Bill Robertson (Louisiana Politician) - Toppling Paul Brown, 1990

Toppling Paul Brown, 1990

Robertson entered the race for a full term as mayor in 1990. He and Minden businessman Billy Sherman Cost (born 1948) challenged Brown, who was seeking his first full term in the position. Cost and Thomas L. Hathorn (born 1951), another Minden businessman, had led the citizens' panel advocating the recall of Byars. Brown nearly won in the first round: 2,630 ballots (48 percent) to Robertson's 1,729 (32 percent), and Cost's 1,064 votes (20 percent). Robertson and Brown therefore advanced to the general election.

Before the primary, Brown was seriously injured on September 28, 1990, in an accident on the Minden High School football field while he was moving the yardage chains. Having no memory of the accident, Brown remained hospitalized throughout the campaign. Minden physician John Hill declared Brown's condition as "conscious and hopeful ... an answer to prayer". As concern persisted that the still disabled Brown could not discharge his duties in a full term, voters handily elected Robertson, 2,529 votes (59 percent) to 1,758 (41 percent). Brown hence polled 872 fewer votes in the second round of balloting than he had in the first. The 1990 general election hence launched Robertson into a long career as his city's chief municipal official.

Robertson's first two months in office were plagued by personal health issues. On January 9, 1991, a week after he presided over his first city council meeting, Robertson underwent successful triple heart bypass surgery at Schumpert Medical Center in Shreveport. Problems developed, and he underwent a second operation on January 20 to reattach surgical wires in his lower sternum. Tubes were inserted to drain the buildup of post-operative fluids. He was released from the hospital on January 28 and returned to his mayoral duties on February 13.

In April 1991, Robertson sought federal disaster relief after floods overpowered the drainage system in Minden. Nine inches of rain fell in eight hours, and many homes were under three feet of water.

In 1994, Robertson won a second term over fellow Democrat Douglas "Doug" Frye and the Independent Lydianne Vulliamy Scallorn Hammons (born 1936), the wife of Minden businessman Orville Hammons (1915–2011). Robertson received 2,019 (55 percent) to Frye's 1,285 ballots (35 percent), and 369 votes (10 percent) for Mrs. Hammons, a former city clerk who had certified the recall petition signatures against former Mayor Byars.