St. George proponents hold rally; pull out of planned televised forum with opponents

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At Thursday night's rally, the St. George organizers instead made impassioned pleas to the crowd to vote, and vote early, in the upcoming election. They also chided the city-parish and Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome on perceived shortcomings they feel warrants the need for their incorporation. “Early voting is how we win,” Drew Murrell told the crowd. The rally happened a day after opponents of the proposed city, which would be the fifth in the parish, hosted what they called a “community civic academy” aimed at educating voters about the potential impact St. George’s incorporation would have on the rest of the parish.

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Some St. George proponents, like Murrell, attended the opposition’s Wednesday night event and, in turn, members from the opposition were also scattered among the crowd at Thursday’s night rally. Murrell made a point to inform the crowd that Broome and most of her administration had attended the opposition’s event the previous day but did not bother to show up for Thursday's rally. However, there were no shortage of elected officials in attendance. But most of them have been vocal in their support of St. George already, like Metro Councilman Dwight Hudson and state Reps. Bodie White, R-Central, and Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, who spearheaded much of the legislation that has supported the incorporation on the state level.

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Chris Rials, vice-chairman of that petition drive, listed five reasons why organizers have spent the past few years trying to create the city. Among them where frustrations over Baton Rouge’s high crime rates, claims of over-taxation by the city-parish, chronic drainage issues that have resulted in increased flash flooding during heavy rains, the city-parish’s inability to retain middle income families who are fleeing to surrounding parishes, primarily for better schools.

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Rials and Murrell were supposed to debate the merits of the incorporation next week on WBRZ-TV with opponents as part of a forum with the Baton Rouge Civic Association. But in an interview before Thursday’s rally, Murrell said they backed out because Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome refused to appear as well. The opposition fired back by saying St. George organizers are trying to avoid any real discussions about the higher taxes, budget deficits and student displacement that would occur if a new city is formed in southeast East Baton Rouge Parish.

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"Why would I debate M.E. Cormier? She doesn't live in St. George and she doesn't work for the city-parish," Murrell said. "We are questioning how (Broome) chooses to run city-parish government. We're telling you how we're going to do things differently."

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And although the anti-incorporation group bears the name "Residents Against the Breakaway," no one would break away from anything. The effort would create St. George in a currently unincorporated area, and St. George would still be within East Baton Rouge Parish but as an independent city.

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