re: Who here is against St George?

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It's been happening like that for decades. Don't go all conspiracy theory paranoid on us.....

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I was going to comment about mutual aid, those with BRPD that hold Parish commissions, and all the work that they conduct outside of the city to assist EBRSO, but you nailed it.

As for the original question, I am against SG incorporating.

Go read pages 570 & 571. You were there.

awww poor baby

i live in the proposed area and am undecided.

the biggest things that upset me about the whole ordeal are:

A) you have a community crying out for better education and the leaders' response has basically been a collective "frick off" through their words an actions. The whole incorporation effort is like a teenager emotionally lashing out...the emotions are genuine, the methodology may not be the best conceived. The parish government, instead of being the bigger man/parent figure trying to truly address issues and throw the teenager a few bones to make it feel important, has instead chosen to scream back and lowered themselves potentially beyond that of the teenager.

B) the "better together" baton rouge crowd who would rather sink the entire titanic without letting any lifeboats (in the form of better education initiatives and alternatives) go and seek calmer waters screaming racism and income inequality all the way.

I suspect the trend outlined in the paper a few days ago will continue: more people leaving for several neighboring parishes than arriving from them. People have seen school system reforms work on a small scale in neighboring EBR parish entities, and on a larger scale down I-10 in NO through the charter revolution. No solution is perfect silver bullet, but simply seeing surrounding areas trying new things has rendered EBRs bullshite unacceptable.

I am about to have my first kid and if still living in BR in a few years either plan to move to one of the other neighboring school districts or take the private school path...not leaving my kids chances of getting into an acceptable school up to lotteries.

For me newer buildings =\= better school system. I want to see 5-10 consecutive years of substantial gains in math, reading comprehension, and sciences. I want to see the average school rating of an A or B, not a C or D while maintaining the current system funding levels. I don't subscribe to the belief that dumping more money into schools is the universal answer. Hence, I am undecided. I want to see the anti at George crowd propose ways to raise the education level that don't include an utterance of "we need more money" or "your plan is flawed." If it's flawed or undeveloped, what's a better plan? Let's hear some policy ideas. As I've said, let the anti St. George crowd propose some positive course corrections rather than 100% focusing on flaws of what are undoubtedly an undeveloped St George proposal. I think it would diffuse the tension all around.

I am against it and have lived in the proposed SG city since 1991.

Im against it until proven otherwise. I relocated here to get away from political corruption and leaders running the community into the ground. When both sides start pointing fingers and calling the others the bad guys, everyone loses.

Ive said this a million times, everyone that I have asked "why?", their response has been "better school system". Its a very important thing but to me, there needs to be more to it. I dont think many people realize how expensive it is to run a municipal govt let alone create a startup. I also dont understand why a lot of people I know talk about sales tax (talking about Mall of Louisiana), yet they also talk about how they never go, its going down hill, its the next Cortana, etc. There needs to be a better outlook on city income.

The problem we face now is that both sides are going to go to extremes for their cause. If they want it to ve rich vs poor, white vs black, etc... its going to happen. The mudslinging will begin soon if it already hasnt. Sadly for EBR, there will be a further decline before we see improvements no matter if we stay together or split.

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Those of you saying St.George property taxes would rise

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I'd pay more for better schools. That's how things work in real life. Its much cheaper than normal property taxes + $10,000 a year for private school anyway

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I'm against it. I don't want my town split.

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It won't be. That area is not Baton Rouge as I understand it. Just EBR. We already have 4 cities in this parish so the parish is pretty much split