Blueprint for governing

Mayor-President Sid Edwards can draw inspiration from the early years of the Kip Holden administration, when a bipartisan team and an energized civic sector boosted Baton Rouge from a sleepy capital city into a regional economic force.

The big picture: Holden's decision to cross party and racial lines—appointing Republican businessman Walter Monsour as his CAO—became the anchor of a broader civic compact. Baton Rouge Area Chamber (now the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership) and Baton Rouge Area Foundation aligned closely with City Hall, creating a three-legged stool of political will, private-sector energy and philanthropic investment.

Why it matters: Baton Rouge has struggled with fragmented leadership and a gaping racial divide. The Holden-Monsour partnership showed that bold public-private cooperation could overcome both, delivering tangible results on infrastructure, economic development and urban redevelopment.

The key players:

• Holden—Baton Rouge's first Black mayor-president built a coalition across racial and party lines that no previous mayor had managed. He also crafted an audacious vision for Baton Rouge, declaring it would become “the next great American city.”
• Monsour—As a Republican lawyer and fiscal hawk, he was an unlikely pick, but he gave the administration instant credibility with the business community.
• BRAC—Stephen Moret was hired as CEO, and his vision and drive transformed BRAC into the region’s leading economic development organization, spearheading business recruitment and policy advocacy in close coordination with the Holden administration.
• BRAF—Under the leadership of “the Johns”—CEO John Davies, Executive Vice President John Spain and wealthy community backer John Noland—the foundation provided philanthropic capital, commissioned independent research and invested directly in place-based projects like downtown redevelopment.

Better together: The partnership created several signature wins:

• IBM Downtown—Holden, BRAC and BRAF convinced IBM to locate downtown, bringing 800+ jobs. BRAF provided the riverfront property and built a signature riverfront building; BRAC made the business case.
• The Green Light Plan—A multi-year road and infrastructure program backed by BRAC, it became the signature of the administration's delivery-focused governance.
• Downtown Revitalization—Partnering with the state, Davis Rhorer’s Downtown Development District and Boo Thomas’ Center for Planning Excellence, Plan Baton Rouge resulted in more than $2.5 billion in private and public investment in downtown, bringing Baton Rouge’s “living room” back to life.
• Urban redevelopment—The East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority, championed by BRAF and BRAC and later run by Monsour, targeted blight in inner-core neighborhoods. (Yes, there were problems, but the RDA structure can be used by Edwards to fight blight and redevelop forgotten areas.)
• Fiscal credibility—Monsour's budget discipline earned the parish upgraded bond ratings, saving taxpayers millions even through the post-Katrina population surge.

True words: "Quality-of-life and economic development programs started under Holden—from bike sharing to urban redevelopment—will continue to bear fruit for years," Spain told The Advocate in 2016. 

Between the lines: BRAF and BRAC didn't just cheer from the sidelines—they co-invested in outcomes. BRAF commissioned independent research on education, airport planning and mental health alternatives to incarceration, and aggressively implemented the findings. 

But: Not everyone was happy with the triumvirate, especially suburbanites who complained of a "shadow government" that focused too much attention on downtown.

Bottom line: Success wasn’t due to any single initiative, but to the administration, BRAC and BRAF operating as a unified team—each playing a distinct role, each trusting the others to deliver. The formula: political courage + operational credibility + private-sector alignment + philanthropic investment.