By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Jeff Burgoyne has spent his professional life listening to problems and trying to solve them.
As a 30-year educator at Slidell High he has dealt first-hand with students and their parents, first as a teacher and coach, and then the past 13 years as an assistant principal at Slidell High School.
Burgoyne said it was always that interest to help his community, and the people who live here, that actually inspired him to surprise his wife one day very recently when he announced, “I’m going to run for the Slidell City Council.”
As a relatively unknown political entry in the City Council elections last week, it was even more surprising to see the newcomer qualify for the At-Large election, where two seats were on the ballot with a pair of experienced incumbents to defeat.
Nonetheless, Burgoyne was probably the biggest surprise of the night when he captured the second spot in the three-man At-Large field, winning election to the council as one of four new faces who will be serving.
Incumbent Bill Borchert finished first in the balloting with 40 percent of the vote, then Burgoyne surprised incumbent Glynn Pichon to take second. Burgoyne earned 1,799 votes for 33 percent, with Pichon getting 1,510 votes for 27 percent.
Burgoyne said he was not shocked at the results because he had a broad base of support, much of it going back to many years getting to know local families through his work at the school.
What led Burgoyne to qualify for the election when he had never stepped into the political spotlight in any way before?
“I study politics a lot and find it fascinating,” he said. “And at this point in my life I want to serve Slidell in any capacity that would help our city. I love Slidell and want it to be incredibly successful.”
He said that his first thought was to run for his own district seat, but when he saw “four people qualify in District ‘D’ I knew there would be a quality person elected. Then when I saw no one running against the incumbents in the At-Large race I thought I should take my shot there.”
Not that Burgoyne didn’t see two quality incumbents in Borchert and Pichon, “but I know I could do a good job on the council and I wanted the public to have a choice.”
“It’s not democracy to have elections where incumbents aren’t challenged,” he said. “So that was my choice.”
Burgoyne said he didn’t make the final decision until the last day of qualifying in January, after he noticed the four candidates already in the District ‘D’ race.
“I thought that if I was going to represent the city I wanted to represent all of it,” he added.
“I understand Slidell very well due to my years meeting families,” he stated. “I hear about problems and I try to help students be the best they can be. And that goes for all students, whether you are a great success story or the other kids who aren’t going to Harvard.”
Burgoyne was complimentary of Pichon for the eight years of City Council service he has put in, but now is ready to jump in with both feet.
“I love Glynn Pichon for his eight years of service,” he said. “And if I had lost I would have called to congratulate him just as he did for me.”
Burgoyne said he already has talked to every other council member and is ready to attend every council meeting until he is inaugurated in June and takes over for July 1.
Among his early priorities are to invest in Olde Towne, creating a “destination” area for Slidell, and not surprisingly, “put my eyes on the youth of our community. We need to invest in our young people, give them special recognition, provide small tax benefits for business people to train the next generation, and help them find good jobs so they can work and live right here.”
Burgoyne’s wife Kim is also in public education as the principal at Florida Avenue Elementary. The couple has two sons, both currently serving in the military.