Community Leader

MAN

of the PEOPLE

BY LIESEL SCHMIDT

There’s a saying about putting your money where your mouth is, an adage that God helps those who help themselves, and an axiom that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. For Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, it was these very principles, coupled with the frustrations of what wasn’t being done that served as the catalyst for launching his career into politics. “When Hurricane Katrina happened, I wasn’t happy with the response,” says Nungesser. “We didn’t see any elected officials. I rescued people and animals, and we were pretty much on our own. All of the attention was on New Orleans, so I decided to run for Plaquemines Parish president to make a difference. After the oil spill, I was on CNN every night, acting as the voice of our frustration. It did not seem like we had enough officials standing up for the coast, the animals, the seafood industry, and the people who lived here and were being affected. That’s when I decided to run for lieutenant governor.”

Since then, Nungesser’s career has been dedicated to making a difference and making the people of the entire state of Louisiana feel heard and recognized. “My career as lieutenant governor has been challenging because I want to fix everything,” Nungesser admits. “It’s just my nature. We never say no to anyone who calls my office. We try to find help for everyone; and as challenging as it is to spread yourself so thin, we are making a difference all over Louisiana.”

“My career as lieutenant governor has been challenging because I want to fix everything. It’s just my nature. We never say no to anyone who calls my office. ”

Naturally, his position is met with its share of challenges as he tries to meet his goals and make a lasting impact on the state. “Standing up and always doing the right thing is not a popular thing,” says Nungesser. “For instance, being against the diversion which is making millions of dollars for people on something that will not save the coast and can’t build land above the water line. The studies also show that dolphins will be extinct in the Gulf in 50 years if we build it. Yet, there has been so much money thrown at it: for advertising, buying silence, threatening local parish leaders if they come out against it and telling them that they wouldn’t get coastal money. The CPRA and the team they’ve assembled has threatened to punish people if they come out against it, but I know in my heart it is the right thing to do, to stop it and to use that money to pump river sediment.”

It is the ongoing challenges that prove to the people of Louisiana that Nungesser is the right man for the job. “We saw during this last hurricane that storm surge is getting worse, not better; and people along the coast deserve to look out over the levees and see that we are installing storm surge reduction berms and ridges so that, every year, we feel better about our protection and not worse. That’s what they deserve, and that’s what they should get.”

Still, Nungesser continually rises to the occasion, no matter the trials facing the people he serves. “Up until COVID, the biggest challenge we faced was funding,” he notes. “I’ve had to take millions of dollars of tourism money to fund things like internet service for the libraries for all the small parishes, services to the visually impaired—things that ought to be funded by the legislature but are often overlooked. In 2019, more than 51 million people visited Louisiana and left $1.9 million in taxes that locals didn’t have to pay. Knowing that we compete with every state for those tourism dollars,

the challenge to get those dollars back is enormous. But we have more tools in our toolbox than most states; and we treat strangers like family, so they keep coming back. We have an incredible group of leaders around the state and in the tourism industry, and I have no doubt that we will be back better and bigger than ever before.”

For Nungesser, his accomplishments as lieutenant governor have been the greatest points of pride. “My goal has always been to do the best job I can and always put the people of Louisiana’s best interest first,” he says. “Rebuilding the parks and making them successful and helping Volunteer Louisiana and the many people around the state of Louisiana recover from the storm have been a great source of pride for me and my time in office. Now that Keep Louisiana Beautiful has been moved under my office at my request, cleaning up this state and getting the litter off our roadways is a new challenge and a new goal—but that’s what excites me, getting up every day and addressing the needs of Louisiana.”

Ever cognizant of the reason that he was elected in the first place, Nungesser continues to put the needs of his constituents at the forefront of his mind. “I ran from a parish of only 8,000 voters, and my two opponents were from much larger parishes,” he recalls. “I think I outworked my opponents by driving across the state; shaking as many hands as I could; and looking people in the eye, telling them that I will always get up every day and do the best job that I can. I think that people saw me during Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and Isaac and the BP oil spill, working tirelessly day and night to do all I could to help our citizens get back. People saw that and my passion for the people of Louisiana and realized that I would never give up on their best interests and putting them first.”

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