Would you rather elect officials who have a vision and ideas and are proactive in pursuing them, or ones who just react when a problem comes to light—that may have been prevented? Easy answer for me.
But lately I have seen more evidence of knee-jerk responses by local politicians—Mayor Kip Holden and the Metro Council—to some issues that have been around for years or even decades. Who is looking ahead?
The most recent case is the issue of the barge-cleaning operation proposed by the levee on River Road across from BREC’s Farr Park. This has caused concerns to nearby residents and LSU. Due to the mention of toxic chemicals involved, one can understand the concerns.
But I want to address the bigger picture of why politicians are just getting involved in the 11th hour, when this “barge” issue began in 2013. Does anyone at city-parish track Department of Environmental Quality permit applications that mention an East Baton Rouge site (filed in February)? Does anyone track land developments on other public land that is outside the Planning & Zoning and Metro Council process (for example, land owned by the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, etc.)? It appears not. (This is something our officials should fix.)
Instead we wait until a storm brews, people scream and it hits the media, getting the spotlight—and then the politicians appear. (Councilman John Delgado is best at this.) Blast the culprits and lay blame. File a motion to change the zoning. But wait; hasn’t this site been zoned “heavy industrial” for decades? Who was asleep at the wheel here while this company and the port spent almost two years going through the process? Did anyone examine the zoning along the levee when we began talking years ago about a bike path on top going for miles? Once again, it appears not.
So, this is the same problem we saw in regards to annexation of parish property into the city limits, which has been discussed for decades. Was anyone proactive? No. Not until the St. George petition appeared did it become urgent that we consider annexation. Knee-jerk politics and planning. Not a good policy or procedure.
The public can be quick to applaud the “last-minute heroics” of politicians to step in and save the day, but should they instead be criticized for dropping the ball and actually allowing the crisis to happen? Should they have been studying the issue (proactive) instead of cramming in crisis (reactive)? Would these officials ever consider facing a hurricane without being prepared with a plan? You know the answer, and so do our politicians. They need to look ahead and ask, “What if?” They need to have safeguards and communications in place and take inventory of property, policies and procedures to protect the public—before the 11th hour.
Sure, hindsight is 20/20, and there will be emergencies you can’t anticipate. But instead of just pointing the finger, our mayor and Metro Council need to ask what part of this problem they own—and be proactive for the future.
BATTLE SCARS
It appears the petition drive for St. George may be over and their battle lost, but the war may not be done. There are certainly battle scars. Emotions ran high on both sides, and there were many accusations about how people handled themselves. It is unfortunate for our community. We have so much potential in the Capital City.
It was also unfortunate that elected officials and others vilified citizens and parents who chose to exercise their rights in a democratic society—just because they desired better schools for their children. Some hailed Better Together for its efforts, but I am not sure whom they were representing. They were just a political organization, same as the St. George proponents, with their own agenda.
I heard a personal story from a businessman who had signed the petition, along with his wife. He lived in a neighborhood that has two signs at the entrance saying “No solicitation.” He was visited twice by solicitors he presumes were with Better Together asking him and his wife if they wanted to remove their signatures. He told the woman the first time, “No.” And she left.
But a male solicitor came back a second time (obviously having info from Better Together). This time, only his wife was home, with their new baby. When asked about removal, she also told him, “No.” The solicitor then screamed, “You must be one of the devils who signed the petition.”
She closed and locked the door. He proceeded to bang on the door and ring the doorbell. The woman was scared, and she went and hid in the baby’s room, where the baby was crying, having been awakened by the noise. Is this the way to bring Baton Rouge “together”?
Attempts were made by the husband to reach someone with Better Together, but they had no phone or address on their website. (He had to email another group, EducateBR, who said they were not associated with the petition but would forward his information to Better Together.) No one ever responded to him from Better Together.
The story was relayed to the St. George proponents, who pointed out the bizarre and threatening behavior to The Advocate.
In June The Advocate ran an article that referred to this incident noted by the husband that was posted online.
What was the response from Better Together leader M.E. Cormier? The Advocate wrote, “Cormier said the letter, which was sent to them as well, came from a St. George proponent. But she said their notes show that canvassers weren’t in the neighborhood the day of the alleged incident.” Simple, just deny it happened and dismiss the complaint (and never bother to call and discuss). Fact is, the man’s email never specified a date, so how could she have checked? When questioned by The Advocate, she simply lied.
This businessman, who is a CPA and MBA, was upset and angry when he told me the story. Such actions make it hard to get folks to come “together” in the aftermath.
DUMP TRUMP
Donald Trump may know how to make money and make headlines, but he is no leader and should be deported to some faraway land.
He needs to start apologizing, first to all of the decent and hard-working Latinos and immigrants from Mexico.
Then, he can apologize to the city of Baton Rouge and state of Louisiana for costing us millions of viewers worldwide to share news about our region and entice them to come visit. (I think our city and state deserve a large refund on money committed to the Miss USA pageant.)
I agree that immigration is a serious issue and illegal immigration is a crime. And Trump expresses a lot of frustration felt by Americans on this issue—and with politicians in general. But with his obnoxious screaming and audacious “comb-over,” not to mention his totally different comments and views on the issues in 1999, Trump is not the messenger for the GOP. We need to take a deep breath, then ask Trump to start a new reality TV show where he will be paid for his antics. He is a pure entertainer.
