Baton Rouge: In Come The Women
by Maggie H. Richardson - Baton Rouge Business Report (excerpt)

The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council is about to turn over almost entirely, with just two of 12 incumbents returning because of defeat or term limits. What’s most striking about the incoming group is its proportion of women. Five female council members will be seated on Jan. 2, the largest number ever according to Council Administrator Brian Mayers.

We don’t know how well the new council will jell, or how they will interact with department heads or with Mayor Kip Holden. But at face value, the new gender makeup is encouraging simply because of the Metro Council’s desperate need for a fresh perspective. These five women are first-time elected officials, so it’s reasonable to think they could view old problems through new prisms. And they, along with their male counterparts, could be the council class that charts a new course for a notoriously unproductive body.

It’s also encouraging to see more women run for office and sharpen skills in areas like fundraising, canvassing, debating, public speaking and networking with power brokers. Campaigning is not easy, but it’s required, and more women need to fine tune their wheelhouses, and serve as mentors to younger women.

Council Members-elect Ronnie Edwards, Donna Collins-Lewis, C. Denise Marcelle, Tara Wicker and Alison Cascio will face tough challenges.