Stephanie Lynch Compares Cross Bayou Plan To Elio Deal

Shreveport City Councilwoman talks with 101.7 / 710 KEEL's Robert J Wright and Erin McCarty about the upcoming presentation to the Council by Gateway Development Consortium, a presentation which will, for the first time, publicly unveil the 10 year, billion dollar plan for development of the downtown Cross bayou area.

Lynch likens the proposed plan to a previous "Elio Motors" deal made by the Caddo Commission, a deal in which then-commissioner Lynch was the lone dissenter:

My mind will be made up long before anyone lands in Shreveport to try and persuade me with a full court press. I definitely will not be swayed, one way or the other, by fly-ins” less than 24hrs before voting on a DRAFT or ”proposed” MOU. Give me a final MOU to vote on because I definitely am not voting on anything in draft form. My constituent’s property and tax dollars are being used and they need to know what they are or are not getting. The Commission pulled this bs with Elio and you see where that got us. The Council was wise enough to thwart the last attempt by the Tyler Administration, and this draft of a proposed MOU puts the ball right back into Ollie’s hand to build that ill-conceived arena! #dontbefooledtwice

The Gateway Development Consortium is seeking a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding from the city before they move forward with the Cross Bayou Plan. The council will hear the presentation at their working session on May 21, then plan to vote on the MOU at their May 22 meeting.