“The Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost”: Broome Fires Back at Edwards Over Baton Rouge Budget Crisis
In a video posted to her Instagram, Broome rejected Edwards’ assertion, made during his push for the controversial Thrive! initiative — that his administration “inherited a financial mess.”
BATON ROUGE, La. — Former Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome is pushing back hard against claims that her administration is to blame for Baton Rouge’s growing financial crisis, accusing current Mayor-President Sid Edwards of distorting facts and ignoring years of warnings about the long-term costs of the St. George breakaway.
In a video posted to her Instagram, Broome rejected Edwards’ assertion, made during his push for the controversial Thrive! initiative — that his administration “inherited a financial mess.” According to WBRZ, Edwards said Baton Rouge is at risk of financial collapse without the program and directly blamed Broome’s leadership for the shortfall.
Please see the Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKsRpsCxXrl/
Broome called those accusations “categorically false,” insisting the city’s current financial hole was created not under her watch, but when state and local leaders failed to stop the incorporation of the City of St. George.
“I warned this would happen,” Broome said. “I filed suit against the creation of St. George because there was no plan, and I knew the damage it would do to our finances.”
Broome’s legal battle against St. George began in 2019, shortly after voters approved the wealthy southeastern portion of East Baton Rouge Parish to break away and form its city. At the time, Broome and other city-parish officials argued the move would devastate the parish’s ability to fund public safety, infrastructure, and education, stripping away a major portion of the tax base. According to The Advocate, the city filed suit, claiming the incorporation was financially reckless and administratively vague.
Those warnings were largely ignored. In April 2024, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of St. George organizers, effectively allowing the breakaway city to form and sever a significant portion of its tax revenue from Baton Rouge, as reported by NOLA.com. The ruling triggered a financial reckoning that Broome says Edwards is now blaming her for, despite receiving detailed transition resources when she left office.
“We handed them the tools. They chose not to use them,” she said. “The chickens are coming home to roost — and Baton Rouge is paying for political inaction and revisionist leadership.”
The Thrive! proposal, which Edwards describes as a fix for Baton Rouge’s budget shortfalls, remains under scrutiny. Supporters say it’s a lifeline. Critics argue it’s a band-aid on a wound the mayor ignored until it became a crisis.
Broome’s remarks sharpen the line between past and present leadership and raise urgent questions about who is telling the truth — and who is covering their tracks — as the capital city’s finances falter.
