As St. George leaders move forward with plans to create their own city, the leader of Baton Rouge's Metro Council is requesting a new hearing on the matter from the Louisiana Supreme Court, his attorney said Tuesday.
Baton Rouge Mayor Pro Tem Lamont Cole will ask the state's highest court for a new hearing on the incorporation of St. George to address key missing details from the previous ruling, according to his attorney, Mary Olive Pierson.
"I don't know why they're so anxious to get involved in this," Pierson said of St. George's organizers. "They don't understand that this case is not over yet."
The state Supreme Court ruled in St. George's favor by a 4-3 vote last week, overturning lower courts' decisions. The court determined St. George's plan was reasonable and could operate under a balanced budget.
But Pierson said the Supreme Court failed to address two major components of the incorporation: the city's official boundaries and date of incorporation. Both are up to the courts to decide, according to state law.
Pierson added these issues will likely need to be remanded to a lower court to resolve.
"It's just going to be a mess," Pierson said. "The Supreme Court does not have the ability to fix those two problems."
Andrew Murrell, a spokesman for St. George, said the city officially incorporated when they won their election in 2019 and that the boundaries match those outlined in their petition to incorporate from years ago.
"I would like somebody to ask why they continue going down this path," Murrell said. "What are they hoping to accomplish by dividing the citizens of their own parish?"
St. George, located in the southeast corner of the parish, won its election to incorporate in 2019 with 54% of the vote following years of campaigning and petitioning residents under the argument they were unhappy with Baton Rouge's services and wanted more local control of tax dollars.
Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Cole sued organizers soon after, claiming the new city failed to comply with state law and would harm Baton Rouge's services and finances by taking away $48 million in tax revenue annually.
A district court sided with Baton Rouge leaders, saying the St. George plan was not "reasonable." So did an appeals court, which said the plan didn't meet all the requirements of state law — though that court removed Broome for the lawsuit for lack of standing, leaving only Cole left to challenge the incorporation effort before the Supreme Court.
Pierson said there were several other issues they took with the Supreme Court's ruling, including their determination that St. George could operate with a balanced budget, but that she would not provide further details at this time.
"Those people are going to be broke on day one," Pierson said.
Pierson said they plan to file their request for a rehearing before their deadline of May 10.
St. George leaders are moving ahead with the creation of their new city nonetheless. Murrell said at a press conference Monday they were waiting for Gov. Jeff Landry to appoint the first mayor and five-member council and the the reappointment of the St. George Transition District, which was created by the Legislature to serve as the city's initial taxing authority.
A spokesperson for Landry said Tuesday they did not have an answer as to when those leaders will be appointed.
Organizers also said they plan to create a new school district for the city — which was the original impetus behind the St. George movement — despite concerns from some parents about whether their children will be forced to change schools. Murrell told those parents the school district was years away from actualization.
The NAACP’s Baton Rouge chapter released a statement shortly after the press conference saying St. George’s plan “poses significant risks to our education system, threatens the continuity of critical programs, and challenges community representation.”
“While we understand the desire for local autonomy, we urge careful consideration of the potential disruptions and increased financial burden on our schools and students,” the NAACP wrote.
Murrell also told the crowd Monday that they were considering action against Baton Rouge to collect tax revenue collected by the city-parish since 2019 while St. George was in legal limbo.
Pierson said Tuesday that if that's the case, St. George should pay back for the services provided by Baton Rouge during that time.
"I guarantee our number is bigger than theirs," Pierson said. "We've been cutting the grass and fixing the streets for the last four years, and they're not going to pay for it?"