A group of wealthy white Baton Rouge residents has won a decades-long battle to separate from the majority-black city and form their own suburb, following a state Supreme Court ruling.
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of St. George’s incorporation in southeast Baton Rouge after overturning a lower court ruling.
“This is a culmination of people exercising their constitutional rights. We voted and we won,” Andrew Murrell, one of the leaders of the St. George campaign, said in a statement after the victory.
“Now we begin the process of realizing the promise of a better city,” he added. “We welcome friends and foes to the table to create St. George.”
As in the case of Central, the last incorporated city to emerge in East Baton Rouge Parish, St. George’s efforts were aimed at establishing a new school district before residents ultimately decided to create their own city. It began with the desire to establish a
St. George’s supporters were unable to muster enough votes in 2015, but four years later the initiative won an election before being stalled by a lengthy legal battle. new york times report.
Sharon Weston Bloom, the mayor and president of the Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish governments, had sued St. George’s organizers, saying the split would siphon more than $48 million a year in tax revenue from the local government. .
Opponents also argued that St. George does not have an adequate budget to operate on its own.
Judge William J. Crane, author of the majority opinion, disagreed with the city’s assessment, arguing that a thriving St. George could even be an asset to declining Baton Rouge.
Despite his longstanding position, Bloom conceded the fight on Friday following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
However, the NAACP remained concerned that the establishment of St. George would have a negative impact on Baton Rouge’s majority black community.
“The St. George plan poses significant risks to our education system, threatens the continuity of important programs, and challenges community representation,” the local branch of the NAACP said in a statement Monday. “The creation of a new local government creates significant uncertainty over the allocation of funding to schools, jeopardizing the foundation of the future of our communities: education.”
Speaking at a news conference Monday at the St. George Fire Department headquarters, Murrell acknowledged the challenges ahead but assured residents that the new city government would eventually work to establish a new school district.
“First of all, we created a city. We didn’t create a school district,” Murrell said. “They’re two separate animals. They have separate budgets and separate leadership structures.
“But I would be dishonest if I didn’t say that the next item on the agenda is the creation of the St. “This is something that has been long awaited in the education community in this country,” he added.
But before a new government can take office, Gov. Jeff Landry must first appoint the city’s first mayor and city council members.
According to the city’s website, residents will vote for new leadership in the next election cycle.
