ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / January 12, 2000

Even though the campaign is over, the work of motherhood hasn’t stopped for Dawn Monica, wife of the new Parish President Nickie Monica.

She pulls into her driveway, a few minutes late for her interview. Lookinga bit hurried and frazzled, she gets her sleeping 3-year-old out of the back seat of the car and hurries to open the door. She smiles and apologizes forbeing late as she hurries into the living room and gently deposits her sleeping daughter, Erin, on the sofa in the Monicas’ simple and tastefully decorated living room.

She composes herself on the other end of the sofa and looks expectantly at Erin, as if the girl will suddenly wake up. But the toddler doesn’t even stir. Dawn sighs.

“I will be so glad when the focus will be at Nickie’s office. We need alittle peace and quiet for awhile,” she says with a smile.

The thing she likes best about her husband being elected parish president is the change in his work hours. When Monica worked at Marathon/AshlandRefinery he was doing shift work, and that meant he worked nights quite a bit.

“Now he’ll be here when the children wake up,” says Dawn. “He’ll havebreakfast with them.”For Dawn, that is very important. She admits that except for Nickie, noneof the family are morning people.

“Nickie is a very upbeat and optimistic person, and we need that when we get together at the breakfast table.” she says.Being the first lady of St. John the Baptist Parish will be a big change forDawn, but it is a challenge she approaches with enthusiasm.

“It’s a very exciting time for the parish, a positive time for the parish, and I am looking forward to it,” she says with a big smile.

A native of LaPlace who grew up on Ashley Street, not far from her home on Natli Street, Dawn Monica never thought she would ever end up where she is today.

“I never had a clue Nickie was interested in politics when we got married,” she admits.

She and Nickie were high school sweethearts at Riverside Academy and have been married 17 years. They have four children, Ryan, 12, Lauren, 10,Kathryn, 7, and Erin, 3.

After graduating from high school, Dawn got a bachelor of arts degree from Southeastern Louisiana University and worked in banking and as a teacher before she and Nickie started a family.

“I was behind him when he became a councilman,” Dawn says, “but when he decided to run for president, I had to really think about it.”Despite her doubts and misgivings, Dawn agreed to help her husband because of her concern for her family.

” I thought, ‘well I pay taxes, too, and I am concerned about my children’s future.'” Dawn states with conviction. “I have to look at the future. I seethis as doing our part to help our kids’ future.” She smiles, then adds, “As Nickie says, the time is now.”For Dawn the hardest part of the whole process was the campaign.

“The campaign was a lot busier than I expected,” she says. “And we hadthe kids with us a lot, which made it even busier.”But the children seemed to take the campaign in stride. In fact some of thekids thrived on the excitement of campaigning.

“Lauren couldn’t get enough of it,” Dawn says, laughing. “I expect her to gointo politics when she gets older. Ryan can take it or leave it. Kathrynwanted to go to all the functions, but once she got there she would want to leave, and Erin was very excited about things.” Dawn pauses, then adds, “They took it well and went with the flow.”Now that their daddy has been elected to the highest post in the parish, the children are getting to like the publicity.

“The kids are kind of awestruck, but they are taking it in stride,” says Dawn. “They like the kids at school getting excited about their father.”Taking care of her family is a full-time job for Dawn, and she doesn’t see herself starting any projects or backing any causes real soon.

“I would lose my mind right now if I tried to work and take care of the kids,” she says. “Right now, I see myself just as a goodwill ambassadorfor my husband.”She continues “Right now, I have everything I can handle on my plate.

Until Nickie is settled into his office I won’t take on anything else.”And that goes for politics, especially. She gave an emphatic “no” whenasked if she has any ambitions to run for office.

Even though the family is her first priority, she says, “I don’t mind the publicity. It won’t be too bad. Plus,” she pauses and laughs, “we don’t haveany skeletons to hide.”When asked what she would like to say to the voters of St. John Parish,she thinks for a second.

“I would like to say thank you to everybody, and we appreciate everybody’s support,” she says.

And as if on cue the front door flies open and Ryan, Lauren and Kathryn come in chattering, throwing book bags down on the floor. Ryan goesstraight for the television and a video game, but Dawn puts a stop to that.

“Not right now,” she says in a whisper and points to the sleeping Erin, who apparently hasn’t heard a thing and keeps sleeping peacefully on the sofa.

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