re: St. George's latest statement on Facebook...Wow!

quote:

---

Can someone explain this st. george thing to me in less than 4-5 sentences?

---

Unincorporated portion of BR wants to become it's own city. BR officials don't want it to happen because they'll lose tax money so they've turned this into a race issue. Support for SG is tantamount to hosting a klan rally.

quote:

---

Can someone explain this st. george thing to me in less than 4-5 sentences?

---

EBR Parish and the city of Baton Rouge have a joint government.

Due to this and Voting Rights Act which prevents municipalities from annexing land that would dilute minority voting power, the city has highly gerrymandered borders with the suburbs south and east of those borders unincorporated.

Inside the city limits, BRPD and BRFD provide police and fire. Outside the city limits, EBRSD provides police and the residents tax themselves to pay for St. George Fire Department. Much of the property taxes collected in the unincorporated areas still go into the city/parisg general fund.

Due to a federal desegregation case in the 80's, forced bussing destroyed the school system in the parish. This order was only recently lifted, allowing for school district boundaries to reflect neighborhoods. The unincorporated area feels underserved, with only one high school, and makes up a minirity on the school board. They want local control.

The unincorporated area tried to form an independent school district, but was denied in the state legislature. They were told they could not do so without first forming a city.

They then created a petition to incorporate the unincorporated areas to create a city called St. George.

To sabotage the new city, Baton Rouge annexed a bunch of commercial property while carefully avoiding any residential areas to keep parts of the mall, hospitals, and Laberge in the city. LSU provided some of the land to connect Laberge.

This petition was counted by the city/parish government who threw out just enough signatures to keep it off the ballot.

Bodi White, one of the St. George organizers, then ran for mayor/president and lost to Broome. Broome's radical, race-baiting agenda (after running as a business-friendly moderate) has emboldened the St. George movement and further divided the city.

More anti-incorporation shenanigans are underway in the legislature to force incorporation to be voted on not just by those in the proposed area, but by the whole parish.

Broome and her ilk have gotten used to running the unincorporated areas like a colony, siphoning tax money while neglecting investment. Kip saw the need to invest in the suburbs to keep people fleeing to AP and LP. Broome wants to halt investment in St. George and focus only on downtown and NBR. St. George wants to run their own schools and keep their taxes to build their own roads. They can't let their colony off the plantation. They can't allow the people to decide for themselves.