Louis R. Avallone, Chairman of the Caddo Parish Republican Party, talks about the appearance of Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins as guest speaker at their monthly meeting on Tuesday.

Caddo Parish Republican Party Chairman Louis R. Avallone says that the public is invited to Tuesday's meeting, to be held at Shreveport's Superior Grill on Line Avenue at noon.

"I had been reaching out to (the Mayor's office) for several months, but until 30 or 45 days ago I hadn't received any response., but they reached out and said the Mayor would like to attend."

And why, after months of silence, did the Mayor finally say yes? "There's certainly a lot of explanation as to why that is," Avallone says, "But at the end of the day, the question from most Shreveporters  is, what are you going to do, what are the results from you being in elected office, how do you make the lives of others better? So, I know there are a lot of folks saying, 'Oh, gosh, you're inviting a Democrat!' But, you know, he is the mayor. For Shreveporters, it's about the results and that's what we're going to be focused on.

"We must learn how we can debate ideas without making it personal. I think this is a step in that direction. We're going to disagree about issues and that's okay. We used to be able to debate, to be on different sides of an issue and not hate one another."

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