Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Episode 44 KaDavien Baylor - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

KaDavien Baylor, Public Artist, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:51 1. Pat Viser wrote a great piece on you for 64 Parishes and I’d like to begin today with her first paragraph:
 
“KaDavien Baylor is best known as a public artist—a painter of large, brightly colored murals on Shreveport’s Valencia Park and Recreation Center’s Origin Court basketball court, along the brick wall of Galilee’s Stewart-Belle Stadium in the Allendale community, inside Linwood Public Charter School, and on a fence outside of popular Uptown Bar and Lounge, to name a few. Baylor makes creativity work for him—to make change, to create hope, to heal communities, and to encourage investment and ownership. He has people talking about murals throughout northwest Louisiana and what they can do to generate dialogue around a subject or community issue. His works inspire communities to create vibrant neighborhoods people want to visit, live in, and take care of, neighborhoods that bring people together to celebrate heritage and history.” 
 
Now I want to move to a quote of yours. You once said,
 
“I want to speak to the positive identity of Shreveport. We have a welcoming identity for all kinds of people.”
 
Talk to me if you could about this above quote. And, from your perspective, what is our identity?
 
4:42 2. In speaking about some of the ways our community has been governed in the past, Councilwoman Levette Fuller recently wrote, “(It) puts distance between government and citizens and makes participation intimidating. It makes mediocrity satisfying. It has led to a malaise and apathy because we assert ‘this is just the way things are.’
 
In preparing for today I came across a quote of yours that almost offers a solution to this community apathy. You said:
 
“Public Art allows people to take ownership in their community. When they feel like they’ve added or contributed to their community in a certain way, it makes them more proud of it. That’s why we take this approach.”
 
Talk to me about your above quote. And tell me a little about your process of creating public art and your beliefs around how public art can lead to greater community engagement.
 
8:38 3. I d like to stick with quotes of yours I came across because I found so many great ones. You once said:
 
“Our people need to see diversity, inclusion and how community can come together and make things stronger and better and have a more powerful impact.”
 
Talk to me more about what you meant with the above quote.
 
9:52 4. Let’s move to another quote of yours. You once said:
 
“Shreveport is a blank canvas with a lot of people who need help.”
 
Talk more about this if you could.
 
11:17 5. Butterflies factor heavily in your murals. I’ve read that they represent our community’s beauty and potential.
 
When you look at our community, what do you see as our great potential?
 
13:12 6. Lastly, I’d like to return to the wonderful article Pat Viser wrote about you. In the article, you said:
 
“Art in public spaces reflects and reveals our society, enhances meaning in our civic areas, and adds uniqueness to our communities. I have been honored to work on several projects that I believe have started transformation within our local communities. I hope to continue to work with public art that heals communities through the creation of landmarks.”
 
What does the transformation in our communities that has begun to take shape look and feel like? And, describe in an ideal world what our ultimate transformation looks and feels like?

Episode 43 Kelly Rouse - ”Shreveport-Bossier - My City, My Community, My Home”

Kelly Rouse, Director of Community School Services at Holy Angels, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:40 1. Kelly, let’s go ahead and jump in. This past August, you launched Community School in partnership with Holy Angels.
 
Tell me about Community School. I know it provides individuals with disabilities with therapeutic and educational offerings.
 
What age individuals are eligible to participate? What are some of the areas of development targeted by the school? And what makes Community School a unique offering for our special needs population?
 
7:42 2. You once said the following in speaking about Autism:
 
"Inside each kid is a typical boy or girl. As problems are chipped away and more are chipped away, we see more of their personality of who they're meant to be.”
 
Talk to me about this quote. And is it applicable to all the work you do, whether you’re working with someone with Autism, Downs, Tourette’s, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Disability, ADHD, Anxiety disorders, Angelman’s, etc?
 
11:11 3. I read that back in 2013, less than one third of all students with special needs went on to graduate from Louisiana public high schools.
 
Are the statistics today pretty similar? What tools are Louisiana public high schools most lacking to fully support our students with special needs?
 
27:58 4. You serve on the Rare Disease Advisory Council, if I’m not mistaken as the only representative from the Shreveport-Bossier area.
 
How is Shreveport-Bossier doing in terms of rising to take care of its special needs population, compared to the rest of the state? And how about, compared to the rest of the country?
 
34:28 5. You have been in the field, doing this incredible work for nearly 20 years now. What is more challenging today in the field than it was when you first began?
 
37:52 6. Lastly, talk about some areas that are better in your field of work today than they have been throughout your career?

Episode 42 Candace Higginbotham - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Candace Higginbotham, formerly with HUD and the Department of Community Development, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:27 1. Correct me if I’m mistaken. You worked for many years for the Department of Housing & Urban Development, or HUD as many people know it. Talk to me about some of the roles and responsibilities of HUD and the department’s connection and importance to this community.
 
11:59 2. I believe you were deeply involved in the Choice Neighborhoods project. Can you talk some about the process of securing the monies for the project, where Choice Neighborhoods is located and why it’s an important development for our community?
 
21:39 3. You spent a career in public service. For those listening to you who want to do more for the community and/or who are considering pursuing a career in public service, what words of wisdom can you share with them?
 
44:42 4. Can you talk to me about some of the people in the community who inspire you?
 
1:12:13 5. What makes you optimistic about the future of our community?

Episode 41 Mike Busada - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Mike Busada, Attorney and Community Activist, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:25 1. Mike, let’s start here today.
 
You are extremely active in our community, serving on numerous boards including the LSU Health Science Center Shreveport Foundation, Shreveport-Bossier Military Affairs Council, Bossier Chamber of Commerce, and the Red River Valley Association.
 
Who taught you the importance of service? And why do you care so much about this community?
 
7:00 2. You are Senior Counsel for Butler Snow Law Firm. I believe your areas of expertise are bond finance and economic development financing law.
 
For us lay people, talk to me about who some of your clients are and the type of law work you typically focus on.
 
9:43 3. You are a member of the Louisiana Committee of 100 for Economic Development. There are less than 20 people from Shreveport-Bossier who sit on this important committee.
 
Talk to me about some of the work of the Louisiana Committee of 100 for Economic Development. How often do you meet, where do the meetings take place, and what type of work does the committee do?
 
15:59 4. In a historic partnership, the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau together with the City of Shreveport, the City of Bossier City, the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, the Bossier Chamber of Commerce, the Shreveport-Bossier African American Chamber of Commerce, and other local community organizations are working together to develop a Destination Master Plan and Community Brand.
 
While the Convention and Tourist Bureau has led the project and is funding the initiative, a steering committee with representatives from around the area has been organized to offer guidance and assistance.
 
You are one of 16 people who sit on the steering committee. Talk to me about the importance of this project and where we are so far in the process.
 
37:03 5. In your opinion, what is holding us back from being one of the next, great small cities in America?
 
44:50 6. What makes you optimistic about our community’s future?

Episode 40 Drayden Dunn - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Drayden Dunn, Entrepreneur and Community Leader, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:41 1. Drayden, you are an entrepreneur and community leader. I don’t want to spend too much time introducing your background and bio as I’m confident we’ll cover a good bit as we go through today.
 
As I prepared for today’s discussion, I came across some excellent quotes by you and I’d like to use those as jumping off points for the majority of my questions.
 
Let’s start here:
 
“If you do aspire to be an entrepreneur, own a business, first thing period is you just got to eliminate fear. The thing I can guarantee is that you’re going to fail. My Ls I can write a whole list of Ls. I’ve done lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, lost, period. But every time I took an L, you learn something from it.”
 
Talk to me about your philosophy around entrepreneurship and the way you view starting a business.
 
10:53 2. You are a leader in this community and heavily involved. The next quote of yours I’d like you to talk about is the following. You said,
 
“It is hard to change the mentality of a community….It doesn’t happen overnight. And it may not even happen for us to see. I don’t know. I just know we need to move it forward.”
 
What do you see as your role and/or responsibility to our community?
 
17:46 3. My next question is just leaning on you for a second for some guidance.
 
Every resident of this area has been in this situation at one time and will inevitably encounter it again. You are at a dinner party or around friends and someone starts putting down or bad mouthing Shreveport-Bossier.
 
What's the right way to react if we hope to correct that type of behavior moving forward?
 
28:00 4. You are the owner of Envision Media and Marketing, a local concierge media and marketing company. Tell me about your company. When it started? How it came to be? Where you’re located and some of the services you offer?
 
36:52 5. Let’s now go back to a couple of quotes of yours. When you bought 709 Texas Street to house Envision Media and Marketing, you said:
 
“I want people to be inspired by this. I want people to invest in downtown, invest in the city. Those who do should be celebrated.”
 
You have been a longtime advocate and supporter of downtown Shreveport. Why is downtown Shreveport so important to you?
 
46:24 6. Lastly, let’s talk race for a second in our community. Your wife Brittney, who was recently our guest, serves as the Chairwoman of the Shreveport African American Chamber of Commerce and you have both been deeply involved in working to mentor, lift up and advocate for other African Americans in our community.
 
You once said,
 
“Shreveport is a predominantly black city. It wasn’t always like that.”
 
As Shreveport evolves from African-Americans being the minority to being the majority population, talk to me about steps you see we can take to improve our race relations. In other words, what do you see as the white population’s responsibility in dealing with the race issue? And what do you see as the black population’s responsibility in dealing with the issue of race in our community?

Episode 39 Bonnie Moore - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Bonnie Moore, Director of the Department of Community Development for the City of Shreveport, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:26  1.  Bonnie, let’s start here today if we could. If I am not mistaken, you have served as the Director of the Department of Community Development for the City of Shreveport since 1995. 
 
For the lay person who has no idea what the Department of Community Development is, can you define its role for the city?  We will get into the specifics of some of your major projects and initiatives next.
 
4:35  2.  I would like to spend the rest of our time talking about a number of your major projects and initiatives.  Let’s begin with Choice Neighborhoods.  What is Choice Neighborhoods, where is it located and why is it an important development for our community?
 
12:50  3.  Next I would like you to speak about MS KICK (Kitchen Incubator). Like Choice Neighborhoods, can you tell me what MS KICK is, where it’s located and why it’s important for our community?
 
18:02  4.  I have three other projects and initiatives I would like to cover with you. For each of these, can you tell me what they are, where they are located and why they are important for our community.
 
Let’s begin with the Financial Empowerment Center.
 
26:34  5.  Next can you tell me about the War Room Initiative?
 
36:50  6.  Lastly, can you provide some information about the Early Start Initiative?
 
43:35  7.  Bonnie, as you look at our community, what makes you optimistic about our future?

Episode 38 Keith Burton -”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Keith Burton, Chief Academic Officer for Caddo Parish Public Schools, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
1:00 1. Keith, you are the Chief Academic Officer for Caddo Parish Public Schools. I believe you are a 31 year veteran of Caddo schools. Prior to serving as Chief Academic Officer, among other things, you served as the principal of Fairfield Elementary School, South Highlands and Caddo Middle Magnet.
 
I want to cover a number of different programs with you today.  Let’s start here.
 
You serve on the Advisory Council of Volunteers of America’s Community in Schools. Or CIS as many people know it.
 
I pulled this from VOA’s website:
 
“In Caddo Parish, approximately 70 percent of students live in poverty. A licensed partnership between Volunteers of America North Louisiana and Communities In Schools, the largest and most effective dropout prevention organization, is aimed at surrounding these students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.”
 
Talk to me if you could about CIS, some of the programs it offers and why it is so important that we have organizations like it in our schools.
 
9:22 2. For the moneyed community of Caddo Parish that may not understand what life looks like at some of our schools or in some of the homes or neighborhoods of some of our students, can you describe it for us?
 
12:27 3. You are part of Community Foundation’s Early Childhood Education Caddo Fund Initiative Steering Committee. In short, this initiative seeks to create more equity among our Caddo Parish students by providing access for all our students to quality childcare and early education.
 
I recently had Clay Walker on as a guest who said that when 14 year olds come to him it’s too late.
 
In your opinion, programmatically, what are some things we can do for our 6-13 year olds that level the playing field in ways similar to the incredible work you have done for 0-5 year olds with Community Foundation’s Early Start Initiative?
 
21:10 4. Like some of our community’s other more complex issues, I fully realize that there is no one magic bullet that will quickly propel Caddo Parish to be one of the highest-ranked public school systems in the country.
 
But if money were no issue, programmatically what would be other major gamechangers to our system and students, like CIS and Community Foundation’s Early Start Initiative?
 
25:17 5. What are some areas that are more challenging today in Caddo Parish Public Schools than they have been at other times during your 31 year career?
 
28:22 6. What are some areas that are better today than they have been at other times during your 31 year career?
 
34:01 7. As I look around, one of our biggest challenges as a community is that we lose a lot of our best and brightest. From your perspective, what can we do as a community to do a better job of holding on more in the future to some of our best and brightest?

Episode 37 Brittney Dunn - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Brittney Dunn, Owner of Brittney Dunn, CPA LLC and Chairwoman of the Shreveport African American Chamber of Commerce, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:58 1. Brittney, you run your own accounting business, B&D Tax & Accounting Services LLC, and are greatly involved in our community. Let me name some of the high points.
 
You serve on the following boards: Caddo Council on Aging, Volunteers of America and United Way of Northwest Louisiana. You were recently appointed to the Democratic Parish Executive Committee for District 10 and you currently serve as the Chairwoman of the Shreveport African American Chamber of Commerce.
 
You once said, “Try not to become a person of success, rather a person of value.”
 
Why do care so much about being of value to our community?
 
8:52 2. In a historic partnership, the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau together with the City of Shreveport, the City of Bossier City, the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, the Bossier Chamber of Commerce, the Shreveport-Bossier African American Chamber of Commerce, and other local community organizations are working together to develop a Destination Master Plan and Community Brand.
 
While the Convention and Tourist Bureau has led the project and is funding the initiative, a steering committee with representatives from around the area has been organized to offer guidance and assistance. You are steering committee co-chair along with Lisa Johnson, President and CEO of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce.
 
Talk to me about the importance of this project and where we are so far in the process.
 
13:53 3. It is inspiring to see someone like you working so hard to give back to our community. How do we create more people like you that believe in Shreveport-Bossier?
 
18:41 4. A friend of yours is coming to visit. It will be his or her first time in Shreveport-Bossier and he or she is only in town for one full day. Where all do you go and where do you take him or her to give a sense of your Shreveport-Bossier?
 
23:10 5. As you look around our community, what concerns you the most?
 
33:01 6. What makes you hopeful about the future of our community?

Episode 36 - Dinero’ Washington - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

SporTran Chief Executive Officer, Dinero' Washington, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:52 1. Dinero', let’s start here today. Since 2015, you have served as the Chief Executive Officer of SporTran. If you could, please give everyone a basic overview - your annual budget, number of employees, hours of operation and areas served?
 
2:33 2. Public transit is an essential part of the local economy. Buses connect our citizens to employment.
 
Approximately how many riders does SporTran carry a year?
 
5:58 3. Under your leadership, SporTran went through a four year process to design a total restructure plan for the agency based on feedback from the riders. Since completing the project, SporTran is one of the few transit systems in America that has seen a growth in ridership.
 
How is SporTran different today from what it was when you started the restructure process?
 
13:32 4. I have heard it spoken about but know very little about it. Can you tell us about the downtown circulator?
 
15:29 5. In 2019, you wrote an article about the number of covered bus stops in our community. At the time, you stated there were over 800 bus stops in the City of Shreveport but only 100 were covered.
 
I believe the 2019 bond that failed included money to increase the number of covered bus stops.
 
What is the situation today? Is there still an overwhelming amount of bus stops that remain without shelter or cover?
 
18:03 6. Most people don’t know that SporTran was the first public transit agency in the state to deploy electric buses. I believe today that your fleet only consists of electric buses and alternative fuel-powered buses.
 
Is that correct? How many buses total are in your fleet? How many are electric and how many are CNG?
 
25:12 7. In doing my research on you, it is abundantly clear that you are very community minded. I came across this quote of yours:
 
“When you can transform your own community and bring things to light, that’s a great thing that you can always look back on and say, ‘Hey, one day my kids are going to be able to see this. I’m doing this for my grandkids’.”
 
How do we get more people to view this as a WE and not a ME community?

Episode 35 Caddo DA James E Stewart, Sr - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Caddo Parish District Attorney James E Stewart, Sr sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:33 1. You are the son of retired United States postman Richard G Stewart, Sr and the late Corine Stewart. Your family has an incredible legacy in this community.
 
One of your brothers is retired United States Navy Captain Judge Advocate General Richard G Stewart, Jr and your other brother is Chief Judge of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal Carl E Stewart, Sr.
 
Talk to me about your family upbringing. How do you explain and what do you attribute you and your siblings’ unusual success to?
 
11:08 2. For the lay person out there, in fairly simple terms, talk to me about the role of the Caddo Parish District Attorney. What is your role and your main responsibilities?
 
12:23 3. You once said, “The criminal justice system, the Constitution of the United States was not built for speed.”
 
Would you mind explaining and talking more about this quote?
 
20:05 4. For people out there listening who say, “I love my community. I’ve had enough of the crime. I’m convinced I need to do my part.”
 
What do you have to say to those people? What can they do? How can they get involved and play a role in helping our crime situation in the future?
 
23:36 5. You have been the DA since 2015. Talk about some of the areas of crime in our community and/or of your position as DA that are more difficult or challenging today than they were seven years ago when you first started.
 
29:25 6. On the flip side, what are some areas of crime in our community we have improved upon? Or, in other words, in terms of your office, what are some of the things that you feel are improving or are better today than they were back in 2015? And what gives you hope we are headed in the right direction?