Racially-charged debate follows Port Allen proposal for no parking signs to protect trees

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PORT ALLEN — A racially-charged squabble has broken out over an effort to have the city install "No Parking" signs along a street in one of Port Allen's more affluent subdivisions.

The argument over the signs has City Council members trading accusations of immaturity, entitlement and race baiting that is overshadowing a resident's campaign to save the stately oak trees that are part of the neighborhood’s charm.

"This is just idiotic and silly that this thing has come down like this," says Councilman Garry Hubble. "I simply don't understand how the matter of putting up signs is so negative. I don't see why there is division in that."

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But members of the City Council's black majority see it as a matter of equitable treatment of the city’s residents. They say it's unfair for the city to make such an effort to protect the aesthetic charm for one of Port Allen's primarily white subdivisions while ignoring the same issues plaguing other parts of the city that are more economically challenged and are predominately black.

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He was told the more logical solution for the council would be posting "No Parking" signs that would give the city's police department the authority to regulate parking in the neighborhood.

But even that was shot down by a 3-2 vote of the council with council members Lawrence, Brandon Brown and Carey Williams, who are all black, voting against the proposal. Council members Hubble and Hugh "Hootie" Riviere, who are white, voted in favor of Smith's idea.

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Hubble later argued the vote was tainted because during the item's discussion at last month's meeting, Lawrence claimed the trees had been used tor lynch blacks in the past.

"I was just looking for some 'No Parking' signs and got blindsided by that," Smith said about Lawrence's lynching comment. "I'm no expert historian, but I don't think those trees were even planted until the 1940s when the neighborhood was built."

"If you look at the age of those trees, it just doesn't jive," Hubble said, adding that it shouldn't be a racial issue "when all this is about is protecting trees."

Lawrence acknowledged in an interview that she had no real proof any lynchings had taken place, she was just repeating something she had heard from someone

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