New City Would Be Called City of St. George

After three months of debate, leaders of Local Schools for Local Children voted Tuesday to begin the formal process of creating a new municipality in the southeast part of East Baton Rouge Parish.  The group’s leader, Norman Browning, said a petition drive will probably be launched before the end of September.
The new municipality would be named the City of St. George.
Its boundaries would include all of the unincorporated parts of East Baton Rouge Parish south and east of the City of Baton Rouge, including the St. George and Eastside fire districts.
Browning estimated the population at 107,000, which would make the new city the 5th largest municipality in Louisiana.
Up until now, the group has sought to create the Southeast Community School District, and that remains its primary goal, Browning said.  However, efforts to create the new school district have been frustrated in the legislature by a handful of Republicans who have opposed it.  Creation of a new school district requires a state constitutional amendment and a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Louisiana Legislature.  The proposed constitutional amendment passed the Senate but failed in the House.
Browning said supporters of the new school district have been encouraged by a provision of the Louisiana Constitution which allows municipalities to operate school districts without a constitutional amendment.
The five largest municipalities in the state are New Orleans, 343,829; Baton Rouge, 229,493; Shreveport, 199,311; Lafayette, 120,623, and Lake Charles, 91,623. The new City of St. George would displace Lake Charles as the 5th largest city.
In order to create a new municipality, organizers would have to secure petition signatures from one-fourth of the registered voters in the proposed city.  The governor would then call an election, and voters within the proposed boundaries would go to the polls and vote.  If a majority of those voting favored incorporation, the municipality would be created on a date set by the governor, who would appoint the first city officials.
Under the Lawrason Act, which governs new municipalities in Louisiana, the first officials would be a mayor, police chief, and city council members.  They would serve until a special election could be held to allow the voters to choose their successors.
Voters in Central created the City of Central in 2005, and the legislature approved and sent to the voters a constitutional amendment to create the Central Community School System, which took over the public schools in Central in July 2007.  Since then, it has become the No. 2 ranked school system in the state.
Browning said members of his group will be meeting with neighborhood civic associations to explain the advantages of incorporation.  He said he expects opposition to the plan.
The boundaries would be the Mississippi River on the west, Bayou Manchac on the south, and the Amite River on the east.  The northern boundary would follow the city limits of Baton Rouge and go as far north as the boundaries of the Central Fire Protection District.
Browning said some unincorporated areas, such as Town Center, may not be included in the proposed City of St. George because they are not contiguous to the rest of the new city.  It would probably take an agreement of some type with the Metro Council for such areas to be included at a later date.
Browning said his group will be working to raise money to promote the creation of the new city.
He said persons interested in contributing should contact him at 225-268-6930.