many Mayor Virginia Godfrey commented, “We need to elect a Governor who knows Sabine Parish and this man knows Sabine Parish.”  Gentry stated, “Roemer promised us he would scrub the budget.  He did, but he used a toothbrush to do it with.”

Among those recognized were Tax Assessor Conrad Cathey, Pleasant Hill Mayor George Shannon, Congressman Buddy Leach, SRA Chairman Ken Simmons, Sheriff Alfice Brumley, Many Mayor Ken Freeman and Sen. Don Kelly.

On Aug. 4, 1991, Edwards was in Mansfield to speak to the Executive Board of the Region 4 Police Jury Association. Butch Manasco of Many served on the Board and attended the meeting. Rep. Johnny McFerren, a native of Marthaville, and educator Walter Lee, a native of Florien, also attended the meeting.

The candidate was in Shreveport on Oct. 9, 1991 for a reception at American Towers. Gailor Phares and I attended the reception. The Index had endorsed Edwards for Governor and I brought a copy of the paper and gave to him at the reception.

The election was on Nov. 16, 1991. I went down to New Orleans for the celebration. On Friday night I attended a reception for Edwards at Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World. At the time, it was located across the river from downtown New Orleans in Algiers.

The victory party on Saturday night, Nov. 16, 1991, was held at the Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter. There was a large press corps present for the event, me included. As Edwards and members of his family came to the podium to make his victory speech, he looked around at all the members of the press. I was the only one he singled out and called by name. I suppose I was the only member of the press he was on good terms with. The man had made a comeback for a fourth term by defeating David Duke.

The inauguration of Gov. Edwards was held on Jan. 13, 1992. It was held in the Baton Rouge Convention Center. Gailor Phares and I attended. It was a cold day, but some protesters were marching around in front of the Center. “I’m not gonna let them rain on my parade,” the Governor told the crowd.

In December 1991, I had met with Gov. Edwards at his transition office in Baton Rouge. I had served on the Sabine River Authority (SRA) and Edwards asked if I would work with Sen. Don Kelly, Sen. James David Cain and Rep. Joe Salter in making recommendations to him for SRA appointments from Sabine Parish. Remember, he asked me, I didn’t ask him. He said if the four of us could not agree, then he would make the appointment.

Earlier I had recommended (along with others) to Gov. Roemer that he appoint Attorney Ken Simmons to the SRA and he did. After serving on the SRA for several years, while Roemer was Governor, I was informed by the State Ethics Commission that I could no longer serve on the Authority because the Index was the SRA’s official journal and they said that presented a conflict. Mind you, the Index was the only newspaper in Sabine Parish, so there was no other choice. I found out later some of my Sabine “friends” played a part in this development. Naturally, I resigned because I needed to keep the newspaper’s appointment as official journal.

On Jan. 10, 1992, the four of us met. Joe Salter, who had beat Ken Simmons in the race for Representative, said he would not support Simmons to continue on the SRA, even though we other three wanted him. Cain and Kelly suggested Salter meet with Simmons to work it out. They met, to no avail.

I met with Joe on Jan. 31, 1992, and he said under no circumstances could he recommend Simmons. He said he and Kelly met with Edwards on Jan. 30, 1992 and Edwards agreed not to appoint Simmons. They had left me and Cain out of the decision.

Boy, that made me mad. On Jan. 31, 1992, I sent Edwards a two-page, single-spaced letter expressing my outrage, disgust and anger at being left out of the decision, after having been asked to be a part. James David was also disgusted. In addition, I sent a two-page, single-spaced letter to Kelly and Salter.

Then on Feb. 13, 1992, I sent Edwards a letter apologizing for “…that hot, ass-chewing letter I wrote you a couple of weeks ago. As I told you over the phone, I wrote it with my emotions instead of my brain, if I have one. I should not have made the comments about you that I did and I am very sorry. If you’ll forget you received the letter, I’ll forget I sent it.”

My letter continued, “Thanks for allowing Ken Simmons to remain on the SRA.  I know your time is valuable and I apologize for having to involve you in all this mess.”

I closed by saying, “I hope you can find enough money to keep this state and James David Cain afloat.”

The Governor responded Feb. 25, 1992, “Your letter of Feb. 13, 1992 is acknowledged, but I assure you was unnecessary. That is all behind us. The main thing is, I want to maintain your friendship and will continue doing everything I can to assist you and those in your area.”

Simmons explained what happened this way, “I ran against Joe when Edwin ran against Duke. Of course, after the election Joe wanted me removed from the SRA, and I understood that. Edwin called my office early one morning. My secretary Louise Thaxton answered and told me the governor was calling. I thought she was kidding. I picked up the phone and the first thing he said was, ‘Boy, did your mama know how much trouble you would be when you were born?’”

“We talked awhile and he was in a bit of a dilemma with Joe about me continuing to serve on the SRA. I told him I would just make it easy and resign and he said, ‘No.’ He apparently had told Joe he would not reappoint me and being the consummate politician that he was, his solution was not to reappoint me and neither would I resign. There is a Louisiana statute that says appointed persons continue to serve until replaced by the governor. So, his solution was not to reappoint me, but not to replace me either, so I continued to serve. That satisfied him, but probably not everyone.”

On Feb. 26, 1992, I wrote a letter to Gov. Edwards asking if he would make a couple of phone calls to help School Supt. Larry Skinner keep his job. Rep. Joe Salter and Rep. Billy Montgomery had discussed the matter prior with the Governor and pledged their support. I suggested the Govenor make phone calls to Raymond Ebarb and Emma Holden. I don’t know if he called, by Larry retained his job.

On March 2, 1992, Sen. Cain and I met with Governor Edwards at the mansion. I had been asking the Governor to appoint my friend Charles Fredieu of Shreveport as State Fire Marshal, and at the meeting he agreed to it. After the meeting, I was proud to call Charles and be the first to tell him he had gotten the appointment.

In the early part of 1992, I wrote several letters to Gov. Edwards suggesting we have a “Return of the Friendly Dragon” parade in Many to celebrate his victory. He was interested, but with all the state business to take care, he could never find a date.

I had also been working to get Gailor Phares appointed as a member of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum Board in Shreveport. On Sept. 16, 1992, I received a letter from Cherie A. Gauthier, Special Assistant to the Governor. She wrote, “The appointment is now with the Secretary of State.  I spoke with Bob Courtney of the Secretary’s Office, and he assured Mr. Phares had been appointed by that office.”

One fall Sunday afternoon in 1992, Edwards had a big rally in Baton Rouge and Ken Simmons and I attended. Bill Dodd, a Louisiana political legend and native of Zwolle, had invited us to his house for lunch and we accepted. We had steak and Simmons said it was the toughest he had ever eaten.

And on Sept. 21, 1992, I attended a fundraiser for Cain at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey Temple in DeRidder. Gov. Edwards was the guest speaker and about 250 attended, among them Rep. Salter.

This series about the late-great Gov. Edwin W. Edwards will continue. Seems the more I write, the more I find to write. Thanks so much to everyone for reading. That makes all the research and work worthwhile.

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