August 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 20

People for Parks
Meet the Mayor: Baton Rouge
Mayor-President Kip Holden

M

ayor-President Melvin L. " Kip " Holden became the first African-American mayor-president of the City of Baton Rouge and
East Baton Rouge Parish in January 2005. In his first term, he most
notably led Baton Rouge recovery efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav.
Now he has turned attention to long-term planning through his FutureBR plan.
Some of his priorities include public safety, crime prevention through youth development, road improvements and Healthy BR, a program to promote better
nutrition and active lifestyles. A graduate of Louisiana State University and
Southern University Law Center, Holden began his career as a broadcast journalist before serving on the city council and state legislature.
Baton Rouge is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation,
and your park and recreation
agency, the Recreation and Park
Commission for the Parish of East
Baton Rouge (BREC), is a special
park district chartered by the state
government that serves the entire
parish.  How do you as mayor ensure that parks and recreation are
adequately funded and equitably
distributed for all city residents?

While I do not have direct oversight of
our park and recreation department,
the mayor-president is an ex-officio
member of the BREC Commission,
which allows me to maintain a close
working relationship with Superintendent Carolyn McKnight and her staff.
I have tried to be a consistent champion for BREC activities, including tax
renewals to fund operating expenses
and construction throughout our park
system, and participation in events

Mayor-President Holden
(in blue) rides at the
annual Mayor's Family
Bike Ride through downtown Baton Rouge.
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that showcase what our parks have to
offer. I've been able to connect BREC
with some of the larger corporations
in our city that award grants to expand
programming and enhance our facilities, and help bring private funding
partners to the table.
We understand that the BREC Foundation raises a significant amount
of private funds to enable new capital construction of facilities as well
as to provide support for recreation
programs and services. How much
of a role do private funding and
partnerships play in ensuring the
high quality of your park and recreation system, and do you feel it is
important going forward?
In these days of budget constraints
throughout local government, private
funding has become critical to our
ability to offer the latest recreational
opportunities to our residents, and the
BREC Foundation plays an increasingly important role. With millage
rates set in the 1960s and low program
fees to allow participation by the entire
community, BREC relies on private
funds to enhance our programming.
By securing the largest-ever private donation of $1.2 million, BREC is building a contemporary visitors' center for
historic Magnolia Mound Plantation,
located near downtown Baton Rouge
and dating to 1791. A $1 million grant
from Blue Cross Blue Shield helped
fund the first phase of our Capital Area
Pathways Project, a network of trails
and greenways connecting some of
our city's medical and retail corridors.
Private funding also has provided us
August 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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