City of St. George Interim Mayor Dustin Yates.
Well, it has been six (6) years since our feature wherein the then-proposed City of St. George organizers voiced extreme frustration with East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) officials.
It has certainly been a tough road, during which one petition was deemed to have just shy of the number of required signatures for a vote of the residents of the proposed city, a second petition succeeded in being certified, an election was held in which the voters expressed the desire to form their own city, litigation in 19th JDC to block the city from becoming reality, an appeal of the 19th JDC decision to the First Circuit, then finally a trip to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
It was at that point that the organizers admitted that, if the Louisiana Supreme Court ruling did not go their way, the fight was over. The Court, however, ruled in their favor, and the formation of the city was off to the races.
As part of that process, Dustin Yates was appointed by Gov. Landry as the new City’s Interim Mayor, and Todd Morris was appointed as the new City’s Police Chief. Those two gentlemen were the guest speakers at the May, 2024 Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon (sorry for no link, but Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns left Facebook in early 2021 and never intends to return).
Let’s take a look at the highlights of what was covered:
Yates is introduced after which he gave an explanation of his background and exactly how he wound up in Baton Rouge and becoming an integral part of the Community of St. George.
Yates gives special credit to St. George Fire Chief Gerard Tarleton in serving as a mentor for Yates.
Yates makes it clear that he was, “not appointed to start a school system,” after which he stresses the need for “patience” and emphasizes the need for “reconciliation” from “hurt feelings” over the whole formation of St. George.
Yates responds to Sound Off Louisiana‘s Burns posing a question for any “ballpark” estimate of the money spent by EBRP taxpayers fighting the St. George movement, after which Councilwoman Laurie White Adams provides a very definitive answer.
Yates responds to Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns regarding any prospects of a Republican challenger in this November’s race for Mayor-President of EBRP.
Newly-appointed St. George Police Chief Todd Morris’ presentation in its entirety.
CLICK HERE for the May, 2024 Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon program in its entirety.
Tomorrow (Monday, June 17, 2024) morning, we will be in court for the Defendants’ Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action on the St. Tammany Parish citizens’ lawsuit against the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC).
Those residents contend that the Commission engaged in an “electronic meeting” in violation of Louisiana’s Open Meetings Laws.
They have also called upon Gov. Jeff Landry to seek Defendant LSPC Members’ resignations as a result of alleged violations of Louisiana’s Constitution, their Oaths of Office, and LSPC Rules.
On Tuesday, June 11, 2024 at 2:32 p.m., we reached out to Gov. Landry’s office for comment on those citizens’ call for action on his part. Since their litigation also says the letter the LSPC mailed out gave the “unmistakable impression” that Gov. Jeff Landry opposed the candidacy of Collin Sims for District Attorney in St. Tammany Parish, we asked Gov. Landry point-blank if he in fact did oppose Sims’ candidacy.
Quite frankly, we expected a reply back from Landry’s Office emphatically denying any such proclivity on Landry’s part that he opposed Sims’ candidacy. Instead, Landry’s Office chose not to respond to our inquiry, which makes us wonder if the Plaintiffs’ contention in their litigation regarding Gov. Jeff Landry and whose side he was on in the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney race may just in fact be accurate.
Whatever the case on Gov. Landry, we’ll report upon how tomorrow’s Court hearing turns out.