[CALL TO ORDER]
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GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND WELCOME TO A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL ON THIS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10TH, 2022, WHERE WE HAVE ONE ITEM ON THE AGENDA.ASHLEY, I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
DO WE HAVE, WE HAVE A QUORUM CALL LETTER MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL, MAKE SURE YOU SIGN THAT PROOF
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OF NOTICE.I'M GOING TO READ ITEM ONE, APPROVING REAPPORTIONMENT PLAN OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 2.0, ONE OF THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT SET PLAN TO BECOME EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1ST, 2025 BY THE COUNSELOR ADMINISTRATIVE TREASURER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING AND WE'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE ONE ITEM ON THE AGENDA.
THE FIRST THING WE'RE GOING TO DO IS WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OUR DEMOGRAPHER COME FORWARD AND ASK ANY QUESTIONS THAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS MAY HAVE ABOUT ANY OF THE PROPOSED MAPS.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE HIM COME FORWARD AND ASK ANY QUESTIONS FIRST.
AND THEN AFTER HE COMES FORWARD AND ANSWERS ANY QUESTIONS, WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO THE AUDIENCE FOR COMMENTS.
NOW, MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE, YOU WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES TO COME UP AND COMMENTS, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO.
WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE HERE AND A SHORT TIMEFRAME SCHEDULED FOR THIS MEETING, ALTHOUGH WE MAY GO OVER.
SO I'D LIKE TO ALLOW EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO SPEAK AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.
SO WE'RE GOING TO BE VERY STRICT ABOUT THE THREE MINUTE RULE.
UH, WHEN YOU GET DOWN TO TWO MINUTES AND 30 SECONDS, I'M GONNA SAY 30 SECONDS.
I'M GOING TO ASK YOU, UH, TO TAKE YOUR SEAT.
AND I DO THAT BECAUSE I RECOGNIZE THIS IS A VERY PASSIONATE ISSUES FOR SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE ROOM.
AND I WANT TO GIVE EVERYBODY AN OPPORTUNITY WHO CHOOSES TO SPEAK TO DO SO.
UH, AND THEN AFTER WE'VE HEARD FROM AUDIENCE MEMBERS, WE'RE GOING TO COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL, UH, FOR ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS AND OR QUESTIONS, AND THEN WE WILL ALLOW THE DEMOGRAPHER TO ANSWER ANY OF THOSE COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.
SO I WOULD ASK THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE IN THE AUDIENCE TO MAKE SURE YOU PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION ON THE FRONT SIDE.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS YOU LIKE ONE OF US OR THE DEMOGRAPHER TO ATTEMPT TO ANSWER, UH, DURING HIS SECOND TIME, OR PLEASE ASK THEM AT THAT TIME, I DO WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR, UH, THE DEMOGRAPHER AND OR THE COUNCIL MAY CHOOSE OR MAY CHOOSE NOT TO ANSWER ANY OF THE QUESTIONS YOU MAY ASK, BUT KEEP IN MIND YOUR TIME.
YOUR THREE MINUTES IS FOR YOUR GENERAL STATEMENTS TO BE MADE.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE'RE GOING TO GO TO THE COUNCIL FIRST.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE MY VIEW.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP MR. HEFFER WITH ANY COMMENTS AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COUNCIL AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE ADDIS, MS. DAFNA TO BRING EVERYBODY UP TO SPEED.
WE SET OUT EARLIER RECAP OF MY AUNTS FOUR THROUGH EIGHT.
UH, SINCE THAT RECAP, I'VE HAD TWO REQUESTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS, ONE TO MODIFY A PLAN FOR A, JUST SWITCH TO PRECINCTS BETWEEN DISTRICTS EIGHT AND NINE, THAT BECAME FOUR B, WHICH WAS SENT OUT.
AND THEN ALSO HAD A REQUEST TO CHANGE SOME OF THE PERCENTAGES AND PLANT FIVE EIGHT, WHICH BECAME FIVE B UH, THAT ONE WAS DOWN IN MY OFFICE AT WASN'T ANY SPECIFIC DIRECTION OTHER THAN TRYING TO REACH OR ACHIEVE A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE.
SO THOSE TWO CAME OUT SINCE I SENT THAT RECAP.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, ANY COMMENTS, QUESTIONS CONCERNED BEFORE WE GO TO THE AUDIENCE? ANY COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, THOUGHTS.
BEFORE WE GO TO THE AUDIENCE, I MADE THE REQUEST ON THE LAST ONE, WHICH WAS A FIVE TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS.
I LIKE TO LOOK AT IT AND SEE IF WE CAN MOVE A FEW THINGS AROUND TO TWEAK IT SINCE YOU DID IT WITHOUT US BEING PRESENT.
ALL RIGHT, I'M GOING TO TURN THE STREETS OFF FOR THE MOMENT, JUST SO YOU CAN KIND OF SEE IT DID, UH, THAT WAS THE REQUEST IS TO TRY TO GET A, UH, A MINORITY PERCENT VOTING, A MINORITY PERCENTAGE IN, UH, DISTRICT EIGHT TO AROUND 52%, UH, WHICH YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN, THE, THE BLACK LABELS.
I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL CAN SEE, BUT THE AUDIENCE, THE BLACK BOXES HAVE THE DISTRICT NUMBER AT THE TOP, THE PER THE DEVIATION, WHICH IS WHETHER THEY HAVE BALANCED POPULATION WISE AS A PERCENTAGE FROM THE EXACT AVERAGE, UH, UP OR DOWN, UH, WE TRIED TO KEEP IT WITH THEM.
THE BOTTOM NUMBER IS YOUR TOTAL, UH, UH, BLACK POPULATION, NOT YOUR VOTING AGE POPULATION.
AND THOSE OF YOU IN THE AUDIENCE, IF YOU WANT TO WALK UP TO THE MAPS ON YOUR, ON THE ROLLS, IF YOU CAN'T SEE IT, FEEL FREE TO DO SO, IF YOU WANT TO WALK UP TO SEE CLOSER, YOU FEEL FREE TO DO SO MANY EPISODES.
SO, UH, IN DOING SO IT KIND OF CHANGED SOME OF THE CONFIGURATIONS, BUT I AM OPEN TO SEEING WHAT MIGHT WORK, UH, FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE.
LET ME, UH, PUT 1 54 BACK IN SIX.
LET'S PUT THAT IN 6, 1 54 GOES BACK AND JUST SICK WHERE WE HAVE TO DO 1 51 0 1 0 1, 1 0 4 AS
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WELL SINCE THIS.SO WE'LL HAVE TO EITHER FIND A WAY TO CONNECT IT, WHICH WOULD BE 1 52 TO 1 33.
OH, JUST, JUST PUT IT BACK, BUT GOING OFF NOW AND TWO, ONE AND 180 3, ALL OF THAT.
CAN YOU TAKE THAT OUT AND PUT THAT IN BY FIVE? IF IT MAKES SENSE.
I SEE WHAT IT DOES DO ONE AND 1 93.
WE'RE GOING TO ADD THAT BACK TO FIVE.
THE PLUS SEVEN, UH, SIX HAS A PLUS 5.5 AND EIGHT IS A LOAD OF MINUS 20% DEVIATION.
WHAT ABOUT IN 1 33? TAKE THAT.
WHAT IS THAT IN NOW? 1 33 RIGHT NOW IS IN SIX.
THAT PUTS A TWO, I MEAN SEVEN AT A MINUS TWO.
UH, SIX IS NOW AT A PLUS TWO, FIVE REMAINS.
EIGHT IS STILL AT A MINUS 28 IS OUT OF WET.
YEAH, WE GOT TO PICK UP 15%, SOMEWHERE.
UH, AND ONE 30, IF THAT'S NOT MOST HOUSE 1 37.
WHICH ONE WOULD YOU LOOKING AT? 3 24 ON 1 37.
LET'S JUST AS LONG AS IT'S NOT MOST OUT 3 24.
THAT'S GOING TO PUT THAT'S IN MR. HERTZ.
UH, WHAT ABOUT ONE 50 TO ONE 50 TO 1 52 GOING INTO EIGHT.
AND THAT THE EIGHT THAT BRINGS EIGHT, 10 MINUS 14, BRINGING SIX TO MINUS THREE.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT MAYBE 1 97 AND JUST LOOKING AT IT.
NO, STAY RIGHT THERE DOES 1 97 BRINGS THREE BACK INTO BALANCE AT A PLUS THREE, SIX AS A MINUS THREE, MINUS 10 TO NEED ABOUT FIVE A YEAR, TOTAL MINORITY PERCENTAGES.
NOW DOWN TO 48, WHERE IS, UH, WHAT'S ANOTHER OPTION AT ONE POINT.
LET ME PUT YOUR MAJORITY OF MINORITY BOX UP.
THAT'S THE AREAS THAT ARE SHADED.
LET ME TAKE THE, UH, THE LABELS OFF.
THE AREAS THAT ARE SHADED OF THOSE CENSUS BLOCKS THAT HAVE MORE BLACKS THAN WHITES LIVING INSIDE, IT KIND OF GIVES YOU A GUIDE FROM THE ORIGINAL, UH, YOU'VE GOT THREE 12 THAT WOULD COME OUT OF FOUR.
THAT LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOT A MINORITY POPULATION PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THAT THREE 12 IS GOING TO END UP CUTTING OFF ALL THE SOUTH END OF FOUR.
UH, 3 28, BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT HAS A VERY HIGH MINORITY PERCENTAGE, 180 9.
UH, NOT THIS LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE MAJORITY WHITE, 1 98 OUT OF THE SAME THING.
AND IT WOULD CUT 180 9 OFF FOUR.
SO, UM, WHEREAS NOW WE ARE CUT OFF HERE AS WE'RE LOOKING HERE.
NOW, ONCE WE TOOK 1 33 HERE AND PUTTING THE SEVEN, THIS BOTTOM PART OF SIX NOW IS NO LONGER CONTIGUOUS.
THAT'S THE PROBLEM I WAS RUNNING INTO WITH 1 33, THE WAY IT GOES ALL THE WAY ACROSS.
SO 1 33 PROBABLY WON'T BE ABLE TO STAY IN SEVEN OR WE'LL HAVE TO SWAP THOSE PRECINCTS AROUND, EITHER TAKE THEM OUT OF SIX AND PUT THEM IN EIGHT AND SEE WHAT THAT DOES.
AND THEN MAKE ADJUSTMENTS FROM THERE.
WHAT ABOUT ONE 50 TO PUT IT IN 6, 1 50 TO PUT IT INTO SIX.
IS THAT 1 52 RIGHT THERE I, 1 52 TWOS RIGHT THERE.
LET'S SEE WHAT IT DOES TO SICK.
THAT'S THE SAME LOOK I HAVE WHEN I'M WORKING.
I JUST WANT TO TRY TO MOVE IT AROUND.
IF ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO INCREASE MINORITY PARTICIPATION OR REPRESENTATION AND EIGHT FEEL
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FREE COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE GOING TO GO TO THE AUDIENCE MEMBERS, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO COME BACK TO US BECAUSE WE'LL HAVE MORE TIME.UH, WE'RE GOING TO START WITH, UH, DO WE HAVE ANY COMMENT BECAUSE SHEETS AND WE DON'T HAVE ANY SPEAKERS SHEETS.
WHEN YOU COME TO THE MIC, PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
SO ANYONE WHO IS WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE, PLEASE STEP FORWARD AT THIS TIME.
ANYONE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE, PLEASE.
AT THIS TIME, JUSTIN IS GOING TO RETRIEVE AT ANY THE SPEAKER, THE COMMENTS SHEET FOR THOSE WHO MAY HAVE FILLED ONE OUT, BUT WHILE WE'RE WAITING, IF YOU WANT TO COME FORWARD, PLEASE COME FORWARD AND STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I LIVE AT 25 32 BO COSH LAKE DRIVE.
FORGIVE THE PERSONAL REFERENCE, BUT I APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE AND YOUR WILLINGNESS TO STAND FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
I HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE IN WHAT YOU'RE FACING RIGHT NOW.
I WAS MAYOR OF A SMALL TOWN IN NORTH LOUISIANA AND SPENT 14 YEARS IN THE SENATE IN LOUISIANA.
SO I FACED LEGISLATIVE REINFORCING.
AS A TEST ON THE SIDE ON A, JUST A GENERAL OPINION, THE GERRYMANDERING THAT WE HAVE ALL SEEN FOR WHATEVER REASON, FOR A MULTITUDE OF REASONS, I THINK HAS BEEN A NET NEGATIVE TO THE, BOTH THE PEOPLE WHO SERVE THE PUBLIC BECAUSE THEY'RE DISTANT.
SO OFTEN FROM THE PEOPLE THEY SERVE SOMETIMES NOT REALLY KNOWING EXACTLY WHO THEY SERVE, AND IT CERTAINLY IS A NEGATIVE FOR THE PEOPLE THEY ELECT BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THAT COMMUNITY SPIRIT OFTEN AND CONNECTIVITY TO THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THAT DISTRICT.
I WOULD URGE YOU TO KEEP THAT IN MIND, AS YOU CONSIDER ON AGE DIRECT COMMENT, I'VE LOOKED AT THE MAPS, UH, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, I LIVE IN, UH, COUNCILMAN ADAMS DISTRICT AND THERE IS A HISTORIC CONNECTIVITY AROUND JEFFERSON HIGHWAY AND IT'S A CONTINUOUS COMPACT DISTRICT.
AND FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, I WOULD URGE YOU TO, UH, CHOOSE FOR A OR FOUR BAY THAT'S THAT'S IT.
I DO HAVE A COMMENT SHEET WHEN I'M GOING ON OF THOSE WHO SIGNED UP GAIL GATE, EMMY, MR.
I JUST WANTED TO RECOGNIZE SENATOR BARR.
I'M SECRETARY BORROW HIM FOR HIS SERVICE TO THE STATE OF LOUISIANA AND HIS LEGACY AND IN LOUISIANA SPORTSMAN PARADISE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO THANK HIM FOR HIS SERVICE AND AT THIS TIME WHILE OUR NEXT PERSON IS COMING FORWARD, I WANT TO RECOGNIZE OUR SBA ADMINISTRATOR FOR THIS REGION.
UH, MR. ED WOULD TELL JAMES AND OURS, A FAMILY COURT JUDGE, FORMER COUNSEL, MY DISTRICT FIVE, MS. ERICA GREEN.
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US TODAY.
YEAH, AND I LIVE AT 71 37 ANNABEL AVENUE, UH, AND 7 0 8 0 6.
GREW UP ON TULIP STREET AND KENMORE AVENUE, WALK TO SCHOOL AS OUR PARENTS USED TO SAY AND WENT ON TO LSU.
UH, I MOVED, UH, WITH SOUTH CENTRAL BELL NOW 18 T SEVERAL TIMES OUT OF TOWN, BUT THEN CAME BACK AND WAS ABLE TO LIVE HOME BACK HOME ON THE TISSUE, SWEETBRIAR AND ANABEL.
NOW FOR 21 PLUS YEARS IN OLD GOODWOOD, I AM A NEW MEMBER SINCE JANUARY OF THE GOODWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS BOARD AND MY SERVICE AND MY RESIDENCIES THROUGHOUT THE YEARS OF BEING IN BATON ROUGE, UH, HAVE GIVEN ME A TOUCH OF THE VALUE OF COMMUNITY, OF INTEREST, BEING A SHARED INTEREST.
WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH UNDER COUNCILWOMAN ADAM'S LEADERSHIP AND LAMONT.
I BELIEVE YOU'VE GOT PART OF OUR GOODWOOD AREA THAT, UM, THE ABIDING SUBDIVISIONS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BATTLE THOSE COMMON INTERESTS, DRAINAGE.
WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THAT TRAFFIC.
HAVE YOU BEEN DOWN JEFFERSON HIGHWAY OR CONCRETE BOULEVARD, CRIME, YOU KNOW, AND ZONING.
SO WE ALL SHARE THAT INTEREST.
WE'VE ALL BATTLED TOGETHER FOR YEARS, MATT FOUR B IS THE ONE CLOSEST TO KEEPING US TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THAT BATTLE WITH A UNIFIED FRONT.
UM, WE HAVE THE SAME CONCERNS.
WE WANT TO KEEP THE SAME TWO COUNCIL PERSONS, AND WE CAN DO THAT WITH MATH OR B PLAN FOR B'S THE CLOSEST ONE TO MAINTAINING THE SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THE MAJORITY OF OUR ARE GOODWOOD PARTICULARLY, BUT CERTAINLY ARE A BUDDING SUBDIVISIONS
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OF PARA AT JEFFERSON PLACE.AND, UM, I THINK IT'S FOCACCIA LEGS.
AND SO, UH, THAT WOULD BE OUR INTEREST.
OUR ONLY INTEREST IS FOR B, PLEASE CONSIDER VOTING FOR IT.
I LIVE AT 86 16 MORTEL AVENUE AND I'M TERRACE UP DIVISION.
UM, GREW UP ON IN, UM, TERROR.
WELL, SHAUN DRIVE RIGHT NEXT TO TARA, I WENT TO TARA HIGH SCHOOL, MOVED AWAY, NEVER THOUGHT I'D COME BACK AND LIVE THERE.
MY PARENTS WERE STILL LIVING ON IN THAT SAME SUBDIVISION, DECIDED TO MOVE BACK AND IT'S THE BEST.
IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS I EVER MADE.
AND I'M SO GLAD I DIDN'T LISTEN TO MY DAD.
AND I CAME BACK, UM, UM, AM SUPPORTIVE PLAN BAIT FOR BAIT BECAUSE IT RETAINS THE COMMON INTERESTS, INTERESTS OF THE ADJACENT NEIGHBORHOODS OF DISTRICT 11 THAT HAD BEEN WORKING PROACTIVELY TOGETHER ON ISSUES.
UM, FOR YEARS, UM, AS A MEMBER OF THE CRIME PREVENTION BOARD AND TARA, I HAVE FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE ON THAT AND WE HAVE A VERY ACTIVE ASSOCIATION IN CRIME PREVENTION BOARD, UM, IN PARTICULAR WITH REGARDS TO CRIME PREVENTION, WHICH I JUST SAID, WHICH HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED SINCE OUR ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR CRIME DISTRICT.
AND IT NOT ONLY ENCOMPASSES TERROR, BUT IT HELPS THE NEIGHBORING SUBDIVISIONS ALSO BECAUSE WE WORK WITH THEM AND THEIR CRIME DISTRICTS.
IT ALSO HELPS US MONITOR NEW COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, UH, THAT ARE COMING UP AROUND US.
AND IT'S ALSO ENABLES US A QUICK RESPONSE TO NATURAL DISASTERS.
MOST RECENTLY, I THOUGH WHEN WE HAD THE AWFUL ISSUE OF HAVING BEEN OUT OF ELECTRICITY FOR SO LONG ON O'HARA HAMMOND HIGHWAY MAP FOR BE RETAINED TO THE PROVING, THE PROVEN SUCCESS OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS, WORKING TOGETHER FOR YEARS, THE PEOPLE OF DISTRICT 11 CHOOSE TO RESIDE THERE.
THEY CHOOSE TO RESIDE THERE BECAUSE OF BASED ON COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, ACTIVISM, AND THE LEADERSHIP, THEIR VOTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
WE NEED TO KEEP THE POWER WITH THE PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE OF DISTRICT 11 OR CHOOSING MAP FOUR B.
UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
MA'AM NEXT? WE HAVE RONNIE HARRIS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CHAIRMAN.
UH, MY NAME IS RONNIE AND I RESIDE AT 1135 CARTER AVENUE.
AND, UH, I SERVE AS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE GOODWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION.
AND SINCE PEOPLE ARE REVEALING THEIR LENGTH OF SERVICE OF, UH, LIVING IN GRA, UH, YOU CALL IT THAT, UH, LIVING IN BATON ROUGE, I'M A ROOKIE, I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE NINE YEARS.
AND THE ONE THING THAT I HAVE FOUND IN THOSE NINE YEARS BECAUSE OF MY INTEREST IN GOVERNMENT IS THAT OUR DISTRICT COUNCIL PEOPLE HAVE BEEN VERY RESPONSIVE TO OUR NEEDS, BUT IT'S NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT WE'RE GOODWOOD IS BECAUSE THE DISTRICT THAT IS REPRESENTS OUR AREA HAS CERTAIN COMMONALITIES.
AND OF COURSE, YOU'LL HEAR THE SPEAKERS SAY THAT BECAUSE IT'S TRUE IN, IN WORKING WITH THE VARIOUS AREAS OF, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, ZONING AND BLIGHT.
THESE ARE THE CONCERNS THE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION IS CONCERNED WITH.
WE WANT TO PROTECT THOSE PROPERTY VALUES.
WE WANT TO WORK WITH THE COUNCIL, BUT AS YOU KNOW, IT'S A LOT EASIER TO WORK WITH ONE OR TWO, BUT WHEN IT GETS PAST THAT NUMBER AND PLUS, IF THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND OUR DISTRICT IN OUR NEEDS, IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT AND GOVERNMENT STOPS.
AND THAT'S WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR ELECTED POSITION, THE ABILITY TO DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, AS FAR AS SELECTING THE DISTRICT LINES, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT'S THE VOTERS THAT ARE CONCERNED WITH THEIR FUTURE FOR THE NEXT DECADE, BECAUSE THAT'S THE DECISION THAT YOU MAY VERY WELL POSSIBLY MAKE TODAY.
THE GPOA SUPPORTS PLAY IN FOUR B.
I SENT LETTERS TO YOU INDIVIDUALLY FROM SPEAKING AS AN INDIVIDUAL TO YOU THIS MORNING, BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS SO FAST MOVING AND WENT FROM FOUR 80 TO FOUR B WITHOUT, UH, MUCH, UH, YOU KNOW, KNOWLEDGE BY, BY FOLKS OUT IN THE COMMUNITY.
BUT THE UNDERSTANDING WHAT OUR NEEDS ARE IN THE FUTURE, WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU AS A METRO COUNCIL TO MAKE BATON ROUGE, PROGRESSIVE, KEEP OUR NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER.
LET'S CONTINUE WORKING COOPERATIVELY IN THE FUTURE AND BELIEVE ME, I'M VERY PROUD TO LIVE IN BATON ROUGE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT I'VE ENJOYED FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS AND NINE 10 DOING, KEEP ON DOING THAT FOR A LONG TIME TO COME, BUT WE ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT
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FOR PLAN B.THANK YOU VERY MUCH NEXT WEEK.
NOW I'M GONNA GET MYSELF IN TROUBLE, BUT MR. HARRIS IS A FORMER MAYOR OF GRETNA AND HEADED THE LOUISIANA MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.
SO ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE HIM FOR HIS SERVICE.
I PROMISE I WON'T RECOGNIZE EVERY SPEAKER.
I LIVE AT 180 7 ROSE NEATH AND TERRA NEIGHBORHOOD.
UH, I AM THE CHAIR OF THE TERRA CRIME DISTRICT.
AND, UH, AND ASKING YOU TO CONSIDER MAPS, UH, FOUR B UH, WHEN, WHEN WE LOOK AT FOUR B, UH, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IT MAKES ADJUSTMENTS FOR POPULATION, UH, CHANGE.
IT ALSO, UH, WORKS TO KEEP COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST TOGETHER AND THE COMPACTNESS OF, UH, INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS, UM, NOT ONLY, OR DISTRICT 11, WHICH I LIVE IN, BUT FOR MANY OF THE, UH, OF THE DISTRICTS, MAYBE FOR ALL OF THEM AS AN EXAMPLE, AND SEVERAL OF THE PROPOSALS, UH, THE OTHER PROPOSALS, TARA HAS BEEN CARVED OUT AND SEPARATED FROM DISTRICT 11.
AND IN THOSE DISTRICTS, THE DISTRICT LEVEL, AS YOU'VE HEARD BEFORE WE SHARE COMMON INTERESTS, AND WE'VE SHARED THOSE COMMON INTERESTS FOR OVER 20 YEARS.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAST TWO SENTENCES, YOU CAN SEE THAT, BUT IT ACTUALLY GOES BACK FURTHER THAN THAT.
UM, WE SHARE THE COMMON BOUNDARIES OF OLD HAMMOND HIGHWAY AND JEFFERSON HIGHWAY, AND WE'VE WORKED TOGETHER, UH, TO HELP ESTABLISH, AS YOU'VE HEARD EVERYTHING FROM CRIME DISTRICTS TO AN EXAMPLE LAST YEAR AFTER HURRICANE IDA, UH, WE LOST POWER FOR NINE DAYS, AND THAT WAS BECAUSE TREES FELL DOWN ALONG THE OLD HAMMOND HIGHWAY.
IT TOOK OUT THE MAJOR DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSMISSION LINES, NOT ONLY FOR DISTRICT 11, BUT FOR MAJOR PARTS OF THE CITY.
SO IN RESPONSE, A NEIGHBORHOOD RESPONSE, WE CREATED OPERATION PRUNING FOR POWER.
WE DIDN'T ASK FOR, UH, FOR METRO COUNCIL SUPPORT.
WE, AS NEIGHBORHOODS CAME TOGETHER, WE WENT TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
UH, WE WENT TO BRECK AND WE ARE W WE ARE NOW WORKING TOGETHER TO REMOVE THOSE TREES THAT ARE DANGEROUS TO THOSE POWER LINES AND NOT ONLY PREVENT POWER LOSS FROM WITHIN OUR DISTRICT, OUR CONTINUOUS CONTIGUOUS NEIGHBORHOODS, BUT FROM OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS AND OTHER IN OTHER DISTRICTS.
SO THAT'S A GREAT EXAMPLE OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE COMMON INTERESTS WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS. SO, UM, AS A PAST PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERATION OF CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS, MOST NEIGHBORHOODS, PRIMARY CONCERN IS MAINTAINING THEIR STRONG VOICE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS IN THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.
AND W I'VE SEEN THAT, UM, MANY YEARS IN MANY DIFFERENT DISTRICTS DISTRICTS, UH, AS THE FEDERATION REPRESENTS NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE PARISH.
SO WHAT, WHAT WE SEE IN LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT MAPS, UH, THAT, UH, MATT FORT B IS THE BAT THAT, THAT IN OUR OPINION, BEST CONSIDERS ALL THOSE INTERESTS, THE COMMON INTEREST OF NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGHOUT THE PARISH.
SO WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU TO, UH, CONSIDER MAP FOUR B AS, AS THE MAP FOR THE PARISH.
I'M BARRY MEIER, 68 85 SHEFFIELD AVENUE AND SEVEN EIGHT ON SIX.
AND THAT GOODWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION AREA.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO YOU.
AND I WILL TRY TO KEEP MY COMMENTS UNDER THREE MINUTES AND CAN GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET SOMEBODY ELSE ONTO THE, ONTO THE PODIUM.
I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON NOT JUST ON BEHALF OF THE GOODWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, NOT JUST ON BEHALF OF THE AREA WHERE I LIVE, BUT ON BEHALF OF THE PARISH AND THE CITY AS A WHOLE, UM, WE ARE FACING CHALLENGING TIMES IN TERMS OF, UM, TRAGIC SITUATIONS, MURDERS, UM, AND A VARIETY OF DIFFICULTIES THAT HAVE PRETTY MUCH FORCED US TO FIND WAYS TO BRING NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER.
WHEN WE FIRST MOVED HERE, UH, IN 1978 AND THE BATON ROUGE POWERHOUSE WAS AN AD JUST OFF OF EVANGELINE AND FOSTER.
AND WE SAW THAT OUR LITTLE SMALL ENCLAVE THERE WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF CONTINUITY OF INTEREST.
UH, AND WE HELPED EACH OTHER AS NEIGHBORS, UH, DEAL WITH SOME PRETTY SIGNIFICANT ISSUES, UM, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, UH, AND TO SAY THE LEAST AS WELL AS TRUANCY, BUT THAT TOOK THAT COHESIVENESS OF THAT, THAT SMALL AREA RIGHT UP THERE BY FOSTER AND EVANGELIST TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
AND IF WE FOUND THE SAME THING, WHEN
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WE MOVED INTO THE GOODWILL PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, IS THAT THE NEIGHBORS BANDED TOGETHER AND THEY ABANDONED TOGETHER NOT JUST ABOUT ROADS OR DRAINAGE, UM, BUT ABOUT EACH OTHER AND SHARE THOSE COMMON INTERESTS THAT BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER.SOME OF THE DISTRICTS THAT ARE GOING TO BE AFFECTED, GO BACK, YOU KNOW, DECADES, BUT THE GOODWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ALMOST 70, 80 YEARS.
UH, SOME OF THE FOLKS, MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR IS BORN AND RAISED THERE.
UM, IN 1934 WHEN HER PARENTS MOVED THERE.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF HISTORY HAD PLAY, BUT WHAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT MOST IS THAT WE'RE AT A TIME WHEN THE CITY AND THE PARISHES GROWTH, THAT WE NEED TO FIND MORE AREAS OF INTEREST AND MORE NEIGHBORHOODS OF COMMON GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS RATHER THAN TEAR APART.
THOSE THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN PLACE AND HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL IN WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THEIR NEIGHBORS, NOT JUST IN THEIR OWN DISTRICT OR PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION IS IT MAY BE, BUT THOSE AROUND THEM.
SO, YOU KNOW, ALL THE AREAS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY ALL THE, THE OPTIONS OTHER, OTHER THAN FOUR B I THINK WOULD BE DECIMATED, DECIMATE THE VERY HEART OF THE PARISH.
SO I GUESS I'LL LEAVE A SAYING FIRST DO NO HARM.
THANK YOU FOR OUR CITY PARISH AS A BODY.
AND AT THE HEART OF THAT BODY, IS THAT THE CORE AND THAT CORE IS, UH, SOME OF THE AREAS THAT WOULD BE MOST IMPACTED BY ANY OF THE OTHER OPTIONS OTHER THAN MATH FOUR P SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND I WILL STOP.
NEXT WE'LL HEAR FROM EUGENE COLLINS, LOCAL CHAPTER PRESIDENT OF AACP.
THANK YOU, SIR, FOR YOUR SERVICE.
HOW Y'ALL DOING TODAY? MY NAME IS EUGENE COLLINS, PRESIDENT OF NAACP HERE IN BATON ROUGE, 9 24, FRENCH STREET, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, 7,800 TO DO THE WHITE FLIGHT.
WHEN MANY PEOPLE MOVE TO ASCENSION PARISH AND LIVINGSTON PARISH, THE 2020 CENSUS SHOWED THAT EAST BATON ROUGE IS NOW MAJORITY BLACK AND 46% BY WHITE PEOPLE OR 42% OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.
IN OUR OPINION THAT THE NAACP UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD BLACK PEOPLE BE THE MAJORITY IN THIS PARISH, BUT HAVING MINORITY REPRESENTATION THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN ANYWHERE.
OUR GREAT COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON THE THEME OF NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
THIS TOWN IS MOSTLY AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
OUR COUNCIL SHOULD REFLECT THE SAME, AND I'VE HEARD SOME FOLKS GET UP HERE TODAY AND TALK ABOUT NOT TAKING THINGS APART.
THE LACK OF REPRESENTATION HAS TOURED MY COMMUNITY APART FOR DECADES NOW, AND WE HOPE TO EVER BRING THOSE THINGS BACK TOGETHER.
IN MY OPINION, IT'S WHAT THEY COUNSELED THAT IS REFLECTIVE OF THIS POPULATION THAT LIVES IN THAT CITY.
ANYTHING ELSE LEAVING THESE COUNCIL CHAMBERS THE DAY COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I FEEL THAT YOU'LL BE A PART OF THE OPPRESSIVE HISTORY OF THIS CITY.
IF WE DON'T LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE, WE DON'T LISTEN TO THE NUMBERS.
WE DON'T LISTEN TO THE DATA WE'RE WALKING OUT OF HERE, AND WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT THIS BODY HAS DONE SINCE THE LATE FIFTIES.
I URGE YOU TO LOOK DIFFERENTLY, AND IF NOT, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THIS CITY IS LOOKING AT LITIGATION.
WHY SPEND THAT MONEY? THAT MONEY WHEN THE NUMBERS ARE CLEAR, HIS BODY SHOULD BE REPRESENTATIVE BY MOSTLY AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
AND TODAY WE STAND IN SUPPORT OF MAP SEVEN EIGHT.
NEXT WE'LL HEAR FROM JARRETT LUNAR.
I LIVE AT 1 5 3 3 5 7 PINES, UM, AVENUE THAT'S DISTRICT NINE, BUT I'M NOT HERE TO REPRESENT DISTRICT NINE.
I'M HERE TO REPRESENT, UH, THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY.
UM, IT'S NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND, AND IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG TO EXPLAIN.
UH, I KEEP HEARING ABOUT HISTORY AND, UH, YOU KNOW, PROTECTING THE HISTORY OF THE CITY, BUT THE CITY IS NOW A MAJORITY BLACK.
UM, ANY MAP CHOSEN THAT OPPOSES THIS AS A SLAP IN THE FACE OF THIS COMMUNITY AND THIS HISTORY THAT YOU SUPPORT, UH, ANY MAP THAT SUPPORTS A WHITE MAJORITY AS AKIN TO POST RECONSTRUCTION TACTICS AND JIM CROW LAWS.
UH, I HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION, BUT LIKE PRESIDENT COLLINS STATED IF YOU DO NOT, WE WILL, UH, CONTINUE THIS FIGHT.
NEXT MOVER HERE FROM LAEL MONTGOMERY COUNCIL MEMBERS, ZACHARY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, SIR.
[00:30:04]
GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE.AND THANK Y'ALL FOR Y'ALL SERVICE AS WELL.
UM, MY NAME IS LEIA MONTGOMERY, 59 74.
HE SAID TO AVE EXACTLY WHAT LOUISIANA, UM, EXACTLY.
WE WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET THE NUMBERS RIGHT, AND TO GET OUR REDISTRICT IN, RIGHT, WITHOUT GOING TO COURT, WE HAD A UNANIMOUS VOTE.
FIVE OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTED FOR THE RIGHT THING.
SO WHEN DEALING WITH MATHEMATICS, IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES AND YOU JUST SEE THE NUMBERS AND THE DEMOGRAPHICS, YOU COME UP WITH 46% BLACK, 42% WHITE RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE SEVEN WHITE REPUBLICAN DISTRICTS, AND THERE WAS FIVE BLACK DEMOCRATIC DISTRICTS.
WHAT I ASKED EACH COUNCIL MEMBER TO DO IS TO GO WITH THE FACTS, GO WITH THE NUMBERS.
THE NUMBERS SUPPORT AT LEAST 66, IF NOT A 75 ON THE BLACK SIDE.
SO I SUGGEST THAT Y'ALL DO WAS RIGHTEOUS.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON IN LOUISIANA FROM THE LEGISLATURE TO THE SENATE.
IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYBODY'S READING PAGES OUT THE SAME PLAYBOOK, THE SAME RACIST, OPPRESSIVE PLAYBOOK THAT HAS HELD BLACK PEOPLE DOWN FOR YEARS.
SO I'M ASKING Y'ALL AS A, AS A MEMBER OF DISTRICT ONE, WHICH IS BRAND NEW FEET.
WHAT'S UP, BRANDON, HOW YOU DOING, MAN? I'M ASKING Y'ALL TO DO THE RIGHTEOUS NAME.
I'M SURE ALL Y'ALL GO TO CHURCH.
I'M SURE ALL Y'ALL PRAY TO GOD.
AND I JUST HOPE THAT Y'ALL PRAY TO THE SAME GOD THAT WE PRAY TO HIM.
SO I'M ASKING Y'ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS TODAY, BESIDES YOUR HEART AND DO WHAT'S RIGHT.
THESE NUMBERS SUPPORT AT LEAST 6, 6, 7, 5 ON THE BLACK SIDE.
SO I'M ASKING Y'ALL TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT.
PLEASE FIND THEM WITHIN YOUR HEART TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT BOX.
POLAR, WE'LL TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE I WAS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, DORIS LANDIS.
THANK YOU FOR COMING OUT, SIR.
OH, AND ALSO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF 100 BLACK.
I'M A LIFELONG RESIDENT OF BATON ROUGE AND I LIVE AT 79 20 WAYSIDE DRIVE, WHICH IS OFF OF OLD HAMMOND NEAR TOWN CENTER.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL WITH REGARD TO THE REDISTRICTING OF DISTRICT 11.
WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SINCE THAT THE ONLY OUTLET TO OUR STREET IS ON OLD HAMMOND.
WE FREQUENTLY WALKED DOWN TO THE TERRA NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND SO WE AREN'T ON SUCH A BUSY, STRAIGHT.
WE LIKE TO GET OFF OF OLD HAMMOND HIGHWAY.
IF WE DON'T GO THAT WAY, WE WALK TO THE WONDERFUL BIKE PATH AND WALKING PATH.
THAT'S, UH, THAT'S ON SEVEN OAKS.
MANY OF MY NEIGHBORS ALSO DO THE SAME THING BEING SO CLOSE TO
WE HAVE WALKING ACCESS TO SHOPS, GROCERY STORES AND RESTAURANTS.
THAT IS THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY THAT MAKES HER AREAS SO DESIRABLE AND WHY WE ENJOY IT SO MUCH.
IT IS TRULY A WALKABLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
SINCE WE MOVED TO THIS PART OF TOWN IN 2013, WE QUICKLY REALIZED THAT OUR CYNDI COUNCIL MEMBER WAS AN IMPORTANT CONTACT TO HAVE, AND THAT A WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT PERSON WAS VITALLY IMPORTANT.
MATT WATSON WAS ALWAYS RESPONSIVE TO OUR NEEDS.
AND WHEN MATT WATSON WAS REPLACED BY LORI ADAMS, THAT INTERACTION ONLY IMPROVED.
LET ME GIVE YOU A QUICK EXAMPLE.
WHEN WE WERE OUT OF TOWN VISITING OUR SON AT THE END THANKSGIVING OF 2020, WE HAD A CALL FROM A NEIGHBOR WHO TOLD US THAT THE STREET, THE WATER WAS FILLING OUR STREET IN FRONT OF OUR HOME.
AND THEY HAD CALLED THAT PROBLEM INTO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS.
WHEN WE RETURNED FROM OUR TRIP, UH, THE PROBLEM PERSISTED FOR MONTHS WITH RAINWATER, FILLING THE INTERSECTION IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE TO ADAPT THE SEVERAL FEET SUBSEQUENT CALLS TO DPW AND CONTACTING 3, 1, 1, SENDING PHOTOS OF THE FLOODING DID NO GOOD.
UH, OUR CALLS ONE ANSWERED FOR NINE MONTHS IN AN UNRELATED DISCUSSION WITH COUNCILMAN ADAMS. WE'D MENTIONED THE PROBLEM WITHIN THREE DAYS, HEY, VACUUM TRUCK ARRIVED.
AND THE DRAINS ON BOTH SIDES WERE CLEANED.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD KNOWS LAURIE, WHO WE CAN DEPEND ON HER, TAKE CARE OF OUR PROBLEMS
[00:35:01]
AND HELP PROVIDE SOLUTIONS.SHE REGULARLY ATTENDS OUR GOODWOOD PROPERTY OWNERS, ASSOCIATION MEETINGS, COMMUNITY EVENTS, AND WORKS TIRELESSLY.
WHEN MY WIFE AND FRIENDS STARTED A LITTER PICKUP AND COMMUNITY AWARENESS GROUP.
LAST YEAR, THE FIRST CLEANUP WAS AT THE CORNER OF JEFFERSON HIGHWAY AND S AND LANE.
I SKIPPED IT? WE, UH, WE CAN ALL AGREE THE NECESSARY, BUT TECH BY SACRIFICING OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CONTINUITY WOULD NOT BE THE RESULT WITH THAT.
IN MIND, I ASK EACH COUNCIL MEMBER TO THE VOTE TO ACCEPT MAP FOUR B.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, RIGHT ON TIME.
NEXT WE'RE GOING TO HEAR FROM ROBERT BOREHAM.
I WANT TO RECOGNIZE OUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE VANESSA FLOOR JUST STEPPED DOWN.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS OR FORMER ELECTED OFFICIALS HERE? SO WE GET EVERYBODY AT THE SAME TIME.
ANY OTHER ELECTED, UH, FOR ME, ELECTED OFFICIALS RECOGNIZE YOU RIGHT NOW AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SERVICE.
UH, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO COME UP AND SPEAK AT THIS TIME? OH, WE'RE RECOGNIZED YOU CALL YOU DO COME ON DOWN.
STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
JAMES
LET ME READ YOU SOME NUMBERS TO SUPPORT WHAT YOU JANE COLLIN SAID.
THERE ARE IN THIS PARISH, YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE NOTES BASED ON THE 2020 CENSUS, A MATH TEACHER.
THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION IS 191,355.
MR. COLLINS MENTIONED THE ANY PART BLACK POPULATION IS 211,429.
THAT LEAVES ANOTHER 53,997 THAT ARE NEITHER ONE RACE, WHITE NON-HISPANIC NOR ANY PART BLACK, HISPANIC OR NOT.
BUT THE POINT IS THERE ARE 46% PEOPLE THAT ARE CLASSIFIED AS BLACK, 42% CLASSIFIED AS WHITE.
THE FACT THAT YOU ARE SERIOUSLY ENTERTAINING, PLAT PASSING THE MAP THAT HAS FIVE MAJORITY WHITE DISTRICTS IS ASININE.
IT SUGGESTS YOU HAVE HAD A COMPLETE FAILURE IN THIS WHOLE PROCESS.
IF PEOPLE AT THIS STAGE ARE DEFENDING, KEEPING THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER, YOU MAY AS WELL JUST ABANDON THE WHOLE PROCESS, START OVER OR PASS A FAKE MAP.
SEE MISS, MAKE THE DEADLINE, AND THEN LET'S DO THE REAL REDISTRICTING.
SO LET ME LOOK AT THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT I FOUND ON YOUR WEBSITE A MOMENT AGO FOR THIS MAP FOR B, SORRY.
I HATE DOING THIS ON MY PHONE, BUT IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY MAPS OR DEMOGRAPHIC POSTERS IN THE ROOM, THIS WAS MY ONLY CHOICE.
I AM LOOKING AT THE REGISTERED VOTER BLACK PERCENTS FROM APP FOUR B DISTRICT TWO 85% DISTRICT 5 91 0.3 60.2 FOR DISTRICT 6 66 0.7 FOR DISTRICT SEVEN AND 70.1 FOR DISTRICT NINE.
SO THAT MAY BE GREAT FOR THE BLACK INCUMBENTS BECAUSE THEY HAVE COMFORTABLE BLACK MAJORITIES, BUT IT ABSOLUTELY SUCKS FOR THEIR CONSTITUENTS.
SO UNLESS YOU HAVE THE POLITICAL ABILITY TO COME UP WITH A MAP AND GET YOUR COLLEAGUES TO VOTE FOR IT, QUIT NOW, LET'S GET SOMEBODY ELSE IN OFFICE.
THE SCHOOL BOARD DIDN'T BELIEVE ANYBODY WOULD SUE WHEN THEY BROKE THE LAW.
GUESS WHAT? SEVERAL OF US SUED AND WE'RE GOING TO WIN AND THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PASS A LEGAL PLAN.
I WILL SUE YOU IF YOU VIOLATE THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, BUT I HOPE SOMEBODY DOES.
IT TELLS THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT BATON ROUGE HASN'T MADE IT OUT OF THE 1950S.
GET A GRIP, DROP FOUR B ABANDONED, ANY PLANS THAT DON'T HAVE AT LEAST SIX SOLID MAJORITY BLACK DISTRICTS DO YOUR JOBS.
CAN ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEMS? COME DOWN, COME ON DOWN AND STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
AND I WASN'T GOING TO SPEAK TODAY, BUT I'M AN OLD MAN.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE BY SOME OF THE YOUNGER PEOPLE ABOUT COLOR OF SKIN OVER 20 YEARS AGO.
WE ELECTED AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN IS MAYOR OF EAST BATON ROUGE, PARISH 68%
[00:40:01]
WHITE, 32% BLACK.SO WE HOPE THAT THAT TIME MAYBE THE COLA ISSUE WOULD STOP.
WHEN THE CURRENT MAYOR WAS ELECTED.
WE WERE ALL, I THINK I PICKED FROM CORRECT ABOUT 52% WHITE, 48% MINORITY.
I WANT TO SHARE A STORY THAT I SHARED WITH MY NEIGHBOR, WHO IS PASTOR RONNIE WILLIAMS. NOW HE LIVES IN OUR SUBDIVISION.
HE WON'T COMMENT BACK WHEN COLIN KAEPERNICK TOOK A KNEE, I AM A VETERAN, CAME HOME FROM THE MILITARY.
FRIENDS OF MINE WERE BROUGHT HOME IN COFFINS WITH THE THRIVE DRAPED AROUND THEIR COFFIN.
AND THEN TALKING TO RONNIE, I TOLD HIM, I SAID, ONE DAY AFTER ABOUT A YEAR I WOKE UP AND I TOLD MY WIFE, I SAID, I'D LIKE TO GO BACK DOWN TO NORTH BATON ROUGE, WHERE WE WENT TO CHURCH FOR 50 YEARS.
CURRENTLY, WE WERE GOING TO CHURCH AT OUR LADY OF MERCY.
WE WAS GETTING DRESSED FOR CHURCH.
AND I SAID, I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO MY ROOTS NORTH BATON ROUGE, GO TO CHURCH.
SO SHE SAID, OKAY, LET'S GO, BUT LET'S GO FAST.
NOW YOU CAN BE EARLY AT CHURCH WITH MY WIFE, BUT YOU'RE NOT LATE.
AND WHEN WE ARRIVED, BUT 50 YEARS, WE SAT ON THE END OF THE SECOND OR THIRD ROW OF THE CHURCH WITH OUR CHILDREN.
AND WHEN WE ARRIVED, CHURCH WAS STARTING AND THERE WERE ONLY TWO SEATS AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE SECOND ROW.
AND WE SAT DOWN AFTER THE SERVICE WAS OVER, WE WALKED OUTSIDE AND WE WERE MEETING WITH ALL OF OUR FRIENDS, TALKING WITH PRIEST.
WE SAW A YOUNG MAN WALKING DOWN, THOMAS SCHROLL THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE FAMILIAR WITH THOMAS ROAD? NO THERE'S DITCHES.
HE WAS WALKING DOWN THOMAS ROAD AND HE HAD A BAG IN HIS HAND, LOOKED LIKE HIS CLOTHES.
AND HE TURNED AND HE WALKED UP THE DRIVEWAY OF THE 30 SECONDS.
HE WALKED UP, THE DRIVEWAY OF THE CHURCH, WALKED THROUGH THE CROWD AND HE WALKED UP TO ME AND I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE.
HE HANDED ME A NEATLY, FOLDED $1 BILL.
AND HE SAID, I WANT YOU TO GIVE THIS TO GOD.
AND HE TURNED AROUND AND HE WALKED OFF THIS YOUNG AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEAD HAIR DOWN BELOW HIS SHOULDERS, LOOKED LIKE HE WAS IN HIS THIRTIES.
AND WHEN HE TURNED HIM WALK OFF, MY HEART CHANGED.
AND I UNDERSTOOD WHY COLIN KAEPERNICK TOOK THE KNEE BECAUSE THOSE PEOPLE THAT CAME HOME IN THE COFFINS FAULT.
SO HOW WAS IT PEACE THAT YOUNG MAN HAS NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE, AND THAT'S BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF, TWO YEARS AGO.
IS THERE ANYWHERE ELSE WISHING TO SPEAK ON THE ITEM? COME ON DOWN, HOLD UP, PASTOR.
I'M CHARLES
I DON'T HAVE AN OPINION ON ANY OF THE OPTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED.
THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNICAL ISSUES, YOU KNOW, ON THOSE IT'S YOU FOLKS HAVE DONE A LOT OF STUDY ON THIS.
UH, BUT I HAD A BRIEF MEETING YEAH.
THIS MORNING WITH OUR MAYOR AND WE WOULD TALK.
AND WHEN SOMEONE WHO SEES HERSELF AS REPRESENTING ALL THE PEOPLE OF BATON ROUGE AND SAID, YEAH, ISN'T THAT HOW IT OUGHT TO BE THAT EACH MEMBER OF OUR COUNCIL CAN FEEL THAT THEY HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE PEOPLE IN THIS PARISH AND REPRESENT ALL THE PEOPLE.
AND I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE IT'S KIND OF IDEALISM, BUT Y'ALL LOOK, I LISTENED TO THE 46 AND 42, AND THEN THERE'S 12%.
AND I'M SAYING, WELL, THOSE 12% DON'T HAVE ANYBODY TO REPRESENT THEM BECAUSE THERE'S NONE OF YOU FOLKS ARE IN THIS 12%.
UM, SO YEAH, I KNOW IT'S NOT POSSIBLE.
I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD REASONS FOR COHESION OF NEIGHBORHOODS, WITH COMMON INTEREST AT ALL.
BUT GOSH, IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF EVERY DISTRICT IN BATON ROUGE WAS 46, 42 AND 12, AND THAT EVERY MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL AND AUDIT TO GET ELECTED WOULD HAVE TO APPEAL TO THE INTERESTS OF PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T LOOK JUST LIKE HIM, BUT HAD TO APPEAL WHETHER WE WERE BLACK.
YOU KNOW WHY? AND I'M REFLECTING ON THE MANY TIMES THAT WE'VE COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL ON ISSUES OF
[00:45:01]
PLANNING AND SONY.AND WE HAVE GOTTEN ACTUALLY AT LEAST AS MUCH SUPPORT BLACK MEMBERS OF COUNCIL AS WE HAVE FROM WHITE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
AND THAT IS TELLING ME THAT THEY ARE PEOPLE WHO CAN LOOK AT EVERYBODY IN THE PARISH AND THINK THAT THEY HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO REPRESENT EVERYONE.
AND OF COURSE YOU GUYS HAVE THE SAME ISSUE THAT WE HAVE IN OUR COUNTRY AS A WHOLE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT HALF THE COUNTRY HATES THE OTHER HALF OF THE COUNTRY TO THE DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS AND EVERYBODY'S ARRANGING THINGS SO THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANY ATTENTION TO ANYBODY WHO IS DIFFERENT THAN THEY ARE.
SO YOU GUYS GOT A REALLY TOUGH JOB.
I DON'T HAVE ANY SUGGESTION ON HOW TO SOLVE IT, BUT GOSH, IT'D BE GOOD IF WE COULD ALL THINK OF OURSELVES AS RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING CARING ABOUT EVERYBODY, NOT JUST PEOPLE WHO LOOK JUST LIKE US.
JASON GILMORE, HAVING AN ADDRESS AT 1, 2 8, 2 1 FAIRWOOD COURT, UM, I'VE BEEN CONNECTED TO THIS COUNCIL AND LEADERS OF THIS PARISH FOR DECADES, UH, FROM SERVING ON THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION TO THE PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITY, UM, AND MANY OTHER BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS EVEN SERVED AS THE ASSISTANT CAO FOR A BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME.
AND, UH, ONE THING I CAN SAY THAT IS MOST DISAPPOINTED ABOUT BEING A RESIDENT OF THIS PARISH, AS WELL AS SERVING IN MANY CAPACITIES OF THIS PARISH IS THE LACK OF EQUITY AND THE LACK OF REPRESENTATION.
WHEN IT COMES TO MINORITIES AND THEIR NEEDS, I HAVE STOOD HERE.
I HAVE BEEN BEFORE MANY COUNCILS AND WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE URGENT THINGS TO BRING ABOUT EQUITY AND PROSPERITY FOR THOSE IN NORTH BATON ROUGE AND THOSE THAT ARE MINORITIES, WE FAIL MORE THAN WE SUCCEED.
IT'S THE BUSINESS AND IT'S SADNESS.
AND THOUGH I APPLAUD THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE UNITY AND COHESIVENESS.
I COME FROM NEIGHBORHOODS THAT STRUGGLE.
I COME FROM AREAS WHERE PEOPLE NEED REPRESENTATION.
AND UNFORTUNATELY FOR OVER 20 YEARS, AM I CONNECTING THIS TO THIS GOVERNMENT HERE IN EAST BATON ROUGE, PARISH, MINORITIES HAVE NOT BEEN CONNECTED.
WE'VE BEEN DISENFRANCHISED, WE'VE LEFT OUT AND WE'VE HAD TO FIGHT FOR EVERY SINGLE POLICY WORTHWHILE.
AND YES, WE'VE HAD SOME UTOPIAN EXPERIENCES WHERE REPUBLICANS WHO JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE WHITE WOULD WORK WITH US TO BRING ABOUT PROGRESS.
BUT THOSE FIGHTS, THOSE FIGHTS HAVE TORN US APART IN THIS PARISH.
AND NOW IS THE TIME FOR TRUE UNITY FOR REAL UNITY, FOR REAL CONNECTEDNESS AND BRINGING ABOUT EQUITY ON THIS COUNCIL SO THAT WE WON'T BE MAKING THE HEADLINES FOR BEING THE VISIT AND FOR BEING IN THE WRONG.
BUT THEN WE'RE MAKING THE HEADLINES FOR DOING WHAT'S RIGHT.
I DON'T WANT US TO GO TO COURT.
WE'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THAT HERE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.
LET'S JUST DO WHAT'S RIGHT NOW AND LET'S MOVE FORWARD IN THE SENSE OF UNITY AND UTOPIA.
I RESIDE IN 57 38 STRATFORD AVENUE, AND I REPRESENT PROPHETIC VOICES, A COALITION OF CONCERNED CLERGY.
I COME THIS AFTERNOON TO URGE YOU TO ADOPT A REDISTRICTING PLAN THAT ACCURATELY REFLECTS THE RACIAL MAKEUP OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.
SPECIFICALLY, I'M URGING YOU TO VOTE FOR SIX MAJORITY BLACK DISTRICT FOR THIS PARISH.
ACCORDING TO THE 2020 CENSUS EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH IS MAJORITY AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
SO IT FOLLOWS THAT THE METRO COUNCIL DISTRICTS SHOULD LOOK LIKE THE PARISH THAT IT SERVES TO DO LESS WOULD MEAN FAILING TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATION OF OUR CITIZENRY TO DO LESS WOULD SUGGEST THAT POLITICAL AND PERHAPS PERSONAL AGENDAS PREVAILED OVER FAIRNESS AND INTEGRITY, FAIR DISSERTATING WOULD BRING UNPRECEDENTED BALANCE TO THIS PARISHES.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH FAIR DISTRICT TEAM IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE FRESH PERSPECTIVES ON THE ISSUES THAT COME BEFORE THIS COUNCIL FAIR DISTRICTING WILL LIKELY HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON HOW CONTRACTS ARE AWARDED ON HOW SERVICES ARE RENDERED ON HOW MATTERS ARE GIVEN GREATEST PRIORITY.
I SUPPORT THE EFFORT OF COUNCILMAN DON AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL WHO ARE SIMPLY BUT FIRMLY DEMANDING EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION ON THIS COUNCIL.
I'M DISAPPOINTED THAT THEIR DESIRE FOR EQUITY AND FAIRNESS HAS BEEN MET BY OPPOSITION ON THE PART OF SOME AND A COMPLETE LACK OF ENTHUSIASM ON THE PART OF OTHERS TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR ALL
[00:50:01]
OF THESE BATON ROUGE PARISH.FAIRNESS IS SELDOM OFFERED BY THOSE WHO HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN UNFAIR.
IT MUST BE FOUGHT FOR IT MUST BE PRAYED FOR, WE ARE DOING THIS TODAY.
AS YOU VOTE TO SELECT THE BOUNDARIES OF THE METRO COUNCIL DISTRICTS, WE URGE YOU TO VOTE IN A MANNER THAT PROPERLY REPRESENTS THE CITIZENS OF THIS PARISH.
THAT WOULD BE SIX BLACK MAJORITY DISTRICTS.
ANYONE ELSE? WISHING TO SPEAK OF ITEM ONE.
ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE, FIRST NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD PLEASE? MA'AM MY NAME IS KATHERINE GRAY.
I RESIDE AT 29 45 CONGRESS BOULEVARD, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.
I HAD NOT INTENDED TO SAY ANYTHING TODAY.
I SENT MY PASTOR A NOTE SAYING THAT YEAH, WHEN I LISTEN TO WHATEVER BOTH SIDES HAVE TO SAY, CAUSE IT'S REALLY TWO SIDES.
I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR THOSE THAT REPRESENT THOSE THAT LIVE IN NEIGHBORHOODS THAT DON'T WANT THEM TO BE SPLIT BECAUSE THEY HAVE SUCH CONTINUITY THAT'S FEELINGS OF UNITY.
AND FOR THOSE THAT REPRESENT THEM, WHY IS IT THAT YOU THINK, OR MAYBE YOU JUST, WHY IS IT THAT YOU THINK THAT PUTTING YOU SOMEWHERE ELSE IS GONNA DISSOLVE THAT SENSE OF UNITY? WHY CAN'T YOU BRING THAT SENSE OF UNITY TO WHERE YOU'RE PUT, IF WE DECIDE ON HAVING SIX MINORITY BLACK UNITS AND THAT'S, THAT'S MY QUESTION.
ARE YOU SO WEAK THAT YOU THINK YOU CAN'T BRING UNITY TO THE PLACE THAT YOU MAY BE PLACED? I'VE LIVED IN A PLACE THAT I'VE HAVEN'T FELT REPRESENTED FOR QUITE A WHILE.
THAT'S DISTRICT 12, BUT I BRING A SENSE OF UNITY TO THE PEOPLE AROUND ME BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THEY CAN CALL ON ME FOR ISSUES THAT I MIGHT BE ABLE TO ADDRESS.
JUST THINK ABOUT IT AS YOU VOTE TODAY.
I COME TO YOU AS THAT AS THE NAACP STATE CONFERENCE PRESIDENT.
THAT'S ANOTHER THING, BUT AS A SYSTEM THAT'S BEEN IN BATON ROUGE, ABOUT 30, 40 YEARS, I'M A RESIDENT OF VILLA DEL RAY, PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE, UH, UH, DISTRICTS IN BATON ROUGE.
MY REPRESENTATIVE IS, UH, CLEVE DONE PROUD OF CLEAVE DONE.
IT WAS DONNA LEWIS AND PROUD OF HER.
WE HAD A, I CAN'T THINK OF THE YOUNG LADY'S NAME, UH, BUT IT WAS A WHITE LADY.
IT DIDN'T FALL OFF BECAUSE SHE MOVED OUT.
WE STILL HAD GOOD REPRESENTATION.
I PROBABLY FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, AS THE YOUNG LADY TALKED ABOUT, I BELIEVE TO HAVE A WHITE PERSON REPRESENT ME BECAUSE I LIVE IN A WHITE AREA.
THAT'S THAT'S NONSENSE, BYRON SHARP.
MY FRIEND REPRESENTED DISTRICT SEVEN.
HIS ERIC WENT FROM ALMOST LOCKED, BATON ROUGE TO SOUTH BATON ROUGE AND ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN HE'S.
HE USED TO HAVE A IN HUNDRED OAKS THOUSAND OAKS SOMEWHERE.
HE REPRESENTED IN PARK ERA JUST AS WELL AS HE DID THE ON THE AREA.
SO AS, AS, AS JANE FINISHED, IT'S ASININE FOR US TO BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER FOR ME TO KEEP SOME CONTINUITY, SOME CAN TAKE WITH IT.
BUT I THINK THE PERSON REALLY WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THE, KEEP SOME SECURITY AND NOT MY AREA.
I GOT TO BE REPRESENTED BY THE WHITE PERSON, BECAUSE IT WILL MAKE SURE THAT THE SHERIFF OR THE CHIEF RUN BAD GUYS OUT AND EVERYBODY WANTS SECURITY.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO GET THE SCHOOLS.
AND YOU ALL HAD AMAZON COME TO OUR DISTRICT.
IF I WAS GOING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT ANYTHING, WE TRAFFIC, BUT JOBS ARE IMPORTANT.
SO, SO I HAVE THERE, I I'VE BEEN A PART OF EBR FOR YEARS.
I'VE BEEN A PERIOD OF FIGHT FOR EQUITY.
SOMEBODY TO TRY TO APPEAL TO YOUR, YOUR CHRISTIAN BELIEFS, YOU AIN'T LISTENING.
SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING THAT WE UNDERSTAND AND BELIEVE IS IF SOMEBODY MESSED WITH OUR MONEY, GET YOUR MIND, RIGHT? IF SOMEBODY SUSAN, GET YOUR MIND, RIGHT? I PROMISE YOU.
I'VE BEEN A PART OF ALL, ALL OF THAT.
I CAN'T MESS WITH THE MONEY, BUT I CAN SUE YOU.
AND I PROMISE YOU, WE HAVE A HISTORY OF NOT ONLY BE SUING, BUT WINNING WHY ONE, WE HAVE A LOT ON OUR SIDE, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT SAYS THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD REAPPORTION A QUARTER TO THE LAW.
IT MEANS THAT ONE BLACK ONE, MAN, ONE VOTE.
I NEED TO BE REPRESENTED BY THAT.
BATON ROUGE MAKES BLACK FOLKS IN BATON ROUGE MAKE UP A BIGGER PART.
[00:55:01]
I THINK DR.JOHNSON WOULD TELL TIM IS WHEN THEY FORMED THIS FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
I WAS TELLING MY FRIENDS, WE SHOULDN'T DO A WAIT AND SEE THE PARISH GOVERNMENT GO BACK TO THE OLD WAY OF THINGS THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.
WE WOULD HAVE SEVEN, UH, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THAT REPRESENT US.
AND THEN YOU COULD HAVE 12 PARISH COUNCIL MEMBERS.
WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THE INNER CITY.
WE SHOULD GO THOUGH THAT, BUT SINCE WE DON'T, I PROMISE YOU THE BLACK KIDS AND THE WHITE KIDS PLAY, PLAY BETTER MUSIC TOGETHER.
WE CAN, WE CAN HIRE THIS OR WE CAN SAY, GO TO LSU AS ONE.
AND HOLLY YANG GO TIGERS VOTER SOUTHERN TO, YEAH, BUT WE DON'T WANT TO SHARE IN THE POWER OF THIS PARIS.
I'VE BEEN AT THE BOTTOM ALL DAY LONG.
NICE TIME FOR US TO RISE TO THE TOP.
TELL US YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
CAITLIN JOSHUA 48, 21 IN A SWELL ROAD.
UM, LAURIE ADAMS IS MY COUNCILPERSON.
UM, I'LL BE REALLY SHORT AND SWEET.
UM, I'M HERE REPRESENTING THE POWER COALITION AS THE LEAD ORGANIZER.
I'VE BEEN IN BATON ROUGE FOR 29 YEARS.
I LOVE HOW DIVERSE OUR PARISHES.
I CELEBRATE THAT AND I EMBRACE IT.
AND OUR GOVERNING BODIES SHOULD ALSO REFLECT THAT DIVERSITY IN THAT REPRESENTATION.
ADDITIONALLY, I WANTED TO POINT OUT WE'VE GOT SEVERAL REPRESENTATION, UH, REPRESENTATIVES, UM, THROUGHOUT OUR BALDRIDGE CHAPTER OF THE POWER COALITION HERE TODAY, I'M WEARING THEIR SHIRTS AND THEY HAVE BEEN, UM, IMMERSED IN THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS FROM THE BEGINNING, KNOCKING ON DOORS FOR THE LAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS, NOT JUST TO TALK ABOUT THE AUDITIONING PROCESS, BUT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF CENSUS, TRYING TO GET PEOPLE ENGAGED AND UNDERSTAND HOW THIS PROCESS WORKS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO BEEN ABLE TO DO SOME MASS MOBILIZATION VIA EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THAT HAS REALLY ENGAGED THE COMMUNITY.
AND WHAT WE'RE HEARING FROM OUR CONSTITUENTS IS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MAPS M AND A PASS TODAY.
UM, MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE KNOW THAT MAP SEVEN, A SATISFIED SATISFIES THE GOALS OF A 66 MAPS, SIX MAJORITY BLACK, SIX MONTHS, MAJORITY WHITE DISTRICTS, BUT ALSO SATISFIES THE, UM, SECTION TWO, A VOTING RIGHTS ACT, WHICH IS MOST IMPORTANT.
UM, SO WE ARE IMPLORING EVERYONE TODAY TO PLEASE VOTE FOR MAP SEVEN EIGHT SPECIFICALLY.
ANYONE ELSE WHO WISHES TO SPEAK ON ITEM ONE? COME ON DOWN.
IT'S NOMINAL ARE Y'ALL DOING TODAY.
I'M JOHNNY DOMINO GETAWAYS MEDIA.
I'M FROM HOSPITAL PLAZA, UH, HOUSING AUTHORITY.
I COME FROM NOTHING, BUT I WAS ABLE TO SELF-EDUCATE I HAVE A GED, RIGHT? I WAS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE COMPREHEND ENOUGH TO SELF-EDUCATE MYSELF, TO MOVE THROUGH DIFFERENT POSITIONS IN LIFE.
NOT ALL OF MY PEOPLE KNOW HOW AND CAN COMPREHEND.
WE HAVE LOW EDUCATION, SO THAT'S ABOUT THEM.
AND THEN IT COULD BE THINGS THAT'S VISIBLE ON CAMERA GOING ON WITH PEOPLE AND EVERYBODY COULD, THE WORLD COULD SEE US WRONG, BUT WE GOT A FIGHT.
WHAT W W WHAT WILL IT HURT? ALL WE WANT IS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A FAIR SHOT.
WE JUST ASKING FOR A FAIR SHOT.
AND I'M, I FEEL LIKE I FEEL BOTH SIDES, BUT I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE REAL CONCERN IS.
YOU SEE, I'M, I'M, I'M BLENDED UP.
I GOT CREOLE BLACK AND EVERYTHING UP IN ME.
SO GUESS WHAT? I LOVE ALL PEOPLE.
YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING? MY THING IS, IT'S BEEN TOO MANY DISPARITIES ON THE BLACK SIDE.
AND I'M GOING TO ALWAYS ROLL WITH MY PEOPLE BECAUSE I COME FROM NOTHING.
WHEN THE UPPER CLASS BLACKS LOOKED DOWN ON GHETTO KIDS, I LOOK, I TRIED TO FIGURE OUT HOW I CAN EDUCATE THEM WHEN Y'ALL SCARED TO DEAL WITH THEM.
I TRY TO FIND OUT A WAY TO HELP THEM.
BUT HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT? IF WE STUDY BATTLING OVER LITTLE MINUSCULE STUFF LIKE THIS, THIS IS NOTHING.
YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? BUT EVERYTHING WE GOT TO DO, WE GOT TO FIGHT FOR IT.
WHAT Y'ALL IS CALLED AUTOMATIC.
WHEN CERTAIN THINGS GO ON, IT'S JUST AUTOMATIC IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS.
SO WHAT I'M TRYING TO TELL Y'ALL IS TODAY, THE CITY THAT LOST ENOUGH FOR THE TAX PAYERS MONEY ON LAWSUITS.
WE GOT OTHER THINGS THAT WE CAN BE INVESTING THIS MONEY IN LIKE EDUCATION, BECAUSE OF EATING REMIND, GOING TO DO DUMB THINGS.
YOU CAN LOCK UP AS MANY OF THEM AS YOU CAN, BUT IF YOU DON'T START EDUCATE MORE OF THEM, YOU STILL GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM.
AND THEN THEY GOING TO BLEED OVER INTO YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS.
THIS IS ALL ABOUT PROBLEMS. NONE OF THIS IS JUST ONE PERSON PROBLEM.
YOUR PROBLEM, LIKE THE FENTANYL PROBLEM, THAT, THAT CAN'T BE JUST ONE SIDE THAT HAS TO BE BOTH SIDED.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING? WE BOTH WERE LOSING PEOPLE AND WE FORGET ABOUT HUMANS.
WE FORGET ABOUT THE HUMAN ASPECT.
LET'S, LET'S TRY TO, UH, END THE LITTLE, UH, BACK AND FORTH BATTLE BETWEEN THE RACIST HILL IN BETWEEN SEATS AND ALL THIS OTHER STUFF.
WHY NOT? SHOULDN'T YOU WANT BLACK PEOPLE TO HAVE AS MANY SEATS AS YOU HAVE.
I DON'T WANT YOU TO HAVE A FIVE.
Y'ALL MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION.
[01:00:01]
THANK YOU.WISHING TO SPEAK ON ITEMS. GOOD AFTERNOON.
MY NAME IS JACQUELINE GERMANY, AND I WORKED FOR THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE REPORTING GEARS.
SO I'VE SEEN A MINI COUNCIL MEMBERS TAKE THESE SIX.
I WORKED OUT OF THE COUNCIL ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE.
I WORKED OUT OF THE PUBLIC GOOD MEN'S PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE IDEALISTS.
SO I'VE BEEN AROUND FOR AWHILE.
BUT WHAT WE'RE ASKING YOU FOR TODAY IS TO BE FAIR, JUST TO FAIR MAPS, JUST DO THE RIGHT THING.
WE HAVE GOT TO STOP VOTING ALONG PARTY LINES AND DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THE CITIZENS OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.
I DIDN'T COME HERE TO SPEAK TODAY, BUT I'VE NEVER SHOT A WORD.
AND I'M NEVER AFRAID TO GET UP AND SAY WHAT I NEED TO SAY.
SO WE NEED YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU TO LISTEN TO WHAT WE ARE SAYING AND WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR, BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
IT'S JUST THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
SO WHEN YOU GO BACK AND YOU PONDER YOUR DECISION ABOUT YOUR HEART, ABOUT YOUR CONSCIOUS, BUT WHAT'S RIGHT.
NOT FOR YOU, NOT FOR INDIVIDUALS, BUT ALL OF THE CITIZENS OF THE TOBACCO.
I'M TIRED OF RIDING AROUND SEEING IMPROVEMENTS AND ONE SECTION OF THE CITY AND NOTHING DONE AND OTHER I'M TIRED OF SEEING THE BAD, BUT HOUSING OVERGROWN LOTS.
AND WHEN YOU CALL TO GET ASSISTANCE, TO GET THOSE THINGS CHANGE AND TO GET THOSE THINGS DONE, IT'S NEVER DONE.
WE HAVE TO SIT BACK AND WAIT AND FIGHT.
BUT WHEN YOU GOT EQUALITY, BECAUSE THAT'S ALL I'VE EVER WANTED IN MY LIFE IS EQUALITY TO GET THE SAME THING THAT SOMEONE ELSE CAN GET.
NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF MY SKIN, BUT BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
COME ON DOWN, STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
I LIVE AT 9 0 2 0 METTERY DRIVE, AND WITH THE NAACP BATTERIES BRANCH.
AND I HADN'T PLANNED TO SAY ANYTHING, BUT HERE WE ARE AGAIN AT THE PODIUM, ASIN AND BEG AND PLEAD AND CRYING AND PRAYING FOR YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE ON THIS SIDE.
YOU HAVE NEVER HAD TO COME UP TO SOMEBODY DECADE AFTER DECADE, HUNDREDS OF YEARS, AND ASKED HIM BEGGING AND PLEADING AND CRYING AND PRAYING FOR SOMEBODY, THE POLICE TREAT US RIGHT.
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS YEAR AFTER YEAR, DECADE AFTER DECADE, THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE BEEN AT THE PODIUM BEGGING AND PLEADING AND CRYING AND PRAYING AND ASKING YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
YOU'D HAVE NO IDEA HOW I FEEL.
I HAVE ANCESTORS, OUR GRANDPARENTS AND UNCLES AND AUNTS.
THEY'VE ALL, ALL THE TIME HAS PASSED AND BEG AND PLEAD AND CRIED AND PRAYED AND SAID, PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING BECAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE ON THIS SIDE.
YOU HAVE NEVER HAD TO ASK SOMEBODY TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
YOU HAVE NEVER ASKED SOMEBODY TO TREAT YOU EQUALLY.
YOU HAVE NEVER ASKED SOMEBODY TO SAY, PLEASE CAN I HAVE WHAT I DESERVE? YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN ON THAT SIDE.
AND I WANT YOU TO CONSIDER THAT.
NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.
COUNCIL DIANA PEYTON, UH, 1 0 6 5 0 HILL TREE DRIVE.
I'M THE CEO OF THE WIDE WCA OF GREATER BATON ROUGE.
THAT IS THE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER BATON ROUGE.
OUR MISSION IS TO HELP ELIMINATE RACISM AND TO EMPOWER WOMEN.
I'M NOT WANTING TO COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL.
OFTEN I COULD STATE FACTS, BUT YOU'VE HEARD ALL OF THIS.
THE STATISTICS AS A WHOLE, I'M HERE TODAY TO SAY WE ARE THE CAPITAL CITY OF THIS STATE.
OUR STATE IS ALREADY DIVIDED ALONG DIFFERENT LINES WITH OUR STATE LEGISLATURE.
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, WE HAVE A CHANCE TO SET AN EXAMPLE
[01:05:02]
FOR OUR ENTIRE STATE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO HAVE TO EQUITY, TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, TO TAKE A CHANCE AND STEP OUT ON FAITH AND HAVE A SIX, SIX COUNCIL.WE HAVE A CHANCE TO SET THE EXAMPLE FOR LET'S DO THAT.
LET'S MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION.
WE KNOW THE NUMBERS, WE KNOW THE NUMBERS.
LET'S LISTEN TO THE NUMBERS, THIS PAY ATTENTION TO THE FACTS AND MAKE A TRUE I'M A WOMAN OF FAITH.
OUR CALL IS TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES.
I'M ASKING YOU TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, AND TO DO THAT MAP SEVEN EIGHT IS YOU LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.
YOU KNOW THE NUMBERS, I WON'T GO BACK OVER THEM, BUT I ASK YOU LET'S MAKE THE DECISION OF EQUITY.
WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING THIS FIGHT HERE IN BATON ROUGE FOR 54 YEARS AND 160 YEARS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL.
WE BELIEVE WHEN YOU LOOK AT HISTORY, IT TOOK COURAGEOUS PEOPLE TO STAND UP AND SAY, THIS IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
I ASK YOU TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION TO MAKE THE DECISION THAT MAKES SENSE BASED ON FACTS AND DATA AND PURE INTEGRITY.
THANK YOU MORE NOW, NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD.
HELLO, MY NAME IS TIERRA JONES.
MY ADDRESS IS 9 7 7 1 JEFFERSON HIGHWAY.
I AM, AS SOME WOULD SAY, YOUNG, I'M 32 YEARS OLD.
I HAVE RESIDED HERE AT EAST BATON ROUGE, SINCE ABOUT 2013.
UM, I'M AN ATTORNEY LICENSED ATTORNEY HERE IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, AND I'M ALSO THE SOCIAL JUSTICE CHAIR FOR THE NAACP OF BAN RUSE.
UM, THOSE THAT KNOW ME KNOW THAT I DON'T LIKE POLITICS AND I DON'T LIKE POLITICKING, SO I CAN ONLY COME AND SPEAK FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
AND WHAT I KNOW, UM, I, I'M A CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY.
I SEE WHERE I LIVE, WHICH IS THE JEFFERSON HIGHWAY AREA.
YOU KNOW, UH, YARDS ARE WELL KEPT, YOU KNOW, I CAN FIND THE NEAREST DOLLAR STORE, MY GOOD OLD ONE MCDONALD'S THAT I CAN FIND FOR ME AND MY SON EVERY OTHER NIGHT.
HOWEVER, I REPRESENT PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE THE LUXURIES THAT I HAVE IN MY AREA.
I REPRESENT PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN, RAN DOWN, TORN DOWN HOUSES AND NEIGHBORHOODS.
I REPRESENT PEOPLE WHO, WHEN I ASSESS THEM FOR THEIR SUBSTANCE ABUSE ISSUES OR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO GET TO A MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY BECAUSE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, THERE IS THE ONE THAT EXIST.
I REPRESENT PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE A LOT OF EDUCATION BECAUSE THE EDUCATION RECEIVED IN SOME OF THESE AREAS THAT EVERYONE'S SO HAPPY ABOUT.
AND SO WANTING TO KEEP TOGETHER, I CALL IT A CLICK.
I'M TIRED OF BEING CLICKED UP IN THESE DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS.
IT'S ABOUT ONE CLICK OR THE OTHER ONE DISTRICT OR THE OTHER.
IT'S ABOUT BATON ROUGE AND I'M SAYING IT, AND I'M GOING TO SAY IT NICELY.
I AM NOT A MINORITY AND EAST OF BATON ROUGE.
I WILL SAY THAT I'VE BEEN TO THE FIRST CIRCUIT AND ONE, EVERY TIME I'VE BEEN TO THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA IN MY YOUNG AGE, AND I WON, I'M ASKING YOU ALL TO DO THE RIGHT THING, SIX AND SIX THAT'S EQUAL.
THAT'S JUST, AND THAT'S RIGHT.
I WOULD HATE TO HAVE TO GET MY PEN.
AND W R I T E RIGHT? THANK YOU.
I'M SYLLABLE, KEITH HALL, 2131 MURRAY STREET, ZACHARY.
UM, THAT'S IN COUNCILMAN NO'S DISTRICT.
I'M IN FAVOR OF RESPONDING TO THE 7, 8, 6, 6 POSSIBILITY OF A 66, UH, COUNCIL BEING HELD SOME PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH ZACHARY.
I, I SERVED ON THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMITTEE AND THE ABC BOARD BEEN AN EMPLOYEE OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH, AND MY IDEAS, UM, THAT I'M THE TYPE OF PERSON DOESN'T LIKE TO SPEAK EITHER, BUT I WILL GIVE THEM A PROBLEM.
AND, UM, I'M KINDA TIRED OF SEEING HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF, YOU KNOW, OVER AND OVER.
AND WE HAVE THE SAME THING AND GO
[01:10:01]
AS FAR BACK AS YESTERDAY, ZACHARY AND CITY COUNCIL, WE WERE ABOUT TO GO IN THERE LITIGATION'S BUT NOT HAVING BLACK REPRESENTATION ON OUR CITY COUNCIL.I'M LOOKING AT PRETTY MUCH SOME OF THE SAME THINGS HAPPENING HERE.
WHEN JUST YESTERDAY, WE WERE THINKING WE'VE BEEN BEATEN UP FORMER COUNCIL, WOMAN, DONALD COLLIN, BEING THE PRESIDENT, APPROACHED HIM OF THE COUNSELOR.
SHE COULDN'T EVEN HALF THE HALF, YOU KNOW, NOT HALF, BUT, UM, THAT WILL PRETTY MUCH HAVE A SPLIT, THE VOTE, UH, EQUAL REPRESENTATION BECAUSE OF THE LANDSLIDE OR ON THE MAKEUP OF THE COUNCIL BEING A SEVEN FIVE, UH, ONE OTHER POINT I WANTED TO MAKE, UM, FOR EACH COUNSELING PUT ON THE OTHER PERSON SHOOTING, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE, WHEN WE SAY THAT, LOOK AT THE OTHER PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW, AND THEN MAYBE YOU CAN SEE WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE SAYING.
WE COME FROM A LONG STRUGGLE AS A BLACK PERSON.
I DON'T WANT TO BEAT YOU, OR, YOU KNOW, KEEP BEATING YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH THE 46 42 PRESENTED.
BUT, BUT LOOK AT THOSE TYPE OF THINGS, IF THE, IF THE THINGS WERE REVERSED OR CHANGED, HOW WOULD YOU LOOK AT IF YOU HAD TO VOTE AND YOU WERE IN A MINORITY PARACHUTE, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE NOT BEING REPRESENTED? AND IT'S BEEN SAID TODAY, THAT'S THE WAY A LOT OF BLACKS MEAL, MISREPRESENT REPRESENTATION, UM, BEING TAXED, TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
THOSE ARE SOME OF THE TOPICS, YOU KNOW, THAT KEEPS COMING UP IN MY MIND.
WE CAN GO BACK TO THE SIXTIES, WERE DOING THE SAME THING, RED DISTRICT OR A RED LINE IN DISTRICT JOURNEYMAN.
THAT'S BEEN BROUGHT UP THESE TYPES OF THINGS.
BE FAIR TO EACH OTHER, YOU KNOW, DO WHAT WE ELECTED YOU GUYS TO DO, YOU KNOW, BE FAIR TO EVERYBODY.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A HARD STOP AT THREE 30.
I'M GOING TO TAKE A FEW MORE COMMENTS.
THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS, COME ON DOWN, MAN.
I'M SYGENTA MASON AND I LIVE ON FRIDAY FIVE, NINE PRESCOTT ROAD.
I'M HERE TO REPRESENT THE AVERAGE CITIZEN WHO WANTS TO BE MORE INVOLVED AND WHO CARES ABOUT COMMUNITY? USUALLY WHEN I COME TO A MEETING LIKE THIS, I FEEL OVERWHELMED BY, UH, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, THE FAKENESS THAT I FEEL.
AND IT'S NOT FROM ANY PARTICULAR PERSON.
I JUST FEEL LIKE THERE IS A WHOLE LOT OF PROCEDURE, PROTOCOL AND LOGISTICS, AND IT CAN BE KIND OF ANNOYING BECAUSE IT'S LIKE ME.
I JUST CARE ABOUT PEOPLE, RIGHT? AND I JUST CARE ABOUT LOVE.
AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE TITLES AND WHO DID WHAT AND WHAT GROUP.
YOU KNOW, THIS IS JUST TRANSPARENT SINGLE MEN.
UM, AND WHAT I KNOW THAT I WANT TO REPRESENT IS LOVE.
UM, AND I WANT TO BE THAT VOICE OF PEACE.
SO RIGHT NOW, I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I HOPE THAT WHATEVER DECISION HAPPENS, UM, NOW IN, IN THE FUTURE THAT, UH, YOU ALL, AND ANYONE WAS LISTENING, BUT JUST, UH, CONTINUE TO FIGHT PEACEFULLY AND, UH, BE AN EXAMPLE OF UNITY AND, UH, AND FOCUS ON THAT BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT MATTERS.
UM, MOST OF THEM UP HERE, BECAUSE GUY WAS LIKE, I GOT TO GET UP HERE AND PRAY.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO DO THAT THINGS WEIRD, BUT THANK YOU GOD, FOR TODAY.
UM, I THANK YOU FOR THE STRENGTH AND BOLDNESS THAT YOU'D GIVEN ME TO BE REPRESENTATIVE OF YOU AND TO FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS INTO BE AN EXAMPLE OF YOU, OF LOVE, UM, AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU COMING BACK AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS MOSTLY.
UM, I PRAY THAT YOU WILL, UH, SEARCH THE HEARTS, YOU KNOW, OUR HEARTS AND, UH, THAT THE DECISION OF LOVE WILL BE MADE IN JESUS NAME.
CAN YOU TELL A WOMAN? SHE CAN'T COME UP HERE AND PRAY.
I BET YOU THAT COME ON DOWN, MAN.
I'M AT 24 55 WELLWOOD DISTRICT EIGHT.
UM, I WANT TO ALLUDE TO SOMETHING TODAY.
WE HAD THE YOUNG ATTORNEY, UH, THE YOUNG WOMAN TO COME UP HERE.
[01:15:01]
SHE SAYS SHE'S 32.AND SHE REPRESENTS THE YOUTH AND, UH, EIGHT TO DO HER ONE BETTER, BUT BEING 24, UH, BEING THE, UH, FIRST, YOU KNOW, GEN Z UP HERE, I WANT TO SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE GROWN UP AND WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE TO CALL THE POST RACIAL AMERICA.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, POST RACIAL AMERICA DOES NOT EXIST.
AMERICA HAS A LONG HISTORY OF DISENFRANCHISEMENT OPPRESSION, AND FRANKLY JUST EVIL THINGS DONE TO BLACK PEOPLE AND OTHER MINORITIES.
SO FOR MY GENERATION, WE'VE GROWN UP THINKING, OH, ALL OF THE HARD DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE.
AND IN SOME WAYS THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M GOING TO OFFER YOU GUYS A LAYUP THIS AFTERNOON.
SEE THEY SAY SOMETIMES THE HARDEST THING TO DO IS THE RIGHT THING.
BUT TODAY YOU HAVE AN EASY CHOICE BECAUSE THE EASY CHOICE IS THE RIGHT THING.
AND THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS TO PASS PLAN SEVEN, EIGHT, THAT ADEQUATELY REPRESENTS THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
WHAT THAT ALSO DOES IS SOMETHING ELSE SAY, I KNOW ALL THE, ALL THE POLITICIANS, AND I'M GOING TO SAY SOMETHING THAT GOING TO GET EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION.
YOU WANT PEOPLE CIVICALLY ENGAGED.
YOU WANT THEM INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS, IN THEIR DEMOCRACY, IN THEIR COMMUNITY AND THEIR CITY IN THEIR PARISH TO DO THAT, THE CHICKEN EGG SITUATION, YOU WANT PEOPLE OUT THERE, YOU WANT PEOPLE MOTIVATED, GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO BE MOTIVATED ABOUT, GIVE THEM A PLAN, GIVE THEM A GOVERNMENT, GIVE THEM A METRO COUNCIL THAT ADEQUATELY REFLECTS THE VIEWS AND THE POPULATION OF THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY LIVE IN.
NOW I'M NOT SAYING I WANT ANYONE TO GO OR, YOU KNOW, LOSE THAT SEAT.
ALL I'M SAYING IS IF YOU WANT CIVICALLY AND A CIVICALLY ENGAGED POPULATION, YOU GOT TO GIVE SOMETHING TO GET SOMETHING.
THAT ADEQUATELY REPRESENTS OUR PARISH.
UM, I'M SORRY THAT I COULDN'T BE MORE INVOLVED IN THE METRO COUNCIL REDISTRICTING PROCESS.
UM, AND I, AND I'M NOT AS PREPARED AS I'D LIKE TO BE.
UM, I FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS MEETING A LITTLE LATE AND, UM, TOOK A LOOK AT MAP FOUR THIS MORNING.
AND SO I'M JUST GOING TO OFFER A FEW OF MY OBSERVATIONS ON MAP FOUR AND FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON DISTRICT 12 AND THE SURROUNDING DISTRICTS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH.
UM, SO, UH, I THINK THAT THE PROPOSAL LINES OF MAP FOR REVEALING ENOUGH, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU TAKE WARD ONE, PRECINCT EIGHT, UM, IT'S IN THE GARDEN DISTRICT AREA, IT'S MAJORITY WHITE WITH MORE DEMOCRATS THAN REPUBLICANS AND A SIZEABLE NUMBER OF INDEPENDENTS.
IT'S CONSISTENTLY VOTES LIBERAL, RIGHT? OR DEMOCRATIC.
AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT TECHNICALLY PART OF THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS, BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT ALSO BECOMES A CONSIDERATION FOR PEOPLE AS THEY'RE DRAWING THESE MAPS, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S PROTECTED UNDER LAW, I GET THAT, UM, IN ANY WAY, UH, WARD ONE PRECINCT EIGHT, UH, HAS BEEN MOVED FROM DISTRICT 10, CAROLYN COLEMAN'S DISTRICT INTO DISTRICT 12.
UH, JEN ROCK AS DISTRICT, UH, DISTRICT 10 WAS ALWAYS A MAJORITY BLACK DISTRICT.
IT DIDN'T NEED TO LOSE MORE WHITE FOLKS, ESPECIALLY LIBERALS WANT THAT LIBERAL ONES.
IT IS NOW APPROXIMATELY 90% AFRICAN-AMERICAN IN ADDITION, MAJORITY BLACK PRECINCTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM DISTRICT 12.
DISTRICT 12 WAS A COMPETITIVE DISTRICT, BUT IT IS NOW EIGHT, APPROXIMATELY 80% WHITE.
BUT WHAT'S TELLING IS THE ADDITION OF THE WHITE LIBERAL PRECINCT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LOSS OF SOME OF ITS MAJORITY BLACK PRECINCTS TIGERLAND WENT TO DISTRICT 10 AND CONGRESS HEIGHTS.
AND THE PRECINCT BY VOWELL WENT TO LAMONT COLE'S DISTRICT.
THE RESULT IS TO CRACK THE VOTERS WHO WOULD BE INCLINED TO VOTE TOGETHER ACROSS THREE METRO COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
SO IT APPEARS PLAN FOUR CREATES HYPER-PARTISAN DISTRICTS, NOT JUST BY RACE, BUT BY PARTY IN CLASS, IT CRACKS THE WHITE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS INTO MAJORITY WHITE REPUBLICAN DISTRICTS INTO A MAJORITY WHITE REPUBLICAN DISTRICT AND CRACKS THE MIDDLE TO UPPER INCOME AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRECINCTS AND CONGRESS HEIGHTS AND TO LAMONT COLE'S DISTRICT AND PACKS THE LOWER INCOME AFRICAN AFRICAN-AMERICAN LOWER INCOME, AFRICAN AMERICAN PRECINCTS, AND TO CAROLYN COLEMAN'S DISTRICT.
OBVIOUSLY I NEED TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE, LOOK CLOSER, LOOK AT IT, BUT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY BENEFITS, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR THE VOTERS AND CONGRESS HEIGHTS TO BE INCLUDED IN LAMONT COLE'S DISTRICT.
I THINK THE STRENGTH OF THEIR VOTE ACTUALLY CARRIES MORE WEIGHT IN DISTRICT 12 WHEN IT'S A COMPETITIVE DISTRICT.
SO I SAY ALL THIS, UM, I SAY THIS REPEATEDLY, AND I'M GONNA SAY IT AGAIN.
IT'S TYPICALLY NOT WHITE VERSUS BLACK OR
[01:20:01]
REPUBLICAN VERSUS DEMOCRAT.IT'S USUALLY MONEY VERSUS THE PEOPLE IN THESE HYPER-PARTISAN DISTRICTS MAKES IT FOR THE PEOPLE WITH ALL THE POWER AND MONEY TO MANIPULATE THE NARRATIVE, TO GET PEOPLE ELECTED.
WE'RE GOING TO BE ALIGNED WITH THEIR INTERESTS.
SO I HOPE YOU'LL LOOK AT MAPS THAT ACTUALLY DON'T BECOME SO HYPER, LIKE CONCENTRATED BY RACE OR PARTY SO THAT WE CAN HAVE, UM, MORE ACROSS THE AISLE.
ARE THEY S UM, CONVERSATIONS? UM, HOW MUCH TIME I GOT? YEAH, I'LL LET YOU GO FOR 10 SECONDS.
UM, GOOD AFTERNOON, MARK RICHARDSON.
I REPRESENT THE BATON ROUGE, METROPOLITAN BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AT 5 9 5 5 SCENIC HIGHWAY.
UM, I COME TO YOU ALL THIS AFTERNOON, SPECIFICALLY TO TALK ABOUT A LARGER ISSUE.
I'VE HEARD SEVERAL PEOPLE FROM SPECIFIC LEGIONNAIRES DISTRICT 11 COME UP AND TALK ABOUT COMFORTABILITY.
AND WHILE THAT IS AMAZING, AND I LOVE THAT WE HAVE UNITED COMMUNITIES.
I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A LARGER PROBLEM.
AND WE LOOK AT THE LOUISIANA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
THERE ARE A HUNDRED AND BOD MEMBERS TOTAL, BUT ONLY 27 OF THEM ARE BLACK.
WE HAVE 39 MEMBERS IN THE SENATE AND ONLY EIGHT OF THEM ARE BLACK.
ALL SCHOOL BOARD HAS NINE MEMBERS AND ONLY FOUR OF THEM ARE BLACK.
THIS METRO COUNCIL HAS 12 MEMBERS.
AND AGAIN, WE LIKE EQUITY AND REPRESENTATION SPECIFICALLY AS THE YOUNGEST PERSON IN THE ROOM.
NOW AT 23, LEADING THE BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, I GREW UP IN A COMMUNITY THAT I HAD TO BUST OUT OF FOR EDUCATION THAT I HAD TO BUST OUT OF FOUR FOOD OPTIONS THAT I HAD TO BUST OUT OF BECAUSE WE HAVE URBAN SPREAD.
WE HAVE CONSOLIDATED SOME OF OUR GREATEST RESOURCES IN COMMUNITIES THAT DON'T LOOK LIKE MINE.
SO WHEN WE ADVOCATE AND SAY THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR ONE MORE SEAT, I THINK THE LARGER QUESTION IS IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ONE SEAT, IS THAT THE FACT THAT IT'S THE BOARD CURRENTLY STANDS.
WE CANNOT PASS ON ISSUES THAT DIRECTLY IMPACT BLACK PEOPLE, BECAUSE WE DON'T UNDERSTAND BLACK ISSUES AS A BOARD.
SO NO SPECIFIC BODY IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA IS ADVOCATING FOR BLACK PEOPLE.
THEN WHO WILL, THIS IS THE ONE BOARD, THE ONE BODY THAT MEETS MONTHLY THAT WE GET TO TOUCH AND FEEL AND SEE.
AND YET IT HAS NO RELATION TO THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THE CITY, THE BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
BEFORE I CAME AT 28 MEMBERS TODAY, IT HAS 378 MEMBERS, AND THAT'S NOT A TESTAMENT TO MY LEADERSHIP.
THAT'S A TESTAMENT TO BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND PEOPLE WANTING TO SEE THEMSELVES IN LEADERSHIP.
PEOPLE WANTING TO SEE OPPORTUNITIES IN THEIR COMMUNITY.
I'M GOING TO COME IN, UH, COUNCILMAN ADAMS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE SHE HAD THE MOST PEOPLE IN HER ONE SUCCINCT DISTRICT PULL UP, BUT THAT ONLY SPEAKS TO ONE PRIMARILY WHITE MAJORITY DISTRICT THAT PULLED UP.
SO WHERE ARE THE REST OF THEM? THERE ARE MORE BLACK PEOPLE THAT APPEARED IN EVERY GOOD MORNING, BATON ROUGE.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK WITH YOU TODAY.
AS THE CHIEF OF POLICE, I HAVE THE GREAT HONOR OF SERVING THE CITIZENS OF BATON ROUGE AND THE IMMENSE PRIVILEGE OF LEADING THE DEDICATED MEN AND WOMEN OF THE BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
TODAY, I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE VOICE TO THEIR EFFORTS THROUGH THIS MESSAGE WHILE THE BATON ROUGE POLICE SERVES AS THE PRIMARY ENFORCER OF PUBLIC SAFETY LAWS IN OUR CITY, WE KNOW THAT EVERY CITIZEN, EVERY RESIDENT PLAYS A ROLE AND KEEPING OUR CITY SAFE, AND THAT PROBLEMS IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE BEST RESOLVE.
WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, THUS TRUSTED, UH, STATE REPRESENTATIVE, JOE, I DON'T WANT TO RECOGNIZE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
WHY NOT? WASN'T NECESSARILY THINKING, UH, COUNCILMAN COLE, MR. TIM TELL THE COUNCILMAN, UH, EDMOND JORDAN, 23, 70 TIMES IN A BOULEVARD, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.
I REPRESENT HOUSE DISTRICT 29 AND NICE AND OTHERS.
I WASN'T REALLY NECESSARILY COMING UP HERE PREPARED TO SPEAK.
BUT WHAT I WILL SAY IS THIS, EXCUSE ME, UM, AS A REP, AS A LEGISLATOR, WE'VE RECENTLY GONE THROUGH THIS PROCESS AND, AND I DON'T CERTAINLY WANT TO COME HERE AND ADVISE ANYBODY ON HOW TO DO THE JOB YOU WERE ELECTED, JUST LIKE I WAS TO DO THE JOB THAT THE PEOPLE DIDN'T TRUSTED YOU TO DO.
BUT WHAT I WILL SAY IS THIS TO YOU, THIS IS THE LAST OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU HAVE TO BE IN CONTROL OF YOUR OWN DESTINY.
SO I CAN, I COULD GO TO YOUR HEART.
I COULD GO TO YOUR CHRISTIAN VALUES AND ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS, AND I'M NOT SURE THAT WOULD DO ANY GOOD.
YOU HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS ONCE.
AND MAYBE THAT SPEAKS MORE TO THE BODY THAT I SERVE IN, IN THE BODY THAT YOU SERVE IN.
BUT WHAT I WILL TELL YOU IS THIS LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE POWER AND CONTROL,
[01:25:01]
AND THEY DON'T LIKE TO LOSE POWER AND CONTROL.AND WHEN YOU LEAVE THIS PROCESS, IF IT'S NOT A FAIR PROCESS, I CAN GUARANTEE YOU ONE THING.
YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE POWER AND CONTROL.
NOW IT MIGHT BE A WINTER'S GOING TO BE A LOSE.
IT'S GOING TO GO TO SOMEBODY WHO'S FAVOR AND SOMEBODY GOING TO WALK AWAY DISAPPOINTED.
BUT WHEN YOU LEAVE IT INTO THE HANDS OF THE COURTS, YOU LOSE THAT YOU, YOU, YOU SERVE THAT, UH, OR YOU, YOU AGGREGATE THAT AUTHORITY TO SOMEBODY ELSE.
AND SO I WOULD TELL YOU NOT TO LOSE THAT AND DO WAS FAIR.
NOW, IN MY MIND THAT BADNESS IS A SIX, SIX DISTRICT, AT LEAST AT A MINIMUM.
UM, BUT TO SOME PEOPLE IS NOT, HEY, LOOK, I'VE BEEN LISTENING AS I CAME OVER HERE.
AND, AND EVERYBODY'S SAYING THE RIGHT THING TO BUILD A RECORD COMMUNITIES, ADVENTUROUS COMPACTNESS TRADITIONS, AND ALL THOSE THINGS.
WELL, LOOK, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TRADITIONS, UH, TRADITIONS, DIDN'T, DIDN'T FAVOR PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE MYSELF, OUR COUNCILMAN COLE, COUNCILMAN DONE COUNCILMAN HERS, COLEMAN BANKS, BECAUSE UP UNTIL 1964, WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THAT RIPE.
YOU KNOW, WE HAD THE GUESTS, HOW MANY MARBLES, A JELLY BEANS WERE IN A JAR.
AND THAT WAS NOTHING FAIR ABOUT THAT.
BUT THEN YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT AND SAY, BASED ON TRADITIONS, THESE ARE HOW THE MAPS LOOK IN 2022.
AND WE GOT TO LOOK AT 1963 AS A PORTION OF 2022.
AND SO THAT PART CERTAINLY IS NOT FAIR.
AND SO WHAT I WOULD TELL YOU IS JUST, IS CONSIDERED A HISTORY, CONSIDERED AN OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU HAVE, BECAUSE THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY BEFORE YOU, BUT NOT JUST THE HISTORY OF 1963.
THINK ABOUT THE HISTORY IN 2053, BECAUSE JUST LIKE WE LOOK BACK AT THOSE FOLKS IN 63, AND WE LOOK AT PEOPLE AT 1864 AND WE TALKED ABOUT RECONSTRUCTION AND WE LOOK AND SAY, HOW COULD THOSE FOLKS DO THOSE THINGS A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW? PEOPLE ARE GONNA LOOK AT YOU AND SAY, HOW COULD YOU DO THOSE THINGS? THANK YOU.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO GO TO COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SOME ASK COUNCIL MEMBERS.
YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED 159 COMMENTS ON THIS, UM, ITEM.
I'M SORRY, 159 COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF MAT FOR A FIVE COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF MAP FOUR, B THREE COMMENTS AND OPPOSITION AND OPPOSITION TO ALTERING COUNCIL DISTRICT EIGHT, TWO COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF MAPS, 2, 3, 3, A OR THREE B ONE COMMENT IN FAVOR OF MAPS, SIX, A ONE COMMENT IN OPPOSITION TO MAP SIX, A AND ONE COMMENT IN FAVOR OF MAP SEVEN, EIGHT COUNCIL MEMBERS, COUNCIL MAPS.
SO, UM, I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY WHO CAME TODAY.
UM, IT IS ALWAYS, UM, WHETHER WE'RE ON THE SAME SIDE OF AN ISSUE OR NOT.
IT IS ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE THE CHAMBER FULL AND PEOPLE ENGAGING, UM, WITH THE COUNCIL AND WITH, UM, WITH GOVERNMENT.
SO THIS IS, THIS IS HOW WE GET STRONGER AND BETTER IS, IS THROUGH STRUGGLING THROUGH THIS TOGETHER.
SO I WANT TO ADDRESS, UM, THIS, THIS PROCESS, UH, YOU KNOW, AS A, AS A NEW COUNCIL PERSON, YOU KNOW, 18, 19 MONTHS IN, UM, HAS BEEN VERY, VERY ENLIGHTENING.
I HAVE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT, UM, REPRESENTATION.
I'VE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT MYSELF.
I'VE LEARNED A TON ABOUT, UM, THE WAY, UM, THE WHOLE PARISH FITS TOGETHER AND, AND REALLY HOW YOU GET, UM, HOW COUNCIL PEOPLE, UM, BECOME OR ARE EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATIVES.
AND SO WHEN, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I FIGURED OUT WITH, WITH MAPPING, UM, IS THAT IT'S, IT'S ABOUT A BALANCE.
SO, UM, WE ARE LOOKING FOR, UM, A BALANCE IN NUMBERS AND POPULATION.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR A BALANCE IN COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST, AND WE'RE LOOKING FOR A BALANCE IN COMPACTNESS AND IT IS WAY MORE COMPLEX.
AND, UM, WHEN WE'VE HAD OUR PUBLIC MEETINGS AND WE'VE STRUGGLED WITH THESE THINGS, AND WE'VE HAD REALLY GOOD CONVERSATIONS ALONG THE WAY, UM, WE, WE HAVE REFLECTED ON A LOT OF THINGS, UM, PROJECTS IN THE FUTURE, UM, AREAS OF CONCERN, TRAFFIC DRAINAGE, UM, THE WAY OUR, OUR DISTRICTS FIT TOGETHER.
AND SO, UM, WHEN I SAW A MAP SIX, THE SIX MAPS, I WAS EXCEEDINGLY CONCERNED BECAUSE WE WERE LOOKING AT TAKING JEFFERSON HIGHWAY FROM GOVERNMENT TO, UM, AIRLINE, WHICH IS A PRETTY SMALL, UH, PIECE, YOU KNOW, NOT IN, IT'S NOT VERY LONG, BUT, UM, THERE IS A LOT, THERE'S A LOT OF COMMERCE OR A LOT OF NEIGHBORHOODS.
THERE ARE A LOT OF COMMON INTERESTS ALONG JEFFERSON HIGHWAY, AND WE WERE LOOKING AT DIVIDING IT UP AMONGST THREE DIFFERENT COUNCIL PEOPLE.
SO, UH, AND, AND KNOWING, AND WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS AMONGST OURSELVES IN HERE IN THIS CHAMBER, UM, ABOUT, ABOUT TRYING TO KEEP, UM, UNIFIED VOICES, UM, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WHEN, WHEN WE SPLIT UP, UM, NEIGHBORHOODS, WHEN WE SPLIT UP PROJECTS, UM, LIKE THE LSU LAKES
[01:30:01]
OR THE CITY PARK LAKES, WHEN WE SPLIT THINGS UP, WE BECOME LESS EFFECTIVE IN MOVING IN MOVING PROJECTS.UM, BEFORE WORD, WE BECOME LESS EFFECTIVE IN REPRESENTING, UM, PEOPLE.
AND CERTAINLY, I DON'T REMEMBER WHO SAID IT, BUT WHAT SOMEONE SAID, YOU KNOW, THAT WE SHOULD STRIVE HARD TO REPRESENT EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN OUR DISTRICT.
AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT WAS ONE OF THE PROMISES THAT I MADE TO MYSELF.
YOU KNOW, WHEN I, WHEN I RAN AND WAS ELECTED, THAT I WOULD, I WOULD STRIVE HARD EVERY DAY, UM, TO REPRESENT EVERYONE IN MY DISTRICT.
AND, UM, SO I THINK SOME DAYS I'VE DONE WELL, I THINK SOME DAYS I HAVEN'T, BUT EVERY DAY I'M GOING TO CONTINUE TO, TO WORK AND STRIVE HARD.
UM, SO I WANTED TO, UH, YOU KNOW, REACHED OUT TO MY NEIGHBORHOODS AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT JUST LET THEM KNOW ABOUT SIX A AND, AND RIGHT AWAY THE COMMUNITY OF INTEREST.
UM, I REALIZED THAT MY NEIGHBORHOODS WERE MORE CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER AND MORE ENGAGED AND INVOLVED WITH EACH OTHER THEN THAN I HAD EVER EVEN IMAGINED.
UH, I, I HAD ONLY EXPERIENCED PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE SLICE AND SLIVER OF WHAT THEIR INCREDIBLE RELATIONSHIPS WERE IN THEIR INCREDIBLE COMMITMENT TO OUR PARISH OVERALL.
UM, THESE ARE, THESE ARE NEIGHBORHOODS AND AREAS THAT ARE DEEPLY COMMITTED, UM, TO, TO HAVING OUR PARISH BE THE STRONGEST, UM, THAT IT CAN BE.
SO, UM, I WOULD LIKE, UM, TO MAKE A MOTION ON BEHALF OF MY, MY, MY DISTRICT AND, UM, AND, AND ALL OF MY, UH, MY RESIDENTS WHO SHOWED UP HERE TODAY, AND I'D LIKE TO MOVE FOR ADOPTION OF MAP FOUR B, THERE WAS A MOTION TO ADOPT MAP FOUR B.
IS THERE A SECOND? THERE'S A SECOND BY MISS AMAROSA, ALSO MOTION BY ADAM.
SECOND BY EMMA ROSSA, WE GO TO COUNSELING.
I LIKE TO MAKE A SUBSTITUTE MOTION, BUT BEFORE I MAKE THAT SUBSTITUTE MOTION, MR. HEFLIN, I WANT TO LOOK AT SEVEN.
HERS IS TELLING ME IN SEVEN A THAT HE BELIEVES HIS COMMUNITY CENTER IS NOT PLACED IN HIS DISTRICT ON THAT ONE.
AND MAY I APPROACH TO HIM, CAN YOU STOP MY TIME WHILE HE LOOKS AT THAT? HEY, MAN, I GOT ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.
IT SOUNDED RALEIGH STREET IN PRECINCT 1 23.
IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, IS THAT CORRECT? ADJACENT TO 1 58, 1 23, 1 23 IS IN DISTRICT TWO UNDER THE UNDER PLAN SEVEN, EIGHT.
I'LL PUT THE STREETS ON, SINCE WE'RE AT THIS LEVEL HERE.
IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT THE DETAIL IS, IT LOOKS LIKE A, IF IT'S IN PRECINCT 1 23, THEN THAT'S IN DISTRICT TWO UNDER PLAN SEVEN, EIGHT.
IF WE ADJUST THAT TO IN FIVE WHAT CAN WE SWAP IT OUT TO MAKE IT WORK? AND WE MAY END UP HAVING TO SWAP OUT 1 22 ALSO BECAUSE OF THE LOCATION.
SEE, 1 22 NOW IS GOING TO BE CUT OFF FROM THE REST OF THE DISTRICT TOO, BUT LET'S GO AHEAD AND JUST PUT THAT ONE IN ONE AT A TIME THAT PUTS FIVE AT A PLUS THREE PLUS TWO AT A MINUS NINE.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PROBABLY ADD 1 22 TO THAT.
SO IT'S CONTIGUOUS THAT PUTS FIVE AT A PLUS 5.08, BUT TWO AT A MINUS 11.
SO WE'RE GOING TO END UP HAVING TO PROBABLY SWAP OFF BETWEEN DISTRICT FIVE AND TO, UH, TO TRY TO REBALANCE THAT.
THAT'S GOING TO BE YOUR IT PEOPLE THAT, UH, THAT CAN DO.
YEAH, I KNOW IT'S ON THE SIDE SCREENS OVER THERE, BUT I DON'T SEE IT UP ON YOUR TRUCK.
I CAN'T SEE WHAT IT IS FROM THIS WALL.
[01:35:01]
TWO.IS THAT A MINUS SEVEN? SO WE'LL HAVE TO PICK UP AN ADDITIONAL PRECINCT.
SEE WHAT IT, UH, UH, THAT BALANCES OUT.
CAUSE I THINK THE COMMUNITY CENTERS ARE CONCERNED IN ONE AS WELL IN DISTRICT ONE.
I CAN TELL YOU COMMUNITY CENTER REMAINS IN ONE.
IT SPLITS CHENEY BILL IN HALF, BUT IT DOESN'T, BUT JANESVILLE COMMUNITY CENTERS STILL REMAINS IN ONE.
AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS ARE SPLIT AS WELL, BUT OKAY.
UH, BEFORE I MAKE MY SUBSTITUTE MOTION, I WANT TO MAKE A FEW COMMENTS.
I THOUGHT THE PUBLIC DID A GREAT JOB WITH STATING THE FACTS.
THE DATA, UM, IS OBVIOUS THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE THE MAJORITY IN THE PARISH.
THAT WAS A TIME WHEN THAT WASN'T THE CASE.
WHEN WHITES WAS A MAJORITY IN THE PARISH AND THE COUNCIL REFLECTED THAT BASED ON THE CENSUS.
AS MANY PEOPLE HAVE SAID, THE REPRESENTATION ON THIS COUNCIL SHOULD CHANGE TO MATCH THE DEMOGRAPHICS, TO MATCH THE PEOPLE WE REPRESENT.
OFTENTIMES YOU TALK TO PEOPLE AND THEY ASK WHY DO THEY? WE ALWAYS, AS BLACK PEOPLE BRING UP RACISM OR SLAVERY, JIM CROW, I WASN'T THERE.
I DIDN'T PUT PEOPLE IN SLAVERY.
THIS IS YOUR MOMENT TO DECIDE WHERE YOU STAND ON EQUAL REPRESENTATION ON EQUALITY, ON YOUR CHRISTIAN VALUES.
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A STATEMENT ON WHERE YOU STAND AND WHERE YOU STAND TODAY, SHOWS WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE STOOD ON THOSE OTHER ISSUES, RACISM, SLAVERY, AND JIM CROW.
SO IF YOU'RE A CHRISTIAN, IF YOU ARE FOR FAIRNESS, IF YOU DON'T SEE COLOR, LIKE PEOPLE LIKE TO SAY, WE'RE LOOKING FOR A 66 COUNCIL THAT REPRESENTS THIS PARISH SIX, SIX, WE'VE SEEN ON MANY INSTANCES WHERE THIS COUNCIL NOT SO MUCH THIS PARTICULAR COUNCIL, BUT THE COUNCIL IN THE PAST HAS MADE DECISIONS ON RACE AND PARTY LINES.
THIS COUNCIL HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF IMPROVING THAT.
SO I TAKE MY HATS OFF TO ALL OF US TO BE A PART OF THAT, BUT WE MUST TAKE ANOTHER STEP.
WE MUST BRING FAIR, EQUAL REPRESENTATION TO OUR RESIDENTS OF EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH.
AND WITH THAT, I MAKE A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO APPROVE MAP SEVEN, EIGHT.
I SECOND, THAT SUBSTITUTE, THERE WAS A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO GO WITH SEVEN, EIGHT MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
WE NOW GO TO, I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR MR. HEFFNER IF I MAY, SIR, I HAVE NEVER, WHAT IS THE CRITERIA BEING THE SCHOOL TEACHER THAT I AM.
AND I'LL WHAT IS THE CRITERIA THAT WE HAD TO ADHERE TO IN ORDER TO COME UP WITH THESE MAPS? UM, I KNOW IT'S, IT'S, UH, NOT JUST A HAPHAZARD THING.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA THAT WE HAVE TO ABIDE BY.
CAN YOU TELL US WHAT SOME OF THOSE ARE PLEASE? WELL, THE FIRST THING THAT GET TRIGGERS REDISTRICTING AFTER EACH CENSUS IS WHETHER YOUR DISTRICTS REPRESENT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHEN THEY'RE OUT OF BALANCE, WHICH MEANS THEY DIFFER BY MORE THAN 5% PLUS A MINUS FROM THE DISTRICT AVERAGE, WHICH IS A PARISH POPULATION DIVIDED BY 12, THAT TRIGGERS REDISTRICTING.
SO THE PRIMARY THING FOR EVERY DISTRICT, CAN YOU JUST REDRAW THE DISTRICT LINES, PUTTING PEOPLE IN OR OUT OF YOUR DISTRICT TO GET YOUR POPULATIONS CLOSE? SO YOU'RE REPRESENTING APPROXIMATELY THE SAME NUMBER OF PEOPLE.
UH, AFTER THAT THERE'S SEVERAL THINGS THAT COME INTO PLAY BECAUSE IT AFFECTS HOW YOU DO THAT.
UH, ONE OF THEM IS MAINTAINING MINORITY REPRESENTATION.
UH, THAT'S BEEN A BIG PART OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, BUT YOU DON'T WANT TO TAKE AWAY THE VOICE OF, UH, YOUR MINORITY RESIDENTS.
SO WE HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT HOW MONARCH, HOW RACE PLAYS INTO REDISTRICTING SUPREME COURT HAS BEEN THE ONE THAT'S BEEN INTERPRETING, THOSE THAT PROVISION OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND IT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE, UH, BEYOND THAT.
YOU WANT TO TRY TO MAKE YOUR, YOUR DISTRICT SO THAT THEY REPRESENT THE SAME, UH, GENERAL AREAS.
YOU WANT TO TRY TO KEEP PEOPLE THAT HAVE SIMILAR INTERESTS, SIMILAR IDEAS, SIMILAR, UH, ISSUES YOU WANT TO TRY TO KEEP THEM TOGETHER.
SO THEY'RE ADEQUATELY REPRESENTED AND NOT SPLIT UP AMONG MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIVES, NEIGHBORHOODS, PRECINCTS, THINGS LIKE THAT ARE COMMONLY LOOKED AT AS COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST.
IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL.
IF YOU HAD A CITY IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN IT IS AT A STATE, UH, YOU WANT YOUR DISTRICT TO BE AS COMPACT
[01:40:01]
AS YOU CAN.AND, UM, WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE AS CONCISE AND, AND, UM, GEOGRAPHICALLY SMALL OR GEOGRAPHICALLY COMPACT, AND THEN NOT STREWN OUT UNNECESSARILY.
SO ACROSS AN ENTIRE, UH, PARISH, UH, YOUR DEMOGRAPHICS ARE GOING TO END YOUR, YOUR CENSUS GEOGRAPHY SOMETIMES GETS IN THE WAY OF MAKING A NICE COMPACT, UH, DISTRICT, BUT THESE ARE LOOKING PRETTY GOOD.
UH, YOU WANT TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT YOU, UH, THAT YOUR PLAN IS BASICALLY REFLECTIVE OF THE REPRESENTATIVE NEEDS OF YOUR AREA.
UH, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU, YOU YOU'RE COMPACT AND CONTIGUOUS AND YOUR DISTRICTS AREN'T SPLIT UP INTO NUMEROUS PARTS.
THE COMMUNITIES OF INTERESTS ARE REPRESENTED.
YOUR MINORITY REPRESENTATION IS NOT REDUCED DURING THE REDISTRICTING.
AND DID YOUR PR, DID YOU REPRESENT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME NUMBER OF PEOPLE, ALL OF THOSE WORK TOGETHER COLLECTIVELY TO DESIGN A PLAN, YOU HAVE VARIATIONS, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE GOT EVERYWHERE FROM PLANNING FOR ALL THE WAY TO PLAN EIGHT THAT PUT A LITTLE DIFFERENT EMPHASIS ON EACH OF THOSE CRITERIA.
AND IT'S WHAT, WHAT WEIGHT YOU PUT ON IT AS A, AS A COUNCIL LIST TO WHICH PLAN YOU FEEL MAY WORK BETTER FOR YOU OR YOUR, YOUR PARISH.
UM, SIR, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT TWO PLANS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT FOUR AND WE'RE LOOKING AT SEVEN, CORRECT? SEVEN.
WE STAY THE CHAMBERS, CORRECT.
UM, ARE THEY BOTH ARE, DO THEY BOTH FIT IN THOSE CRITERIA'S AND ARE THEY BOTH LEGAL? I, I'M NOT A JUDGE AND I DON'T PROFESS TO PREDICT WHAT A JUDGE MAY SAY, IF ANY OF THESE ARE CHALLENGED BECAUSE IT DOESN'T TAKE, I MEAN, ANYBODY THAT HAS THE TIME AND THE MONEY, RESOURCES AND DESIRE CAN CHALLENGE ANY PLAN.
UH, THESE TWO PLANS PROBABLY REPRESENT, UH, A ONE END PLAN FOR BEAT REPRESENTS.
WHAT I SEE THE SUPREME COURT HAD BEEN LEANING TOWARDS OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS IS THAT YOU MAKE WHATEVER MY, WHATEVER CHANGES YOU HAVE TO MAKE TO REBALANCE YOUR POPULATION, BE AWARE OF HOW THOSE CHANGES AFFECT RACE AND THAT YOU DON'T WANT A PLAN TO REDUCE THE MINORITY REPRESENTATION THAN WHAT IT CURRENTLY HAS.
YOU DON'T WANT TO PUT THEM IN A WORST POSITION IS HOW THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PUTS IT.
YOU DON'T PUT THEM IN A WORSE POSITION THAN THEY CURRENTLY ARE.
SO THAT IS OUR BASELINE FOR B MEETS THAT CRITERIA ON THE OTHER END SEVEN A AS AMENDED IT'S GETS A LITTLE MORE REFLECTIVE OF WHAT THE CURRENT RATIOS ARE IN THE PARISH.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT SUPREME COURT RULINGS PARTICULARLY LAST, UH, SEVERAL RULINGS NOW HAVE, UH, PUT MORE OF AN EMPHASIS ON MINIMAL CHANGES AND LESS EMPHASIS ON RACE.
UH, WE'VE SEEN CASES LIKE, UH, WITH THE WISCONSIN CONGRESSIONAL CASE WHERE THEY ADD IN AN ADDITIONAL MINORITY DISTRICT AND WHO WAS REJECTED BY THE COURT, BECAUSE THEY SAID YOU USE RACE AS A PRIMARY CONSIDERATION FOR DRAWING THOSE DISTRICTS.
AND THAT'S A VIOLATION OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT, THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE.
THEY'VE BEEN LEANING TOWARD THAT SINCE 1994.
UM, BUT IT'S GETTING EVEN MORE AND MORE SPECIFIC.
SO ON THAT END, YOU ARE USING RACE MORE SO THAN YOU ARE IN FOR, OR FOR B, UH, BECAUSE YOU ARE PRIMARILY FOCUSING ON WHO TO PUT IN AND WHO TO PUT OUT OF THESE DISTRICTS THAT GIVE YOU THAT ADDITIONAL MINORITY DISTRICT.
SO ON THAT END, I THINK YOU, YOU COULD RUN INTO AN ISSUE WITH SUPREME COURT RULINGS ON THAT.
AND AGAIN, I'M NOT A JUDGE, BUT I DO KEEP UP WITH THE RULINGS BECAUSE THEY AFFECT HOW WE DO THIS PROCESS.
AND I'M HERE JUST MERELY AS THE MESSENGER AND THAT AS THE ARBITER OF, UH, OF THESE THINGS.
SO YOU KIND OF ON BOTH HYMNS WITH FOUR B AND SEVEN, EIGHT AS AMENDED, IF ANYBODY CHALLENGES AND ONE OF THEM, I CAN'T TELL YOU WHICH ONE WOULD STAND A BETTER CHANCE OR NOT BECAUSE ON ONE END, THEY MAY SAY, WELL, WE THINK A JUDGE COULD SAY, WELL, WE THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE YOUR MINORITY REPRESENTATION BEYOND WHAT IT IS NOW ON THE HAND THAT GETS, COULD SAY, WELL, YOU USE RACE IN SEVEN, A IS AMENDED TO, UH, TO CREATE THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT.
AND THAT IS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE SUPREME COURT RULINGS THAT HAVE COME DOWN.
SO REALLY IT'S, I WISH I HAD A REAL CLEAR ANSWER FOR YOU, BUT AS ONE JUSTICE PUT IN ONE OF THE CASES, UH, REDISTRICTING IS NUANCED, PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO THESE THINGS LIKE COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST, UH, USE OF RACE IN THOSE THINGS.
YOU HAVE SOME LATITUDE, BUT THERE ARE RESTRICTIONS ON THAT LATITUDE
[01:45:02]
BASICALLY.YEAH, IT IS REALLY JUST DEPENDS HOW ALL OF THIS STUFF WORKS.
I MEAN, IT'S, UH, I, I WISH I HAD A BETTER ANSWER FOR YOU ON THAT, BUT THAT'S HOW IT'S ALL PROGRESSED SINCE 94, LESS AND LESS EMPHASIS ON RACE THOUGH.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, MISS THAT? UH, JUST FOR THE RECORD, UH, COUNSELING ON THE GUN, YOU WANT TO STATE YOUR MOTION AGAIN? YES.
I WANT TO JUST, I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY MY MOTION, THAT MY MOTION FOR THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION FOR A PLAN SEVEN, EIGHT IS AS AMENDED.
UM, ALSO I, MS. COLEMAN SECOND.
I ALSO, I SPOKE TO JUSTIN ABOUT THIS AS WE GOT EMAILS FROM HIM, TALLYING UP THE NUMBERS, AS IT RELATES TO WHERE PEOPLE STOOD ON THE EMAILS, I CALLED HIM AND SHARED WITH HIM THAT WE GOT SEVERAL EMAILS, NUMEROUS EMAILS FROM FOLKS WHO ASKED TO SUPPORT A 66, UM, MAP OR PLAN, BUT THAT WASN'T IN THE TALLY.
SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT NUMBER AND STATED FOR THE RECORD.
SO THOSE EMAILS THAT Y'ALL GET DIRECTLY ARE NOT COUNTED IN THIS NUMBER.
THE NUMBER THAT I READ IS THE NUMBER THAT WERE REPORTED ON OUR FORM THAT WE HAVE ON THE WEBSITE.
SO THERE ARE MULTIPLE PEOPLE WHO DO NOT USE THAT FORM.
THE ONLY ONES THAT WE READ ARE THE ONES THAT ARE, UM, COMPLETED ON THE ONLINE FORM.
SO THOSE WOULD NOT ANY, ANY EMAILS Y'ALL GET FROM FOLKS OTHER THAN ON THAT FORM WOULD NOT BE REFLECTED IN THOSE NUMBERS.
AND ONE MORE THING BEFORE WE MOVE ON, COUNCILWOMAN COLEMAN WANTED TO MAKE SURE A CERTAIN STREET PRESENT WAS AN HER DISTRICT ON PLAN SEVEN, A AND WHICH PRECINCT WOULD THAT BE? THAT WOULD BE, UM, I THINK IT'S CURRENTLY IN 1 44, BUT I NEEDED IN 1 68.
I WANT MARCH, MARCH, APRIL, MAY, OR TO BE TOGETHER THOSE OTHER MONTHS.
W WHAT PRESET BEGAN WAS THAT IT'S CURRENTLY IN 1 44.
YOU KNOW WHAT DISTRICT? I KNOW YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT DISTRICT I KNOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DISTRICT.
I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IT'S PARTICULAR STREET THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.
I WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT'S IN A PRECINCT IN 10 RIGHT NOW.
THIS IS, UH, WE'RE WORKING RIGHT NOW WITH PLANS.
THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT IS IN PRECINCT 2 36.
IT'S RIGHT OFF OF JULY AND CHURCH STREET.
CORRECT? I CAN LET SEE WHERE WE'RE AT A DIFFERENT ONE.
IS THERE A MARCH PORT DISTRICT DISTRICT 10 PRECINCT, 1 6, 8.
I HAVE A MARCH COURT THAT LOOKS LIKE IT'S IN PRECINCT TWO DASH TWO, TWO.
WHAT WERE YOU SAYING? WHAT I'M SAYING IS I WANT YOU TO LOOK IN DISTRICT 10 AND I WANT YOU TO FIND MARCH STREET AND THAT IT'S CURRENTLY IN ONE FOUR, BUT I WANT TO SEE IT.
CAN CHANGE PRECINCTS
YOU DISTRICT TO THE SOUTH END 1 44.
I HAVE THAT IN DISTRICT 10 AT THE MOMENT, THE PLAN SEVEN A IS AMENDED.
YOU JUST WANTED TO CONFIRM THAT.
JUST NORTH OF THE KNOCK-KNOCK MUSEUM.
UM, SO I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S
[01:50:01]
COMMENTS.I LOVE TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE ENGAGED IN THIS PROCESS.
UM, AND, UH, IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING ALONG, SINCE WE STARTED THIS PROCESS, YOU WOULD, YOU WOULD SEE, UM, CERTAINLY THAT WE ALL WORKED TOGETHER REALLY WELL AT, AT, UH, ACHIEVING WHAT WE'VE COME UP WITH EIGHT MAPS AND THE, THE FURTHER REVISIONS OF THOSE MAPS.
UH, JUST FOR SOME CLARITY, FOR THOSE WHO WERE NOT PAYING ATTENTION EARLY ON, WE HAD MAPS ONE THROUGH THREE.
UM, AND THEN, UM, AFTER A LOCAL RULING ON THE SCHOOL BOARD ISSUE, THE BIG, THE BIG, UM, REFLECTION WAS, UH, YOU SHOULD NOT SPLIT SPLIT PRECINCTS.
AND WE HAD SOME SPLIT PRECINCTS THROUGHOUT THOSE MAPS, WHICH IS WHERE MAP FOUR CAME FROM AND, AND FOUR AND BEYOND DO NOT SPLIT PRECINCT.
SO, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN ONE MORE FOCUS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ON, ON ALL OF THE RULES WE'RE TRYING TO, TO, UH, FOLLOW THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
UM, AND AS YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN, UH, COUNCILMAN DON EARLIER IN THE MEETING, TRYING TO MAKE SOME CHANGES AND LOOK AT MAKING SOME REVISIONS TO DO, DO CERTAIN THINGS, UH, IT'S QUITE DIFFICULT BECAUSE WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU CHANGE ONE PRECINCT, UM, IT, IT CAN THROW OFF A FEW OTHER DISTRICTS AND, AND TRYING TO MEET THOSE DEVIATIONS.
AND, UM, AS MR. HEFNER EXPLAINED ON, ON WHAT TRIGGERS, THIS IS TRYING TO GET YOUR POPULATIONS WITHIN PROPER DEVIATION.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS.
AND THEN, UM, OBVIOUSLY NOT, NOT MAKING A REDUCTION ON MINORITY REPRESENTATION IN DOING SO PRESERVING COMPACTNESS, UH, KEEPING UP CONTINUITY, NOT SPLITTING COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST.
UM, SO WHEN WE HAD PLANNED SEVEN COME, IT CAME WITH A MINIMUM IT DOES LEAVE THE, UH, CHANEY BELL COMMUNITY CENTER IN DISTRICT ONE, BUT A LARGE PORTION OF CHENEY BILL WAS REMOVED FROM DISTRICT ONE.
UH, IT SPLITS BAKER AND HALF, AND IT SPLITS SCOTLANDVILLE INTO THREE DISTRICTS.
SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT CONTINUITY AND COMPACTNESS, UM, DISTRICT SEVEN, CERTAINLY JUST THROWS THAT OUT OF THE WINDOW AND SAYS WE DON'T CARE BASED ON, UH, PROMOTING, JUST MOVING FORWARD WITH RACE AS THE GUIDE.
UM, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT'S MY BIG ISSUE WITH, WITH, UH, PLAN SEVEN, AS I SEE IT, I THINK THAT'S, UH, PUTS US ON VERY POOR LEGAL FOOTING, UM, MOVING FORWARD BECAUSE OF THOSE ISSUES.
AND, UM, AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK AT KIND OF HOW WE'VE WORKED THROUGH THIS PROCESS, OFTENTIMES THROUGHOUT THE EARLIER MEETINGS, IF FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE HERE AND WATCHING, UM, WE WERE GOING AROUND FROM DISTRICT TO DISTRICT AND IT WAS KIND OF, HEY, OKAY, I'VE GOT, I'VE GOT TOO MANY PEOPLE, YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH, LET'S SEE HOW WE CAN MAKE THESE ADJUSTMENTS.
AND IT WAS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SEAN AND I WORKED TOGETHER LOOKING AT DISTRICT ONE AND TWO, AND THEN YOU'D SEE DENISE AND DWIGHT KIND OF LOOKING WELL, YOU KNOW, THESE CONSTITUENTS ALREADY THINK THEY'RE IN MY DISTRICT.
UH, I THINK WE SAW SOME, SOME REVISIONS ON, UH, FOUR, A AND B UH, KIND OF ALONG THOSE LINES WHERE IT WAS JUST, IT'S MORE ON A SPECIFIC CONSTITUENT ISSUES THAT, UH, THAT, THAT, THAT MAKES SENSE FOR THEM TO FIGURE THAT OUT, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT BLOWING UP THE DEVIATIONS AND CAUSING ISSUES IN OTHER AREAS.
SO THAT'S KIND OF A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ON HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, UM, THE REASONING BEHIND MY OPPOSITION ON A PLAN SEVEN OR SEVEN EIGHT.
NOW THIS IS WHAT I READ WAS A MEMO THAT YOU SENT WITH PLAN SEVEN.
UH, I, I WOULD JUST ASK, DOES THAT STILL, DO YOU HAVE THOSE SAME CONCERNS WITH SEVEN, EIGHT AS YOU DID WITH SEVEN OR SEVEN, EIGHT AMENDED? YES.
SO MR. HAFFNER, UM, YOU N I WAS JUST, UH, LOOKING OVER ABOUT, UM, THE QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED BY, UM, COUNCILWOMAN AMA ROSA REGARDING RACE.
AND I DID SEE WHERE IT CANNOT BE THE SOLE OUR PREDOMINANT BASIS, BUT A LOT OF IT TALKS ABOUT BEING IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE VOTERS, RIGHT.
AND I BELIEVE WHEN WE'VE HEARD ABOUT THE DIFFERENT, UM, PLANS, UM, FOR POSSIBLE LAWSUITS IN, AND WHEN I'VE SEEN WHERE, UM, THEY HAVE BEEN PREDOMINANTLY, UM, AN OVERTURN AT ALL THE DIFFERENT SCHOOL BOARD AND STATE LEVEL, IT WAS BASED ON THE FACT THAT THERE WAS SUCH
[01:55:01]
AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF BLACKS, BUT IT WAS NOT REFLECTED AS IT RELATES THAT INCREASED DID NOT GO ALONG WITH THEIR BORDER RIGHTS.SO, SO THERE'S A P I WANT, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT RACE IS A DOMINANT FACTOR AS IT RELATES TO WHY THERE IS SUCH A THING AS RE-DISTRICTING AND PROTECTION OF THE VOTERS, RIGHT.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO THINK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, BUT, BUT IF THERE IS, UH, A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF WHITE, UH, BLACK VOTERS IN A PARTICULAR AREA, AND THEY DO, AND THEY'RE, THE NUMBERS ARE NOT, THEY'RE NOT GETTING ENOUGH FAIR AND EQUITABLE CHANCE TO VOTE IN THEIR AREA.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS COUNCILMEN OR NO MENTION IS ABOUT SCOTLAND BILL BEING SPLIT IN THREE WAYS.
WELL, ACTUALLY IT IS NOT SCOTLAND.
SO I WAS JUST, I WAS VERY EXCITED ABOUT SEVEN EIGHT FOR ONE PARTICULAR REASON, ALISON, WHICH HAS BEEN SORELY NEGLECTED AND BURDENED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES FOR SOME 50 YEARS, IT HAS SEVERAL SUPER FUN.
CURRENTLY IT HAS RONALDSON FIELD.
HOWEVER, ALL THINGS, ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL.
SO WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE'VE HAD THIS, LIKE IT IS NOW 85, 90, A HUNDRED PERCENT BLACKS IN DISTRICT TWO FROM THE TIME OF HAVING GEORGIA NEWMAN.
AND EVERY ONE OF US HAVE FOUGHT FOR SOME KIND OF, UM, FAIR THIS, AS IT RELATES TO THAT.
AND IT HAS FALLEN ON DEAF EARS WHERE THIS WHOLE ROOM HAS BEEN FOOLED OVER THE YEARS, BUT I WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF COUNCILMAN NO WOULD BE FIGHTING FOR THE PEOPLE OF AUS WHETHER OR NOT HE WOULD THEN HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING.
AND I DON'T MEAN HIM PERSONALLY, BUT HAVING TO FIGHT THAT IS WHAT THESE EQUITABLE, THIS CHANGES ARE ABOUT HAVING COUNSEL BEEN NO FIGHTING FOR THE PEOPLE AND HAVING TO CONVINCE OTHER LIKE-MINDED REPUBLICANS.
WHY REPUBLICANS, WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND THE HISTORIC WRONGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IS A GAME CHANGER.
SO IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES FOR SEVEN OR 8 0 7 TO BE IN COUNCIL, WOMAN, COLEMAN AND COUNCIL, WOMAN BANKS, AND COUNSELOR, NO, I'M ALL FOR IT.
BECAUSE SEE, WHEN WE WERE FIGHTING FOR BATON ROUGE ZOO, WE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE COUNCIL.
YOU KNOW, WHEN IT GOT BIG, GOT IMPORTANT, WHEN THEY STARTED TALKING ABOUT MOVING IT ACROSS FROM ST.
UH, SANTA MARIA AND COUNCILMAN DWIGHT HUDSON.
SO THOSE ARE INEQUITABLE CONSEQUENCES THAT WE FACING.
AND WHAT THE MAIN PROBLEM HERE IS, I WOULD SAY ALL MY COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE GOOD PEOPLE, BUT THEY HAVE CONSTITUENTS AND THEY DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONE AT LED.
THIS COUNCIL HAVE A SIX, SIX, THEY GOT TO GO BACK HOME, BUT THEY ARE PEOPLE NOT HERE.
LAURA ADAMS, PEOPLE ARE HERE AND THEY DESERVE, THEY DESERVE MUCH CONSIDERATION, BUT FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY, THAT IS AN ALL 12, THEY ALL HERE.
SO HOW COULD ANYONE WHO HAS, WHO DOES NOT HAVE OTHER THAN PEOPLE? THE OTHER THING I THINK ABOUT ISSUES LIKE THIS, WE DON'T HAVE A BRAC REPRESENTATIVE HERE.
THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT FAIRNESS AND EQUITY, AND THEY ALL HIRING THESE DIVERSITY PEOPLE ON THEIR STAFF, BUT NOT ONE PERSON HERE FROM BATON ROUGE, AREA CHAMBER, NO BREAD.
THEY HEAR THEY'LL TELL YOU, BUT THEY'RE HERE FOR THE LATE.
THEY WANT TO GET MORE MONEY FOR THE LAKE, THE WATER DISTRICT DOWNTOWN, EVEN IN THEIR MISSION.
THEY TALK ABOUT OUR DESIGNATED AREAS.
NONE OF IT IS NORTH OF FLORIDA BOULEVARD.
EVEN OUR MAYOR NOT HERE SAYING I REPRESENT ALL THE PEOPLE, BUT THIS IS WHAT THE FACTS SAY.
[02:00:01]
FOR ME.SO IT'S NOT IT'S DOES NOT EVEN MEAN THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU BLACK, YOU REPRESENTING THE INTEREST OF BLACK PEOPLE.
AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE BLACK REPRESENTATION TO SHOW ANOTHER SIDE.
HAVING A FI UH, HAVING, UH, NUMBERS THAT WE FLAG DISTRICT TWO 85% BLACK, 5 91, 6 62.
I DIDN'T HEAR WHAT THE MAN SAID ABOUT SEVEN AND 90% 70.
AND THEN IF HE HAD GIVEN THAT FLIP AND IT WAS ALL WHITE FOLKS, THAT'S A PROBLEM.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE LAWSUIT IS GOING TO COME BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN INNER CREASE OF BLACK FOLKS.
THEY CAME DOWN, THEY DON'T HAVE A VOICE.
UM, MR. WHEN OUR PARENTS SHOULD TURN IS COM IS ANYBODY HERE? AND I HAVE NO GOOD AFTERNOON.
I HAVEN'T TALKED TO YOU AT ALL ABOUT, AND WE DID.
SO I HOPEFULLY, UM, YOU YOU'VE SPOKEN WITH OTHER PEOPLE.
SO I'M JUST LOOKING ABOUT THE RACE FACTOR.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LITIGATION, AND I GUESS YOU WOULD HAVE BE THE ONE IN THERE, BUT AS IT RELATES, GIVE AN EXPLANATION ON, UM, THE FACT THAT HOW, IF THE NUMBERS GO UP, THE MINORITY NUMBERS GO UP IN A PARTICULAR AREA, BUT THEY ARE NOT REFLECTIVE IN OUR DISTRICTS.
ARE THE DISPUTE, HOW EXACTLY WOULD THAT BE OR NOT BE A VIOLATION OF THE, UM, THE VOTER RIGHTS ACT? I CAN'T REALLY SPEAK TO THAT COUNCIL WOMAN.
AND, AND MR. HEFNER KINDA HIT TO THIS.
IT'S, IT'S A FLUID THING THAT A COURT HAS TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE ACTION THAT WAS TAKEN BY A COUNCIL WEIGHED AGAINST THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND ALL OF THE ATTENDANT FACTORS AND DETERMINED IF THERE WAS A VIOLATION TOWARDS FOUR A AND I'M USING THESE NUMBERS, THAT'S THE THREE Y'ALL TALKING ABOUT FOUR BEING, I THINK IN SEVEN EIGHT, BUT YOU KNOW, THE CORE FACTORS WE HAD TO LOOK AT AS WELL, MR. HEFFERNAN, I TALKED ABOUT, WE HAD TO LOOK AT, AND HE'S RIGHT.
UH, THE COURTS HAVE SAID THAT RACE CANNOT BE A SOLE OR DETERMINED TO FACTOR AND MAKING ANY OF THESE PROPOSED REDISTRICTING.
UH, IT CAN'T BE SUSTAINED RACIST, DOWNPLAY, DOSE, LONG ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES THAT I USE TO DO DISTRICT TEAM, WHICH IS SOME OF THE STUFF WE TALKED ABOUT, COMPACTNESS, UH, SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THEY TALKED ABOUT, UH, CONTIGUOUS TO DISTRICTS, RESPECT FOR COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST, RESPECTFUL, POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS, THOSE THINGS.
THEY CAN'T DO THOSE THINGS, THOSE THINGS WE KNOW, OR THINGS THAT THEY'VE LOOKED AT THEY WAY AND NEED TO BE CONSIDERED.
BUT ULTIMATELY YOU ALL HAD TO MAKE AWARE OF REASON DECISION ON WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT.
AND IF SOMEBODY CHALLENGES, THEY CHALLENGE IT AND THE COURT WEIGHS OUT WHETHER YOU HAVE MET THE RIGHT CRITERIA TO ESTABLISH THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN THE RIGHT REDISTRICT KING PLAYING THE BLEEDING, MIKE, MIKE, THIS IS A MORE OF A LEGAL ACADEMIC QUESTION.
AND I MIGHT GET THIS ALMOST THE SAME QUESTION, BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO SAY, WHAT WOULD BE IS THE FUNDAMENTALLY IS CORRECT DATA.
THE NUMBERS ARE HIGHER IN A PARTICULAR RACE, AND THERE'S OUR DISTRICT ARGUING.
AND I JUST, YOU KNOW, THE THING IS, IS THAT I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING, BUT I, I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN GIVE YOU AN ANSWER.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY HERE IS GOING TO ARGUE WITH WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY.
I THINK THAT'S ONE THING THAT'S GONE ACROSS THE BOARD THAT NOBODY'S DISPUTED AND THAT'S THE, THE MINORITY REPRESENTATION HAS INCREASED BY THE CENSUS.
BUT THE QUESTION BECOMES, EVEN WITH THAT, HAVING DONE THIS FOR A STEEL MEAT REQUIRMENTS, THAT STILL STAY WITHIN THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND MEETS ALL THE REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO BE CONTINUED TO BE CONSIDERED CONSTITUTIONALLY VALLEY AND DON'T FILE IT EQUAL PROTECTION OR ANY OF THE OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS THAT PEOPLE HAVE ESTABLISHED.
THAT'S GOING TO BE THE QUESTION.
SO IT CAN'T SOLELY BE THAT WE SAY ONE EQUALS THIS, YOU KNOW, IT CAN BE THAT, BUT IT CAN'T BE THE SOLE FACTOR.
SO I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION, BUT THAT'S, I HATE TO BE BROAD, BUT WE HAVE TO BE BROAD.
COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN JUST WANT TO MAKE A FEW POINTS HERE.
YOU ALL, WHEN YOU HEAR VOTERS, RIGHT.
ACT, THAT'S AN ACT VOTERS, RIGHT.
THAT'S NOT A, YOU KNOW, ORDERING THAT YOU CAN THROW AROUND.
SO I WANT Y'ALL TO REMEMBER THAT.
[02:05:01]
IT DOES MATTER.IN ANYBODY'S SAYING IT DOES, IF NOT CHANGE YOURS, WE ARE GOING TO ALLOW MAPS TO DRIVE THE RIGHT THING, TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
UM, SOME MAPS AND MANY OF US DON'T HAVE EVEN READ MAPS TO WHERE, BUT WE GONNA ALLOW MAPS TO DRIVE.
AND I STILL HAVE HOPE THAT TODAY THAT THIS COUNCIL, THIS METRO COUNCIL WILL I'LL DO THE SCHOOL BOARD WILL I'LL DO THE LEGISLATURE JUST WELL, I'LL DO WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE BY THEM, WHERE THEY ARE IN THE COURT.
IT IS MY FERVENT PRAYER THAT THAT'S, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN HERE TODAY BECAUSE WE KNOW WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT THE CENSUS DRIVES ALL OF THIS.
AND I HEAR FOLK TALK ALL THE TIME, SAY NUMBERS DON'T LIE.
SO EVEN NUMBERS LIE OR NUMBERS DON'T LIE.
SO WE CAN'T MAKE THE RULE, BREAK THE RULE, THEN CREATE ANOTHER RULE THAT AIN'T RIGHT.
AND SO THEN WHEN WE SAY SIX, SIX, THAT'S 12, THAT'S A DOZEN.
AIN'T NOTHING, RIGHT? I MEAN, AIN'T NOTHING WRONG AND THAT'S GOOD ENGLISH.
AIN'T NOTHING WRONG ABOUT THAT.
AND IF YOU FAIR AND ALL THAT YOU DO, THEN IT'S GOING TO BE WELL WITH YOU.
AND NOT QUESTION IS WHY NOT? WHAT YOU'RE AFRAID OF.
WHY NOT? I APPRECIATE YOUNG PEOPLE LET THAT RECORD REFLECT THAT.
SEE, THEY DON'T MOVE DIFFERENT.
LI SAY, THEY GONNA MOVE DIFFERENTLY.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT? THEY CAN DO COME TOGETHER.
BLACK, WHITE, BLUE, GREEN, THEY CAN COME TO GATHER.
AND IF THEY HAVE DIFFERENCES, THEY GOING TO WORK THAT THING OUT.
THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN YOUNG FOLK AND THOSE OF US, THAT'S NOT YOUNG, MR. PER A PARALLEL.
I APPRECIATE YOUR, UH, PRESENTATION.
AND WHAT YOU SAID THAT WAS LOADED.
I JUST HOPE THAT THE FOLK LISTEN TO YOU.
AND THEN YOU ALL, WHEN WE, I'M JUST GONNA ASK THAT YOU, YOU YOU'VE HEARD THE NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S RIGHT.
A BABY KNOWS RIGHT FROM WRONG.
THAT AIN'T NOTHING THAT YOU GOT TO GO AND ASK THE COURT WHAT'S RIGHT.
AND WHAT'S WRONG, YOU KNOW? RIGHT.
AND SO I'M GOING TO ASK ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES TO VOTE YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS.
AND THAT SHOULD INCLUDE BOTH WAS RIGHT.
I LOVE DISTRICT TAN, NO OTHER, BUT IF I INHERIT A FEW, SOME OTHER FOLK FROM THE OTHERS, I'M A LOVE THEM TOO.
I DON'T CARE WHAT COLOR THEY ARE.
I DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN BLACK, WHITE, BLUE, GREEN, OR STRIPED.
I'M GOING TO SERVE THEM JUST AS I BEHEMOTH LEE SERVE 10 RIGHT NOW.
SO I'M GOING TO SAY TO MY COLLEAGUES, AGAIN, VOTE YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS ONCE YOU VOTE, RIGHT.
YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE TO GO OUT OF HERE AND DISCUSS YOUR DECISION WITH NOBODY, WITH THE COLLEAGUES AND NOBODY ELSE, BECAUSE YOU'VE DONE WHAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO.
WE WON'T DO THE RIGHT THING WHEN WE TOOK THIS SEAT.
AND SO WITH THAT BEING SAY YET, SIX, SIX IS FAIRNESS, AND I'M NOT AFRAID OF SIX AND SIX BOTTOM LINE.
HEY, SO I SAT HERE, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE TO SAY CERTAIN THINGS AND THINK IT'S IMPORTANT.
I GO BACK, HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH MY KID'S PRINCIPAL SUPERINTENDENT BECAUSE, UH, AT THE SCHOOL WHERE THEY WERE AT THE TIME THEY HAD ONE AFRICAN-AMERICAN KID IN HIS CLASSROOM, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING A GOOD JOB BECAUSE IT'S A PRIVATE SCHOOL AND I'M PUTTING ONE KID IN HIS CLASSROOM AND MAKING A CREIGHTON DIVERSITY, BUT YOU DID GREAT DIVERSITY.
WHAT YOU CREATED WAS ISOLATION.
AND YOU CREATED PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T RESEMBLE THEM, THAT KIDS, UM, THAT THEY DIDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE
[02:10:01]
WITH BECAUSE OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES.AND THAT'S THE POINT THAT I WANT TO GET TO.
AND WHEN I SAT IN THAT PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE, I GAVE HIM A STORY FROM 1995, WHICH STILL RINGS TRUE TODAY.
BACK THEN YOU HAD KIDS WITH BAGGY JEANS ON CALLED GENCO.
THEY HAD WALLETS IN THEIR BACK POCKET WITH CHAINS, HANGING TO THE KNEES, CLIPPED TO THE FRONT HOLES ALL THROUGH THEIR CERTS.
THE DIRTIER THE CLOTHES WERE THE MORE TORN UP THE HAT WAS THE MORE THEY WERE CONSIDERED A GRUNGE WHERE ON STATE BORDER, YOU HAD KIDS THAT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE THEM THAT HAD ON BAGGY PANTS THAT HAD ON AIR JORDANS THAT HAD ON HIP HOP LABEL CLOTHES.
AND THOSE KIDS WOULD CALL IT BUGS, BUT THEY LIVED NEXT DOOR TO EACH OTHER IN THE SAME TERROR IN THE SAME COUNTRY CLUB.
BECAUSE I KNEW BECAUSE THEY WENT TO SCHOOL WITH ME AND A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO IN THIS ROOM, THEY WENT TO MCKENNA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TIME.
WE KNEW WHERE THEY LIVED, BUT IT WASN'T ABOUT THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN.
IT WAS ABOUT THEIR CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND HOW MEDIA CREATES THAT OBJECT.
THAT IF YOU HAVE YOUR PANTS SAG ON, WELL, GUESS WHAT? THEY HAD THEIR SAGGING TOO, BUT THEY WERE NOT JUDGED AS A THUG.
THEY WERE JUDGED AS SOMEBODY WHO WAS GOING THROUGH A PHASE BASED ON A FAD, BASED ON CLOTHING AT THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
AND SO WHEN WE LOOKED AT A SIX, SIX MAP, IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER RACE, BUT ABOUT CULTURAL REPRESENTATION, BECAUSE YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBORS OR THE ONE OR TWO BLACK PEOPLE THAT MAY HAVE SAID AT THE SAT AT YOUR TABLE AND YOUR LIFETIME.
AND, YOU KNOW, I HEARD A LOT OF STUFF ABOUT, I HAVE THIS GUY THAT I KNOW THAT DOES THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER, AND THAT'S FINE, BUT IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ONES THAT YOU WILL APPROACH IS ABOUT THE ONES THAT YOU WANT APPROACH, BECAUSE THOSE ARE NOT THE ONES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
AND THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT WOULD REPRESENT IN DISTRICT FIVE IN DISTRICT SEVEN AND DISTRICT TWO AND DISTRICT 10.
AND IN DISTRICT SIX Y'ALL ARE GONNA WALK THE STREET DESIGN AND SEE THAT WE JUST HAD TO CLEAN UP A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE THE MEDIA, ALL THEY TALK ABOUT IS THE VIOLENCE AND THE KILLING.
AND IT WASN'T UNTIL THE ZION CITY KILLING CAME TO THE MALL.
LOUISIANA, DID YOU CARE BECAUSE IT WAS IN YOUR BACKYARD, BUT YES, IT WAS FROM MY DISTRICT.
AND SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT FAIR REPRESENTATION, WE TALK ABOUT ECONOMIC GROWTH.
WE TALK ABOUT MONEY FLOWING IN NORTH BATON ROUGE.
AND I NOTICED A THREAT TO THE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO CREATE POWER AND WEALTH ONLY IN SOUTH BATON ROUGE AND WANT TO MAINTAIN THAT POWER BECAUSE TYPICALLY MONEY DOES EQUAL THAT OVER TIME, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT'S ABOUT.
BUT WHEN WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO EDUCATE OUR KIDS, EDUCATION EQUALS INCOME EQUALS OUTCOME.
WHEN WE, WHEN WE CAN PROVIDE THOSE RESOURCES TO HELP CLOSE THOSE GAPS, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD AND A LEVEL OF VOLT, THERE'S NOT ABOUT RACE, BUT IT'S ABOUT CULTURAL REPRESENTATION AND GETTING RID OF THAT BIAS THAT YOU HAVE BECAUSE OF THE MEDIA THAT YOU SAW THAT CHANGED YOUR MIND, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT GOING TO PUT THE GOOD STUFF THAT'S HAPPENING IN DISTRICT 5, 7, 10 TO SIX, THEN WE'LL PUT THE BAD STUFF BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT SALES, THE REASON WHY THE HOUSEWIVES IS ONE OF THE BADDEST SHOWS ON TV IN TERMS OF RATINGS, BECAUSE IT'S MESS AND THAT'S WHITE, BLACK, AND OTHERWISE IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE, RIGHT? SO THE MEDIA RECOGNIZES THAT.
SO THEY SELL THAT TO YOU AND GUESS WHAT? YOU BUY IT, YOU BUY IT.
WHEN THEY PUT THE GOOD NEWS OUT, YOU DON'T CALL YOUR NEIGHBOR AND SAY, HEY NEIGHBOR, LET ME TELL YOU WHAT POSITIVE HAPPENED THE DAY.
BUT WHEN YOU FIND OUT THE BAD STUFF, GIRL, LET ME TELL YOU IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIALOGUE BECAUSE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE.
AGAIN, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE.
THE ONLY PLACE THAT YOU GO IN NORTH BEDROOM JUST TONE IS CRYSTAL CREAM AND AIRPORT.
AND EXXON, IF YOU WORK THERE OR ONE OF THE PLANTS, I'M NOT SCARED TO GO IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT SHE WAS THERE TO COME IN MIND.
AND THAT'S WHY WE NEED A SIX, SIX VOLT.
CAUSE I WANT TO GO UP, PUT US IN A POSITION WHERE WE HAVE ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION AND I'M GOING TO GET MY NEXT FIVE MINUTES.
MR. GILMORE WANTED TO COME TO THE MIC AND SAY SOMETHING, NOT FIVE SCORE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCILMAN HERS.
UH, I'M TERRIFIED BECAUSE ALL OF MY LIFE, I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO MAKE SURE I FILLED OUT MY CENSUS FORM AND YOUTUBE.
AND WE ALL HAVE BEEN TOLD WHY WE NEED TO FILL OUT OUR CENSUS FORM BECAUSE IT ASKS YOU WHAT YOUR RATES.
AND WE HAVE A CONSULTANT THAT YOU HAVE PAID THAT CAN LEAD YOU INTO LITIGATION DEEMPHASIZE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RACE IN CENSUS AND RACE IN DRAWING THESE LINES.
AND THAT IS WHY WE'VE ALL OF OUR LIVES HAVE BEEN TOLD TO COMPLETE YOUR CENSUS FORM SO THAT YOU COULD HAVE REPRESENTATION.
AND THAT'S NOT JUST HERE, THAT'S ALL THE WAY TO CONGRESS.
[02:15:01]
WANT ALL THE LESSONS THAT I'VE BEEN TAUGHT AND YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT ALL OF YOUR LIFE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CENSUS AND INDICATING WHAT YOUR RACE AND YOUR GENDER IS TO BE DEEMPHASIZED HERE AND DILUTED AS FAKE NEWS BECAUSE IT'S NOT RACE DOES MATTER.UH, BEFORE WE VOTE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I'M GOING TO RESTATE THE ITEMS. THERE, THERE IS A MOTION ON THE FLOOR, UH, TO APPROVE MAP FOUR B MOTION BAY BY COUNSELING OF ADAMS, SECONDED BY COUNCILMAN MAMMARY.
ALSO, THERE WAS A SUBSTITUTE MOTION TO SUPPORT SEVEN, EIGHT WITH THE STATE OF CHANGES MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUNN AND COUNCIL MEMBER COLEMAN.
JUST WANT TO SAY ON, UH, HAVING BEEN IN BATON ROUGE ALL MY LIFE, 40 YEARS, LIVING IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS, EVEN PARK FAIRFIELD FROM ALL CITY AS WE CALLED IT, UH, IT'S BEEN INTERESTING TO GROW UP IN A CITY LIKE BATON ROUGE, ATTENDING ALL OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CAPITOL METAL, EATING PARK, EXCUSE ME, PARK ELEMENTARY, FAIRFIELD ELEMENTARY, TARA HIGH SCHOOL.
UM, ONCE JUDGE BRADY FORCED BUSING IN 1986, UH, AND HAVING SEEN THE DISPARITIES IN THE CITY HAS BEEN EXTREMELY CHALLENGED, BUT ON, UH, JANUARY 2ND, 2021, UH, THIS PARTICULAR COUNCIL SHOCKED THIS ENTIRE CITY, THIS, THIS PARTICULAR COUNCIL CHOSE TO SELECT ME AS THE MAYOR PRO TEM REPRESENTING THIS COUNCIL AND I'M REPRESENTING THE CITY.
AND I WENT HOME AT NIGHT AND I CRIED.
I THANKED HIM ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS FOR BLACK MAN TO REPRESENT THIS BODY.
AND IT WAS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ME TO, TO DO THIS IN A WAY THAT IS SPED, EVERYONE WHO SITS ON THIS BODY, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO COME, UH, TO ENGAGE IN WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY.
AND I WANT TO SAY TO MY COLLEAGUES THAT I DON'T THINK, AND YOU TELL ME IF I'M WRONG, THAT WHEN YOU MADE THAT SELECTION, WHICH I KNOW SOME OF YOU RECEIVED A WHOLE LOT OF FLAT AT UP TO THIS POINT.
IT HADN'T WORKED OUT THAT BAD.
I DON'T THINK I'VE BEEN UNFAIR TO ANY OF YOU.
I DON'T THINK I'VE BEEN UNFAIR IN TERMS OF, UH, LISTENING TO YOUR CONCERNS.
AND I DON'T THINK I'VE BEEN UNFAIR WHEN WE'VE HAD TO HAVE CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ISSUES WE DIFFER ON.
AND WHAT I SUBMIT TO YOU TODAY IS TAKE A CHANCE.
AGAIN, I THINK A SIX, SIX COUNCIL IS FAIR.
I THINK A SIX, SIX COUNCIL ALLOWS US AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE REALLY CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE ISSUES THAT MATTER MOST IN OUR COMMUNITIES, BECAUSE ULTIMATELY WE ALL WANT THE SAME THING.
WE WANT TO LIVE IN A SAFE COMMUNITY THAT IS CLEAN, THAT HAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
THERE IS WHETHER IT'S ENTERTAINMENT OR AT OUR SCHOOLS WITH GREAT TEACHERS WHO PROVIDE AN EDUCATION FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.
AND I THINK WE ALL FEEL THE SAME WAY WHILE WE MAY NOT SPEAK ABOUT IT IN THE SAME WAY, BUT WHEN THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS IN OUR CITY AND PARISH AND CHOOSE, UH, TO MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR CHILDREN TO GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY, BUT WE ALL FEEL THE SAME WAY SOMEWHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AND WE ALL FEEL THE SAME WAY.
AND SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I WOULD HOPE THAT WE COULD TAKE A CHANCE AGAIN, AS A COUNCIL TO LOOK AT MAP SEVEN, THEY LOOKED AT THE REPRESENTATION AND REALLY THINK ABOUT, UH, HOW WE CAN CHANGE OUR CITY PARISH BY DOING SOMETHING, UH, THAT HASN'T BEEN DONE BEFORE IN THE CITY PARIS AND, UH, SHOCKING BY THE ENTIRE CITY.
UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD THING.
I LIVE BY SIMPLE RULE, TREAT ME BAD.
I'M ALWAYS IN COMPETITION WITH MYSELF TO TREAT PEOPLE BETTER THAN THEY COULD EVER POSSIBLY TREAT ME.
AND I THINK IF WE TREAT THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE, PARIS WOULD BE SPENDING WAS BETTER THAN IT HAS TREATED US OVER THE YEARS.
UH, WE'RE GOING TO SEE SOME GREAT THINGS HAPPEN.
SO ARE WE GOING TO READY TO TAKE A VOTE, UH, MOMENTARILY COUNSELING AND WE'LL GO THERE.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR, THE CURRENT MOTION OR THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION ON THE FLOOR IS FORMAT SEVEN, EIGHT.
HOWEVER, THAT MAP WAS ADJUSTED.
UH, SO WHAT THE PUBLIC HAS REVIEWED AND WHAT WE HAVE REVIEWED, UH, IS NOT, UH, WHAT WHAT'S BEEN CHANGED IS NOT WHAT'S AVAILABLE ONLINE AND TO THE PUBLIC.
COULD WE GO OVER THOSE CHANGES? I'M NOT CLEAR AND WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN WHAT CHANGES WERE MADE.
SO CAN WE JUST REVIEW THOSE PRIOR TO VOTING ON SEVEN, EIGHT AS AMENDED MR. HAFEN? I WANT YOU TO COME UP AND TELL US, OKAY.
YEAH, WE HAD A COUPLE OF PRECINCT CHANGES.
LET ME JUST GIVE ME ONE MINUTE TO PULL UP HILL BOUNDARY.
THAT WAY I CAN KIND OF GIVE IT TO YOU.
BUT THEN SOME OTHER CHANGES, THERE WERE SOME BEFORE, LET US GIVE ME ONE SECOND.
AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, IN MY STUDY AND OF THE MAPS, NORMALLY I WOULD SAY IT CHANGED
[02:20:01]
LIKE THAT.WE WOULD NEED MORE TIME, BUT I UNDERSTAND THE COMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND TAKE THE ROADS OFF ROAD WHERE THERE, SO WE CAN KIND OF SEE WHAT THE CHANGES ARE.
WHAT'D YOU SEE, OUTLINED IN RED IS SEVEN A AS IT WAS SENT OUT.
SO WHERE YOU SEE THE COLOR OF THE DISTRICT CHANGE FROM THAT RED LINE, YOU'LL SEE THAT TWO 11 WAS ORIGINALLY IN DISTRICT FIVE PRECINCT.
ONE 11 WAS ORIGINALLY A DISTRICT FIVE.
THOSE ARE IN DISTRICT TWO NOW, BUT TWO 11 AND ONE 11 GO FROM FIVE DID TWO.
AND THAT WAS BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY FROM DISTRICT TWO, WE ADDED PRECINCT 1 22 AND 1 23 INTO DISTRICT TO DISTRICT FIVE.
WE HAD A SWAP OF TWO PRECINCTS IN AT HIM.
SO TWO PRECINCTS WENT IN AND OUT OF, UM, TWO AND FIVE.
SEE WHAT ELSE WE HAD, UM, WAS ONE 11 OR 2 11, 2 11, UM, ONE 11 AND 2 11, 1 22, 1 23.
THOSE WERE, THOSE WERE SWAPPED OFF.
THINK THAT WAS THE EXTENT OF IT, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
1 78 WITH THE NON, I THINK THESE WERE THE ONES THAT WE HAD DISCUSSED.
WE STARTED WITH 1 23 AND WE HAD TO PUT 1 22 INTO DISTRICT FIVE TO KEEP IT CONTIGUOUS.
AND THEN WE HAD TO REBALANCE TO, BECAUSE IT WAS A LOW AND THAT'S WHERE WE TOOK PRECINCT ONE 11 AND TWO 11 FROM DISTRICT FIVE AND PUT IT INTO DISTRICT TWO.
THOSE ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A S SUBMITTED AND A AS AMENDED.
AND WE'RE COMFORTABLE COUNCIL ADMINISTRATOR STILL CALLING THIS SEVEN, EIGHT.
UM, BUT I THINK THE, UM, NOTING IT WOULD BE ADOPTING SEVEN, A WITH AMENDMENTS, UM, IS, UM, SHOWS THAT IT IS DIFFERENT FROM MAP SEVEN, EIGHT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH AFTER YOU PREFER THE LABEL, IT SEVEN, UH, A DIFFERENT NUMBER, UH, LIKE SEVEN C OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM ON MY END.
IT'S WHATEVER WORKS OUT BEST FOR Y'ALL.
BOTH OF THEM USE PLAN SEVEN AS A BASE, A, MADE A FEW CHANGES TO SEVEN AND THEN HEY IS AMENDED MADE A COUPLE MORE CHANGES.
SO IT'S JUST A LITTLE PROGRESSION.
LISTEN, WE HAVE A, YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING? WE HAVE A, ANOTHER DEMOGRAPHER WHO IS HERE WHO ASKED ME, TOLD ME HE WAS GOING TO BE RUNNING A LITTLE BIT BEHIND.
UH, AND I TOLD HIM IF HE GOT HERE BEFORE WE TOOK A VOTE OUT LOUD IN A FEW MOMENTS TO SPEAK SOME MR. FLORIDA, IF YOU COME UP, I'LL ALLOW YOU A FEW MOMENTS TO SPEAK VERY BRIEF, BECAUSE WE WANT TO TAKE A VOTE AND BE GOING TO MOVE ON TO THE OTHER BUSINESS OF THE CITY.
I JUST WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW A PERSON OF PRIVILEGE.
CEDRIC FLAWED, UH, PRESIDENT OF DATA CENTER, LLC, THE MOST EXPERIENCED, UH, REDISTRICTING COMPANY IN THE STATE BEEN DOING IT SINCE 1981.
AND I HAVE WORKED ON 16 VOTE RIGHTS CASES IN LOUISIANA, AND I'M IN THE MIDDLE DISTRICT CLARK VERSUS ATWOOD'S THAT, THAT CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE.
WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO JUDICIARY, WANTING TO SPEAK ABOUT RACE AS A, AS A PREDOMINANT FACTOR, THAT IS WHEN YOU'RE DOING A CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, THEN YOU GO ALONG.
I TEND FROM BATON ROUGE TO LAFAYETTE JUST USING THAT CORRIDOR, PICKING UP THE NEXT RACE.
NO COURT HAS EVER SAID CONNECTING PRECINCT THAT'S NEXT TO EACH OTHER.
BE IT BLACK MAJORITY DENIED IS USING RACE AS A FACTOR.
SO PLAN SEVEN, A B C IS WITHIN LEGAL, UH, LEGAL TERMS. AND LET ME JUST TELL YOU THIS.
AT SOME POINT IN TIME, BATON ROUGE HAS TO TRANSITION FROM WHITE MAJORITY TO BLACK MAJORITY.
JOHN PARISH DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT.
PART OF A LAWSUIT THAT FORCED THEM TO DO IT.
ALINA, I I'M DOING REDISTRICT 10 IN LIVINGSTON PARISH, SCHOOL BOARD IN PARISH, COUNCIL, CATTLE
[02:25:01]
PARISH, COUNCIL, PARISH COMMISSION, AND SCHOOL BOARD SAYING 12 IN AS A REFLECTION OF SIX SEX CATTLE PARISH, I'M SAYING PLAN WHAT FOUR B DILUTES, BLACK VOTE AND STRAND.AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE EXPOSED IN FEDERAL COURT.
I'VE BEEN THE FEDERAL COURT, 16 TIMES IN THIS, MY WHOLE PARISH JEFFERSON HAVE TAKEN HIM TO COURT SEVEN TIMES WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO SECTION TWO AND ONE, ALL THE CASES I'M SAYING ANYTHING OTHER THAN A SIX, SIX TO LOOSE BLACK GOLDEN SHREDS, AND YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE IN COURT BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THERE 16 TIMES.
JUDGE PAUL HAS SORT OF CERTIFIED ME AS AN EXPERT WITNESS IN THE MIDDLE DISTRICT JUDGE TO PLOT JUDGE BARRAGAN IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT.
IN JUDGE WALTERS IN THE WESTERN DISTRICT, THE ONLY PERSON DOING REDISTRICTING THAT'S BEEN DOING REDISTRICTING SINCE 1980 SENSORS HAVE WORKED FOR OVER 50 DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT ENTITIES.
AND LIKE I SAID, CATTLE IS SIMILAR TO YOUR 12 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS, 12 PARISH COMMISSIONS, AND THEY ARE SIX AND SIX WITH THE SAME DEMOGRAPHICS I'M SAYING EAST BATON ROUGE NEEDED TO TRANSITION BASED ON THE 20, 20 CENSUS AND NOT DILUTE BLACK VOTING STRENGTH BY ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE SIX SIX.
WE'RE GOING TO VOTE ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION FIRST SUBSTITUTE.
MOST OF THE COUNCIL MEMBER HAS MR. HAFFNER.
I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO RESPOND TO THAT.
UH, IT'S CONCERNING TO ME THAT WE WOULD, WELL, IT'S JUST REALLY A MATTER OF WHAT WEIGHT YOU PUT ON VARIOUS, UH, CRITERIA.
EACH OF Y'ALL HAVE AN OPINION.
DISTRICT COURTS HAVE AN OPINION.
DISTRICT COURTS HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THIS FOR YEARS, BUT DECADES, SUPREME COURTS.
THE ONE THAT ARBITRATES IT, AND I CAN TELL YOU IS JUST WHAT MY READING OF SUPREME COURT RULINGS HAVE BEEN AND HOW THEY AFFECT REDISTRICTING.
AND NOW I'M DOING, LIKE I SAID, I'M NOT, I'M NOT THE DECIDER.
AND THAT'S WHAT I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE.
AND I THINK YOUR COUNSEL HAS PRETTY MUCH REITERATED THE SAME THING.
UH IT'S UH, YOU KNOW, RACE, IT'S A, IT'S A FACTOR, BUT IT'S NOT THE SOLE CRITERIA.
YOU CAN'T USE THAT AS SO CRITERIA ONE OF THE JUSTICE SIDE, IT'S AN AWARENESS OF RACE WHEN YOU'RE REDISTRICTING IN BALANCE WITH ALL THE OTHER CRITERIA, IT IS NOT THE ONLY REASON WHY YOU DECIDE TO PUT SOMEBODY IN OR OUT.
SO THAT'S BASICALLY WHERE THEY SEE IT.
SEAN, YOU'VE SPOKEN TWICE ALREADY.
EX HAVE YOU BEEN TO COURT, MR. HARRIMAN? YES.
I'M CERTIFIED, UH, TO, UH, TESTIFIED BONY RIGHTS, ACTS REDISTRICT KING, UH, SCHOOL DESEGREGATION, STATE COURT, FEDERAL COURT.
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO ASK THEM MY QUESTIONS.
HAVE YOU BEEN TO COURT ON ANY OF THE CASES? SO YES, I'VE REPRESENTED THE STATE ON A NUMBER OF VOTING RIGHTS CASES IN THIS, UH, IN THIS DISTRICT, AS WELL AS, UH, THE, UH, MIDDLE DISTRICT EASTERN DISTRICT NORTHERN DISTRICT, UH, WITH THE GODS OF VOTING RIGHTS CASES AND ALSO A SKI SCHOOL DESEGREGATION, WHICH IS RELATED IN THE AREA OF DISA, UH, DEMOGRAPHICS.
THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE GETTING READY TO VOTE ON ITEM, UNLESS YOU ALL WANTED TO FURTHER THIS MATTER, WE'LL GET READY TO VOTE ON ITEM.
WE'VE GOT A BOARD OUT, A SUBSTITUTE MOTION.
SUBSTITUTE MOTION IS TO APPROVE MAP SEVEN, A WITH STATED CHANGES, MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER.
DON SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COLMA.
WE GOT TO VOTE ON THE MACHINES.
MACHINES ARE OPEN ON THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION FAILS.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO VOTE ON THE ORIGINAL MOTION, WHICH IS TO APPROVE MAP FOUR B.
WE'RE GOING TO VOTE ON THE ORIGINAL MOTION.
MACHINES ARE OPEN ON THE ORIGINAL MOTION.
WELL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, BUT WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON.
MOTION TO ADJOURN IS THE MOTION TO ADJOURN.
WE WILL PROCEED IN THE NEXT FOUR MINUTES WITH OUR PRESENTATION PORTION OF THE MEETING, BUT.