Kip Holden Just Doesn’t Get It
Baton Rouge’s Democrat mayor is at it again, and another divisive bond issue will be on the ballot as a result. Holden says this time it’s different than the last attempt he made to tax and spend; city-parish voters crushed the mayor’s $900 million bond for a cornucopeia of new public edifices by a 65-35 count in November of 2009.
Holden is aiming lower this time around. Slightly.
WAFB has the story…
Just over a year after one bond was defeated, Mayor-Pres. Kip Holden announced Monday he’s full speed ahead with putting another on the ballot.
Holden said this new proposition will be much different than what came to be known as the “Alive” project bond, which was defeated in November 2009. Holden claimed the millage is necessary because of recent data. According to the 2010 Census, East Baton Rouge is now the most populated parish in the state.
EBR’s population is up 7 percent from 10 years ago, to 440,000 people. On the other hand, the population in the city of New Orleans dropped to 343,000, a 30 percent plunge.
“I don’t want to gloat about Baton Rouge to the demise of New Orleans, because we formed a partnership basically last year that we would support each other,” Holden said.
Holden added his bond proposal would be just under $700 million and not include the controversial “Alive” project on the river.
“If anybody sits down and says we don’t need it, then something is wrong. We have critical infrastructure needs that are 30 years behind when I took office. Now, the problems have gotten worse,” he explained.
Holden realized, after two ignominious bond-issue defeats in 2008 and 2009, that using taxpayer dollars to fund a riverfront theme park wouldn’t fly. But a $700 million bond will include all the same other stuff the voters haven’t been crazy about – a shiny new headquarters for the city-parish’s law enforcement agencies, a new prison, parking garages in the downtown area (which, strangely enough, property owners downtown have yet to decide to build) and a number of other projects.
No word from Holden on the severability of his bond, which was requested by several members of the metro council before the last debacle. Some of the items on his wish list might well be supportable. But given Holden’s previous all-or-nothing stance it would stand to reason he’ll continue banging on the table.
There is also no indication that Holden has done much to seek lower-cost solutions – like, for example, leasing space to serve as headquarters for the police in lieu of their current dilapidated digs. The city has lots of vacant space at present and landlords might well be generous on rents if long-term tenancy is on the table.
Holden’s projects might well constitute needs, rather than wants. He obviously hasn’t made an effective case for them.
Nor has he shown it necessary for the city-parish to raise sales taxes when in the 2010 budget East Baton Rouge had $54 million for consultants’ contracts. That kind of spending flies in the face of the obvious desire of the voting public for fiscal restraint.
But it’s clear Holden is serious about building a few monuments to himself, with our money. It will be up to the voters, once again, to tell him no.
my answer to Mr. Holden when he came into power in Baton Rouge was to move to Texas
An interesting point for communities surrounding Baton Rouge (BR) to consider is the retail hub it has become for all of us. BR, being a Capitol City has always been the “go-to” place. You “go’to” Br to go to a mall. You go to BR for live theater. You go to BR for LSU/SU Football games, etc. The continual drive Mr. Holden has for tax increases, especially Sales Tax increases, might cause developers to reconsider more Regional Mall Complexes, more centers designed toward accomodating the Arts outside of BR, more consumer oriented buying centers on the rim of the spokes leading away from BR. Competition brings an influx of NEW ideas, something Mr. Holden seems bereft of beyond “tax until it collapses”. Holden’s inefficient spending practices (as displayed in his call to improve infrastructure with exhorbitant add-ons) fool nobody. I for one will start advising friends to check out Tanger and such outlets while looking for more resources other than BR, to spend my money and thus my taxes. The ida can work, look at the change brought about with the demise of Bon Marche’ and now Cortana’s shift in available doors to pass through to spend.
Keep chasing your dream Mr. Holden. But, remember as you chase after it, you chase us, on the perimeter away.
I suppose you have to give Mayor Holden some credit for trying to be an ‘honest-man’. With this quote from the article, ““If anybody sits down and says we don’t need it, then something is wrong. We have critical infrastructure needs that are 30 years behind when I took office. Now, the problems have gotten worse,” he explained.”
So the “critical infrastructure” problems were there 30 years before the Mayor and they’ve only “gotten worse”. Most politicians blame the administrations before them for the problems but try and find some improvement to those problems to make themselves look good. But then I suppose when one of the biggest things in your political career is trying to spend $1 billion to build a theme park, you just don’t have time to keep up with “CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE” improvements.
One thing about Baton Rouge, it’s well consulted. Spending $54 million for consultant’s contracts is just outrageous. How can the Council not find a problem with that kind of spending? I’m sure though that if a bridge falls in and kills a family (God forbid), who was passing over it, and the City Parish gets a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed against it, that Baton Rouge will have some of the finest consultants to tell them what they need to do.
Sgtnipmuc makes a great point. Holden doesn’t see the forest for the trees.
Look at the 6 lanes out past Walker. Look at the large Juban Road retail development breaking ground later this month. 4 Large Big Box Retailers. A 12 Screen Theatre. Restaurants. Retail tenants that will closely mirror Towne Center in BR (Whole Foods, Books-A-Million, Etc), etc, etc, etc.
Why will anyone living in Greystone in Denham want to drive to PF Chang’s on Corporate for dinner, & then to Perkins Rowe at the corner of Perkins & Bluebonnet for the show? Especially when you can do the same thing without ever getting on the Interstate, nor leaving Livingston Parish?
Why will anyone living in Walker, Live, Oak, Denham Springs, etc., ever want to go to Oschner, or Woman’s, etc., or have their perscriptions filled at Walgreen’s near major hospitals in BR when they will have OLOL as an option right off the interstate in Walker on Highway 447? Hell, Denham is even building an indoor Water Park at their North Park facility!
Bass Pro Shops was the first shot over his bow. He’s obviously completely ignored the potential for the shift towards Livingston & Ascension over the past decade-and-a-half in terms of not only housing, but now the retail business & tax dollars derived from it shifting with it. At his own peril.
Note that a part of the defeated bond packages was for a parking garage for a proposed hotel. That is a facility for a private enterprise. Said garage should also be stricken from the third attempt.
Another “NO” vote for me!
After two attempts with Alive including an attempt to gerrymander the voting area I have no trust of the present administration. Government agencies have been added in Baton Rouge like the redevelopment authority with high-paying salaries, and are now in the process of adding a regional innovation organization through Research Park Corp., that evidently gets motel-hotel tax funds. The local government seems to be growing more every year. A recent news article indicated that Louisiana already has the 4th highest combination of local and state sales tax in the country with an LA average of 8.69 percent, and Baton Rouge has 9 percent. All of that along with the approximate $40 million just for proposed parks, greenspaces etc for downtown Baton Rouge will lead me to vote no for any tax proposition. We already pay plenty of taxes around here. Maybe when the current taxes for new school buildings and new BREC parks ends I will then consider voting for more taxes. However, I do not trust the present administration so I will probably wait until a new administration is elected before I vote in favor of any taxes.
If you agree with this biased article, then ask someone the next time they come to visit Baton Rouge how we compare to other metropolitan areas. We are not only competing for businesses to come here but also for young professionals to stay. I was not 100% on board with the “Alive” project but am glad to see the necessesary updates to infrastructure being addressed. Ignoring them and name calling esolved. Easy to redicule an idea when you don’t a good one of your own.
That’s a typical canard raised by statists in this town. Baton Rouge doesn’t
attract “young professionals,” as though that implies some universal symbol
of success.
Know what attracts young professionals? Money. As in jobs. Know what
attracts jobs? A good business environment. Know the easiest way to get
that? Low taxes.
Holden wants to raise sales taxes, which are already too high at nine
percent, to build police headquarters, prisons and parking garages. Please
explain how parking garages attract young professionals.
And it’s spelled “ridicule.” Perhaps the next discussion of East Baton Rouge
Parish here on the Hayride should involve the state of public education in
town. Or maybe the mayor-president can send a consultant over to tell us how
we’ll be fixing that with the next bond issue.
I DO have an idea. How about separating the main items on the proposed tax ballot so people can choose what they want to vote for instead of lumping everything into one tax proposition. I personally am against any new taxes as indicated in my first comment, but at least people should have a choice of what they might want to vote for. One question I have, if the tax passes and a lot of it is bonded out, who makes all the money on the bonds?
I thought “NO” is suppose to mean no. How many times do have to vote this down before “NO” really means no. How much longer does that idiot have left in office? I can’t take take much more of him.
Doesn’t have a clue, don’t know what a clue is, and don’t care what a clue is….
[...] is attempting to push a bond issue for the third time in four years with a price tag nearing a billion dollars. Gautreaux has so far supported the bond, which was [...]