Bond Proposal

[all2neat]

This is a private poll so no-one will see your answers. You don't have to live in EBR or be eligible to vote in this weekends election to participate.. I'm curious how the members of this forum feel about the bond proposal.. Feel free to discuss why you voted the way you did, but you surely don't have to . My vote will be against it, I live in Baton Rouge city limits.

My reason is primarily the Alive project.. I think if its such a great idea and will be profitable then the private sector should build it.. As far as drainage and other things, we already get taxed for improvements.. If it isn't enough then it should be an individual item to vote for, in which I would be in favor of.. The same for fire stations jails etc, these should be broken out separately, why can't they be in their own bills? This way we can choose what we want versus a take it or leave it approach.. With all that said I like what Kip has done and I voted for him in the last election and would do so again.. I just think it's a huge amount of money and taxes to lump together. I also have reservations on how popular the alive project really is going to be.. It might be cool at first but I don't think it will spur tourism much, especially from out of state.

[richyb83]

Kind of torn...but will probably vote yes...but can understand why somebody would vote no...it all being separate would be a good idea...I just have to take the leap of faith since some of this has been neglected for so long...will this Bond Pass?? That's the $million dollar question. Traffic lights must be synchronized!

BTW I'm nearly surrounded by the city limits; could probably walk to it in 3 minutes...

[buckett5425]

I am going to make this as brief as possible.

"All2neat"....kip holden is not building a theme park on the river. Kip is building a research and educational facility that incorporates the most up to date interactive and entertainment features to engage children and adult in learning. His proposal is very similar to the $488 million California Academy of Sciences that was also designed by the same firm designing alive. http://www.calacademy.org/. The Cal academy has proven to be more popular then anyone could have ever imagined.

If kip were building a theme park, then of course it would be stupid, and you would ask,"why is the public paying for this?" But, this is a research institution. The private sector doesn't build research institutions because they aren't lucrative. Alive needs to be profitable but only in the sense that is can cover its own operating expenses. However, it will not be raking in hundreds of millions of dollars to hand over to investors. I think you are simply looking at this entire attractive from the wrong perspective.

Alive will bring jobs and more investment to Baton Rouge, plain and simple. ( I can elaborate later on that, if you'd like) Baton Rouge must raise its quality of life to attract more companies, and alive will add to this.

As for voting for the individual needs of the community separately, it just doesn't work that way. Because when southdowns needs a new fire station, the people in south br, and central, are going to vote against it, because they don't want to pay for someone else's station. It simply doesn't work. You need wide spread proposals and investments, so everyone feels like they are getting a little of the action. Not to mention, interest rates right now are the lowest they are ever going to be. So paying for this stuff now, all at once, will be cheaper then paying for it individually over the next 10 years. Also keep in mind, if the proposal fails, and portions of it come up next year, the money you saved from not building alive, is going to be spent paying a higher interest rate.

Alive shortens the time span of the bond from 30 years to 18 years. Saving tax payers millions of dollars of interest, more then the full cost of keeping alive in the proposal.

I still have tons more i want to say, but just dont feel like typing right now. If you have any questions, i would be more then happy to answer them.

[cajun]

Not that it matters...I'm voting yes.

I wouldn't call Alive an amusement park any more than I'd call an Aquarium or Museum an amusement park. The only "amusement" here is that there's going to be a massive amphitheater, which is a low maintenance venue that this town desperately needs.

That being said this controversy combined with the late police force scandal should light a fire under Holden's admin. I think it's a huge risk to group ALIVE with the rest of the proposal, and we are all going to suffer when it fails- and I'm going to blame him when it happens. And this is from a former supporter of the administration.

Holden was warned over and over again that the bond will fail if not split up, and he still wants to throw in a project that isn't really a "need" item, supported by taxes paid by people who are facing a serious recession and record unemployment...all this at the start of what is probably going to be a very depressing holiday season for millions.

So I'm voting yes, but very reluctantly.

The private sector doesn't build research institutions because they aren't lucrative.

[buckett5425]

Not that it matters...I'm voting yes.

I wouldn't call Alive an amusement park any more than I'd call an Aquarium or Museum an amusement park. The only "amusement" here is that there's going to be a massive amphitheater, which is a low maintenance venue that this town desperately needs.

That being said this controversy combined with the late police force scandal should light a fire under Holden's admin. I think it's a huge risk to group ALIVE with the rest of the proposal, and we are all going to suffer when it fails- and I'm going to blame him when it happens. And this is from a former supporter of the administration.

Holden was warned over and over again that the bond will fail if not split up, and he still wants to throw in a project that isn't really a "need" item, supported by taxes paid by people who are facing a serious recession and record unemployment...all this at the start of what is probably going to be a very depressing holiday season for millions.

So I'm voting yes, but very reluctantly.

You sure about that, Buckett?

I know you are smarter than that.

[all2neat]

If a firestation needs to be built in the south but the north won't vote for it, but they need a police station, i understand grouping things, but I have my limits on what I'm willing to vote for when grouped.. This alive project should be its own vote.. If we need parish wide drainage or a new prision then fine, group that together.. But if one thing is a huge chunk of the total cost then it should be split up.. My feeling is that this bond will fail by about 65% against.. If they took alive out, i think the alive part would fail, but the other improvements would pass.. The sad thing is, I voted in favor for this a year ago.. I've just had a change of heart.

[buckett5425]

If a firestation needs to be built in the south but the north won't vote for it, but they need a police station, i understand grouping things, but I have my limits on what I'm willing to vote for when grouped.. This alive project should be its own vote.. If we need parish wide drainage or a new prision then fine, group that together.. But if one thing is a huge chunk of the total cost then it should be split up.. My feeling is that this bond will fail by about 65% against.. If they took alive out, i think the alive part would fail, but the other improvements would pass.. The sad thing is, I voted in favor for this a year ago.. I've just had a change of heart.

[cajun]

Can you make your case cajun?

[buckett5425]

Private (some non profit) Research Institutions- Evergreen, CATO, Carnegie, Tulane, Celgene, Pennington, Exxon Chem. Most publicly funded research institutes typically depend on private endowments.

Saying that ALIVE is a research institution is a huge stretch. What research will be going on there (and they can't claim the environmental/coastal studies already existing at LSU)? Will they be hiring people who will be doing research?

[cajun]

As for exxon, that doesnt even count, they conduct research funded my investors, to make money for investors, a completely different category.

[cajun]

Update: Fail....by a larger margin than last year.

Don't fret. Holden will have this on the ballot next year, hopefully split up. Even a spokesperson from hyper conservative Tea Party group said that they were willing to support much needed infrastructure developments, but not the ALIVE project. I honestly don't even think that particular mindset is in line with most voters in EBR, which is conservative leaning....but it's not Central or Livingston by any means.

It's obvious that this failed because of the ALIVE project and the economic climate.

It's a mean recession. I suggest we try to do more with less, and make the most of a rough situation...like millions of Americans have to do today, and try to look on the bright side.

[dan326]

Well, I'm disappointed, but I can't say too much as I forgot to register to vote.

[buckett5425]

I think I might cry...

I wanted to stay in BR when I graduated, and be a part of the "upswing." However, I am now second guessing that decision, and may just move to New Orleans. This city, and well state, wonders why there is a brain drain? Its because people with big ideas and skills leave, because this state really isn't welcoming to them. I always defended our state and baton rouge against that concept, but now i see why it happens.

The greatest cities are the ones that take the biggest risks with public money.

[cajun]

The greatest cities are the ones that take the biggest risks with public money.

[dan326]

Thanks for outlining that out. I knew it wasn't going to pass, but it's good to have a reason to go with it. I just hope they don't economy develop(is that the saying?) it down and just shelve it for ten years until they can do it right.

On an off note, you can always tell a city's population and average income by the kinds of hotels and the quality of the stores in the malls.

[all2neat]

Thanks for outlining that out. I knew it wasn't going to pass, but it's good to have a reason to go with it. I just hope they don't economy develop(is that the saying?) it down and just shelve it for ten years until they can do it right.

On an off note, you can always tell a city's population and average income by the kinds of hotels and the quality of the stores in the malls.

[yis2003yis]

I feel we LOST Money....I mean how much money are we kicking out to take our kids and familys out of town on the weekends to enjoy ourselves?

How much money are we kicking out to PATCH UP these police stations and Parish Prision?

How much time are we waisting sitting at these un organized traffic lights?

Its Plain n Simple ...You Split it up...you only get half...Right? ...kool your paying for that....buttttttt....you are also paying to patch the other half up. and when it's time to Work on the other half...the prices have gone up...and your spending more money than you would have been spending