By james art 
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPRUD) — District 7 Democratic candidate Alfred Bell is back on the ballot for Metro Council. Bell is a lifelong resident with roots deep in the area.
“I’ve been there all my life, 57 years, owner of Bell’s Janitorial and non-government street traffic,” Bell said.
Bell initially ran an unsuccessful campaign in 2020 against Lamont Cole, who now serves as the superintendent of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. He says now is the perfect time to run again.
“When LaMont Cole took the superintendent position, it left a vacancy. So, being a lifelong resident, someone who knows the community and knows the people, I think I’m, I know I’m better at addressing the needs of the community,” Bell said.
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Bell says if elected, he will push for economic growth and development and fight blight.
“There’s no business coming into the area, so it’s dying. We are, we have a lot of abandoned houses. And I’d like to bring attention to that, because it’s in a deplorable state that breeds crime and the houses are being used as drug stores, and I’d like to put an end to that,” Bell said.
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