The Metro Council is poised for another potentially explosive meeting this week when it takes up a measure that would direct $1.3 million in federal funds to finish renovating a building that will serve as the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging’s new headquarters.
The measure would reallocate Community Development Block Grant money from the state Gustav/Ike Disaster Recovery Program to the COA for a new headquarters building at 1701 Main St.
The building, which was acquired several years ago by former Mayor Kip Holden’s administration, has been partially renovated but is not yet complete. Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s office is asking the Metro Council to approve spending the hurricane recovery dollars to finish the work so the COA can move its services and offices from its current location at 6955 Florida Blvd.
If the council agrees to move forward, a cooperative endeavor agreement between the COA and city-parish will determine what, if any, rent the COA will pay. The COA stays rent-free in its current building, where it has failed to maintain adequate fire insurance for the past several years, according to reports from the Louisiana legislative auditor.
Twice in the past two months the measure to redirect the federal CDBG funds has been put off by the Metro Council. The first time was in mid-April, after the Democratic members of the Council walked out of the meeting in protest over a separate COA-related ordinance. The second time was in late April, when the measure was deferred.
The issue is not expected to be any less controversial when it goes before the council this Wednesday. If anything, the embattled COA has become an even more polarizing issue in city government circles. The Metro Council’s five Democratic members, who have been supportive of the COA, are expected to vote in favor of renovating the building.
Several of the Metro Council’s seven Republican members are expected to oppose it, including Buddy Amoroso and Dwight Hudson, who have been among the most vocal critics of the COA and say they will vote against it.
Republican Barbara Freiberg is among the swing votes whose support will be critical for the measure to pass. At this point, she says she’s leaning towards voting for it.
“I think we probably need to go ahead and do that,” Freiberg says. “The issue with their building is separate from some of the other COA issues we’ve been talking about lately.”
Republican council member Trae Welch, another swing vote, says he’s undecided and still needs more information.
“I need to know what our options are,” Welch says. “Can we put it to something else? Is it too late to do that? Will we lose the money we’ve already spent so far? If there aren’t any good options, I’ll feel like I have to vote for it but I just don’t know yet.”
The COA has come under fire on several fronts since voters in late 2016 approved a dedicated millage that will generate some $8 million a year for the agency over the next decade. Late last week, Hudson proposed an ordinance that, if approved, would give voters a chance this fall to redirect those tax dollars away from the COA and contract with other agencies that provide senior services.
—Stephanie Riegel
