Mayor-President Kip Holden announced yesterday that East Baton Rouge Parish has completed a $110 million bond sale for the Green Light Plan. The bonds received a AAA rating — the highest possible rating — which helps keep interest rates low and shows confidence in our local government’s very strong financial position. Also, the bonds have a very favorable fixed interest rate of 5 percent.

This bond sale will allow us to continue the Green Light Plan, and we’ll be breaking ground on even more road and street improvement projects in the coming months so we can get traffic FLOWING.

Earlier this morning I joined Mayor-President Kip Holden, District 3 Councilman Chandler Loupe, District 9 Councilman Joel Boe’ and others to break ground on the 10th Green Light Plan project.

This project will replace two-lane, undivided Highland Rd. between Perkins Rd. and Airline Hwy. with a brand new, four-lane road with a raised median. It will also provide two new bridge crossings — at Ward’s Creek and Old Ward’s Creek — as well as a new railroad crossing. Additionally, the intersection of Barringer Foreman Rd. and Highland Rd. will undergo major improvements.

The citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish voted to get traffic FLOWING and that’s exactly what this and other projects are designed to do. And there are more on the way. Promises made. Promises kept.

This morning I was honored to join Gov. Bobby Jindal and other elected officials and civic leaders to break ground on the new Interstate 10 widening project. This $86.2 million project will widen I-10 from four lanes to six lanes from the I-10/I-12 split to just past Siegen Lane.

For the approximately 90,000 drivers who travel this stretch of interstate each day, lane closures will only occur at nights and on weekends to help keep traffic moving during the construction.

Folks, these are your hard-earned tax dollars at work. Promises made. Promises kept.

From Left to Right: Mayor-President Pro Tem Mike Walker, State Rep. Stephen Carter, State Rep. Erich Ponti, Gov. Bobby Jindal, East Baton Rouge CAO Mike Futrell, State Rep. Hunter Greene, State Rep. Clif Richardson and LA DOTD Secretary William Ankner, Ph.D.

Please note that left turns will no longer be allowed in any direction at the intersection of Sherwood and Coursey. This is so construction of the new intersection can enter the next phase.

There are several detour routes available that will be marked. For more information including detour maps, please visit The Advocate’s website.

You can download a PDF of the agenda by clicking here.

Recently, there has been some confusion regarding the new Council’s decision to forgo bi-monthly committee meetings and instead consider everything as a full Council. I wanted to take a moment to set the record straight.

The two standing committees of the Council are advisory only. Their decisions are strictly non-binding and are only recommendations on how the full Council should act. Additionally, any controversial matters were almost always deferred to the full Council without any discussion at the committee level. The new Council felt that we could increase our efficiency and responsiveness to our constituents by tackling the issues as a full Council. This eliminates “doing the work twice” and instead gives us more time to be in our districts meeting with constituents and getting their input on upcoming agenda items.

Myth: The council removed committees without a public hearing or full vote from the Council.
Fact: Committees must be created every four years for each new council. For the present council term, we chose not to create them.

Myth: Without committees the public will not have any input on the issues considered by the Council.
Fact: Under the committee system, the Council often voted to “adopt the committee recommendation” with little public input. By tackling the issues as a full body, the Council will be devoting more time to agenda items and thus increase the amount of input by the citizens of Baton Rouge.

Myth: Council members received a pay raise but are doing less work.
Fact: Although we meet in full Council twice per month, serving on the Council is far from being a part-time job. We are always working in the district to try and help constituents with problems they are facing. The two Wednesdays each month formally devoted to committee meetings will instead become “District Days” where we’ll have even more time to be on the ground where it matters getting input from constituents and hearing their concerns.

It is an honor and privilege for me to serve on the Metro Council, and I assure you forgoing committee meetings was done in the interest of increasing our service to the folks we represent. I have and will continue to be a full-time Councilman, and I will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of the people of this community. If you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to call me at (225) 272-9088 or e-mail me at mike@mikewalker.net.

Earlier this week I had a chance to sit down with Scott Dyer of The Advocate and talk about the new council and my term as Mayor-President Pro Tempore. You can read Scott’s article by clicking here.

In case you missed the annual Jones Creek Area Business Association Christmas parade, you can catch it on Cable Channel 21 tonight at 9pm and this Sunday night at 9pm.

As a proud member of the JCABA I want to thank everyone for the hard work they put into the parade and encourage you to check it out on Channel 21!

On Friday after the Metro Council swearing in ceremony, my colleagues on the Council unanimously elected me to serve as Mayor-President Pro Tempore for our term. I am deeply honored and humbled by their support.

The next four years will be an exciting time in Baton Rouge, and I am very excited about the fantastic group of leaders the citizens of East Baton Rouge Parish have assembled on the Metro Council. As Mayor-President Pro Tem, I pledge to do everything I can and to work closely with the other Council members to make our city and parish an even better place to live, work and raise a family.