It should be clear to everyone that the big news coming out of the December 7 election was the election of Coach Sid Edwards as the next Mayor-President of Baton Rouge.  This was the one bit of excitement on an otherwise ho-hum ballot that was overshadowed by the SEC championship game, sub-par weather and a general lack of interest.  But the Sid Edwards election could be very big to the entire capitol region, and our entire state.

I say that it could be big, because getting Sid elected is only step one.  He has an incredibly tough road ahead to change the path that Baton Rouge is on.  I would go so far as to say that the deck is still stacked against him.  But the deck was stacked against him in the election, and he came out on top, so let’s cross our fingers and hope that he can pull off his biggest upset of all over the next four years.

Make no mistake.  Baton Rouge is in serious trouble.  The city is in rapid decline.  It has been for several years.  I don’t believe that the city could have survived four more years of Sharon Weston Broome as Mayor-President.  It seems to me that Baton Rouge is at a tipping point. Had Broome been re-elected, Louisiana’s capital city would likely have fallen too far down into the abyss over the next four years to ever recover.  Now there is at least hope for a brighter future in Baton Rouge.  And having a healthy and vibrant Baton Rouge is incredibly important to the surrounding communities as well.

I spend a lot of time in downtown and mid-city Baton Rouge.  What I see there is disturbing to say the least.  In the past few years, homelessness, crime and drug abuse have simply exploded.  It doesn’t even feel safe sitting in a vehicle at a red light.  Homeless people who clearly have addiction problems and mental health issues wander through the traffic, interacting with drivers who are stuck at red lights.  It is a sad situation for them, and a frightening one to the drivers.  These problems are spilling over into adjacent communities.  Denham Springs and Prairieville have homeless people walking into their cities at night, sleeping behind their buildings and in their parks.  Drug paraphernalia and used syringes are a common sight in areas that have never experienced these issues before.  People are walking in the streets and even on the interstate at night, some of them getting hit by cars.  It is a sad and disturbing situation that has its roots in the decay that seems to have become turbocharged under Broome’s administration.  And then there is the violence.  Baton Rouge has entirely too many shootings and murders for a city of this size.  I don’t even want to spend a lot of time talking about this, because we all know it is there.  We are even becoming desensitized to it.  I hear comments like, “It was a good night in Baton Rouge.  Only three people were shot.”  How disturbing that this is becoming the accepted norm!

I believe that Sid Edwards provides hope for this situation.  I know that he is committed to changing it.  I don’t personally know Edwards, but you can look at his life and career and see that he truly cares about the people of this parish, and he is committed to changing this city.  He truly seems to have run for Mayor-President to help the people of this city.  You certainly can’t say that he is doing it for political gain.  Heck, as Broome’s camp made sure to remind us on a regular basis, Edwards hasn’t even been an active voter over the past few years.

I believe that the formation of St. George will be a positive event as well.  I am not talking about the philosophical aspects, either.  I am certainly in favor of anyone’s right to form their own city if they so desire, and I think Broome’s handling of that situation was despicable.  It is also a big reason why she will be looking for a new job in January.  But in this instance, I am talking about the practical application of dividing the parish into smaller government entities.  I have a pet theory that smaller municipalities can be better governed than larger ones.  I have absolutely zero proof of that, but the success of Central and Zachary certainly lends support to my theory.  And it just makes sense, anyway (to me, at least).  In any event, St. George is a done deal so an adversarial relationship with Baton Rouge does not help anyone and would hurt a lot of peple.  Broome would have never been able to repair that relationship, and likely would not even have attempted to do so.  I am very confident that Sid Edwards will establish a strong working relationship with St. George.  That will benefit both communities as well as the surrounding areas.

It truly is a new day in Baton Rouge.  The home team hasn’t won a game in a long time.  Let’s hope that everyone gets on board to help Coach Sid turn the program around.