30 SECONDS: Danny McGlynn

It’s good to be the king, even when Spanish Town Mardi Gras organizers look to their monarch to help persuade city officials to save the traditional route of the parade. Danny McGlynn is an attorney, co-owner of Boudreaux & Thibodeaux’s and Circa 1857, and an outspoken advocate for downtown development. Here he shares his vision for Baton Rouge’s most popular and controversial Mardi Gras parade.

So, congratulations are in order.

I was unexpectedly flattered by the invitation because I’m not really a Spanish Town insider. I’m a downtown insider. David Applegate called me. I knew him because we rent our St. Patrick’s Day float from him. My thinking is the organizers are interested in keeping the parade downtown, and on Third Street if possible, and that I might have some motivation or political help in that regard. I absolutely do have that motivation. Whether I have the political “oomph” to get it done, I don’t know.

How strong is the push to move it out of downtown?

Everybody wants to keep it downtown, I think, except for maybe the police. They want to run it around the periphery instead of through downtown. Last year for the first time in however many years the parade has run they said Third Street was too narrow for it.

The roads in Spanish Town are narrower than Third Street.

This year they actually have a very good excuse for at least part of the reason for excluding Third Street, and that’s all the construction. There is still a way to go through it, though. But there’s been no official decision about where the route is going. The buck stops at the police station, and I think they perceive anything that increases their risk as a negative. But you can’t shut everything down. If they took that attitude to LSU, they’d shut down tailgating.

As king, do you feel pressure to put together an unforgettable costume?

Well, I remember Kip’s Napoleon suit from last year. But honestly, the people have said ‘Do your thing. Have fun and whatever you want, let us know.’ Personally, I would just like to see the Spanish Town Parade be built up as more of a Baton Rouge attraction. If another parade came in the afternoon after Spanish Town, that would be great. If New Orleans and Lafayette can do it, why not Baton Rouge?