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The Metro Council’s double-cross

Despite a grass-roots effort to bring fresh blood and even fresher ideas into local government, the Metro Council not only double-crossed the forces of change, it stabbed them in the back.

The civic action group A6 proposed term limits for appointees to boards and commissions. Good call, we say: You prevent laziness and abuse of power by limiting the number of years elected or appointed officials serve, thereby limiting the power of the good old boy network.

But the Metro Council—desperate to retain power and thwart the unprecedented change occuring before their very eyes—has fought A6 every step of the term-limit way. First, by refusing to pass a term limit ordinance and then, after A6 collected enough signatures on a petition to force a public vote, failing to negotiate in good faith on a compromise that would save taxpayers the $250,000 expense of a special election.

Even after reaching an accord, it took this group all of two weeks to effectively reneg on the agreement, passing a procedural move that killed the compromise.

What did they do next? Appointed the local spokesman for power company Entergy, Bill Benedetto, to the BREC board. That’s a step backward and an example of old-school thinking, and not what you’d expect from a city trying to move ahead and attract more young people.

Seven Metro Council members double-crossed A6 and the 18,000 residents who signed their petition: Wayne Carter, Ulysses “Bones” Addison, Charles Kelly, Byron Sharper, Mike Walker, Joe Greco and Lorri Burgess.

The sound of music

The loss of major live concerts in Baton Rouge is a simple matter of economics: other cities have more profitable venues than we do, so we’re out of the loop.

Period. End of story.

The U2 show in 1988 at the Assembly Center amounts to the Billy Cannon Halloween punt return versus Ole Miss for the next generation: It seems like everyone was there that night, and no one who was can ever remember a better show since.

But music is far from dead in Baton Rouge, even if giant concerts are.

Big-time concerts are now rare here, yes, but great musicians and bands play here all the time. Their names might not appear in big lights, but their music is big and powerful in its own way.

Beyond that, local bands playing original music strive and struggle to be heard. The good ones have loyal followings and, although they play smaller venues, they rock the house.

225 will continue to uncover and reveal great music right here in Baton Rouge.

While the big concert may be on life support in Baton Rouge and other smaller cities, live music is still loud, clear and very much alive.