Mayor Broome and Councilman Watson battle over blame for loss of 600k tire shedder grant

Councilman Matt Watson is blaming Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's administration for bungling a $605,000 federal grant and losing out on a first-of-its-kind tire shredder — but Broome counters that Watson is all talk and no action, and says she's not responsible for his failures. Watson, who spearheaded the tire shredder project on the Metro Council, said he worked tirelessly to secure the grant and establish a location that would "remove blight and improve public sanitation." He said the debacle marks "another opportunity lost" by Broome to better the parish.

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We made this as easy as possible for Sharon Weston Broome's administration to simply follow the process on behalf of the residents here — and even that was too difficult," Watson said.

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Broome responded that it is "typical in political seasons for candidates to blame the opposition for their failures," and said that Watson "had neither the will nor the capability to make this project a reality."

"Councilman Watson prefers to talk about ideas while letting others do the work," Broome said. The tire-shredding project, funded by a $605,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent, once seemed like a promising solution to addressing the thousands of tires dumped illegally in the city's poorest neighborhoods.

But, for much of the last year, the Metro Council struggled to come to an agreement on a suitable location for the facility. And, after the Mayor's Office missed a Sept. 1 deadline to purchase the equipment, a local contractor pulled out of the project, citing political and bureaucratic dysfunction.

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There were hurdles put before me at every turn by a political establishment that would rather wring its hands than take action for people here in our community," Watson said.

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That’s your Mayor-President at work Baton Rouge