[StBernard] Boasso: Leaders need to exhibit political courage

[Westley Annis]

Boasso: Leaders need to exhibit political courage
By Robbie Evans
revans at thenewsstar.com

 

State Sen. Walter Boasso said the failure at several levels of government to
protect citizens following the 2005 hurricanes moved him to run for
governor.

 

Boasso, a 47-year-old Democrat from Arabi, said the hurricanes left his
Senate District 1 in shambles, and after two years of recovery efforts, the
district is still struggling because of poor decisions by state and federal
agencies. Boasso told The News-Star Editorial Board on Monday he didn't want
to wait another term with the hope that the state's next governor would
fight the political machine and do the right thing.

 

"I wasn't going to waste four more years in the Senate waiting for a
governor with courage," Boasso said. "What I've learned is the only way for
anything to get done is to have the political courage to make a hard
decision and not worry about being re-elected."

Boasso said he's working on a coastal restoration plan that would take
mothballed U.S. Navy ships and sink them to create barrier-type islands to
protect the state's coastlines from erosion and hurricanes.

 

Boasso said it's also important to begin steering new business opportunities
north of Interstate 10. Another key economic development priority for Boasso
would be state officials focusing on the retention of businesses.

 

"We've got to make sure we don't lose any more companies," Boasso said.

 

To begin working on some of the $14 billion in backlogged road and bridge
projects in the state, Boasso said he supports the use of gasoline taxes and
registration and license fees to fund those projects.

 

"I want to make some things happen," Boasso said.