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Robert Adley (Louisiana politician)
Encyclopedia
Robert Roy Adley is a businessman and politician
from Benton
, Louisiana
, who is a Republican
member of the Louisiana State Senate. Adley in 2011 ran without opposition in his bid for his third and final term in Senate District 36.
and thereafter entered the United States Marine Corps
. He served two years, including a stint in the Vietnam War
. He is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars
. After military service, Adley procured an associate's degree from Louisiana Tech University
in Ruston
, the seat of Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana. He is a past president of the Louisiana Jaycees.
Adley has owned Pelican Gas
Management Company, Inc., since 1993. He was President of ABCO Petroleum from 1972 to 1993. Prior to 1972, he was a securities broker
. Adley is affiliated with the interest group the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. Prior to his legislative election in 1979 at the age of thirty-two, Adley had already served on the Bossier City Recreation Board, Civil Service Board, and City Council. He is a past state president of the Louisiana Jaycees.
Adley is divorce
d from the former Dawn Womack (born December 29, 1948) of Bossier City. His second wife is the former Claudia Henagan (born November 14, 1950), formerly of DeQuincy
in Calcasieu Parish near Lake Charles
. From the first marriage, he has a son, the veterinarian
Brandon Adley (born 1971) of Bossier City. Another son from the first marriage died in his teens.
Adley is active in the United Methodist Church as a lay leader and speaker.
from 1980 to 1996. He vacated his legislative seat to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Louisiana in the 1995 primary election. He finished in seventh place, and the office was won by outgoing State Senator Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
, another convert to the Republican Party.
Adley said that he expects to work closely with Republican Governor Bobby Jindal
. At a news conference in his native Bossier City, Adley said that regardless of party his focus in Baton Rouge
, the state capital, has "always been conservative reform. I'm excited we have a new governor with the same philosophy, and I want to be as effective as possible in working with him." Adley noted that his becoming the sixteenth Republican state senator (among thirty-nine members) created a more bipartisan and balanced Senate. Within a few years thereafter, the Republicans gained a majority in the Louisiana State Senate.
delegation, which simiarly protects the newer Evangeline Downs
, founded in 1965 in Lafayette
, regarding overlapping racing dates. Adley prevailed on the issue because four south Louisiana representatives, confused in debate, mistakenly voted for the counter position on the bill. Adley then asked the House to reverse the action and return the bill to the calendar because he did not want to score a legislative victory by subterfuge. His decision made the owner of Louisiana Downs furious.
Adley's colleague, Ron Gomez
of Lafayette, said that Adley's action "was the mark of a big man. Robert Adley had my respect for life. He subsequently became a floor leader with me during the Roemer
administration, suffered through the personal tragedy of losing a brilliant teenage son, left his seat in the House in 1996 to run unsuccessfully for governor and has still managed to maintain a highly successful career in the oil and gas industry. He also still has the 'fire in the belly' which may get him back into the political arena in the future," as Gomez predicted three years before Adley was elected to the state Senate.
The next year, Adley's Bill 952 became Act 726 of the 1981 legislative session. The tracks had discussed the matter, and accommodations were made by each.
In 1989, Representative Adley supported Roemer's bill to change the taxation of natural gas
from percent of volume to percent of value, the method used in all natural-gas producing states. The bill fell nine votes short of the two-thirds needed for passage. Adley lashed out at industry lobbyists and his colleagues who opposed the bill: "When you go home you will have to answer to people who will ask 'how could you vote for sales taxes on food, drugs and utiliaties and not vote for a tax on Texaco
, Exxon
and Conoco?'"
In the 2007 legislative session, Senator Adley voted to secure some $50 million from the state for the Cyber Command Center at Barksdale Air Force Base
in Bossier City. The Cyber Command Center, with an annual payroll of some $750 million, is expected to employ as many as twenty thousand persons. The Air Force is considering a 58 acres (234,717.9 m²) tract adjacent to the east side of Bossier Parish Community College
as a potential location (along with 17 others) for the new Cyber Command (to be decided in October 2008). The funds that Adley helped to obtain will potentially be used to enhance U.S. Highway 80 to include traffic signals and turn lanes.
In the 2007 legislative session, Adley sponsored a bill to provide capital improvements for Louisiana's technical colleges and community colleges. He maintains that a "strong system of community and technical colleges is essential to creating a skilled workforce." Lawmakers also adopted provisions of another Adley bill which reforms the Ethics Commission by prohibiting the director from earning outside income through contract work for parties having political interests with the state. Adley worked closely to develop income-disclosure legislation and has endorsed the Blueprint for Louisiana, a list of reforms pushed by a "good-government" group. Adley is vice chairman of the Senate Environmental Quality and the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs committees and is a member of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee.
In 2010, Adley sponsored Senate Bill 549, to terminate funding for the Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic. Adley's bill, which had the backing of the Louisiana Chemical Association and the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, came into a new atmosphere when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico
. Tulane University
president Scott Cowen
testified, against Adley's bill, in the Commerce Committee of the Louisiana senate. The Commerce Committee killed the bill.
of Bossier City. He was elected to the Louisiana House from District 8 (Bossier Parish) in 1979 and served four terms until he ran for governor in 1995. He succeeded Walter O. Bigby
of Bossier City, who died of cancer
in the last year of a third term in the House. Bigby was a son-in-law of former State Senator and banker V.V. Whittington
of Benton. In the gubernatorial race, Adley polled only 27,534 votes (2 percent).
In the 1987 legislative primary, Adley, with 5,835 ballots (50 percent) polled 36 more votes than his two rivals combined: Democrat Sandra M. Loridans, 2,334 votes (20 percent) and former Republican turned independent
Freddy M. Shewmake (born 1940), 3,465 ballots (30 percent). Adley was unopposed in the 1991 primary.
Adley was initially elected to the state Senate on February 15, 2003 to fill the remaining months of the term vacated by Foster L. Campbell, Jr.
, also of Bossier Parish, who was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission
. He defeated Jerry Lott, another Democrat, 8,172 (68 percent) to 3,903 (32 percent). At the time Red River Parish was not in the district. Adley was unopposed for a full term in the regular 2003 primary. Foster Campbell, who had succeeded conservative state Senator Harold Montgomery
of Doyline
in Webster Parish in 1976, ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 2007 primary won by Jindal. The Adley seat was held from 1956 to 1960 by Herman "Wimpy" Jones
, a businessman who operated the Southern Kitchen restaurant in Bossier City.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
from Benton
Benton, Louisiana
The town of Benton is the parish seat of Bossier Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. The population was 2,035 at the 2000 census. The larger Bossier City is located south of Benton...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who is a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the Louisiana State Senate. Adley in 2011 ran without opposition in his bid for his third and final term in Senate District 36.
Education, military, occupation, family
Adley graduated in 1965 from Airline High School in Bossier CityBossier City, Louisiana
Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the...
and thereafter entered the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. He served two years, including a stint in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
. After military service, Adley procured an associate's degree from Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
, the seat of Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana. He is a past president of the Louisiana Jaycees.
Adley has owned Pelican Gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
Management Company, Inc., since 1993. He was President of ABCO Petroleum from 1972 to 1993. Prior to 1972, he was a securities broker
Broker
A broker is a party that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller, and gets a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal...
. Adley is affiliated with the interest group the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. Prior to his legislative election in 1979 at the age of thirty-two, Adley had already served on the Bossier City Recreation Board, Civil Service Board, and City Council. He is a past state president of the Louisiana Jaycees.
Adley is divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d from the former Dawn Womack (born December 29, 1948) of Bossier City. His second wife is the former Claudia Henagan (born November 14, 1950), formerly of DeQuincy
DeQuincy, Louisiana
DeQuincy is the northernmost city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,398 at the 2000 census. DeQuincy is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:DeQuincy is located at ....
in Calcasieu Parish near Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
. From the first marriage, he has a son, the veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
Brandon Adley (born 1971) of Bossier City. Another son from the first marriage died in his teens.
Adley is active in the United Methodist Church as a lay leader and speaker.
Party switching
Adley served in the Louisiana House of RepresentativesLouisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
from 1980 to 1996. He vacated his legislative seat to run unsuccessfully for Governor of Louisiana in the 1995 primary election. He finished in seventh place, and the office was won by outgoing State Senator Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
, another convert to the Republican Party.
Adley said that he expects to work closely with Republican Governor Bobby Jindal
Bobby Jindal
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....
. At a news conference in his native Bossier City, Adley said that regardless of party his focus in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, the state capital, has "always been conservative reform. I'm excited we have a new governor with the same philosophy, and I want to be as effective as possible in working with him." Adley noted that his becoming the sixteenth Republican state senator (among thirty-nine members) created a more bipartisan and balanced Senate. Within a few years thereafter, the Republicans gained a majority in the Louisiana State Senate.
Legislative accomplishments
From his first year in the House, Adley has been a strong advocate of the Louisiana Downs horse racetrack, established in 1974 in Bossier City. In 1980, he clashed with the AcadianaAcadiana
Acadiana, or The Heart of Acadiana, is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large Francophone population. Of the 64 parishes that make up Louisiana, 22 named parishes and other parishes of similar cultural environment, make up the intrastate...
delegation, which simiarly protects the newer Evangeline Downs
Evangeline Downs
Evangeline Downs is an American race track and casino located in St. Landry Parish, just east of Opelousas, Louisiana. With a seven furlong oval track, the facility provides close to 1,000 horse stalls for Thoroughbred flat racing and American Quarter Horse racing...
, founded in 1965 in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, regarding overlapping racing dates. Adley prevailed on the issue because four south Louisiana representatives, confused in debate, mistakenly voted for the counter position on the bill. Adley then asked the House to reverse the action and return the bill to the calendar because he did not want to score a legislative victory by subterfuge. His decision made the owner of Louisiana Downs furious.
Adley's colleague, Ron Gomez
Ron Gomez
Ronald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez , is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989. From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in...
of Lafayette, said that Adley's action "was the mark of a big man. Robert Adley had my respect for life. He subsequently became a floor leader with me during the Roemer
Buddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
administration, suffered through the personal tragedy of losing a brilliant teenage son, left his seat in the House in 1996 to run unsuccessfully for governor and has still managed to maintain a highly successful career in the oil and gas industry. He also still has the 'fire in the belly' which may get him back into the political arena in the future," as Gomez predicted three years before Adley was elected to the state Senate.
The next year, Adley's Bill 952 became Act 726 of the 1981 legislative session. The tracks had discussed the matter, and accommodations were made by each.
In 1989, Representative Adley supported Roemer's bill to change the taxation of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
from percent of volume to percent of value, the method used in all natural-gas producing states. The bill fell nine votes short of the two-thirds needed for passage. Adley lashed out at industry lobbyists and his colleagues who opposed the bill: "When you go home you will have to answer to people who will ask 'how could you vote for sales taxes on food, drugs and utiliaties and not vote for a tax on Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
, Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
and Conoco?'"
In the 2007 legislative session, Senator Adley voted to secure some $50 million from the state for the Cyber Command Center at Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-southeast of Bossier City, Louisiana.The host unit at Barksdale is the 2d Bomb Wing , the oldest Bomb Wing in the Air Force. It is assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command's Eighth Air Force...
in Bossier City. The Cyber Command Center, with an annual payroll of some $750 million, is expected to employ as many as twenty thousand persons. The Air Force is considering a 58 acres (234,717.9 m²) tract adjacent to the east side of Bossier Parish Community College
Bossier Parish Community College
Bossier Parish Community College is a two-year institution of higher education established in 1967 by the Louisiana State Legislature, initially as a pilot program to test the feasibility of commuter two-year colleges...
as a potential location (along with 17 others) for the new Cyber Command (to be decided in October 2008). The funds that Adley helped to obtain will potentially be used to enhance U.S. Highway 80 to include traffic signals and turn lanes.
In the 2007 legislative session, Adley sponsored a bill to provide capital improvements for Louisiana's technical colleges and community colleges. He maintains that a "strong system of community and technical colleges is essential to creating a skilled workforce." Lawmakers also adopted provisions of another Adley bill which reforms the Ethics Commission by prohibiting the director from earning outside income through contract work for parties having political interests with the state. Adley worked closely to develop income-disclosure legislation and has endorsed the Blueprint for Louisiana, a list of reforms pushed by a "good-government" group. Adley is vice chairman of the Senate Environmental Quality and the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs committees and is a member of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee.
In 2010, Adley sponsored Senate Bill 549, to terminate funding for the Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic. Adley's bill, which had the backing of the Louisiana Chemical Association and the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, came into a new atmosphere when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
president Scott Cowen
Scott Cowen
Scott S. Cowen is 14th president of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he is also Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor in the A.B. Freeman School of Business and professor of economics in Tulane's School of Liberal Arts. He has written more than a hundred peer-reviewed journal...
testified, against Adley's bill, in the Commerce Committee of the Louisiana senate. The Commerce Committee killed the bill.
Election history
Adley's public career began in 1977, when he won a special election for an at-large unexpired term on the City CouncilCity council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
of Bossier City. He was elected to the Louisiana House from District 8 (Bossier Parish) in 1979 and served four terms until he ran for governor in 1995. He succeeded Walter O. Bigby
Walter O. Bigby
Walter Oliver Bigby, Sr. , was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Bossier Parish, having served from 1968 until 1979. Often called the "Dean of the House" because of his reputation for integrity, fairness, and hard work, Bigby was a son-in-law of banker and former...
of Bossier City, who died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in the last year of a third term in the House. Bigby was a son-in-law of former State Senator and banker V.V. Whittington
V.V. Whittington
Volney Voss Whittington, known as V.V. Whittington or Voss Whittington , was a banker from Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1928 to 1932.Whittington was born in Ivan in Bossier Parish but resided most of his life in the...
of Benton. In the gubernatorial race, Adley polled only 27,534 votes (2 percent).
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Freddy M. Shewmake (born 1940), 3,465 ballots (30 percent). Adley was unopposed in the 1991 primary.
Adley was initially elected to the state Senate on February 15, 2003 to fill the remaining months of the term vacated by Foster L. Campbell, Jr.
Foster Campbell
Foster L. Campbell, Jr. , is a Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a former 26-year member of the Louisiana State Senate, and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Campbell polled 161,425 votes and won two parishes: Red River and...
, also of Bossier Parish, who was elected to the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...
. He defeated Jerry Lott, another Democrat, 8,172 (68 percent) to 3,903 (32 percent). At the time Red River Parish was not in the district. Adley was unopposed for a full term in the regular 2003 primary. Foster Campbell, who had succeeded conservative state Senator Harold Montgomery
Harold Montgomery
A. Harold Montgomery, Sr. , was an agricultural businessman and a Louisiana state senator, who is remembered as an outspoken conservative within his state's dominant Democratic Party...
of Doyline
Doyline, Louisiana
Doyline is a village in southwestern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....
in Webster Parish in 1976, ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 2007 primary won by Jindal. The Adley seat was held from 1956 to 1960 by Herman "Wimpy" Jones
Herman "Wimpy" Jones
Herman "Wimpy" Jones was a businessman who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from Bossier and Webster parishes for a single term from 1956 to 1960...
, a businessman who operated the Southern Kitchen restaurant in Bossier City.