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On 7/23/2016 at 4:58 PM, Antrell Williams said:

That doesn't mean that the situation in Baton Rouge is any less significant. Most cities with a historical black population are segregated. 

I'm black, I know. I just think the article could have gone without being written.

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Humph! Baton Rouge never gets anything!

Bayou Country Superfest moving to New Orleans, Superdome in 2017

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/music/article_f2d72602-84c8-11e6-b679-b3d0b2a92ff0.html?sr_source=lift_amplify

After seven years at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, the Bayou Country Superfest is moving to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

The event will still span three days over Memorial Day weekend; the 2017 dates are May 26-28. However, the first day, on Friday, May 26, will consist of a free show in Champions Square, the outdoor venue adjacent to the Superdome. Champions Square will also host the daytime "fan fest" on Saturday and Sunday.

Baton Rouge loses Bayou Country Superfest to New Orleans

https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-loses-bayou-country-superfest-new-orleans

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What do you guys think about the proposal to open a mental health facility in Baton Rouge?  

https://www.businessreport.com/article/mental-health-plan-unveiled-today-save-baton-rouge-millions-annually-braf-says

I'm leaning towards yes since there's an unmet need for it.   I have no idea if it will pass, or how the flood will impact the voter turnout. 

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On 9/29/2016 at 0:27 PM, cajun said:

What do you guys think about the proposal to open a mental health facility in Baton Rouge?  

https://www.businessreport.com/article/mental-health-plan-unveiled-today-save-baton-rouge-millions-annually-braf-says

I'm leaning towards yes since there's an unmet need for it.   I have no idea if it will pass, or how the flood will impact the voter turnout. 

I'm seconding what Antrell said. Mental health is vastly underfunded and a facility meant to address those needs in our community AND state is crucial.

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Not sure what to make of this?? Help me out here my UP Colleagues....i'm a fan of 7 to 12 story buildings as much as anyone...shouldn't mean they ALL should be!  Will be making some contacts or going to some of these meetings; my voice will be heard on this issue; even the article states BR doesn't have much of a skyline!!     Downtown already has plenty of short squatty buildings...C'mon Man <_<

In 98' Plan BR ...Funny .Andres Duany recommended nothing over 12-stories yet his hometown Miami is filled with many new skyscrapers 5X that!...thankfully it was only a recommendation...when  River Place came along the plans were anywhere from 23 to 36 stories...maybe they can revisit that one day...just make sure it has street level activity

Baton Rouge planners, property owners revisit building height restrictions

Should there be a height limit on buildings in Baton Rouge? In a city that doesn’t have much of a skyline, it may seem like a funny question. But it’s one that city planning officials are mulling, and they’ve been meeting with downtown property owners to get their feedback.

Currently, the city-parish zoning code doesn’t limit the height of buildings anywhere in the parish. Earlier this year, however, the Zoning Advisory Committee—an informal group that advises the planning director—began discussing whether there should be limits and, if so, whether they should apply in all districts zoned for office use, which includes downtown, or only some of them.

“The issues we are looking at are should there be a height limit and, if so, should it be everywhere?” says Planning Director Frank Duke. “And, if so, should it be the same everywhere or should there be different levels?”

Duke says the discussions are only in the very preliminary stage and that before the matter would come to a decision, if it even gets that far, he wants plenty of feedback. To that end, he has asked Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer to meet with downtown property owners and get their opinions on the issue.

Rhorer says he will schedule some meetings in the near future. In the meantime, he points out that the 2008 master plan for downtown, Plan Baton Rouge II, did not call for limiting the height restrictions of buildings downtown, though an earlier version of the plan in 1998 did suggest height limits.

“After Plan Baton Rouge in 1998 there were some recommendations about restricting building heights and the initial feedback was that people didn’t want to go there,” Rhorer says. “So in 2008 it is not even addressed.”

But Center for Planning Excellence President and CEO Elizabeth “Boo” Thomas has concerns about allowing unlimited height, particularly downtown. “When you have very tall buildings it’s not a good environment and doesn’t promote anything else around it,” Thomas says.

If building heights were restricted downtown, Thomas says CPEX would support allowing for exceptions if, for instance, a developer would agree to create additional parking or do certain landscaping. “All we want is good design,” Thomas says.

For now, it’s too early for such concerns, says Duke, who doesn’t have a particular timetable for resolving the issue. “We’re nowhere close to having any answers,” he says. “We’re just still trying to get feedback.”

https://www.businessreport.com/article/baton-rouge-planners-property-owners-revisit-building-height-restrictions

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17 hours ago, dan326 said:

Haha, I wanted reply sooner but only thing I could think was "That's stupid". Lol!

Yep...this article is about as STUPID as the  New Orleans Zephyrs new name the "Baby Cakes" !

This is why places like Austin, Nashville, Raleigh, & Mobile will continue leave Baton Rouge behind! ALL of those cities have built their Tallest Skyscrapers recently...BR's Tallest built back in 1932 at 450'ft ...nothing even close to challenging it (2nd 310'ft. One American Place 74'). BOTH DINOSAURS... BR doesnt seem capable of building anything over 12 stories anymore >>> Reasons why businesses like Shaw, Cane's, Amedysis, etc will continue exit this overgrown country town.......

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New Baton Rouge Chief Administrative Officer Troy Bell lists master's he doesn't hold on resume

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_747faab6-26b4-11e7-856c-87bd241bcb49.html

 

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's new chief administrative officer, Troy Bell, does not hold the master's degree in public administration he claimed on the resume he submitted to become the top deputy at City Hall. 

Bell began his new role on Monday. Both on the resume he submitted to East Baton Rouge Parish government when he applied for the job and on his LinkedIn page, Bell says he holds an MPA from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York. 

His resume says he received a degree in 2011 from the college in New York City, where he concentrated in city management and was at the top of his class in the School of Public Affairs. But Bell never completed the necessary coursework to receive his MPA and never received a degree, according to a university spokeswoman.  

 

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Bell's job history came into question after he was announced by Broome as her new chief administrative officer. A 2006 article in the Tallahassee-Democrat newspaper indicated he was fired from two positions in Florida state government, while another article indicated he was terminated from his most recent position as deputy city manager in Walla Walla, Washington.

 

I'm worried that the newly elected leadership doesn't offer the competence or even the interest to build on what the previous administration accomplished.   In 2003, Baton Rouge was on life support.   There has been major improvements to the city's infrastructure and downtown since then, not to mention consistent job growth that has outpaced every other city in the state.   Proponents of Baton Rouge have a lot to lose, and confidence in this new administration is already exceptionally low.  

First the incredibly disgusting Council on Aging fiasco and now this.....  

It's critical that Baton Rouge's leadership prove themselves as pro-growth and anti-corruption.  As it is, St. George already has more momentum than ever.    How on earth can this administration claim to be even remotely competent if the first person to verify the credentials of their new hires is the Baton Rouge Advocate?   This guy was fired from his previous employers and apparently lied about obtaining a master's degree.   How on earth did he get hired?    How does an administration this incompetent handle the inevitable media frenzy that will occur when the findings of the Alton Sterling investigation are made public?   

It's like Baton Rouge is trying to go from "America's Next Great City" to "America's Next Jackson, Mississippi" in record time.

From Baton Rouge's city government:

Quote

City-Parish applicants are expected to provide accurate and complete application information regarding employment, education, criminal history, etc. Any misrepresentation of information will disqualify applicants from employment consideration and subject current employees to dismissal.

To borrow a quote from Caddyshack;

giphy-downsized-large.gif

Broom's administration not only interviewed, but hired a con man.   What happens next time the FBI runs a sting operation in the area?    Will her team fall for that too?

Edited by cajun
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Is LSU's Prez. Alexander on his way out with St. George, Baton Rouge remark?

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/bb/item/1062483-is-lsu-s-prez-alexander-on-his-way-out-with-st-george-baton-rouge-remark

He might as well take out a full page advertisement announcing it: my singular uber-boss (although he serves under two collective entities), Louisiana State University Pres. F. King Alexander, apparently is on the market for a new job.

There seems no other way to explain comments he made yesterday during a symposium regarding the intersection of race and public policy. The main speaker, Baton Rouge Mayor-Pres. Sharon Broome, broached a number of topics.

But at one point, Alexander interjected something Broome hadn’t addressed: the 2015 petition by residents representing most of the unincorporated area of East Baton Rouge, styling themselves as creating “St. George,” to form their own municipality. Without prompting, Alexander volunteered that “We worked together successfully about a year and a half ago to make sure the city wasn't split in half” and then, by way of mentioning a documentary that alleged racist motives behind the incorporation drive, asked Broome how to prevent a similar future attempt. By law, no such try can occur prior to this summer, an effort past organizers have signaled they will resume.

Disappointingly, Alexander made a factually incorrect statement – the St. George movement did not seek to deconstruct Baton Rouge in any way – but, worse, his remarks demonstrated some very ham-handed politicking. By admitting open opposition to forming a new city and especially in associating its ethos with a television program that cast racist aspersions onto the founding of St. George, Alexander risked alienating a large base of support for LSU in particular and higher education in general.

F King Alexander, the man that cried wolf every single legislative session and dragged LSU's brand through the mud on FoxNews and CNN (and every other network that would have him) was supposed to take an appointment on the Hillary campaign.  

Since that did not pan out, the LSU community is going to have to find another way to get rid of him.   You can actually hear LSU alumni and students rejoicing at the opportunity.    

Regardless of how you feel about St. George - nothing has been said or done about the incorporation effort so far this year until F King Alexander and Sharon Broom stepped in it.   Yet another example of bad optics from the city of Baton Rouge.   Broom should avoid photo ops with a loose cannon like Alexander - who is widely considered to resent and even hate the bulk of LSU's students and alumni.    Being Cozy with an incompetent jerk like that isn't going to help her gain support or influence in south Baton Rouge.   It's counter productive.

She'd be better off finding common ground with Congressman Garrett Graves, who seems to be an expert on at least appearing like he cares about the capital area.   In fact, if I were working for her, I'd recommend that she do just that.    Find some kind of project or agenda item that they agree on (I-10 widening, for example) and be both sincere and public in actively supporting it.   

Edited by cajun
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Maybe there is a sign of intelligent life in Baton Rouge City Hall: 

Quote

New Baton Rouge Chief Administrative Officer Troy Bell resigns

http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_3af7c044-26e1-11e7-bca2-5b01b672f226.html

"I have accepted the resignation of Troy Bell," Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in a statement. "I am disappointed that he chose to withhold information about his background while interviewing for and subsequently accepting the positon of chief administrative officer. I will not let this be a distraction to the commitment I have made to the people of the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish. The mayor-president’s office will continue to serve our fellow residents in an efficient manner as we have since the beginning of my tenure."

 

He didn't withhold anything.  He added credentials that didn't exist and that could be easily verified with a phone call.   

There were so many red flags on this guy's resume that I'm pretty confident that the only reason he was hired was because of his skin color.  His replacement damn well better be qualified and have some real experience.  

Edited by cajun
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^All sad but true. I thought something was strange about the man's single earring when I saw his picture in the paper. It just didn't seem becoming for a high official. But yeah Cajun, I immediately figured that's how he'd gotten hired. Hopefully the Mayor doesn't try to "help" people by pandering.

This is scary though, it makes you wonder how many people in government really are qualified. Well, we know the answer but I guess it's scary cause it provides proof.

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I think a lot of qualified, hard working people get frustrated and go into the private sector or allow themselves to be burnt out.  

Politics are a problem in every business, but I suspect that it is particularly frustrsting in public positions.   It is often more about "who" you know than your actual qualifications.    Obviously there are exceptions.    

This particular screw up looks pretty bad for Baton Rouge.  It certainly dented my confidence that city leadership can handle a real crisis.

Edited by cajun
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This is sad news and certainly paints a bad picture for Baton Rouge. From the FBI raid of Bel Edwards' brother's office, to this, it spells the reason why Louisiana stays behind of the pack when we could capitalize on what the state offers. I have never been in support for Mayor Broom ever since a friend of mine who met her during the campaign and this is the nail in the coffin. I wasn't a fan of Holden but his administration was not this blatantly corrupt. 

St. George is a mixed bag, I've been in support and in opposition of the new city. I don't have faith that St. George wouldn't follow a similar path of other corrupt local families and good ol boys. But I do think that the higher political involvement would demand more accountability than the City-Parish as a whole. I love Baton Rouge and really would rather not have to tell my grandchildren about how Baton Rouge and Louisiana as a whole had immense potential and let it squander away for personal gain in the hands of a few. The population needs to be more politically involved, despite the party affiliation, and demand far more transparency and accountability. Living in New Orleans now, Mayor Landrieu and his administration is becoming an embarrassment. I used to be really fond of him until late. It's late and I'm rambling but I believe we have a small window to act or be left in the second wave of high growth in cities like Charleston, Fayetteville, Raleigh-Durham, etc. 

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In a democracy, people deserve the government they have I guess.   Louisiana  has a long history of corruption.   I don't think I've ever seen Baton Rouge, New Orleans, or Louisiana as obviously hopeless as they are today.   

Baton Rouge doesn't have a sprawling network of highways to really ever turn into a big metro like Atlanta or even Memphis.   It is too poorly run to ever properly grow into a dense urban core. 

New Orleans has failed to be the economic driver it should be for decades in large party because of corruption and mismanaged public services (law enforcement, public education, flood control). 

Shreveport has been stangnant for a very long time.   

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I don't want to get into politics but I think we would all benefit from a direct democracy and rid this republic system. 

Do you think it's worse than the oil bust? 

I think what's worse is that New Orleans still is the economic driver despite any corporate growth. However there are still large scale projects happening in New Orleans. 

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2 hours ago, Antrell Williams said:

I don't want to get into politics but I think we would all benefit from a direct democracy and rid this republic system. 

Do you think it's worse than the oil bust? 

I think what's worse is that New Orleans still is the economic driver despite any corporate growth. However there are still large scale projects happening in New Orleans. 

It's the people and a culture of corruption.   It allows Louisiana and its natural resources to be exploited without the benefit of real corporate opportunities.   The state's best and brightest often leave for better opportunity in states with a more business-friendly government like Texas.

New Orleans has tourism, which itself is highly cyclical and depended on the economic health of the entire country.   A bit part of what insulated New Orleans from the last economic downturn was the federal and state dollars being shoveled into its redevelopment and recovery.   In fact that helped delay the state's budget crisis for a couple of years and bolstered the housing market in south Louisiana    New Orleans outperforms its weight class in entertainment, culture, hotels, and restaurants.....but it is an embarrassment when it comes to publicly traded corporate headquarters and white collar jobs.   In that respect it can barely keep up with Baton Rouge - and it has a reputation of being both parochial and a very difficult place for outsiders to grow professionally.

We are currently in an oil bust, which is forcing an unwilling, uncooperative state government into spending cuts.   If oil prices go up, the state government will see more revenue.   They'll just waste more of it on anything except the infrastructure the taxpayers desperately need.

Edited by cajun
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