BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana judge has turned down a plan to create a new city in East Baton Rouge Parish, but says the boundaries were not drawn to exclude Black people.
Retired 22nd Judicial District Judge Martin Coady rejected plans last week for the proposed City of St. George, news outlets reported. His opinion said the city would not be able to balance its budget and its creation would cost Baton Rouge government $48 million.
Voters within the proposed city limits approved the plan to incorporate in 2019. However, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and her administration quickly sued to block the move.
Coady's opinion rejected claims that the city limits were drawn to discriminate against Black people after an initial incorporation vote rejected the plan, The Advocate noted.
Organizers said the newer map just eliminated areas where voters rejected incorporation.
“The perception that racism played a role in establishing the boundaries is a reasonable impression,” Coady wrote. “The perception may exist, but the Incorporators have provided a racially neutral reason why certain areas were excluded and not purposely drawn in a racially discriminatory fashion.”
Organizers plan to appeal Coady’s ruling against incorporation.
“The citizens of St. George are disappointed that our right to vote was invalidated," spokesman Andrew Murrell said.
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