Serious Debate On Proposal To Incorporate Southeast BR

Only Voters Decide Issue of Whether to Create Municipality

SOUTHEAST — The battle to create a new community school system in the southeast part of East Baton Rouge Parish is about to take on a entirely new dimension.
Now supporters of the new district say they are considering launching a drive to incorporate Southeast Baton Rouge into a new municipality.
Norman Browning, chairman of Local Schools for Local Children, said there are at least three reasons to form a new municipality:
•    Facilitate creation of the Southeast school district
•    Allow Southeast residents to control planning and zoning within the school district, and
•    Serve as a bulwark against crime in the City of Baton Rouge.
Browning said no decision has been made but that the topic will begin to be discussed publicly at a community-wide meeting his organization is sponsoring at 7 p.m. tonight at Woodlawn Baptist Church.
In some respects, forming a new municipality is easier than creating a new school system.  Creating a new city does not require a vote of the Louisiana Legislature, the Metro Council, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, or any other group of elected officials.  Rather, it requires a petition signed by at least 25 percent of the registered voters in the proposed city and a vote of the people.
During the recent session of the Louisiana Legislature, Sen. Bodi White (R-Central) passed SB 199 to create the Southeast Baton Rouge Community School System and place it in the Louisiana Revised Statutes.  However, the House refused to pass SB 73, a constitutional amendment to place the Southeast district in the state constitution.
At a news conference at the close of the legislative session, White pointed out that the two bills were not tied together.  In the past, the statute said it was contingent on the passage of a specific constitutional amendment.  As a result, White said the statute is on the books and will not have to be reenacted.
The proposed school district is a wedge bounded on the north by I-12 and on the west by I-10, but Browning said those would not necessarily be the boundaries of a new municipality.
Browning said his group will only move forward with incorporation if their questions are answered and if people in the Southeast support the concept after it has fully investigated and debated.
The City of Central is the most recent example of incorporation.  Founded in 2005, it is a city of 27,000.  It has a budget of $6.3 million and runs an annual surplus of over $1 million.  The city is fully privatized and has only three city employees.  The separate Central Community School System is now ranked No. 2 among 69 school systems in the state.