I
f Mayor Kip Holden’s capital-improvements package passes this fall, it will do so against some fairly sizable odds.
In addition to proposing a tax increase in a tough economy rife with anti-tax sentiment, it’s possible there also will be a dedicated tax proposal on the ballot for the Capital Area Transit System, which faces a $1.2 million budget shortfall that threatens to bankrupt the system.
And members of the Metro Council, now faced with a two-month deadline to review and approve the bond issue for one of two election dates, clearly are frustrated with Holden’s lack of urgency to communicate details of his proposal.
“We’ve waited too long. The time has passed to present a bond issue,” Mayor Pro Tem Mike Walker says. “I’m not interested in putting a bond issue on the ballot at all right now. Whether the things in it are needed or not, it’s just terrible, terrible timing.”
Holden received a “high-water mulligan” from District 3 representative Chandler Loupe at the council’s May 11 meeting, at which the mayor originally was scheduled to give council members their first look at the package.
After Holden’s staff members told the council that they weren’t prepared to make the presentation because their attention had shifted to the rising Mississippi River, the council voted to delete the item from the agenda rather than to defer it.
“We’ve been asking for details since December, and we just keep getting put off,” Loupe says. “I don’t know if we really need to spend another $450,000 to put this thing on the ballot, and I’ll probably vote against sending it to the voters.”
Earlier this month, Loupe sent an e-mail to each council member, chastising Holden for revealing some details about the bond issue at a luncheon for local engineering associations. Holden told the group that he planned to break up the package into different segments for voters to consider, but waffled later when contacted by local media.
Council members had requested that the two previous bond issues, one for $989 million in 2008 and another for $901 million in 2009, be presented cafeteria-style instead of an all-or-nothing package.
“That will give voters a better choice, but I’m still not sure or convinced it will assure passage,” says Loupe, adding that he would consider a public safety package on the ballot if he was convinced it would reduce crime.
Holden appears just as frustrated as the Metro Council. He bristles when council members or media representatives press him for details, repeatedly saying that the latest package will be similar to those presented in 2008 and 2009, minus the controversial Alive riverfront tourist attraction.
The mayor says the package will include funds for a new parish prison, police headquarters and juvenile detention facility, as well as infrastructure, and traffic signal and bridge improvements—projects that previously have been presented to the council.
Holden also is asking the Department of Public Works to review drainage issues as a result of the record levels approached by the Mississippi River, and he says the bond could include such projects.
“He’s very confident, obviously, with what he’s going to bring forward,” says District 10 representative Tara Wicker, who supports the bond issue. “If he’s not showing real urgency, maybe it’s because he already knows he’s going to bring back the information that he has previously.”
Longtime political consultant Roy Fletcher says a “nuts-and-bolts” bond issue, with public safety and infrastructure improvements, has a chance of passing, especially if it’s separated into bundles.
“In this situation, it seems the mayor is better served if he’s just a bread-and-butter kind of guy and not the visionary he’s been in the past,” he says. “He needs to show people he’s listening to them. It’s going to be tough to pass any tax this fall, but if he presents a nuts-and-bolts package and can make the case that these are necessary projects, then I think he can pass it.”
The CATS situation poses a challenge. A blue-ribbon commission formed by Holden in late March to look at the struggling transit system identified five problem categories: inefficiency of the current route design, negative public perception, poor design and amenities, lack of funding, and bilateral governance.
The commission is expected to recommend a special taxing district that would require legislative approval. Sales and property taxes also are on the table, which would require ballot approval. In October, parish voters rejected a 3.5-mill property tax for CATS, 53%-47%.
Baton Rouge Tea Party President Josh Jarreau says he’s certain voters will not approve two tax hikes if they appear on the same ballot. The party actively campaigned against the previous bond issues, he says, but is waiting on the full details before taking a position this go-round.
By contrast, Wicker says the capital-improvements package and the CATS tax proposal are stronger when presented together.
“I really believe that had [CATS] been a part of the last bond issue, that it would have had a better chance of passing,” she says.
But the clock is ticking: If the bond issue is to be included on the Oct. 27 ballot, it must be approved by the council no later than June 8. The deadline is Aug. 10 for the Nov. 19 ballot.
For Holden, there might be more at stake than passage of a capital-improvements package. The mayor is expected to run for a third term next fall, Fletcher says, and voters likely will evaluate his performance with the bond issue in mind.
“He needs to win this politically,” he says. “It will have real implications on how strong he’s viewed as a mayor. If he can pass this, it shows he saw it through and, most important, that he listened to the voters and brought them something they want. If he can’t, that only gives his challengers extra ammunition.”
Holden refuses to speculate on the political implications of the package. Though the odds might be against him, he has a history of succeeding after previously coming up short—he was elected mayor on his third try.
In spite of the Metro Council’s claims that its members have been left out of the process and have no idea what Holden intends to present to them, the mayor says voters will have all the information needed to make an informed decision if the bond issue makes it onto the ballot.
“This is not our first rodeo,” he says. “We went to every district last time and held well over 200 community meetings. The public has always been informed, and they’ll be informed again.”
