WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Mayor-President Kip Holden Formally Announces Plans to Seek Re-Election
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Mayor-President Kip HoldenMayor-President Kip Holden launched a bold plan Wednesday that could be political suicide for some sitting mayors. Holden formally announced plans for re-election, but he also launched a campaign for more taxes to begin an aggressive rebuilding of the city's entire infrastructure.
According to its administration, right now, the city of Baton Rouge is perhaps in the best financial shape that it has ever been. Budget surpluses over the past three years, coupled with a resurgent downtown, have Baton Rouge in great shape to attract major industries and conventions. With that as a backdrop, Mayor-President Kip Holden is seeking re-election.
Holden says the surface may look encouraging but it's what's underneath that's in peril. "Absent us coming together with some kind of bone issue, we haven't decided on the exact form, you know. We have some problems before we begin to have cave-ins and other things we've seen in other cities. We must move forward and address that."
Holden will be counting on his own star power to pass an infrastructure initiative. Baton Rouge voters haven't passed an infrastructure tax since 1965, which was 43 years ago. Plus, in a move that astounds some, Holden plans to put the infrastructure issue on the same ballot as his re-election campaign. "We're gonna have to do something about our infrastructure. The two are not really tied together because I'm running for mayor, but at this same time, they are tied together in this sense that I see some drainage problems that have to be corrected."
The package should be unveiled to the public after the council has had a chance to take a look at the proposal. Holden released a list of 100 reasons why he should be re-elected. First was his hiring of Police Chief Jeff LeDuff, while last was his reigning as king of Spanish Town Mardi Gras.
Reporter: Jim Shannon, WAFB 9NEWS
