Columns & Opinions

The Bossier Financial Crimes Task Force is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect in a theft.

Although the six restored special taxes are a highlight of the first 100 days of the Arceneaux administration, it is too early to do any chest thumping. Putting myself in that position, what would I look to accomplish for my next 100 days? Absent a drastic bond proposal, of which Mayor Arceneaux and challenger Senator Gregg Tarver both pledged not to do, I would look for ways to build on or enhance the six special taxes.

All three of the local sales taxing districts reflect greater 2023 receipts over 2022. This continues a trend of rising revenue stream, likely due in large measure to inflation. The amount for four months of 2023 is a record high for every jurisdiction.

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux spoke to the monthly meeting of Caddo Republicans on the porch at Superior Grill on Line Avenue Tuesday. Businessman Louis Avallone brought the meeting to order with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. After 15 minutes of welcoming remarks and introductions of local Republican dignitaries, Mayor Arceneaux came to the microphone and brought exciting news.

The exhortations of “I remember when I was a young man,” or “I remember when we were growing up,” or “I remember back in the day,” are all phrases that most generation X’ers and millennials don’t like to hear or don’t want to hear from their parents. They don’t want to hear it because they think their parents are “old-fashioned,” or as some of them might say, “not cool.”

Thank you Caddo Parish and citizens of Caddo!

There is no easy or difficult; only status quo and change. For far too long the status quo for Caddo schools has been a managed decline of an aging and bloated footprint. Despite periodic and painful decommissioning of campuses, most recently E.B. Williams Stoner Hill Elementary, we’re still oversized by approximately 30%. We can accommodate 42,000 students but only have approximately 32,000 enrolled. We’re bleeding out approximately 1,000 per year. As a result of parish-wide outmigration and “donut holing” of the core, there are dozens of aging and emptying schools. These schools, despite best efforts, are more expensive to maintain, frequently less safe and much less cost-efficient per student.

I attended the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored breakfast Wednesday morning to report on the Chamber’s What’s Happening Breakfast, which was a presentation of reports from the mayor’s transition committees.