The mayor-president's effort to block the creation of a new city within East Baton Rouge Parish finally goes before a judge Monday, but any decision by District Judge Martin Coady is sure to be appealed.
Residents in the southeastern part of the parish voted to create St. George in 2019, or so they thought. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and others challenged the results, and now must prove in court the proposed city will negatively impact the city-parish if they hope to block the incorporation.
In their lawsuit against the organizers, Broome's lawyers used research from two LSU professors to build the argument that proponents overestimated projected revenues and underestimated expenses for the proposed city of approximately 86,000 people. They also say an estimated $48.3 million in annual revenue the city-parish would lose if the city's incorporation happened would cause impair city-parish services and trigger layoffs.
St. George would be a predominately white and middle- to upper-middle-class city; organizers carved out sections in the southeast corner of the parish that were more predominately Black and lower class after the first failed attempt to incorporate never passed the petition stage.
The trial is expected to last at least a week in the 19th Judicial District Court. Regardless of the outcome, it is expected that either side will appeal the court's decision, potentially setting up a legal fight that could reach the state's Supreme Court.
"We're feeling very positive," said attorney Mary Olive Pierson, who is leading Broome's legal team.
Broome is joined as a plaintiff in the suit by Council Pro Tem LaMont Cole.
"We're going to prove that (the incorporation) is unreasonable, they can't do it in a reasonable period of time and it'll have an adverse impact on Baton Rouge," Pierson said. "We'll also show they didn't fully comply with the state statute to incorporate. We're prepared to prove it all."
The other side expressed the same conviction heading into the trial.
"We could not be more confident," said Drew Murrell, the spokesman for the St. George movement. "They have zero evidence to prove that we won't have enough money to provide services. We're going to prove that we won't be such a detriment to Baton Rouge that we shouldn't be allowed to incorporate."
The Legal Arguments
The legal challenge essentially pressed the PAUSE button on St. George becoming a reality following the Oct. 12, 2019, election when the incorporation was passed by voters within the proposed boundaries by a 54-46 margin.
The Broome-led suit is aimed at St. George organizers Norman Browning and Chris Rials. The lawsuit's arguments are built around testing the authenticity, credibility and feasibility of the promises both men made during the petition drive that drove the 2019 election.
Broome's attorneys have argued St. George's incorporation would negatively impact Baton Rouge by leading to substantial reductions and necessary cuts to all city-parish services, which would hinder the ongoing obligations the city-parish has to pensions and retirement benefits for present and future employees, impair the city-parish's bond indebtedness and reduce the city-parish's financing ability by reducing its credit rating.
The lawsuit also asserted that organizers used language in the petition that violated aspects of Louisiana Revised Statute 33:4 because organizers failed to commit and develop a plan for the list of municipal services St. George would provide to its residents.
That statute stipulates that Coady must determine whether the incorporation "is reasonable" and if the proposed city can provide "public services within a reasonable period of time," along with considering any negative effects it could have on other cities within the parish, in this case Baton Rouge. The other cities in the parish are Baker, Central and Zachary.
Who's Taking the Stand
The list of witnesses defense lawyers have subpoenaed indicate that proponents intend to lean heavily into the similarities St. George's incorporation shares with the city of Central, which was the last municipality to incorporate in East Baton Rouge.
The northeastern city, also predominately white, had to overcome its own legal challenge to incorporate 17 years ago before creating its own school district — which is how the St. George movement began as well.
According to court records, Russell Starns is among the list of more than 30 people defense lawyers have asked to testify in court. Starns, a local businessman, led Central's incorporation effort. St. George organizers used Central's operation model as their reference to craft the preliminary plans for the city's operation, which has been posted on the incorporation campaign's website.
Central officials handed off much of the city's day-to-day functions to a private contractor with a few services still managed under the city-parish's umbrella. A model they say has resulted in annual surpluses for the city.
Among the defense's list of subpoenas are a slew of Central city officials, the president of Central's Chamber of Commerce, representatives from the various private contractors Central has outsourced certain services to, as well as BREC Superintendent Corey Wilson, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, the city-parish's Director of Transportation and Drainage Fred Raiford, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul and Metro Councilman Aaron Moak, who represents most of Central.
"We have to put witnesses on to provide evidence that St. George is what it is," Murrell said. "We're trying to show that the (Central) business model works. We'll show how they quadrupled their budget, increased population, added businesses and revenue to the area.
"Who doesn't want that? Oh yeah, Mayor Broome," he said.
The plaintiffs' witness list includes Browning, Rials and Murrell; in addition to several of the city-parish's department heads, the Parish's Registrar of Voters Steve Raborn, John Engquist, executive chairman and director of H&E Equipment Services; and James Richardson, the LSU economist who helped draft the 2018 study asserting the plan organizers published scantly outlining St. George day-to-day operations would result in a deficit because they overestimated the city's potential revenues and underestimated its expenses associated with the 2% parishwide sales tax that will no longer filter into the parish's coffers if the incorporation occurs.
"We're gonna be focused on the main things that the judge has to determine in this case," Pierson said. "Them calling up the 'Central Cheerleaders' won't make a difference. We'll give the judge enough evidence."
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Trial opens Monday on creation of St. George; don't expect ruling to be the final ruling - The Advocate
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