By: PRENTISS SMITH
The new bond proposal by the mayor is vital to making Shreveport a destination spot instead of a departure hub. It will provide resources for safer neighborhood initiatives that will involve community leaders and other stakeholders. The addition of police sub stations in neighborhoods will be a good thing. Community policing has been shown to be an effective way to curb crime and build trust between the citizenry and law-enforcement. The money earmarked for Parks and Recreation is an important component to rebuilding communities. Shreveport is poised for an economic revival, which is why this is the right time to make these needed investments, because tomorrow is already too late. The voters deserve the right to vote on the bond proposal. They will have the final say on the Bond proposal. The only problem that some people have is that the 36 million dollars should not have been taken out, because those funds targeted at risk neighborhoods, which need all of the help they can get.
I have said this before, and I will say it again: Shreveport is a great place to live and an even better place to raise a family, but it needs to make some improvements. Our children are leaving. Businesses are leaving. It’s time to do something different. As someone who relocated here over forty years ago, I have seen the good with the bad and the bad with the ugly, and the ugly is not good. The ugly is the unenviable and distorted view that Shreveport is a place rife with crime and criminals. Nothing could be further from the truth. Does Shreveport have its problems with crime? Yes, it does, but so do many other metropolitan areas around the country that are dealing with impoverished neighborhoods, failing schools, and a lack of job opportunities. The citizens of Shreveport are ready for meaningful and measurable change, which is why they decided to make a change in city leadership.
Shreveport is taking the next step with this bond proposal to attract new businesses and provide the safety and security that its citizens have been clamoring for. That next step started almost a year ago with the election of a new mayor, whose elevation to be the chief executive of this city of almost 200,000 people signals a real sea change and potentially a significant infusion of new ideas and new processes that will hopefully improve the quality of life for all Shreveport citizens.
That is the bet that the citizens of Shreveport made when they chose to go with new leadership over someone who had been in the political arena for many years. And although the new mayor had what many observers would call a rocky start with the introduction of an eighteen dollar garbage fee, it appears that he is a quick learner and someone who has the capacity to listen and learn, which is a trait that will serve him well going forward. The fact that he is having seven neighborhood meetings with citizens is smart and necessary. It is important to engage the public at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end of the process.
Yes, the jury is still out on this new administration, but eight months does not a successful chief executive make, nor a successful administration. There will always be ups and downs, but the key for this mayor is to identify those councilmen and women who are willing to work together for the good of the city and not for their own petty political grievances. Being able to garner four votes on a seven-member body is vital. Shreveport citizens did not give the keys to the kingdom to a novice politician for him to stick to the status quo. They elected him to shake up things and to make their neighborhoods safer, cleaner, and more attractive to people who might want to relocate to Shreveport like I did so many years ago. He is going to have use all of his leadership skills to make this bond proposal a reality. It’s a great first step in what can be many steps to bring the city together and to make the needed improvements that the citizens elected him to do. The mayor should remember that the most important number for his purposes is four, no matter how he gets there.
Republicans have to work with Democrats and moderates have to work with progressives. Over the past several years, there has been a concerted effort by two councilmen to do just that — to work together for the good of the city. One of them is a conservative Republican and the other one is a progressive Democrat. They have found a way to find common ground on some difficult issues, which they both have had to explain to their respective constituencies.
These two men find time to have lunch together on a regular basis and they appear to genuinely like each other, which is also a great thing in this time of hyper-partisanship and divisive politics. That is why it would serve the new mayor well to observe the professional relationship between Councilman Willie Bradford and Councilman James Flurry. That relationship recently bore fruit in the aforementioned vote to move forward with a 220 million-dollar bond proposal, when Mr. Flurry went along with three Democrats to put the issue on the ballot for a vote from the citizens of Shreveport. Mr. Flurry sought to move the issue forward and to find common ground, which came in the form of a reduction of the 220 million-dollar amount to 186 million dollars.
That still did not garner the support of Mr. Nickelson, Mr. Boucher, and surprisingly, Ms. Fuller, whose district has some of the more economically challenged areas in Shreveport. There is no doubt that any infusion of resources to her district would be a good thing and an upgrade for her constituents. Her decision stands in stark contrast to Councilman Flurry, who showed real political courage when he chose to vote with three Democratstoallow thevote in November. He knew that he would get some blow back, but he was willing to move the process forward. The citizens of Shreveport will make the final decision, and that is as it should be. And that’s my take. smithpren@aol.com
This Article was published in the November 1st issue of The Inquisitor.