John Alan Berthelot, known as Johnny Berthelot (born November 1951), is a Republican member of the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

from District 88, based in his hometown of

Gonzales Gonzales may refer to: Places * Gonzales, California, U.S. * Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S. * Gonzales, Texas, U.S. * Gonzales County, Texas Other uses * Battle of Gonzales, 1835 * Gonzales (horse) (1977 – after 1996), an American-bred Thoroughbr ...

in eastern

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (; ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge metr ...

near

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

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. He was the mayor of Gonzales from 1984 until 2008 and

great-nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle. ...

of first mayor of the city, "Tee Joe" Gonzales.Gonzales mayor leaving after 8th term in office
Posted by Annabelle Armstrong in December 30, 2008 to 12:01 am.

Early years

The son of J. O. Berthelot and the former Doris Hebert, the

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Berthelot attended St. Theresa Catholic School and Gonzales High School. In 1969, he received his diploma from East Ascension High School. In 1970, he graduated from New Orleans Barber College. Berthelot studied in the continuing education program at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

in Baton Rouge and completed the course in real estate there in 1975.

Political career

From 1976 to 1984, Berthelot served on the Gonzales City Council and as mayor pro tem. Elected mayor at the age of thirty-two in 1984, he was an advocate for reduced taxes and sound municipal finances. After his first election, he was unopposed for reelection for his last five terms. Berthelot recalls that when he became mayor, the city had to borrow $75,000 from the Bank of Gonzales at 4 percent interest to renovate two water towers. "We now have $27 million (unrestricted) in reserve. We're probably in the best financial shape of any city our size in the United States," said Berthelot late in 2008 as he prepared to turn over his office to Barney Arceneaux, the current mayor. Berthelot credits the conservative approach to finances that has sustained Gonzales: "When interest rates were double digit, we invested and made money on our interest. The lifeblood of our city is the 2 percent in sales tax we receive, totaling over $10 million a year. This is the main source of revenue." Gonzales is a commercial center with some 100,000 shoppers in the city on a daily basis. Berthelot learned after his election that he was a great-nephew of the founder and first mayor of Gonzales, Joseph "Tee-Joe" Gonzales. Berthelot's father, J. O. Berthelot, also served on the city council and was known for his efforts to eradicate litter in the municipality. The Berthelot family resided two blocks from city hall. Shortly after the attack on the

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, Mayor Berthelot, Gonzales Police Chief Bill Landry and Gonzales Fire Chief Butch Browning delivered a fire truck donated by the state of Louisiana to municipal firefighters in

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. The two appeared at the time on

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's ''

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'', then with host

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. In 2011, Berthelot was elected to succeed fellow Republican

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in the legislature; Smiley instead was narrowly elected as the Ascension Parish assessor. In the primary held on October 22, Berthelot was the runaway winner, 6,766 votes (71.4 percent). Another Republican, Coral Lambert, trailed with 1,377 votes (14.5 percent). A

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, Gary J. Lacombe, finished in third place with 1,331 votes (14.1 percent).

Personal life

Berthelot and his wife, the former Paula Chauvin, have four children, Kim, Shelley, Kelley, and Brad, and five grandchildren, Payton, Reid, Lennon, Gabe, and Grant. Berthelot is known for his

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-endorsed

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recipe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berthelot, Johnny 1951 births 20th-century mayors of places in Louisiana 21st-century mayors of places in Louisiana Living people People from Gonzales, Louisiana Barbers American hairdressers Businesspeople from Louisiana American businesspeople in real estate Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Mayors of places in Louisiana Louisiana city council members 21st-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature