Jindall Impresses Chamber and Business Leaders

It is a night that Janet Reeves, Chamber of Commerce Manager for Springhill Louisiana, had planned for, worked for, and organized; for many months, now it was here. As she noted it is one thing to plan for a dinner for 300, it is entirely another to pull it off, but this great example of skilled leadership did so with poise and grace. Janet Reeves truly represents the spirit of local greatness in leadership from the heart.

One of the areas most accomplished leaders from the heart, Vickie Kinchen, assisted Janet in putting together the overall directions of President of the Chamber, Judy Teague. Vickie represents an individual who through hard work and dedicated effort can rise from being a temporary worker to manager of the Carter Federal Credit Union, Springhill. Johnny and Linda Edens were also involved in setup for the evening. These and other members worked as a team to put on an extraordinary event.

The focus of the evening was declared candidate for governor, Congressman Bobby Jindall, a man who may indeed be the stuff that heroes are made of. "Bobby entered public service in 1996 when he was appointed secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH), relinquishing admissions to Harvard and Yale University medical and law schools.

With more than 12,000 employees, a $4 billion budget and hundreds of facilities, DHH is Louisiana's largest department. Bobby was successful in turning DHH's $400 million budget deficit he inherited into a surplus of $220 million.

In 1998, Bobby was appointed executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, whose recommendations continue to be the driving force behind much of the ongoing debate on how to strengthen and improve Medicare.

Bobby returned to Louisiana state government in 1999, when he became president of the University of Louisiana System - the 16th largest higher education system in the country which oversees the education of around 80,000 students a year.

In March 2001, Bobby was nominated by President George W. Bush, and later unanimously confirmed by a bipartisan vote of the U.S. Senate, as the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In that position, he served as the principal policy advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services." [Bobby Jindall for Governor web site, 2007]

Jindall is no stranger to hard work, in his remarks to the gathered this evening, he pointed out that common sense is needed in our national government, that Louisiana needs to take advantage of the times that we have upon us, and that we need to pay attention to our leadership in this time. Mr. Jindall addressed the three needs for Louisiana that will help this state become more respectable in the eyes of the rest of the nation and the world. He said the first need is tax reform in the business realm, the second need is educational reform and the third need is government reform. Mr. Jindall emphasized the importance of following a "what works" stance in running our state. At the conclusion of his remarks the audience gave him a sustained standing ovation.

Following the remarks by Mr. Jindall several business leaders and other representatives of local government, Mayor Carroll Breaux of Springhill with wife Dianne, Mayor and Mrs. Bobby Washington of Cullen Louisiana and others, Mayor Edwards of Sarepta, and Mayor Barnette of Plain Dealing; spent time discussing area issues. One representative of teachers, Judy Talley, presented Mr. Jindall with a letter from a prominent local psychologist requesting school reform; Mr. Jindall was gracious throughout the evening and in meeting with these leaders, he seemed especially pleased with Judy Talley's letter.

In the words of a prominent member of the leadership for North Louisiana "this man will be the next governor." Based on observations from throughout the evening it would be a reasonable conclusion for such a fine leader as Mr. Jindall to be chosen by the people of the great state of Louisiana to take over the governorship being left open by Kathleen Blanco who announced earlier in the year she would not seek re-election.

In the words of Luther and Vickie Kinchen, area leaders in the business and religious community, "he's a dedicated Christian, a great leader, and he's our man." A challenge they placed was others to consider Mr. Jindall to be "their man for governor." The calm but powerfully planted support expressed by the leader of such high caliber, Vickie Kinchen, surely points out the power of this man to persuade voters. As she said, "we need leaders who take a stand, and he takes all three." Based on the results of the evening, many others will agree with Vickie.