The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is against adding three board members from Baker, Central and Zachary to the boards overseeing recreation and libraries in the parish. A measure to expand the boards is included on Saturday’s ballot. The BREC board currently has nine at-large members, while the library board has seven. “While BRAC supports fair representation for Baker, Central, and Zachary, it is our board’s position that dedicated representatives are not the right answer over the current model of at-large representation,” says BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp in a statement released this morning. “We fear that this amendment will further divide our political leadership as a parish, rather than encouraging cooperative leadership.” While Baker, Zachary and Central account for a combined 12% of the parish population, BRAC says, BREC has spent approximately 24% of its “Imagine Your Parks” funds on projects in those cities. For its part, the library system has spent 27% of the more than $36 million it collected from a 10-year dedicated property tax issued in 1986 on libraries in those cities, BRAC says. If the board expansions are approved by voters, the three cities together would have approximately 25% representation on the BREC board and 30% on the library board, BRAC says. Read Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball’s take on the proposed board expansions here.
Today’s poll question: Do you think municipal boards such as BREC and the Library Board of Control operate better with at-large members or dedicated representatives?
