An appeals court has upheld the right of Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and Metro Council member Lamont Cole to challenge the incorporation of the prospective city of St. George.
In a ruling today, the First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to take up the appeal, which was filed by St. George organizers earlier this year, after 19th Judicial District Court Judge William Morvant ruled that Broome, Cole and another plaintiff, attorney Lewis Unglesby, who lives within the footprint of St. George, have legal standing to sue.
Morvant ruled that a fourth plaintiff in the original suit, a Baton Rouge city resident, does not have legal standing to sue.
An attorney representing Broome says the First Circuit’s decision was a win, though not unexpected.
“It’s another loss for St. George and wasted effort on their part,” says attorney Mary Olive Pierson. “As if the mayor and Councilman Cole can’t contest the incorporation, which cannot be financially supported and will adversely affect the city of Baton Rouge and the rest of the parish they are sworn to protect.”
St. George spokesman Drew Murrell says the St. George legal team is reviewing its options and will move forward “one way or the other.”
It’s unlikely, however, that the Louisiana Supreme Court would hear the matter. Even if the mayor and councilman were ruled ineligible to sue, the case would still go forward anyway because Unglesby’s status as a plaintiff has never been in question.
Still, Murrell says there are valid reasons for wanting Broome and Cole off the case, even if Unglesby, alone, can challenge the incorporation.
“The suit with Lewis Unglesby alone is weaker than if the mayor and Cole are plaintiffs,” Murrell says. “They, as mayor and council members, have greater access to information and resources … and they are going to be utilizing parish resources, at least during the discovery process.”
The case, filed late last year after voters approved the incorporation of St. George, is slowly making its way through the court. No trial date has been set.
[polldaddy poll=10580830]
