Nearly four months after his State of the City address, East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden has yet to follow up on his promise to begin incorporating local student government presidents into his administration.
In a throwaway line from his Jan. 8 address, Holden said “now we will include the student government presidents in working with us to assure young leaders’ viewpoints are incorporated in our forward planning.”
Though Holden claimed in the speech to have a “strong working relationship with the leadership of our universities,” former SG president John Woodard said he has not met face to face with the mayor concerning his planned initiative.
Woodard said he has spoken over the phone several times with William Daniel, Holden’s chief administrative officer, in an attempt to schedule a meeting, though they also have not been able to meet in person.
Woodard said he is currently trying to set up a meeting with Daniel and current SG president Clay Tufts after finals.
Both Woodard and Tufts agreed it would take proactivity on the part of SG presidents to get the initiative accomplished.
“I do think this is something they should put higher on their radar,” Tufts said. “There’s a lot of ways they can get to us.”
Tufts said SG presidents and the mayor’s office will have to “meet in the middle,” and said he plans on inviting Holden to more student events.
James Garand, University political science professor, said he finds Holden’s lack of contact with SG presidents worrisome.
“I know the mayor is very busy, but I do not think it’s unreasonable for the mayor to be able to figure out an opening in the schedule,” Garand said. “It’s hard not to interpret that as a diss to LSU’s student government.”
Garand said politicians often make statements without any expectation of follow-through, and said he was unsure of whether or not Holden intended to act on his proposal.
“It is disturbing to anyone when an elected official makes an explicit promise and then does not follow through on it,” Garand said. “I think it is perfectly reasonable that an elected official be held accountable.”