JR Ball: Love him or not, Baton Rouge is better because of Lane Grigsby

Lane Grigsby is a man with as many opinions as dollars in the bank, and he has no problem using his money to further each and every one of his points of view.

As Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball writes in his new column, he finds Grigsby to be absolutely fabulous, despite not agreeing with each of Grigsby’s pet projects. 

Put this way: Once Grigsby starts charging on something he cares about—or someone has convinced him to care about—it’s like the running of the Lanes in Pamplona. Good luck slowing him down, and more power to him. 

Whether you agree with all, some or none of his views, Ball writes, Grigsby deserves applause for no other reason than having the guts to very publicly stand up for his beliefs. 

Frankly, Grigsby is a breath of fresh air in a city where too many of its supposed movers and shakers don’t say anything of actual substance in public.   

Grigsby currently finds himself in the crosshairs of public shame for having the audacity to acknowledge offering to support Republican Franklin Foil for a future political race if the term-limited House member would quit a briefly messy state Senate District 16 runoff.

So what? I dare anyone to find a single politically right-leaning person in that district who thought two split-the-vote Republicans squaring off against a Democrat in the runoff was a good idea. Yet there was the suddenly pious Dan Claitor, telling anyone who would listen he never brought the offer to Foil, fearing some phantom violation of the law. 

One of the many reasons why Ball find Grigsby so fascinating is that he doesn’t need to do either the politics or the philanthropy he is involved in, but he does it because he cares about Baton Rouge and Louisiana. Read Ball’s full column about Grigsby and his impact on Baton Rouge.