Henry Joseph Rodriguez, Jr. (September 27, 1935 – May 3, 2018), known as Junior Rodriguez, was an American politician from St. Bernard Parish in the Greater New Orleans section of the U.S. state of Louisiana. He was of Isleño descent and was registered as an Independent. He served as Councilmember on the St. Bernard Parish Council from 1976 to 2004 and as President of the St. Bernard Parish Council, from 2004 to 2008. St. Bernard Parish is a Louisiana Parish (the equivalent of counties in other states) that is adjacent to New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood.

During Katrina and it’s aftermaths

During Katrina, he and his councilors requested boats and rescued hundreds of people who took refuge on rooftops when the flood occurred. However, Rodriguez reached national fame in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as a regular guest to CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. Hurricane Katrina and related levee failures resulted in almost all homes and businesses of St. Bernard Parish being catastrophically flooded. Most had to permanently evacuate their house, and as of early 2006 the majority of the returned population were in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) housing trailers. Known for his matter-of-fact style and his sometimes colorful language, he used his presence on the show to criticize the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the slow pace of the recovery in St. Bernard Parish and asked for a more effective response. Among other aspects, he claimed that FEMA's bureaucratic approach kept victims of the hurricane from getting proper assistance. Other local politicians criticized the way the federal government handled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Parish Presidents Benny Rousselle from Plaquemines and Aaron Broussard from Jefferson are among the most notable ones. Junior Rodriguez was one of the participants to Movie Director Spike Lee's documentary When The Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts.

Election history

Police Juror, Ward K, 1987 Threshold > 50% First Ballot, October 24, 1987 Second Ballot, November 21, 1987 Councilman, District E, 1991 Threshold > 50% First Ballot, October 19, 1991 Councilman, District E, 1995 Threshold > 50% First Ballot, October 21, 1995 Second Ballot, November 18, 1995 Councilman at Large, Eastern Division, 1999 Threshold > 50% First Ballot, October 23, 1999 Second Ballot, November 20, 1999 St. Bernard Parish President, 2003 Threshold > 50% First Ballot, October 4, 2003 Second Ballot, November 15, 2003 St. Bernard Parish President, 2007 Threshold > 50% First Ballot, October 20, 2007 Second Ballot, November 17, 2007

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