Mayor Sharon Weston Broome will deliver the first of two State of the City-Parish addresses tonight at the Old State Capitol downtown. The second address will come on Wednesday at the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge’s first meeting of 2018, which is where the mayor has delivered the annual update for more than a decade.
But Broome decided to break with the tradition of her predecessor, Kip Holden, and give her speech a day ahead of the Rotary meeting so she could reach a broader cross section of the community, according to her chief administrative officer Darryl Gissel.
The audience at tonight’s speech will include some 200 invited guests: Metro Council members, community stakeholders, civic leaders and elected officials, including the mayors of neighboring municipalities. The event is also open to the public, though seating is limited.
Given the broader audience at tonight’s gathering, Broome is expected to deliver a wide-ranging speech that touches on a variety of subjects, including her first year in office and her goals for 2018: flood recovery, public safety, transportation and traffic, and quality of place, among others.
“I will share my vision for innovation and progress for our city as a major urban center,” Broome tells Daily Report in a statement.
Wednesday’s speech, open only to members of the Rotary Club, will be more tailored to the interests of the business community, which comprises the Rotary club’s membership. Broome says her presentation to Rotary will contain some new information and will focus on the effectiveness and efficiency of city-parish government as well as small business and industry partnerships.
Today’s State of the City-Parish address is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Old State Capitol on North Boulevard. Wednesday’s speech will be held at noon at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant.
—Stephanie Riegel
