[Louisiana] Black mayors target poverty

From the Advocate

Conference urges action by Blanco

By BOBBY ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate

OPELOUSAS -- President Joe Fuller of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana said Saturday that Gov. Kathleen Blanco needs to demonstrate strong action during her administration to help eliminate statewide poverty.
"I'll say this to the governor. You have four years, and you need to listen to us," said Fuller, a member of the Rapides Parish Police Jury. "Then you need to show us what you've done about (poverty), not that you've talked about it."

Fuller served as a panelist during a discussion of poverty that ended the 17th annual state conference of the Louisiana chapter of the National Conference of Black Mayors Inc.

A report generated from Saturday's poverty workshop will be sent to the Governor's Office, said Paulette Bailey, executive director of the Louisiana chapter.

Bailey said mayors want input at a future series of community-level meetings on shaping Blanco's strategies to solve the problem of poverty in the state.

She told the panelists that Louisiana has surpassed Mississippi in the number of citizens who live in poverty.

On Friday afternoon, Blanco addressed the convention, calling poverty "the state's greatest problem."

She said it's a misconception to think that poverty doesn't affect everyone and promised to develop programs to help eradicate what she called the "scourge" of poverty.

Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin "Kip" Holden told the gathering on Saturday that the state's 54 black mayors face a difficult task.

"It's quite amazing the pressures that are put upon mayors who are African-American," Holden said.

Holden said mayors who are black are expected to prove themselves faster and more efficiently than their predecessors.

He urged the other mayors in the audience to live up to the high standards he said are being set for them.

"You will be challenged on every hand to deal with the problems of government, but you need to use the work ethic of your forefathers and keep on climbing," Holden said.

"Don't drop the baton. Think about your parents and all they went through. They sometimes could not go to school because of harvesting season," Holden said.

During the panel discussion, Fuller said mayors need to develop strategies that attract companies.

"Number one, you've got to have a decent educational system," Fuller said. "When you deal with these companies, they all have a checklist that includes things like having theaters, (municipal) golf courses, museums and cultural recreation."

St. Gabriel Mayor George Grace said he wondered why more city administrations don't seek federal grants to spur economic development, create new small businesses and provide loans for low-income housing.

Grace said St. Gabriel, for instance, used $13 million in U.S. Agriculture Department funding for a sewer system and annual grants to start businesses.

Baton Rouge lawyer Robin Nesbitt, executive director of the state's Municipal Black Caucus, said poverty has become a mentality all too often accepted in black communities.

Nesbitt said it has become acceptable to display what he called a "thug mentality."

He said the inclination of some youths to sport tattoos and pants that hang low is "a poverty mentality that's become accepted in the black community."

William Blount, who works with the Baton Rouge Recreation Department's outreach program, said the poor need recreational outlets.

Blount said community centers are necessary to provide social needs unavailable in some homes.

Adrian Wilson, assistant secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services, said his agency already has established several ways to break the poverty cycle.

Wilson said state and federal lawmakers will be asked for input and that programs for saving and developing money will begin.

Community coalitions for fighting poverty will be developed in each parish and provide state officials with input.

Larry Ferdinand, who works with the Governor's Office in addressing poverty issues, said community plans to alleviate poverty are the "king, queen and the key" to Blanco's effort.

Brace Godfrey, chairman of the Baton Rouge Downtown Development District, said Louisiana's community college system is making a difference in attracting students who otherwise may not seek higher education.

Godfrey also said statistics do not support the notion that Baton Rouge's community colleges have hurt student attendance at Southern University and LSU.