(The Center Square) — The Shreveport City Council expressed their frustration and concerns directly to Mayor Tom Arceneaux surrounding the exclusion of council members in the “Block by Block” initiative planning.
Each member of the horseshoe took turns expressing their concerns directly to Arceneaux, City Attorney Marcus Edwards and Chief Administrative Officer Tom Dark during the June 23 administrative conference meeting. Of those concerns, many felt embarrassed and ill-informed when the people they represented looked to them for answers they did not have.
“How do we get to the point where I’m a councilman, but I have no input in my district about cleaning it up?” said Councilman James Green.
Arceneaux recently announced a new initiative taking place in specific neighborhoods around Shreveport in an effort to combat blight. While the city council has continuously sought ways to do this in the past, the mayor’s announcement was met with mixed feelings as many council members felt excluded from key decision-making taking place in their districts.
“When we talk about blight, that’s going to come from the community,” said Councilman Alan Jackson. “That’s going to come from the people that are living on the streets that have been dealing with the decay, the lack of effort from the city, that is going to improve blight.”
Apart from how the initiative is going to take place, Councilwoman Ursula Bowman is concerned about cost and where the funding is going to be coming from.
According to Arceneaux, a complete plan is not set in place yet so he doesn’t have an idea of the cost, but assured the council they will have to be involved in that conversation.
“You certainly will have to be involved in that conversation, and you will be involved in that conversation,” said Arceneaux.
The “Block by Block” citywide initiative was announced a few weeks ago by Arceneaux during a news conference. Following the announcement, nearly all of the city council members released statements wishing they had more involvement in choosing the areas chosen.
“When you talk about blight, you’re talking about predominantly African American neighborhoods where people are the working poor, and we’re looking to change that. So, yes, highly upset that we were left out of this,” said Chairwoman Tabitha Taylor.
The first neighborhood sweep took place on June 21 in Ingleside. The next one takes place on Saturday in Highland, an area discussed heavily for its issues with blight, squatters and overall crime. The remaining neighborhoods include Queensborough, MLK, Cedar Grove, Allendale, Pines Road, Stoner Hill, Southern Hills, Mooretown and Broadmoor.
