Editor\u2019s Note:<\/i><\/b> This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.<\/span><\/i> Take Our Poll\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" – The Baton Rouge chapter of the NAACP issued a statement warning about the incorporation of St. George affecting the education system.
\nOn Monday, the Baton Rouge chapter of the NAACP<\/b> issued a statement warning that the incorporation of St. George poses significant threats to Baton Rouge\u2019s education system. What is your response to that?<\/b>
\nThe creation of the city of St. George does not create a school system. A school system is a completely separate process, separate budget and separate governance model than the city of St. George. St. George was created as a city by the Louisiana Supreme Court\u2019s ruling, not a school system. They\u2019re not related and any attempts to [conflate] the two is simply an attempt to mislead the public.<\/span>
\nThat feeds into my next question, because the NAACP also raised concerns over<\/b> House Bill 6, which would make it easier to create a new school district without input from Baton Rouge voters. Are you in favor of that legislation?<\/b>
\nHonestly, I don\u2019t have anything to do with that legislation. I would defer to someone who has more knowledge about it, because right now, our sole focus is on building the city. That\u2019s a legislative process, so that\u2019s up to the legislators. Again, we\u2019re solely focused on what we have to do to build our city.<\/span>
\nIn an<\/b> interview with WBRZ-TV, you argued that the city-parish should pay back the taxes St. George residents have paid to East Baton Rouge Parish government since 2019. Are you proposing that the individual citizens of St. George should get their money back, or are you proposing that the city of St. George should get that tax revenue back?<\/b>
\nAt this point, everything is on the table. There\u2019s going to be a long negotiation process between the city of St. George and East Baton Rouge Parish, and that\u2019s going to cover the gamut of everything from sharing services and working together to separating services and dividing up assets and liabilities. If money gets exchanged, returned or refunded, that would be a part of that process.<\/span>
\nWhat I do know is what the state Supreme Court said in the majority opinion, which is clearly that the citizens of St. George have been subsidizing city of Baton Rouge services for a long time without receiving services in return. Perhaps the citizens of St. George\u2014or the government of St. George\u2014deserve some of that money back.<\/span>
\nDo you have any ballpark estimates of how much money you believe should be refunded?<\/b>
\nNo, and here\u2019s a good reason why: The city of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish don\u2019t know, and that was proven at trial testimony. They have no idea the amount of expenses that were incurred to run city of St. George services. They have no clue. Again, that\u2019s going to be subject to negotiation. I can refer back to what Mayor Kip Holden\u2019s agreement was with the city of Central during their litigation\u2014Mayor Holden put aside 10 percent of every month\u2019s sales tax revenue so if Central was successful they would have a starting point for their city\u2014but determining where that number falls would be subject to a lot of negotiation, I\u2019m sure.<\/span>
\nIf negotiations were to stall, is this something that organizers would be willing to file a lawsuit over?<\/b>
\nOur one purpose is to serve the citizens of St. George. We are always going to be willing to do whatever is in the best interest of the citizens of St. George. And it wouldn\u2019t be organizers\u2014if somebody is filing a lawsuit on behalf of the city of St. George, we\u2019re talking about the St. George Transition District or the city of St. George mayor and city council. It wouldn\u2019t be organizers. Those people would have to make that decision at that time.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n– St. George’s creation as a city is separate from creating a school system.
\n– House Bill 6 would make it easier to create a new school district without input from Baton Rouge voters.
\n– The city-parish should pay back taxes St. George residents have paid to East Baton Rouge Parish government since 2019.
\n– The amount of money to be refunded is unknown and subject to negotiation.
\n– If negotiations stall, organizers may consider filing a lawsuit on behalf of the city of St. George.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3038,3492,1766,4039,8569,8752,2577,932,8486,405,1387,3644,4823,415,899,5525,2878,2685,4086,2628,1864,634,8257,5612,6106,433,1806,7967,1827,168,1026,1065,6547,4771,1183,2503,7045,1906,1379,5129,6305],"class_list":["post-10522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-agreement","tag-bill","tag-budget","tag-building","tag-citizens","tag-city-of-st-george","tag-concerns","tag-court","tag-creation","tag-education","tag-education-system","tag-expenses","tag-governance","tag-government","tag-interest","tag-interview","tag-lawsuit","tag-legislation","tag-mayor","tag-money","tag-negotiations","tag-opinion","tag-response","tag-revenue","tag-sales","tag-school","tag-services","tag-state","tag-statement","tag-supreme-court","tag-talks","tag-tax","tag-tax-refund","tag-tax-revenue","tag-taxes","tag-testimony","tag-transition","tag-trial","tag-voters","tag-warning","tag-who"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n