2 weeks Ago
District 6 Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr., left, and District 9 council member Dwight Hudson, right, engaged in a heated debate over St. George Tuesday night.
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Tuesday night, East Baton Rouge Metro Council approved a budget for 2025, but it was an item further down the agenda that brought a fiery back-and-forth to the chambers Tuesday evening. The 2025 budget, which Metro Council approved with no debate Tuesday, includes a $40 million shortfall from the year prior brought on by the incorporation of St. George.
The budget could be supplemented by the incoming mayoral administration, in its current state, cuts would be will be shouldered by nearly all general fund departments, like BRPD's nearly $9 million drop. But St. George was the topic of debate for another reason.
'This is sabotage' The council was asked to vote on, and ultimately approved, a $50,000 increase in contracted legal representation to be paid to Brett Furr, the attorney manning negotiations for the city-parish with St. George over an intergovernmental agreement. For months, the two parties have gone back and forth over tax revenue owed to the new city, as well as its incorporation date.
But District 9 member Dwight Hudson moved that the funding approval vote be delayed until the new year, because Mayor-President-Elect Sid Edwards' team has told him they'd like a chance to review the agreement and make a determination once the mayor is sworn in. "I don't know that they'll cancel the contract or what, but they want an opportunity to look into the issue," Hudson said. "I think, with an incoming administration, it's best to defer this item and seek their guidance and move forward.
" Hudson, whose district is home to St. George, was met with a contentious response from District 6 Metro Council member Cleve Dunn Jr. Dunn said the incoming administration can do what they feel is right in January, but right now, the council needs to do what's best for the parish, before firing back at Hudson.
"You represent the city-parish of Baton Rouge right now, you do not represent St. George or the incoming administration," Dunn said. The District 6 representative argued that it was the council's duty to make sure the city-parish had legal representation in the matter, and that Hudson was putting St.
George's interests above East Baton Rouge Parish. "If you're trying to do your job and do your fiduciary duty, you will vote in support of the parish having representation, not disarming the parish into not having representation," Dunn said. "This is sabotage by you.
" Incorporation date dispute The city-parish said the incorporation date is a major reason why the two cities have yet to come to an agreement. St. George's leaders have maintained the date is 2019, when voters approved the separation of the new city.
But the city-parish says a court needs to set this date, and agreeing to 2019 leaves a "loophole big enough to drive a Brinks truck through," Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in October. This date would leave the city-parish liable to give St. George all of the sales tax revenue collected in the new city's boundary going back five years, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Amid the back and forth between Hudson and Dunn Tuesday, District 12 Metro Council member asked Parish Attorney Greg Rome to clear up the incorporation date matter. "It's typically set by the courts," Rome said. "We're trying to see if we can get some agreement to that, but I think eventually we might have some court say, 'this (date) is what the incorporation date is.
'" District 12 council member Jennifer Racca speaks at a luncheon on Monday, December 10, 2024. Metro Council member Jennifer Racca said the city-parish needs to continue to be represented, despite the transition period between mayoral administrations. "I'm not saying that we take a position or side, but we have to have our legal counsel working on the behalf of the city-parish," she said.
As of late November, the city-parish and St. George were in mediation over the intergovernmental agreement. On Tuesday, Julie Baxter Payer, Chief of Staff to Mayor Broome, said negotiations between the two parties are ongoing, even as the mayor prepares to leave office next year.
'We are not friends' Hudson said he took his fiduciary responsibility to the city-parish seriously and that he didn't feel he was asking it to go unrepresented, as he does not believe negotiations will continue between now and the new year. "Councilman Dunn, look you and I are friends. We get along great, but I don't appreciate that being called into question in that way," Hudson said.
Dunn's reply to Hudson was direct. "We are not friends. We're associates and colleagues," he said.
"I think it's negligent for you to come here and act as if you represent your constituency, when we know you represent St George," Dunn continued. "So if you want to represent St. George, why didn't you represent the St.
George (City) Council? It's our responsibility — all of us here — to represent the best interest of ...
East Baton Rouge Parish. And you're not doing that." The council passed the $50,000 increase for Furr's legal services with a 9-1 vote.
Hudson was the only member who voted against. District 8 council member Denise Amoroso and District 11 council member Laurie Adams were not present..
