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A bill to speed up East Baton Rouge blight cases advances, headed to Senate floor
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BATON ROUGE - One of Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ campaign trail promises was tackling blight in East Baton Rouge Parish, and Thursday, city and state officials collaborated on a bill that could speed up blight clean-up.
State Sen. Rick Edmonds said since 2016, East Baton Rouge Parish has received 64,000 calls for blight.
“That's almost 19 calls a day for the last 3,400 days to address blight in neighborhoods,” Edmonds said.
Blight is handled differently in all of Louisiana’s 64 parishes. Some require city council approval, while others go straight to a court that specifically handles blight calls.
In East Baton Rouge, blight cases have to go through the Metro Council, but if the bill, authored by Edmonds, R-East Baton Rouge, passes, the council doesn’t have to be the body deciding what happens to properties. Instead, condemnations could come from a “blight” court. Property owners could appeal decisions.
Mayor President Sid Edwards and members of his administration attended Thursday’s Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs and supported the measure alongside Edmonds.
Jeff LeDuff, Chief Administrative Officer for East Baton Rouge, says the bill’s passage would expedite the condemnation process, but he also wants to make sure its fair.
“This is about people's rights,” LeDuff said. “This is about having a property that you own, where somebody's coming in and saying it's going to be removed.”
LeDuff, a former Baton Rouge Police Chief, says everyone deserves a fair opportunity to be heard, especially in front of the courts. Though tackling blight, he says, could also curb crime.
“If a community looks complete, it’s safer,” LeDuff said. “If a community looks healthy, it’s safer.”
LeDuff says he drove through poor areas of Baton Rouge with Mayor Edwards Monday, taking note of blighted properties in the city.
“You’re cutting your grass across the street from a house that has been burned,” LeDuff said. “One lady told us [it happened] ten years ago. That’s a place where people can hide guns. That’s a place where people can hide dope. She shouldn’t have to live in front of that.”
The bill passed the committee unanimously and is expected to be heard on the Senate floor.
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