Bossier City takes the spotlight as the only major Louisiana city to have elections this spring – placing in full view a likely drastic reordering of political power.
When the dust settled from qualifying for the Mar. 29 elections, reformers – those who want to keep a lid on city spending especially on low-priority and grandiose projects, exit it from sweetheart deals, and bring greater transparency to governance – appear likely to nab at least a majority on the City Council, if not much more, as well as retain the mayor’s slot with Republican Tommy Chandler.
Chandler was largely ineffective as mayor after ousting long-time and insider mayor Lo Walker, doing little to advance a reform agenda. Debatable is whether this occurred because of his lack of political skills or because he faced on almost every issue five opposing votes that would make at best for a string of symbolic vetoes. But he supported the strict term limits movement to the hilt and with a friendly council he would join them, regardless of his skills, in the cause of reform.
That reform has picked up such a head of steam while simultaneously its visible opponents have become so toxic became obvious when Chandler drew no opposition. At least a pair of opponents – Republican Councilors Jeff Free and Vince Maggio – had their names bandied about as potential challengers. Instead, Maggio will make a run for reelection and Free abandoned the field entirely.
On the reform team joining Chandler with a free pass back into office is Republican Brian Hammons in District 1. One other candidate continues the Council’s tradition of having an insurance agent aboard and the District 4 tradition – Free’s – of having no opposition: Republican Joel Giroaurd, a Shreveport-based agent, whose sparse advertising gives the appearance that he’s ready throw in his lot with the reform group.
Then there’s another newcomer, Republican Cliff Smith in District 3 who unambiguously is on the reform train. He was active in the strict term limits movement and a frequent face in the audience for Council meetings. He will face off against Democrat former Bossier Parish Police Juror Charles Gray and local NAACP head and minister Donzell Hughes.
Cliff Smith is a moderate-to-heavy favorite to win. Republicans comprise 34 percent of the district, while black Democrats – both Gray and Hughes are black – make up 30 percent, creating demographics favorable for Cliff Smith. Each Democrat also has some baggage; Gray won his term in 2019 on a technicality without having to campaign and then promptly lost in 2023 despite a district with favorable demographics, all of which doesn’t demonstrate adequate campaigning skills, while Hughes will have to explain being charged with simple battery on New Year’s Eve, 2021.
Assuming Cliff Smith wins, a Republican incumbent may seal the deal: Chris Smith, who joined Hammons as the minority reform pair on the current Council. Running again at-large, he competes against Republican Bossier Parish School Board member Craton Cochran and Hughes ally and minister Democrat Lee “Gunny” Jeter to fill two of the three spots available.
The tactics here are interesting. Jeter ran and finished fourth in 2021 and since then served on the city’s controversial Charter Review Commission. An appointee of Chandler’s to this, many assumed he would carry Chandler’s preference of strict term limits into any charter recommendations. As acrimony broke out over that very issue that could have led to the scuttling of the Commission, which would have left the citizen-led strict version as the only charter amendment for voters this year, Jeter threw the Commission a lifeline for its resurrection and eventually threw in with a weaker version of term limits from it as well as a milquetoast slew of charter changes (of dubious legality) as tactics to try to steer voters away from supporting stricter limits, if not setting the stage for more lawfare in the very likely circumstance that voters approve the strict limits on May 3.
As such, Jeter now is seen by reformers more as a traitor and may be a tool of insiders in an attempt to oust Chris Smith. That’s where Cochran comes in, whose father Jimmy has served for decades on the Jury as a Democrat and Craton Cochran himself ran unopposed as an independent in a district with substantially the same boundaries as his father.
To date, for this election Cochran has positioned himself as a reformer, but in his short time on the Board showed no sympathy for education reform, at least. It’s perhaps unfair to visit the sins of the father on him, but as his father has been for an extended time one of the parish political insiders, his public commitment to reform appears uncertain. It is possible that the Bossier political establishment backs him and Jeter as a means to evict Chris Smith, which means for voters who have their doubts about his, or Jeter’s, commitment to reform they would optimize Chris Smith’s return by marking only his name on the ballot instead of two names as permitted.
But given his campaign chops last time and performance in office, Chris Smith should be favored to return, and Cochran has the edge on Jeter. That would put at least four reformers on the Council, but there could be even more.
The only graybeard running, for a ninth term out of the last ten, independent Jeff Darby, has drawn in his District 2 for the first time since 2001 an opponent, Democrat retired nurse Debra Ross. She is a vigorous supporter of strict term limits and argues for greater transparency in government. The Darby clan – four have served or still serve in elective office – have ruled the roost for decades in that part of town and Darby has a lot of favors to call in, but his campaign muscle may be atrophied to the point that Ross, who is putting much energy into her effort, can win in a district that favors Democrats.
The final potential reformer that could join a new Council squares off against the other of the fading majority to run for reelection, District 5’s Maggio. That’s Republican Ruth Pope Johnston, like Cliff Smith another ardent reformer attentive to Council meetings. Maggio faced little competition last time and his fealty to the graybeards – he’s finishing his rookie term – has created clear animosity within the district. Johnston relatively recently jumped into the race and Maggio last time drew a remarkable nearly $30,000 in donations from a long list of political insiders and the politically-connected (including future city assistant attorney Richard Ray and several present and past city and parish elected officials), so the cause of reform will face its longest shot in this contest.
Still, odds appear high that reformers will seize a majority on the Council and with ally Chandler in office will have a great opportunity to engage in good government reforms the likes Bossier City never before has seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment