Holden endorses Mary Landrieu

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jul 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Mayor-President Kip Holden formally endorsed U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a fellow Democrat, crediting her with delivering millions of federal dollars to East Baton Rouge Parish in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

“The bottom line is we need Mary Landrieu in the U.S. Senate,” Holden said Monday.

“Unless you were in the bunkers, you have no idea how much she contributed,” Holden added.

Landrieu returned the favor, calling Holden a visionary who worked to make Baton Rouge into a beacon of hope for thousands of south Louisiana residents displaced by the hurricane.

Landrieu also said she’s excited about the mayor’s $989 million bond proposal, which would be funded with a new half-cent sales tax and a new 9.9-mill property tax. Holden is asking the Metro Council to schedule the tax election during the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Among other things, the bond issue includes a $145 million expansion of the River Center and a $248 million nature-themed tourist attraction on the downtown riverfront.

“Downtown Baton Rouge has been more transformed than any other city in Louisiana in the past 20 years,” Landrieu said.

She said she was able to help the transformation by obtaining funding for the Center for Planning Excellence, which has also been active in Alexandria, Livingston Parish and Ascension Parish.

The Center for Planning Excellence is a nonprofit organization that has been working on updating Plan Baton Rouge for the downtown area and on redevelopment of Old South Baton Rouge.

After Monday’s news conference, Holden said he doesn’t believe that Saturday’s defeat of a proposed bond issue for schools in Central might be a bad omen for the chances of his tax proposal.

Holden said his proposed bond issue includes two major drainage projects that will help protect homes and businesses in Central during major rains.

If those drainage projects were proposed as part of a special taxing district, Central residents would have to pay higher taxes than under the proposed parishwide bond issue. By spreading the cost of the two projects across the parish, the proposed bond issue would lower costs of the drainage projects for Central, Holden said.

With Holden’s endorsement, Landrieu said she’s now received endorsements from more than 70 Louisiana mayors, including Republicans and Democrats.