Bodyguards an issue in mayor race

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Aug 31, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Most East Baton Rouge Parish residents don’t have the luxury of a police bodyguard to keep them safe from crime.

But for the past three and a half years, Mayor-President Kip Holden has almost always been accompanied by at least one police bodyguard while performing his official duties.

Holden’s three opponents in the Oct. 4 mayor’s primary say the bodyguards are an unnecessary expense that should be discontinued.

“I don’t need them,” said Metro Councilman Wayne Carter, a Republican.

The other Republican in the race, Dan Kyle, said he never used a driver or a bodyguard in his years as the state legislative auditor, even though he made more than a few enemies during the course of his investigations.

Ron Johnson, a Democrat, said Holden might have needed extra security when he first took office, but it’s time for it to end
“I think there was an initial concern about security due to the fact that he was the city’s first African-American (mayor-president), but I think that after six or eight months, it was no longer necessary for him to have bodyguards,” said Johnson.

Holden said his decision to have police bodyguards had nothing to do with any threats when he first took office.

“It’s really a personal choice, but I think you’ll find that a growing number of city mayors are using police bodyguards,” he said. “I think it’s a reflection of the world that we’re living in.”

Holden noted that, while former mayors Bobby Simpson and Tom Ed McHugh did not use police bodyguards or drivers, former Mayor Pat Screen had constant police protection.

Holden’s protection normally ends at 10 p.m., unless the mayor attends an official function.

But Carter claims that the bodyguard time sheets show there are nights when the bodyguards work as late as 2 a.m.

Carter has asked for time at the council meeting on Sept. 10 to show that the bodyguards will cost about $1 million over Holden’s four-year term.

Holden normally has three police officers assigned to him. But usually, only one at a time.