re: How would you fix Baton Rouge?

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Put all panhandlers on a barge in the MS river then sink said barge.

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Throw in all the people who come up to you at gas stations and in parking lots who just need money to get to a funeral and they’ll mail it back to you when they get there they promise.

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When kids act disrespectfully, assign them to a work chain gangs for a week at time, until their attitude improves.

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That's not a bad idea.

Monorail

Withdraw all law enforcement from areas that don't appreciate them.
Relocate said law enforcement to the remaining parts of town that do appreciate them.

Make an attempt to lower property taxes OR create a school district that property owners have exclusive rights to first.

Add 1 lane from MS bridge to just beyond College so merging isn't necessary.

Audit DPW.

Not all in the mayor’s purview, and is more of a wish list:

1. Split up the school districts and minimize influence of the current board while maintaining/expanding the current magnet program. St George shouldn’t have to incorporate to get their own district. And neighborhoods in the city should be allowed to join if they want.

2. Work with the surrounding areas for more state and federal funds dedicated to the expansion of major arteries like I-10, Airline Highway, LA30, US 61 (north to Natchez), and US 190 (east to Hammond)

3. Cooperate with a regional toll authority to build new river crossings into LP at Hooper Road, LA415 Bridge over the Intracoastal, S. Harrel’s Ferry Rd, and eventually a new Mississippi River Bridge.

4. Improve and expand BRPD and EBRSO; make it clear that they have support. Maybe get rid of some dead weight there.

5. Provide clear, easily understood local tax breaks for new business HQ that relocate from anywhere outside of the parish to downtown.

6. Build the LSU-Downtown tram if I could obtain federal funding to cover initial costs.

7. Push for federal funds to complete the Diversion Canal and retention lakes; establish clear boundaries for development in flood plains.

8. Attempt to recruit events like concerts and conventions to help the local hotels and restaurants (Holden did this well) during Spring and Summer; possibly using hotel tax revenue to build/improve concert and convention infrastructure.

9. Focus on minor improvements in aesthetics/hardscape/infrastructure in mid city, the area near LSU, and around the airport.

10. Offer whatever legal tax incentives necessary to obtain more non-stop air service and at BTR, either through existing carriers or with new carriers. I think we can get UAL non-stops to ORD, AA non stops to DCA. I think we can admit that Spirit Airlines would probably be popular in BTR.

11. Eliminate CATs and outsource transit service to a better company. If they fail at improving ridership significantly, the tax will not come up for renewal. LSU kicked CATS to the curb 15 years ago and hasn’t looked back. The rest of the city needs to as well.

12. COA... I would keep their tax stream in escrow until their entire leadership team is gone. They are now incapable of meeting their intended goal even if they wanted to. No one trusts them anymore for damn good reason.

13. A handful of judges need to be removed from the bench. Trudy White for starters.

14. Someone that is capable and willing to work with reps from outlying areas needs to emerge as a leader to drive policy decisions. There is a leadership vacuum and too much parochialism in the capital region. A lot of the city’s needs are also issues in the suburbs - namely the lack of state or federal funds to pay for anything of substance.


Again, more of a wish list than an actual platform.

Put in a turn lane on Nicholson at Brightside. Everything else I’ve pretty much figured out a way to avoid.

Move to Houston and become members of groups that come to Houston and Austin all the time to learn how to make Baton Rouge better.

Lots of racial profiling by police.

1) airlift LSU the frick out of Baton Rouge. Current location TBD

2) bomb Baton Rouge

Close the Washington Street exit.