Now they say it'll be on the December ballot.

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St. George incorporation issue won't be on November ballot


Organizers of the petition drive to get the incorporation of the proposed city of St. George to a vote of the people confirm they will not have enough signatures by the July 18 deadline to get the issue on the November ballot. However, they say they will have the requisite 18,000 valid signatures by mid-August, which is the deadline for getting the issue on the December runoff ballot. "We feel confident that we will be able to get it on a ballot this year," says Lionel Rainey III, the spokesperson and one of the leaders of the effort to incorporate the new city from parts of unincorporated East Baton Rouge Parish. "We continue to get more signatures every day." During the legislative session, opponents of the St. George effort tried to get a bill passed that would have required St. George supporters to collect all 18,000 valid signatures by the July 18 deadline. That bill failed, however, so the date by which the signatures are collected does not matter from a legal standpoint. However, Rainey says supporters want to see it happen as soon as possible. "It has been an ongoing process for three years now," he says. "It is time to decide this and time to move forward." That said, the December runoff election may not be the optimal time for the St. George issue to come to a vote. Rainey says he will make that decision at a later date and if December doesn't look promising, they will put the issue off until the spring election. "We will have to go back and look at previous election turnouts and decide then," he says. St. George supporters were dealt a win on Monday when Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell issued an opinion stating that the city-parish's recent annexation of portions of Mall of Louisiana and other properties owned by Baton Rouge General Hospital and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center will not affect the validity of the St. George petition drive. —Stephanie Riegel

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