District 5 hopefuls see traffic, crime as top issues

• By CHARLES LUSSIER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Sep 10, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.
• Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of stories about the candidates for the 12 Metro Council seats in the Oct. 4 primary. Due to coverage of Hurricane Gustav, the Metro Council stories are not being published in chronological order. The interviews were conducted before the hurricane hit.

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

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

The open Metro Council District 5 seat features two first-time candidates and three individuals who have run unsuccessfully for the position before.

This north Baton Rouge district, which is centered mostly in the Glen Oaks area and bounded on the south by Airline Highway and Greenwell Springs Road and on the north by the Comite River, has a big field seeking to fill the shoes of longtime representative Charles Kelly.

Kelly, who has served on the council for 12 years, cannot run again because of term limits.

Ronnie Edwards has run several previous political campaigns, starting with campaigns for state Sen. Sharon Weston Broome. Johnnie Brown is a newcomer to politics. Thelma Ginn Brown, Milton Lee and Herbert Pate have run for the District 5 seat before. Pate ran unsuccessfully for state representative in 2005.

All five vow to be hands-on, visible proponents of their district, promising to work with constituents to lessen traffic problems, improve crime-fighting and spur job growth.

“I’m a person who gets around and talks to people, gets the word out,” said Lee, a retired lab technician with DSM Copolymer.

“Promises have been made in this district too long and when they (politicians) get what they want, they move on,” said Thelma Ginn Brown, program director for elderly issues for state Sen. Yvonne Dorsey.

Edwards, director of a local not-for-profit corporation that focuses on urban redevelopment, said people have told her that serving on the council is a thankless job, but she disagrees: “A wise man once said, ‘Any time you’re serving people, it’s not a thankless job.’ ”

“I live in this neighborhood. I’ve been here for 17 years, but I decided to stop complaining and see what I could do,” said Johnnie Brown, an art teacher at the Jetson Correctional Center for Youth.

“They (the people) want to see some action, they want to see some changes in their neighborhood,” said Pate, a retired public school guidance counselor.

All the candidates support a long-discussed traffic loop around Baton Rouge. All favor expanding and revamping local bus service, though they have little to say about how to pay for any expansion.

Lee said he’s open to traffic impact fees. Edwards and Pate said they’re interested in creating a light rail system.

“I went to visit Amsterdam and they had state-of-the-art transit for their city,” Edwards said. “Every 15 minutes or so, a tram was coming to pick up people and drop them off.”