BusinessReport.com

Behind the numbers

To the editor:

I am intrigued with the title of JR Ball’s article, “The numbers do lie” (Sept. 11). The $9,048 that was mentioned in my letter to the editor in The Advocate is in fact what we currently pay as a direct result of governmental regulations on a $100,000 home. Here is a detailed breakdown so you can see the truth about the numbers:

Sewer impact fee: $2,150

Traffic impact fee: $660

Building permit: $274

Plan review: $60

Flood determination: $15

Plumbing permit: $98

HVAC permit: $45

Electrical permit: $147

Temporary pole permit: $25

DEQ permit: $264

Storm water maintenance: $810

Local material taxes: $2,500

State material taxes: $2,000

Total government fees: $9,048

Last year, CRBA hosted a symposium that brought in many of the top experts from around the U.S. to speak on successful Community Development Districts and other alternatives to financing infrastructure. All East Baton Rouge Parish top management personnel were invited, as were many Capital Region politicians, parish officials and city administrators. This was a very informative session attended by officials from Ascension, Livingston, West Baton Rouge, Jefferson, St. Tammany and other surrounding parishes. However, no one from EBR showed up.

So you can see we have tried to find a better way to help this parish resolve these problems, and we will continue to look for and support better ways than impact fees because they simply are only Band-Aid fixes for serious problems.

Mr. Ball did hit the nail on the head when he voiced concerns about the legality of the fees and the possibility of a future administration raising these and/or implementing new fees. The real spoke in the wheel that was broken is the very item that he included in his article—the 30,000-square-foot exemption.

Existing homes always follow new construction in price increases. Look back two years ago at the existing home prices and compare them to the present. Existing homes prices have jumped by approximately the same percentage as new home prices have.

We at CRBA genuinely care about affordable housing and everyone having the chance to live the “American Dream” of home ownership.

Billy Ward, President, Capital Region Builders Association, Baton Rouge

The Oregon Trail

To the editor:

Thank you for the Portland coverage (“South by Northwest,” Sept. 24-26). It sounds like, in addition to developing mass transit, they have developed biking and walking paths and insisted on natural green spaces. They have also protected beautiful Mount Hood from heavy traffic and over-commercialization.

The Mississippi River is Baton Rouge’s natural gift. The new levee walking and biking paths are a nice start to using the river to our benefit. I drove River Road last weekend returning from Roberto’s Restaurant, and loved seeing bikers on that narrow roadway. I want to see more bike and walking paths in and around Baton Rouge.

When the progressive Portland preaches “green, green, green,” they are advocating walking, biking, and natural environments. They are not talking about casinos, hotels, golf courses and the color of money. The construction of Pinnacle is going to limit the “green” access to Baton Rouge’s Mount Hood, and the shortsightedness makes me very, very sad.

Versa Stickle, Baton Rouge

Destiny’s children

To the editor:

As a New Orleanian, one lesson of Katrina is that Louisiana is one state, like it or not. Baton Rouge is a great place and can be a great city (“Random Thoughts,” Sept. 25). I am not critical of civic pride; parochialism—like the kind New Orleans perfected—is, however, toxic.

We need to think as a state. The Baton Rouge-New Orleans-Northshore region really mirrors Tampa-St. Petersburg-Orlando and could one day be a southern version of the Los Angeles megalopolis. How many people and businesses move throughout the parishes of southeast Louisiana today? We already live in an interconnected zone.

Let’s move forward together and not at each other’s expense.

Tony Toups, New Orleans

To the editor:

I have been taking Business Report for quite some time now. I initially hooked up with your magazine to keep up with the goings on in the area pertaining to the film/entertainment business. I will be coming to the area for the film biz, as I was in it in Florida and left for Louisiana. Had it not been for Katrina, I would have come directly to the Baton Rouge area from Orlando. But after Katrina, I decided to set up shop in rural south Alabama until things normalized somewhat.

In other words, I believe it would have been insane for me to pull into Baton Rouge or Louisiana right after Katrina with everything I owned in a 26-footer expecting to find any housing available. This little town—although not having much to offer in regards to activity—at least gave me a place to hang my hat as I researched the Louisiana film biz. I have found Business Report especially helpful in this regard, and it also kept me up to date on other matters. When I come over (it won’t be much longer now), I will be more knowledgeable and better prepared than I would have otherwise been. For that, I thank you.

I noticed an article about Baton Rouge chasing its destiny and getting over its inferiority complex. I know where you are coming from on that. When I lived in Florida, I spent a few years in Tampa and liked it quite well. I also lived in Orlando and other points of interest such as Key West and Miami. They all have their positive aspects. I sensed perhaps a bit of an inferiority complex in some of the people I knew while in Tampa. I would bet this is not unlike that felt by some in Baton Rouge.

Let me assure you this is not necessary at all. It struck me that Tampa was all in all the equal of Miami, and if it wasn’t it darn well could be. Ditto Baton Rouge in comparison to New Orleans. It may be apples and oranges in some ways, but the bottom line remains. Nobody in Tampa needs to feel inferior to anybody in Miami, and nobody in Baton Rouge needs to feel inferior to anyone in New Orleans.

With the right push from the right people, either of the former can give a run for the money to either of the latter. Perhaps in due time, I can be a part of that process.

Marc R. Williams, Lapine, Ala.

To the editor:

I find it so amazing that BellSouth, or now AT&T, still does not cover the entire East Baton Rouge Parish with DSL service. We have eight stores throughout Baton Rouge and still have three locations that we cannot get high-speed Internet. When I read JR Ball’s notes in the latest issue of the Business Report, it is hard to “shake off our inferiority complex.” By the way, Cox is no better. It’s 2007, folks. Let’s get going.

Fred Handsman, President, Video USA Entertainment

News hounds

To the editor:

It is, in 2007, unbelievable and incomprehensible that a high-ranking executive in a media company could make the statement, “We’re in the early stages of trying to learn what this Internet thing is. In five years, I would guess, what we’ll be doing will be totally different.”

That’s what WAFB general manager Nick Simonette said in your article “Whose news do you use?” (Sept. 11)

It’s no wonder that his station has declined down to where only 10% of the households get their news from his station, while the Internet has a 50%‑plus market share. With that attitude, WAFB will continue to be a frog in a shrinking pond.

Ask the advertisers who spend the big bucks that pay his salary and see what they think. In the same article Joann Habisreitinger of Zehnder Communications said, “TV is ‘still’ a vital component to many advertising plans. But we are shifting more dollars to the Internet and other platforms because we have to.”

She has to because that’s where the eyeballs are these days, and ad agencies are measured on getting their clients ads in front of consumer eyeballs.

The “other platforms” that Habisreitinger mentioned is probably mobile phones.

If it’s going to take Simonette five more years to figure out what the Internet is, you have to wonder how long it’ll take him to figure out that mobile devices are where advertising (and news delivery) are headed.

Charles Hall, Rider Research, Baton Rouge

Unfriendly skies

To the publisher:

Your story regarding airline service (“Publisher’s View,” Aug. 14) certainly hits home. On a recent trip through Dallas-Fort Worth, I was delayed about 28 hours. (“We are sorry for any inconvenience”; they checked my luggage and would not give it back; luggage was later found in B.R. totally wet.) The number of times that we were given false, misleading information was almost too numerous to count. Once we were told the plane (for our flight to B.R.) was leaving in 30 minutes, when in fact the plane (for us) did not leave from B.R. to Dallas for two more hours. Absolutely no remorse. The passengers were treated as sub-human freight.

The real focus of the question is what can consumers do? If I am late to catch a flight, there are consequences; if (when) an airline leaves you stranded, there are only excuses. At some point there will be a consumer revolt to this very one-sided business relationship. It may be that government intervention will be the only way. From the perspective of the traveler, it appears that flights are canceled so as to assure that all succeeding flights are full.

As someone who used to love to fly, I have virtually no confidence in the airlines to keep their promises of timeliness. The idea of a consistent pattern of “failure to deliver” by an airline causing loss of the route seems to be a step in the right direction. If Airline X cannot deliver a particular quantity of on-time flights a day, then they forfeit the right to schedule that many flights.

The system will self-correct. It is of no value to have a flight scheduled that does not get you there. I may never fly to/through DFW again.

Andrew Navarre, Baton Rouge

Don’t be stupid

To the editor:

Thank you for telling it like it is (“Random Thoughts,” Aug. 14). I work for Cenla Advantage Partnership, which is a private nonprofit economic development agency covering 11 parishes in Central Louisiana. Our students are not being prepared for the work force. Ironically, the only people who don’t seem to know this fact are the educators.

We must inject pragmatism into our schools. Instead of calling it “high school,” maybe we should call it “vocational preparation.” Our colleges must stop awarding worthless degrees, and we should create a viable community college system.

Unfortunately, I believe the change must be initiated top-down. Perhaps the next governor should read your article and take it to heart.

Rick Ranson, Alexandria

To the editor:

Pardon me if I am wrong, but I believe that in Louisiana it is the parent’s legal responsibility to see their children are properly educated. The public school system is just a “free gift” for those who want to use it (not free to the taxpayers, though). The public school system is not legally liable for poor students as I look at it, but I am not an attorney. I am responsible for my children’s proper education.

If the public school system is a failure, it is still the parents who are responsible to educate the children. The state legally has no responsibility to provide for the education of my children. My wife and I home school. Our eldest was awarded a full scholarship out of state, and she will likely never return. LSU was a second choice for her, but the TOPS funding is less for home-schoolers than students from the public school system. The result is that the out-of-state university got a built-in advantage. That didn’t make her feel any too welcomed by our home state. Now she will likely end up paying taxes and contributing to the economy of another state when she graduates.

Thanks for your article. It makes me feel better about our choice to learn at home.

Brian LeDoux, DeRidder