Baton Rouge's mayor's State of the City address - how did 2023 go for the capital region?

BATON ROUGE - Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's goal for the rest of her term as mayor—and possibly the next few years—is to make Baton Rouge the "greatest mid-sized city in the country."

"I have no reason to believe that we cannot be the greatest mid-sized city in the country. I just need a few other believers with me. That's all I need," she said during her State of the City address on Wednesday.

Broome took office in 2017, following the floods of 2016 and the high-profile shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and three law enforcement officers.

"I can't think of any other mayor that has had as many crises to navigate and mitigate as I have had since being mayor, but I've done it, I believe, courageously with humility and with my goal always being my love for this community and to see us thrive and prosper."

Her two biggest priorities for the future are increasing community safety and improving quality of life.

Choosing to focus on the last two years, Broome touted a 34 percent reduction in gun violence as well as an 8.5 percent reduction in fatal shootings.

She said a more thorough plan for continuing to reduce crime will be revealed once the new police chief is sworn in next Tuesday, Jan. 16.

"We're going to use those same principles that have brought us here today with our new chief of police, TJ Morse, who has a formula to catalyze the next phase of the Baton Rouge Police Department," Broome said.

As far as improving the city's quality of life, Broome plans to continue litter abatement initiatives with groups like Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, and will eventually appoint someone whose job it is to address and eradicate homelessness.

She also wants to make the Raising Cane's River Center a premier entertainment venue though did not go into detail about how so.