VERSA CLARK
When was the last time a Shreveportborn, Caddo Parish schooleducated, Army-trained lawyer decided he wanted to represent this area and the state at the federal level at the position of senator? That would be Senator J. Bennett Johnston, who was elected to the United States Senate in 1972. The senator was challenged at that time with the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon, the end of the Vietnam War and the 1970s Energy Crises (that spurred unrest in the Middle East with the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the Iranian Revolution in 1979).
The rationing of toilet tissue or hand wipes was nothing compared to incidents in long lines waiting to get gasoline. And this was especially important to Sen. Johnston because he knew the importance Louisiana played in the oil and gas business. Matter of fact, the majority of his sponsored bills were connected to the industry.
But as he indicated in a retiring interview with Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB), he was interested in other areas that he thought would help Louisiana past a resource-rich, agrarian state as technology was expanding in leaps and bounds around the nation. Don't know whether he was fortunate or blessed to be a member of the Appropriations Committee, but it allowed him to add five major national research centers to state universities.
He secured funding for dredging and levee work to combat river flooding. He helped with the navigation project along the Red River and was sponsor of 1-49 construction from New Orleans to Winnipeg, Canada.
Back then Sen. Johnston thought the state, and especially this area, had room to improve, that there was too much mediocrity, and he set out to use education as his instrument to unclamp the middle class squeeze, generate more brain power and make every family value education .
He served during the Sunbelt Boom when General Motors, General Electric, Gould's Batteries, AT& T (Western Electric) came to town, and when England AFB (Alexandria) closed down, they were ready with plans to insure viability and sustainability of the facility. His 24 years in the Senate are a tribute to his dedication to helping the state, and as he would say, if you want to be an effective politician, say the right thing and then do the right thing.
Mayor Adrian Perkins, although five years younger than Sen. Johnston when he was first elected to the Senate, is Shreveport-born, Caddo Parish schooleducated, Army-trained and is a lawyer on the ballot to be Louisiana's newest senator. Sen. Johnston thought his successor would have to be well-educated , very bright, a good politician, reasonably young, able to relate to people well and very human. Well, two senators have held that seat since Sen. Johnston's retirement, and this area has declined in his absence.
Current challenges for the Northwest Louisiana area is linked to the high incidence of generational poverty that has left many very vulnerable in the ability to create and maintain a stable family, provide good health care and the one thing that Sen. Johnston knew was a winner: a modern education system that evolved with technological change.
Will Mayor Perkins, if elected, be able to be assigned to the right committee to be the most effective for what ails the community? As the oil and gas industry pulls back as the leading employment and income sector in Louisiana's economy, will he be able to replace generationa! poverty by funding the kinds of investments that would allow the state of Louisiana to take advantage of the potential the state has in the industrial hemp industry?
Will all students (K-12) be provided the opportunity to learn coding and other critical thinking strategies that will help the area as broadband technology continues to improve?
Will the mayor be able to generate new interest in the General Motors plant and a downsized General Electric plant by creating a plan with a vision in the manner of England AFB? Will he be able to convince the Board of Regents that LSUS needs to be the University of Shreveport, a major national research center? Will the mayor be able to sit down with the Army Corps of Engineers and get the kind of results Sen. J. Bennett Johnston did with advanced and stepped up dredging and levee work to help control flooding?
Will he advance the Bio-Med Center that Sen . Johnston help create to assist SBC in becoming a major medical/healthcare center, so that when Ocshner posts for employment, it won 't be 450, but 1 ,450 positions available?
Covid-19 has allowed us the opportunity to be so very reflective of where we are and how can we together make SBC better. Because the better SBC is, the better all of North Louisiana will be.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE August 21 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB THE INQUISITOR.