Jennifer Sneed Heebe

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Jennifer Sneed Heebe


Louisiana State Representative
District 81 (Jefferson Parish)
In office
1999 – January 2004
Preceded by David Vitter
Succeeded by John LaBruzzo

Member of the Jefferson Parish Council
for District 5
In office
2004 – August 2008
Preceded by John Lavarine
Succeeded by Ron Maestri (interim)

Cynthia Lee-Sheng (special election, April 4, 2009)


Born December 1966
Place of birth missing
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Frederick Riley "Fred" Heebe
Relations Frederick Jacob Reagan Heebe (father-in-law)
Children Sarah and Anna Heebe (twins)
Residence New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Occupation Former politician
Homemaker
Religion United Methodist

Jennifer Sneed Heebe (born December 2, 1966)[1] is a Republican former state representative for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, with service from 1999 to 2004. She resides in New Orleans. After her legislative service, she was elected to the District 5 seat on the Jefferson Parish Council.

Background

Heebe is a former television reporter in Monroe in Ouachita Parish in northeast Louisiana and a former tourism director for Jefferson Parish. She is married to Frederick Riley Heebe (born December 1952), a real estate developer who is also engaged in the landfill business and the son of Frederick Jacob Reagan Heebe, the late Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was first appointed to that position in 1966 by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Jennifer Heebe resigned at the beginning of her second term on the Jefferson Parish Council in 2008, when she and her husband purchased a mansion on St. Charles Avenue in the Uptown section of New Orleans. She added that the demands of rearing their twin daughters, Sarah and Anna, made it unlikely that she would ever return to the political arena. Heebe is a cancer survivor.[2][3]

Political life

On March 27, 1999, voters chose in state House District 81 a successor to David Vitter, who was elected to the United States House of Representatives for Louisiana's 1st congressional district following the resignation of Republican Bob Livingston. Sneed, as she was then known, led a 14-candidate field with 1,619 votes (16.8 percent). She was then placed into a runoff contest with fellow Republican Ben Slater, who polled 1,405 votes (14.5 percent). In third place was another Republican, Eric Skrmetta, subsequently an elected member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.[4] In the second round of balloting, Sneed prevailed, 6,670 (52.6 percent) to Slater's 6,021 (47.4 percent).[5] Sneed was unopposed for a full term in the House in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 23, 1999.

On October 4, 2003, Sneed was elected to the Jefferson Parish Council with 19,925 votes (81.4 percent).[6] She was reelected in 2007 without opposition but vacated the post in August 2008; at the time she was the only woman on the council and only the second woman ever to have been a member of the body. Heebe was known for fast constituent service while she served on the council. Carey Hammett, a beautification activist whom Heebe appointed to the Jefferson Parish Board of Zoning Adjustments, said, "I cannot imagine not having her in public service in Jefferson. I'm heart-broken, because she's good."[2]

Heebe left the council before her husband negotiated an agreement to close the parish dump and send the residential garbage to Heebe's company, River Birch, Inc., in Waggaman. The agreement failed, and Jefferson Parish sued Heebe. A federal criminal investigation followed. In 2012, an ethics complaint was filed against Jennifer Heebe regarding her failure to submit reports of campaign spending prior to July 2008.[3]

Heebe was succeeded in the House by fellow Republican John LaBruzzo, a conservative. Coincidentally, LaBruzzo had considered running to finish Heebe's council term. Instead, he sought a third term in the House and was unseated through redistricting in the 2011 primary. Heebe was succeeded on the council by the third woman to serve on the body, Cynthia Lee-Shung, a daughter of the late Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee.[2] Lee-Shung retained Heebe's aide, Ron Hinyub, in her employ.[7]

References

  1. Jennifer Heebe. Mylife.com. Retrieved on November 19, 2020.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Richard Rainey (August 19, 2008). Jennifer Sneed resigns from Jefferson Parish Council. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on November 19, 2020.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Richard Rainey (April 18, 2012). Jennifer Sneed, former Jefferson councilwoman, faces state ethics violation. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on November 19, 2020.
  4. Louisiana Secretary of State, Special election Returns, March 27, 1999.
  5. Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, May 1, 1999.
  6. Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.
  7. Rob Hinyub, long-time Jefferson Parish Council aide, moving on. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (March 7, 2012). Retrieved on May 21, 2015; article no longer accessible on-line.