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St. George City Incorporation News


richyb83

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Ultimately, what's good for St. George is good for Baton Rouge and vice versa.   That's a reality that everyone needs to accept.   One community can't turn their back on the other.   

Baton Rouge benefits in having a competitive school district within East Baton Rouge parish - every middle class family that doesn't relocate to Ascension or Livingston is a win to everyone in East Baton Rouge and the tax base there.   St. George benefits from Baton Rouge improving and redeveloping blighted areas and from the city attracting conventions, corporate offices, and improved higher education funding.    

You are all in the same boat.  Don't sink it out of political bitterness.   

Edited by cajun
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Been a while ...hard to believe it's been nearly Two years since the last post was made by Cajun. 

St. George organizers on annexations: ‘It’s all just about political theater’

In the wake of the Metro Council’s 9-2 vote Wednesday to annex into the city of Baton Rouge several commercial and residential properties within the footprint of the prospective city of St. George, organizers of the St. George incorporation effort say they may file de-annexation requests on behalf of property owners who live within the city limits and want out.

“We would do it just for the sake of doing it,” says St. George organizer Lionel Rainey III. “Because this whole thing has become a joke at this point. It’s all just about political theater and PR.”

Twelve homeowners in Rainey’s subdivision, Willow Ridge, which sits on the border between the city limits and what would become St. George, were among the property owners whose homes were annexed into the city. They were at odds with the other 28 homeowners in their subdivision, including Rainey, who want to be part of St. George.

 

The other annexed properties include:

  • Resource Bank’s Jefferson Highway branch location, which is contiguous with the city limits and Willow Ridge.
  • Woman’s Hospital’s 225-acre campus at the corner of Airline Highway and Stumberg Lane.
  • H&E’s corporate headquarters, which includes a 43,000-square-foot office building on 16 acres directly across Airline Highway from the hospital.
  • Materra, a 100-acre mixed-use community under development on the Woman’s campus by developer and H&E Corporate Chair John Engquist. 

Engquist, who was a vocal opponent of the incorporation effort two years ago, testified at Wednesday’s Metro Council meeting about why he wants his properties to be part of Baton Rouge and suggested he might relocate H&E’s corporate headquarters if forced to become part of St. George.

The annexations were a victory for the Broome administration and others who opposed the St. George effort, which voters within the prospective city voted to approve in Oct. 2019. Since then, 10 annexation requests, representing multiple properties and some public rights of way, have been approved.

St. George organizers have argued that all of those will be thrown out by the court once a judge certifies the incorporation, which is being challenged by the Broome administration in 19th Judicial District Court

“The mayor and council know when St George beats the mayor’s lawsuit every attempted annexation filed after Nov. 23, 2019, will be null and void,” Rainey says. “This is a perfect example of just how broken and poor the leadership and the city of Baton Rouge is and why St George must happen if we want anyone outside of the political elite in this parish to prosper.”

Broome’s attorney in the case calls the claim ridiculous.

“It’s absolutely not true,” says Mary Olive Pierson. “They are not basing that on the law. It’s just false.”

A status conference in the case is scheduled for November. A tentative trial date is scheduled for Jan. 10 but Pierson says it will likely be pushed back.

 
Page-23_St.George-Map-1068x557.jpg
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On 9/27/2021 at 9:25 PM, richyb83 said:

I'm truly torn on this.    Guessing it's got a 50/50% chance of happening?

Regardless of how I feel about St. George, I'd be legit furious if a politically driven initiative could successfully undermine the clear will of the people.    They voted for it.  They should get it.

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On 10/1/2021 at 11:53 AM, cajun said:

Regardless of how I feel about St. George, I'd be legit furious if a politically driven initiative could successfully undermine the clear will of the people.    They voted for it.  They should get it.

Agreed   ...but St.George might have bit off more than they can chew. They could  get the new city ; but they might need to shrink their gigantic footprint.  Take the boundaries  the "Green" precincts that voted YES.    If i lived tn the ORANGE sections that Voted NO on the Western  side; i would not want to be included....

A compromised shift to a Pecue Lane boundary might work instead.  I will call it " The Battle for Siegen Lane"

 

101419 St. George precinct vote map

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On 10/2/2021 at 12:57 PM, richyb83 said:

Agreed   ...but St.George might have bit off more than they can chew. They could  get the new city ; but they might need to shrink their gigantic footprint.  Take the boundaries  the "Green" precincts that voted YES.    If i lived tn the ORANGE sections that Voted NO on the Western  side; i would not want to be included....

If true, they wouldn't be the first municipality to have bit off more than they can chew.    I don't think they have.   If that were the case, the anti-St. George political push would not really have any motivation to obstructing their incorporation.   

St. George is either a financial drain on EBR and will require massive new city taxes to support itself or it's an unincorporated colony that is exploited by parish officials to the degree that their incorporation would negatively impact Baton Rouge.   It can't be both.   But I've seen Baton Rouge politicians argue both sides of this coin, depending on the audience.   

I'm growing extremely tired of this attitude that some politicians have.   Just because they don't like the results of an election doesn't mean they should undermine the will of the people.    And just because the victor of the election didn't support of everyone at the ballot box doesn't mean that they aren't responsible for representing everyone's best interest.     For better or worse, St. George area voters went into the voting booth and voluntarily supported incorporation for their unincorporated part of the parish.    The executive officer of the parish (Broome) not carrying out a law that was clearly supported by voters IMO a massive stain on her already poor performance as Mayor-President.     IMO she's not only justifying the need for St. George to incorporate, but she's also justifying recent push to split Parish and City government.   

And IIRC, the boundaries of St. George are set and have been frozen by the courts and state law until this is sorted out.   If it was so important that the city of Baton Rouge annex this land, why couldn't the city have done it 5, 10, or 15 years ago?     Or even set up sections of this area for an annexation vote decades ago to let the voters decide.    Of course that would require looking farther ahead than the end of their own damn noses, and that just isn't Louisiana's thing.  

Edited by cajun
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Judge rules against St. George incorporation

https://www.businessreport.com/business/news-alert-judge-rules-against-st-george-incorporation

A judge has ruled that the incorporation of St. George is “unreasonable” under state law. 

Incorporation supporters plan to appeal the decision.

The court doubted incorporators’ ability to fully fund services and said the incorporation would harm the city of Baton Rouge. 

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On 6/1/2022 at 12:50 AM, richyb83 said:

Judge rules against St. George incorporation

https://www.businessreport.com/business/news-alert-judge-rules-against-st-george-incorporation

A judge has ruled that the incorporation of St. George is “unreasonable” under state law. 

Incorporation supporters plan to appeal the decision.

The court doubted incorporators’ ability to fully fund services and said the incorporation would harm the city of Baton Rouge. 

I'd like to understand the mental gymnastics it would take to defend the stance that the citizens of Baton Rouge, Central, Zachary, and Baker are allowed to have an incorporated city, but the citizens of St. George are not.   

Like Central, this is going to state supreme court.   Because some people just want to ignore the will of the people.

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