EBR mayor-president wants to retool blight remediation program, redirect funding

The useful part

South Baton Rouge resident Charles Jones has been vocal about blight in his neighborhood for years. Under the direction of Chief Service Officer Yolanda Langford, the campaign removed more than 13 tons of trash and debris. Residents in other parts of the parish, like Jones, are left wondering when it will be their neighborhood's turn.

How it works

• According to Director of Development Rachael Lambert, only four workers are employed by the city parish to actually remove blight.
• While only four workers remove blight, the city parish pays seven people a total of $165,000 a year to document it as part of the blight outreach progra...
• Following several WBRZ Investigative Unit reports on blight in the city-parish, Mayor-President Sid Edwards sat down with WBRZ's Bess Casserleigh to talk about progress made in combating blight and his...
• "They have made an attempt to do some things around here, but we got a long way to go," Jones said.
• Edwards, who has picked up trash himself in South Baton Rouge, says that area is on the docket.

What to take from it

"It's heavy in South Baton Rouge, and we have plans to get out there as well.

Details worth keeping

"This area here is gone undone, and nobody seems to care," Jones said. "It's a small, small crew and we need more help," Edwards said.