Bo Williams

Robert Warren Williams, known as Bo Williams (born July 21, 1938), is a Republican former mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, having served a single term from 1994 to 1998.

Robert Warren "Bo" Williams
Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana (Caddo Parish)
In office
December 27, 1994  December 27, 1998
Preceded byHazel Beard
Succeeded byKeith Hightower
Shreveport City Council
In office
1990–1994
Preceded byHazel Beard
Succeeded byPatricia Gayle Jones "Pat" Spigener
Personal details
Born (1938-07-21) July 21, 1938
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Melba Clark Williams

Williams defeated his fellow city council member, Democrat Roy Cary, an African-American, 38,596 votes (59 percent) to 27,018 (41 percent). Eliminated in the nonpartisan blanket primary was the Democratic former Mayor John Brennan Hussey.

As his chief administrative officer, Mayor Williams chose Wendell Fraser Collins (1938-2018), a native of Many in Sabine Parish and a former long-term employee of AT&T.[1]

In 1990, Williams was elected to a single term on the Shreveport City Council from District E. He received, 6,293 votes (53 percent) to Democrat John L. Albritton's 5,503 ballots (47 percent). He left the council after one term to become mayor.

Williams was physically impaired as mayor. He used a wheelchair as a result of an accident several years earlier and had limited upper-body movement. Former Mayor James C. Gardner in his memoirs entitled Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II, describes Williams as follows:

I came to realize that most Shreveporters did not comprehend the physical limitations of the mayor. This was to handicap him politically as he could not be as physically visible as the citizens were accustomed . ... and this was sometimes interpreted as lack of activity. ... Mayor Williams compensated for his physical limitations by his study of city government. He knew his facts and figures: he did his homework. ... A very pleasant man, he was always especially gracious to former mayors. Invitations were forthcoming to us for dedication type ceremonies. This included his election opponent, Mayor Hussey.[2]

Williams pushed for the completion of Interstate 49, the north-south link from Shreveport to Lafayette. Gardner claims that I-49 was not a priority of Governor Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., the Republican who served from 1996 to 2004.

In the 1998 nonpartisan blanket primary, Williams ran a weak second and withdrew from a pending general election. Democratic candidate Keith Paul Hightower, the District C council member from southeast Shreveport, led with 20,250 votes (42 percent) to Williams' 13,637 (28 percent). Three other candidates, two Democrats and another Republican, divided the remaining 30 percent of the ballots. Williams, who trailed by nearly 7,000 votes, declined to proceed to a second round of balloting, and Hightower hence won the position outright. Hightower served two terms.

Williams and his wife, the former Melba Clark (born 1939), reside in Shreveport.

Preceded by
Hazel Fain Beard (R)
Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana

Robert Warren "Bo" Williams (R)
19941998

Succeeded by
Keith Paul Hightower (D)
Preceded by
Hazel Fain Beard (R)
Shreveport City Council, District E

Robert Warren "Bo" Williams (R)
19901994

Succeeded by
Patricia Gayle Jones "Pat" Spigener (R)

References

  1. "Wendell Fraser Collins obituary". The Shreveport Times. December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  2. James C. Gardner, Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. 2 (Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006), pp. 291–292

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11069009%5B%5D

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11089409%5B%5D

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