Paul A. Brown
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Paul Aaron Brown (January 15, 1932 -- July 3, 1996) was only the second Republican since Reconstruction to have served as mayor of the north Lousiana city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish. Brown served an unexpired term (1989-1990) created by the recall of Democratic Mayor Noel Eugene "Gene" Byars, Jr. (born 1939). Brown was defeated for a full term on November 6, 1990, by the city's still serving Democratic mayor, Billy Henry "Bill" Robertson (born 1938).
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[edit] Early years, military, business
Brown was born in Algiers near New Orleans. He joined the U.S. Air Force when he was seventeen and was assigned to the U.S. Signal Corps in a job involving surveillance. He was stationed for a time in Panama City, Panama. He lived in several cities before he came to Minden in 1987. He obtained his Social Security number while he was living in Alabama. On discharge from the Air Force, Brown worked for a detective agency in Houston. In the middle 1960s, he joined the staff of Motorola in Shreveport. He was thereafter transferred to other locations, including Biloxi, Mississippi, the seat of Harrison County, where he sold two-way radios.
While on call for Motorola in Meridian, the seat of Lauderdale County, he met his future wife, the former Shirley Carter (November 13, 1942 - November 14, 2006). Shirley was originally from Natchez, the seat of Adams County in Mississippi. They were married in June 1971 and celebrated their 25th anniversary just days before Brown's death. Motorola brought the Browns to Jackson, Mississippi, then New Orleans, and thereafter Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Brown left Motorola and went to work for a law enforcement supply company. In March 1978, he began treatment for alcoholism in the Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. In 1979, he became a counselor to alcoholics. After promotion through various positions, he became director of a counseling center in Greenville, Mississippi. His career as a counselor brought the Browns to Minden, where he was the director of a newly-opened alcohol treatment center at the Minden Medical Center.
Brown then became the executive director of the Minden-Webster Parish Chamber of Commerce, his last position until he was elected as his adopted city's mayor.
[edit] Election as mayor of Minden
Having been elected mayor in 1982 and 1986, "Gene" Byars was recalled in 1989 after a citizens' inquiry revealed that he had charged numerous personal items to his municipal credit card. A black Democratic city councilman, Robert T. Tobin (born 1921), became acting mayor pending a special election for the year remaining in Byars' term. Byars, an educator, thereafter left Minden and relocated to Beaumont, Texas, the seat of Jefferson County.
Though a newcomer to the city, Brown entered the mayoral contest to finish out Byars' term. His chamber of commerce work endeared him to much of the city's business community. Similarly, another former chamber of commerce director, Tom Colten, like Brown a Republican, was elected mayor in 1966 and served until 1974. Tobin's candidacy raised the possibility that he would become the city's first ever elected black mayor. By the time of the 2000 census, Minden had become majority black. Businessman Bill Robertson, an Arkansas native and a former member of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish's governing board, also ran for mayor, as did real estate woman Peggy J. Staples, who was also serving on the city council.
In the first round of the special election, Tobin led with 1,545 votes (34 percent). Brown trailed slightly with 1,509 ballots (33 percent). Robertson and Miss Staples followed with 1,028 (23 percent) and 452 (10 percent), respectively. Brown went on to defeat Tobin in the second round of balloting in November 1989.
[edit] Robertson topples Brown
On October 6, 1990, Robertson challenged Brown in the regular jungle primary for a full four-year term. A third candidate, Billy Sherman Cost (born 1948), a local businessman who later relocated to Anahuac, Texas, also ran. Cost and another Minden businessman, Thomas Lee Hathorn (born 1951), had together led the successful recall against Byars in 1989. The primary tallies were as follows: Brown, 2,630 (48 percent); Robertson, 1,728 (32 percent), and Cost, 1,064 (20 percent).
On September 28, eight days before the primary, Brown was seriously injured in an accident on the Minden High School sports field. He was carrying the football chain markers and was knocked into a bench. He lay in a coma for a week and spent thirty-seven days in intensive care at the Schumpert Medical Center in Shreveport. A traumatic brain injury deprived him of his long-term memory, balance and motor functions on his left side, and his once articulate speech. He spent six months in rehabilitation.
When it became apparent that Brown could not physically resume his mayoral duties, Robertson won the second balloting, 2,529 (59 percent) to 1,758 (41 percent). Brown's support decreased by more than 800 votes since the primary, presumably from concerns about his health.
Robertson hence won the first of his thus far five terms as mayor, having benefited from the injury of his Republican opponent. Elected again in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006, Robertson is the longest-serving mayor in recent Minden tenure. On November 7, 2006, he defeated his Republican opponent, the educator Alton Monroe "Al" Hortman, 2,054 (56 percent) to 1,596 (44 percent).
[edit] Brown's last days and legacy
Brown remained disabled for the remainder of his life. On June 11, 1996, Brown was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer. A week later he was confined to the Integrated Health Services Nursing Home in Minden. His last days left him frail and malnourished. He lost weight and ran a high temperature.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Brown returned to Natchez, where she ran the Gayosa Avenue Market, which had been previously managed by her late mother. The Browns had a son, Daniel Brown and wife Dee of Natchez, and a daughter, Paula Rae Brown of Bossier City in Bossier Parish. They were Baptist and are interred in Gardens of Memory in Minden.
The Reverend Willie Odom of Minden, described Brown as "a fine person. Whatever you needed help doing, he would help."
Businessman George Elam McInnis (born 1945), the chairman of the chamber of commerce when Brown was hired as the manager, noted Brown's "enthusiasm and vigor. He gave us a great hope of growth for the chamber. At the end of a year, some of us encouraged him to run for mayor even though it would be an uphill run for someone who was not from Minden." McInnis noted that Brown would ride in police cars and on garbage trucks to get a better feel of the job of managing the city.
Dr. Richard Whiteman Campbell (born 1946), a Minden dentist who supported Brown for mayor, called him "a prince of a fellow with a lot of energy and enthusiasm for his community. . . . Even though he had lived in Minden only a short while, he had more love for his community than many natives. Even though his recovery was anything but complete, he really desired to get back into the mainstream of civic affairs in Minden."
Thelma Sue Sanders Gruber (born 1942), a former chamber of commerce director who also worked in Brown's campaign, described him as "open, honest, and friendly. To sum it up in a word, he was a cheerleader for any cause he believed in.”
[edit] References
- http://www.nwlanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1071&Itemid=33
- http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10078960
- http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10069060
- http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11069060
- http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=Brown&firstname=Paul&middlename=A&start=41
- http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11070660
- "Paul Brown, former mayor of Minden, dies of cancer at 64," The Shreveport Times, July 4, 1996
- Brown obituary, Minden Press-Herald, July 4, 1996
| Preceded by Robert T. Tobin, interim |
Mayor of Minden, Louisiana 1989–1990 |
Succeeded by Bill Robertson |
