30seconds with Jamie Griffin – Next up for Progress Is…: Smaller steps

Mayor Kip Holden’s $901 million bond issue died at the voting booth last November.

One person who went into that election with high hopes for change was Jamie Griffin. His day job is principal in consulting firm Actualize Services, which provides consulting services for businesses and organizations.

But Griffin also is a prominent member of Progress Is…, a nonprofit group that formed to rally support for the mayor’s controversial bond proposal.

The group’s members fanned out across the parish trying to rally support for the ill-fated bond proposal. In the end, the plan’s defeat at the polls was a bitter defeat for its supporters.

So what’s next for Progress Is …? We asked Griffin what the issue-oriented nonprofit has learned, and what it’ll do next.

Did any one issue really turn people off to the bond proposal?

I visited more than 50 community meetings and can honestly say there wasn’t a single flash point. There were many opinions, lots of misinformation and a lot of concern about various aspects of the projects.

How did the results make you feel?

I think being actively involved in an issue and having some carryover optimism from the closeness of the 2008 election affected my perception of the issue. But personally, I feel like we missed a rare opportunity. We have a governor who won’t take the political risk of investigating federal funding for an express rail between New Orleans and Baton Rouge and a mayor who’s willing to put everything on the line for capital improvements and job creation.

Should city officials have approached citizens—such as potential investors rather than voters—to back ALIVE?

In terms of presenting a business plan for ALIVE, the Chamber of Commerce fully supported the proposal. Presenting a more detailed plan would have cost more in studies and professionals. The campaign was already under pressure for out-of-state-spending with Thinc Design. Could officials have done more and presented materials differently? Absolutely. Every single supporter could have. Even if those what-ifs had happened, the result would have likely been the same.

What is next for Progress Is…?

We asked a $1 billion question of our community and received a resounding answer. I can’t imagine an issue much bigger in 2010. I don’t know what issue or issues will be adopted by the Progress Is… community movement, but there is no shortage of issues in our community. Going forward, we all have to look at smaller, more palatable changes to make Baton Rouge a better place.

Learn more at progressis.org/home.php