Councilman: I’ll File Suit to Block City of St. George

Metro Councilman John Delgado has declared war on the proposed City of St. George and is undertaking a variety of guerrilla tactics designed to block the effort.  Unlike Gov. Bobby Jindal, who said Wednesday the people of St. George should decide the matter, Delgado said he will file suit to block the incorporation, even if voters approve it.
At press time, Delgado was also promoting a plan which would deprive the new city of its tax base.  Even though state law permits the residents of any unincorporated place with more than 200 residents to incorporate and form their own city, Delgado’s plan is to deprive the new City of St. George of sales tax revenues for the next 10 years.  Sales taxes collected in the City of St. George would continue to be paid directly to the City of Baton Rouge, even after St. George incorporated.
How this would be possible under state law appears problematic but Mayor-President Kip Holden and Councilman Delgado are still pursuing the plan.
However, Lea Anne Batson of the Parish Attorney’s office said it doesn’t mean the new City of St. George would have to get Metro Council approval to change it.  She said she is “not aware of any scenario under which another municipality, if created, would be required to seek to modify that agreement.”
Delgado’s preoccupation with the St. George issue is getting under the skin of some of his colleagues on the Council.  One said that it’s fine to express your support or opposition to the incorporation of the City of St. George, but ultimately you have to realize that state law permits people in unincorporated areas to form their own city, if they desire.  You have to have some respect for state law and the democratic process.  Delgado is way over the top at this point, he said.
Delgado’s efforts Wednesday night to pack the St. George Fire District with supporters of Mayor Kip Holden left some of his fellow Republicans angry and upset.  One said Council members work together to name the members of the boards of political subdivisions in their districts.  The only way the public has to affect what these boards do is through the Council.
The Council is made up of 12 elected members.  These include five Democrats and seven Republicans.  Delgado is a Republican but he sometimes sides with the Democrats and Holden.
When the Baton Rouge Business Report announced its annual ‘40 under 40’ last year, Delgado was one of the winners.  Each of the honorees was asked who he or she considers his “mentor.”  Delgado said his was Kip Holden.
Delgado was elected to the Metro Council last year in the most hotly contested Council race in the parish.  He took on incumbent Republican Councilman Smokey Bourgeois, a moderately conservative, independent-minded member of the Council.  The Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish endorsed Bourgeois in the race.  In the end, Delgado pulled out a narrow victory.
In November 2013, Delgado told the Baton Rouge Business Report, “I used to be the guy at home yelling at the TV.  Now I’m the guy on TV people are yelling at!”