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Sharon Weston Broome

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Sharon Weston Broome
Mayor-PresidentofBaton RougeandEast Baton Rouge Parish[a]
Assumed office
January 2, 2017
Preceded byKip Holden
President pro tempore of theLouisiana Senate
In office
January 14, 2008 – January 11, 2016
Preceded byDiana Bajoie
Succeeded byGerald Long
Member of theLouisiana Senate
from the15thdistrict
In office
January 12, 2005 – January 11, 2016
Preceded byKip Holden
Succeeded byRegina Barrow
Speaker pro tempore of theLouisiana House of Representatives
In office
January 2004 – January 12, 2005
Preceded byPeppi Bruneau
Succeeded byYvonne Dorsey-Colomb
Member of theLouisiana House of Representatives
from the 29th district
In office
January 13, 1992 – January 12, 2005
Preceded byClyde Kimball
Succeeded byRegina Barrow
Personal details
Born(1956-10-01)October 1, 1956(age 67)
Chicago,Illinois,U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMarvin Broome
Children3
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin, La Crosse(BA)
Regent University(MA)

Sharon Weston Broome(born October 1, 1956) is themayor-presidentofBaton Rouge,Louisiana.She served in theLouisiana State Senaterepresenting the15th districtfrom 2005 to 2016.[1]She was elected mayor-president in arunoff electionheld onDecember 10, 2016.[2][3]Broome is the first African-American woman to serve as mayor-president.[4]

From 2008 to 2016, Broome was thePresident Pro Temporeof the state Senate. In 2011, she was elected to her second full Senate term without opposition.

Early life and career[edit]

From 1992 to 2004, Broome was a member of theLouisiana House of Representativesfor District 29. She was succeeded by her legislative assistant,Regina Barrow.From 1996 to 2003, she was Chairman of Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committee. Broome was electedSpeaker Pro Temporeof the House,[5]the first woman to have held that position. Broome is hence the first woman to serve in the number-two leadership position in both legislative chambers.

In 2002, Broome introduced House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 74 which condemned "Darwinism" as justifying racism and Nazism. The bill was amended to remove allusions toDarwinand passed.[6]In 2012, she sponsored a bill requiring doctors to let a woman hear the heartbeat of a fetus (if present) before performing anabortion.[7]The bill was signed into law by RepublicanLouisiana GovernorBobby Jindalon June 8, 2012.[8]

Before being elected to state office, Broome, a native ofChicago,Illinois,served on the Baton Rouge Metro Council.[1]She holds two degrees in communications and worked as areporterforWBRZ-TVfor five years.[9]

Broome was among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection in 2014 of DemocratU.S. SenatorMary Landrieu.[10]

Mayor of Baton Rouge[edit]

2016 election[edit]

Main article:2016 Baton Rouge mayoral election

Term-limitedin the Senate, Broome was the first candidate to declare her intentions to run in 2016 to succeedKip Holdenas Mayor-President for East Baton Rouge Parish.[11]Several Republican candidates also ran; the Republican state SenatorBodi Whitein turn lost to Broome therunoff electionheld on December 10, 2016. White received 55,241 votes (48 percent) to Broome's 59,737 (52 percent).[12]

Broome was sworn into office on January 2, 2017.[13]

First term[edit]

As Mayor-President, Broome in April 2017 appointed Troy Bell as the city-parishChief administrative officer(CAO), but he resigned after less than a week in the $144,000 annual post after it was disclosed that he does not hold the master's degree inpublic administrationthat he had claimed in his resume. Broome tapped James Llorens of Baton Rouge as the interim CAO. Several human resources professionals claim that the Bell selection could have been avoided had Broome followed a different approach to vetting candidates for appointments.[14]Broome announced thereafter that she will spearhead the search for her next CAO selection to prevent problems like those that surfaced in the Bell case.[15]

In July 2017, calls were made for the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and the State Inspector General to investigate the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination Program (BRAVE) contracts being issued by the office of Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome. The questionable contracts first came to light as a result of public records requests by the 9NEWS Investigative Team.[16]In August 2017, Broome suspended all BRAVE contracts issued from mid-June to mid-July.[17]

In August 2017, Baton RougeDistrict AttorneyHillar Moore announced that he was seeking a list of confidential informant names that were erroneously released by Mayor-President Broom's office.[18]

In August 2018, Broome proposed a half-centsales tax,rather than aproperty tax,to fund the proposed MoveBR roads program under consideration by the Metro Council. If approved by the council, the measure would then be placed on the December 8 ballot. Broome said that the sales tax is preferred so as not to place the entire burden on property owners. Many residents, she said, encouraged her to pursue the sales tax as "more equitable" than a property tax though sales taxes areregressivein nature.[19]Voters approved the half-cent sales tax on December 8, 2018, in what is viewed as a big victory for the mayor-president that demonstrates her being able to garner bipartisan support from the business community.[20]

2020 election[edit]

Main article:2020 Baton Rouge mayoral election

On November 3, 2020, it was determined that Broome would do another runoff, this time with former state senator Steve Carter, after receiving 48% percent of the vote in the general mayor election.[21]In a runoff which was held December 5, 2020, Broome would win a second term with 65,495 (57 percent) of the vote in another runoff.[22][23]

Second term[edit]

Broome championed a 2021 proposal for Housing for Heroes, a "36-unit affordable housing development for first responders" in theScotlandvillearea of Baton Rouge.[24][25]As of 2023, funding for the project had not been transferred from the federal government.[25]

Personal life[edit]

She is married to Marvin Alonzo Broome, and they have three children.[1]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^The office of "Mayor-President" in the Baton Rouge area is an uncommon position in municipal governments that consolidates the executive offices of "Mayor of Baton Rouge" and "President of East Baton Rouge Parish". Though the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish have a consolidated government, this differs from a traditionalconsolidated city-countygovernment, as the cities ofZachary,Baker,andCentraloperate their own individual city governments within East Baton Rouge Parish.

References[edit]

  1. ^abc"Senator Sharon Weston Broome - District 15".Louisiana State Senate. January 6, 2005.RetrievedJanuary 15,2018.
  2. ^"Sharon Weston Broome sworn in as Baton Rouge's mayor-president".January 2, 2017.
  3. ^"Broome takes oath of office as Mayor-President".
  4. ^Finley, Taryn (December 12, 2016)."Baton Rouge Elects Its First Black Woman Mayor".Huffington Post.RetrievedJanuary 10,2018.
  5. ^"Speaker of the House"(PDF).Louisiana House of representatives. April 4, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 15,2018.
  6. ^"Update on Challenges to Teaching Evolution".American Geosciences Institute.January 7, 2003.RetrievedNovember 20,2013.
  7. ^"Abortion bills advance through La. Legislature".NECN.com.May 16, 2012.RetrievedJune 14,2012.
  8. ^"Jindal signs abortion bills".WWL.com.June 8, 2012.RetrievedJune 14,2012.
  9. ^"Biography at Louisiana State Senate".Archived fromthe originalon June 10, 2013.RetrievedJune 14,2012.
  10. ^"Landrieu's GOP Endorsements Pale In Comparison To 2008 Election".thehayride.com. September 11, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 12,2014.
  11. ^Allen, Rebekah (May 18, 2015)."Sharon Weston Broome off to early start in 2016 Baton Rouge mayoral race as others have yet to declare".The Baton Rouge Advocate.RetrievedMay 24,2015.
  12. ^"Election Results".December 10, 2016.RetrievedDecember 16,2016.
  13. ^"Black women in American Politics: 2017 Status update"(PDF).Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics.RetrievedDecember 17,2017.
  14. ^Hardy, Steve; Gallo, Andrea (April 24, 2017)."Familiar name replacing Troy Bell as Baton Rouge's interim chief administrative offier".The Baton Rouge Advocate.RetrievedApril 25,2017.
  15. ^Hardy, Steve (April 28, 2017)."Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome says she will spearhead new search for Baton Rouge's CAO".The Baton Rouge Advocate.RetrievedMay 1,2017.
  16. ^Chawla, Kiran (July 31, 2017)."EBR councilman asks for audit of mayor's office contract".WAFB.RetrievedAugust 11,2017.
  17. ^Gallo, Andrea; Mustian, Jim (August 1, 2017)."Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome suspends recent BRAVE contracts amid increased scrutiny".The Advocate.RetrievedFebruary 25,2018.
  18. ^Schmaltz, Trey (August 9, 2017)."District Attorney seeking list of confidential names released by mayor's office".WBRZ.RetrievedAugust 11,2017.
  19. ^Gallo, Andrea (August 6, 2018)."Why Mayor Broome chose sales tax, rather than property tax, for MoveBR roads plan".The Advocate.RetrievedAugust 7,2018.
  20. ^Jones, Terry L. (December 15, 2018)."With roads tax passage, Baton Rouge mayor Sharon Weston Broome's political fortunes improve".The Baton Rouge Advocate.RetrievedDecember 17,2018.
  21. ^Hays, Robb (November 3, 2020)."2020 Election Results: EBR mayor-president race headed to runoff".WAFB.RetrievedDecember 6,2020.
  22. ^Morgan, Samatha (December 5, 2020)."Mayor Broome projected to win second term".WAFB.RetrievedDecember 6,2020.
  23. ^"WBRZ News 2 Louisiana: Baton Rouge, LA | Election Results".
  24. ^"Broome's proposed $6M Housing for Heroes investment raises questions".Baton Rouge Business Report.October 19, 2021.RetrievedApril 2,2022.
  25. ^abThomas, Miranda (March 10, 2023)."Housing for Heroes Project at a standstill?".WAFB.

External links[edit]

Louisiana House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of theLouisiana House of Representatives
from the 29th district
1992–2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Speaker pro tempore of theLouisiana House of Representatives
2004–2005 		Succeeded by
Louisiana State Senate
Preceded by Member of theLouisiana Senate
from the15thdistrict
2005–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President pro tempore of theLouisiana Senate
2008–2016 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Baton Rouge
2017–present 		Incumbent
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