By james art 
Daily report sat down with Republican mayoral candidate Sid Edwards to discuss his campaign and his vision for Baton Rouge. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
If elected, what will be some of your first priorities as mayor?
Public safety for sure. This needs to be resolved immediately. With crime the way it is, I think immediately contacting all law enforcement agencies in East Baton Rouge is the most important part of my platform.
Also, cleaning up the city – abandoned buildings, blight, trap houses. I think that’s something that can happen pretty quickly where people can actually see progress. When I train, I always say there should be some visual proof, something for people to see.
And third – even though it’s not part of my rig – it really goes through and clears the budget. If I become mayor, we will operate on a zero budget. We’re going to start over and start with the most important priorities and then see where there are other areas that can be cut or eliminated right away.
What would you do to address the long-standing disparities between north and south Baton Rouge, especially when it comes to economic development?
There is hardly any industry in north Baton Rouge outside of ExxonMobil and the Choctaw Drive Industrial Corridor that has some kind of business that I never noticed until I got involved in this race. There is an opportunity there.
But for small businesses in particular — grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores — it’s such a huge problem to deal with. The median income on this side of town is $21,000, so businesses are slowly moving there. Then you have the criminal part that we already talked about. Crime is highest in zip codes 70805 and 70807. You need to address the crime problem. But the long-term deal deals with income inequality. Todd Graves put Raising Cane’s right there in Delmont Village, which is great, and if you ever pass by, I think it’s one of the busiest places. It’s just that a lot of people out there don’t have much of a choice. Scotlandville has been talking for years about having an actual grocery store instead of having to drive to Shoppers Value on Plank Road. Many of the people there go to Baker to shop. I think those things need to be looked at and you also need to look at what educational opportunities people have there to increase their income. I hope I can influence someone to break through this foundation. “Hey can we get boom boom here in north baton rouge? Can we put this store here? Can we do this?” That’s kind of my plan with it.
Read the full question and answer here.