Rolfe McCollister opens his latest column with a personal tribute to David Thomas—a young man from north Baton Rouge who recently earned his doctorate in public health from Morgan State University in Baltimore as family and friends celebrated.
McCollister shares that he met Thomas 26 years ago, when Jim Geiser introduced them at the Children’s Charter School and Thomas was 10—a school and circle of people that, he says, changed the trajectory of Thomas’ life. McCollister recounts a hard road: Thomas grew up with his mother and two sisters, lost a younger brother to gun violence and lost his mother a couple of years ago. After Redemptorist, Thomas went on to Rhodes College in Memphis, with help from people including Dr. Fred and Shannon Cerise. Calling him a role model who “stayed the course and finished well,” McCollister writes, “I know his mom is smiling in heaven.”
From there, the columnist turns to the June 27 ballot, laying out his picks on three tax renewals: no on the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging, yes on BREC and yes on the parish library. On the Council on Aging’s 2-mill renewal he is blunt—”I don’t trust the leadership. And leadership matters.” McCollister points to controversy since 2016 and a budget he says grew from $3.2 million to more than $18 million, “a 469% increase.” He backs BREC’s 3.96-mill renewal only because of recent actions and its new commission and superintendent, and the library’s 9.5-mill renewal, calling the system “a shining star in our community” and “the best-managed and best-maintained public facilities in the parish.”
McCollister also weighs in on “two visions for the future”—Plan Baton Rouge III for the riverfront and downtown, and the City-Brooks Park and lakes vision plan—urging residents to “show up and speak up” at a public meeting June 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the McKinley Alumni Center, 1520 Thomas H. Delpit Drive. He offers kudos to John McLindon for stepping up as parish attorney and challenges other seasoned attorneys to run for open judicial seats and take on weak incumbents. His “ugly award” is back, too—handed to the blighted Esplanade Mall on Corporate Boulevard, an eyesore off Interstate 10 he says owner Rick Hartley or the city must fix.
He also notes that LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade is back in the news—and it isn’t flattering.
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Library tax
