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St. George moves from court of public appeal to an actual courtroom THE DEAL: Almost three years after the election, the potential incorporation of St. George will have its proverbial day (literally a week) in court. WHY IT MATTERS: Supporters say St. George will have better services and schools than residents could ever hope for when they were relying on city-parish government. Detractors see a misguided effort to splinter the parish along geographic, racial and class lines that might spell the end of the consolidated parish government. THE BACKGROUND: The St. George movement started out as a quest for an independent school district, but state lawmakers—led by then-Sen. Sharon Weston Broome—were reluctant to create a new school district without a new city. Voters who live in the proposed 6
municipality approved incorporation by a margin of 54%-46% in an October 2019 election. • While the quest for an ISD launched this odyssey, time— and changing political demographics within the parish—has also made this about creating a more right-leaning hamlet, with greater control over self-generated tax dollars, in an increasingly left-leaning East Baton Rouge Parish. WHY IT’S HAPPENING: A successful election is only one step in the incorporation process, and Broome, now mayor, and Mayor Pro Tem LaMont Cole have sued to stop it. Ad Hoc Judge Martin Coady, filling in for the recently retired William Morvant, will consider: • Whether the incorporation petition complied with the law.
• Can the proposed municipality provide services in a reasonable amount of time. • Whether incorporation itself is reasonable, which includes looking at the possible financial harm it might cause to neighboring communities (the city of Baton Rouge). THE ARGUMENT: Broome and Cole’s attorneys say the petition that voters in the St. George area approved in 2019 does not include a plan of government or budget information. Incorporation supporters intend to rely primarily on city-parish services but have not entered into any agreements to that effect. Opponents also worry about the city-parish losing tax revenue. BUT, BUT, BUT: Supporters counter that a basic budget outline has been published,
they’ve made clear what’s believed to be “reasonable” compensation for the use of city-parish services and, most importantly, they’ve done everything the law requires to incorporate. PLAYING CATCH-UP: Probably the biggest takeaway from the pretrial hearings was that Coady ruled unconstitutional a provision of the East Baton Rouge Parish plan of government limiting the number of cities in the parish, which means a parishwide election would not be necessary for incorporation if the defendants prevail and the ruling is upheld. WHAT’S NEXT: The trial was scheduled to start May 2 at the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge and last for a week. Regardless of the result, the loser is likely to appeal.
BUSINESS REPORT, May 2022 | BusinessReport.com
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