By: Pat Austin
SHREVEPORT – For the first time since 2006 Shreveport, Louisiana has elected a white Republican mayor. Attorney Tom Arceneaux was elected in a runoff election Saturday.
I am astounded yet also extremely cautious exactly HOW conservative this mayor-elect actually is given that he was endorsed by the much loathed, ineffective outgoing Democrat mayor and two other locally prominent Democrat politicians.
His opponent is longtime veteran state senator Greg Tarver who has a colorful political and personal history.
The abysmal voter turnout of 30% has a lot to do with the outcome of this election and local pundits point to the fact that in a primarily black city, those voters did not turn out for Greg Tarver.
Shreveport has been circling the drain economically for decades and we have been losing our young, producing citizens for decades. There is literally nothing to hold upwardly mobile young people here except family ties. There are no jobs, no industry. Even the casinos are stagnant. With Dallas, Texas three hours away why would these young people stay here when there is so much more on the table so close by?
Crime is, of course, at an all time high with shootings, murders, and other violent crime literally a daily occurrence.
This is, of course, not unique to Shreveport. Many cities, small and large, are suffering the same plight. Is a new Republican mayor a step in the right direction?
Meh. Who knows.
Is it too late?
Maybe.
Am I skeptical? Definitely!
Tom Arceneaux will take office December 31. I sincerely hope he has an impressive start and generates a lot of optimism and hope in this town. I would say that it can’t get much worse, but of course it always can.
Color me disillusioned.
For further reading: NOLA: Tom Arceneaux wins, is Shreveport’s first Republican mayor in more than twenty years.
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 