Petitions Pile High

Efforts to gather 18,000 signatures to call a referendum on the incorporation of the proposed City of St. George appear to be well ahead of schedule, according to unofficial reports from organizers of the movement.
Roughly 6,000 signatures have been gathered, or about one-third of the required number, according to one organizer.
This source said the St. George incorportion movement can count on about 100 reliable volunteers to hit the streets.  The total focus right now is on getting the required signatures, he said.
There is no time limit on getting the signatures, but at the current rate it seems likely that 18,000 signatures will be gathered in time for the November 2014 election or even the April 5, 2014 election.
The movement gathered about 1,100 signatures last week, slightly better than its target of 1,000 signatures a week.  The tempo has picked up since volunteers realized that they get far more signatures by working at busy intersections or at the entrance to popular food stores, rather than going door to door.
Volunteers are able to pick up five or six times more names by working in public places rather than door to door.
Norman Browning, chairman of Local Schools for Local Children, said the organization will be on particular street corners and in front of specific businesses every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. until they have sufficient signatures.  He said these will be posted at www.StGeorgeLouisiana.com.  Some of the standard locations will be:
•    Coursey at Jones Creek
•    Highland at Jefferson
•    Lagniappe at Perkins at Bluebonnet
•    Wal-Mart lot on Coursey
Brownng said his group is also working to raise money to support its communications efforts.  At the right time, organizers hope to have the funds to have a strong media campaign to persuade undecided voters.
Browning said it was been surprising to him how little push-back he has received from opponents of incorporation.  He is constantly speaking at homeowners associations and says he is encountering very little negative.
When asked what kind of questions he gets from people who are asked to sign the pro-incorporation petition, he laughed and said, “The main question I get is ‘Where do I sign the petition?”
Browning said the major problem is simply getting people to stop their cars, get out and sign the petition. “When we get to ask someone to sign the petition face to face, we get about 80 percent yes,” he said.  Those numbers hold up when going door to door, but the problem volunteers run into is that people simply aren’t home, Browning said.
The Capital City News surveyed a number of individuals as they signed the petition and asked why they decided to do so.  Here are some of the responses:
•    Mary Carole, a 23-year-old school teacher, said, “If we could have our own school district, we would definitely have better schools.  It would be our decision as a city, and I like that.”
•    Kelli Armanini has volunteered her time to help with the incorporation.  She said she looks at the issue as a mom.  “You shouldn’t have to travel across town in this traffic to go to a PTA meeting.  You shouldn’t have to pay private school tuition.  The schools aren’t working for us.”
•    Dr. Joli Shephard, an optometrist, signed the petition with her mother, Lisa Shephard.  Lisa said, “We want the schools to be better for our children.  If we had our own school system, property values would go up.  We should get back to neighborhood schools.  This is where we live.  We want to be in control of our lives.”
•    A government employee who
asked not to be identified said “East Baton Rouge Parish schools have built Livingston and Ascension parishes.  The focus should be on safety and security issues and whether students are getting a good education.  The bureaucracy has gotten so big, and Supt. [Bernard]
Taylor isn’t going to change it.”
•    Bobby and Sherri McKey stopped by to sign a petition in the Jefferson Terrace subdivision.  Bobby, who works at Exxon, said, “We want to keep our taxes local.  We don’t want the legislature or special interests deciding what happens to our community.”
•    Local realtor Jim Talbot, who himself served on the East Baton Rouge Parish school board in the 1990’s, said he feels his years in business and politics have taught him to “read” people and their attitudes.  “I see in the body language of the people who stop to discuss the incorporation that they are excited and enthusiastic.  People stop their car, get out, and sign the petition.  I’ve never seen anything quite like this.  Schools are the driving force behind this movement, especially for parents with small children.”
•    Kevin Dominick stopped his motorbike to sign the petition.  When asked why, he said, “I’m a tech at a hospital, and I live in this community.  This is good for us and our neighborhood.  It will help us!”
•    A first responder said, “We want to vote on our fate.  We want government close to the people.  That we have a problem in our public schools is obvious.  We have a bureaucracy that is not responsive.  We’re tired of the cost of private schools and tired of sending our money to Baton Rouge and getting nothing!”
•    Brandon Lithgoe, a chemical engineer, and his wife Sharyn said they are very dissatisfied with the public schools in East Baton Rouge.  “We’ve been talking about the proposed school system at work, and we like the idea.  The question is how soon  will it happen?”
•    Robert James Mills signed the petition in front of Ralph’s Market on Jones Creek.  Staffing the petition table was Jenny Cook, a student in the gifted program at Woodlawn Middle.  Jenny said she has the option of going to Baton Rouge Magnet High School but she would rather stay in her neighborhood and go to Woodlawn High.
“I want to attend a school here that has football and other traditional activities,” she said.  “With the new school system, it will be a great school!” she said.
For more information on the incorporation of St. George, www.StGeorgeLouisiana.com or call Nor-man Browning at 225-268-6930.