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Prentiss Smith: Mayor was elected to do a job, blind ambition shouldn't stop him from it

Prentiss Smith  |  Special to The Times
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There is nothing wrong with ambition. In fact, ambition is what makes a person do what others might think is impossible to do.

Political ambition is one kind of ambition, and it is the kind of ambition that can make a one-term senator from Illinois, with little or no experience leading anything, think that he can be president of the United States, and ultimately achieve that goal.

Political ambition is also the kind of ambition that can make a real estate mogul from Manhattan, with no political experience think that he can become the president of the United States, and achieve that reality by beating Hillary Clinton, who everyone thought was going to win the election. He did that, and it has been one of the most consequential presidencies in American history. 

It is also the kind of ambition that can inspire a young woman like former Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose political roots and pedigree are long in Louisiana, believe that she could become U.S. Senator from Louisiana, which she ultimately did. She served three terms with distinction.

And yes, political ambition is also the kind of ambition that can lead a young man from the Cedar Grove community of Shreveport to believe that he can attend the most prestigious military school in the world, West Point, which he did, and become a combat infantry officer leading a platoon and rising to the rank of captain.

He would follow that up by attending the most prestigious law school in the world, Harvard Law, and becoming a Harvard Law School graduate. And finally, it is this kind of ambition that can lead that same young man to see a need for a new kind of leadership in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, and put himself forward to try solve some of the endemic problems that beset Shreveport, as its mayor, which he ultimately achieved.

It was a historical achievement. The citizens of Shreveport saw someone from humble beginnings rise to become the chief executive of the third-largest city in Louisiana. It was monumental and gave Shreveport citizens the hope that at long last, things were going to change in Shreveport with new and innovative leadership that was ushering in generational change.

The new mayor laid out his plans for bringing the city into the 21st century with technology. He appointed a significant number of women to leadership positions, and he made it clear that he was going to bring crime under control in Shreveport. Crime intervention was the overriding factor that led to his victory over former Mayor Ollie Tyler.

He also appointed different committees that were targeted toward specific city needs. He pledged to try to bridge the racial, social, and political divides that have long been a problem for the city. His rhetoric was very enticing, and convinced a lot of people that he was the right person for the job at this time in Shreveport’s history. He brought the kind of energy that was infectious and needed to get the city moving in the “right direction.”

And now the question for the mayor who has only been on the job for 20 months, is, what happened to that person? What happened to that person who had so many ideas to make Shreveport the great city on the Red River and bring about meaningful changes that were going to improve services, repair streets, fix the antiquated water system, and restore a since of pride to city hall. What happened to that mayor?

It appears that he got caught up in his blind ambition, and forgot why he went into politics from beginning, and that was to make his hometown the best city in Louisiana. It appears that he stopped listening to that young man who believed that he had what Shreveport needed to make it a city that worked for all its citizens from Queensboro to Western Hills, from Motown to Ellerbe Road, and from Highland to the Cooper Road.

What happened to that person?

Now, all of the sudden that person has decided, or someone has convinced him that evidently, his work in Shreveport is done, and that his talent is needed in Washington D.C. even though he has not done anything in Shreveport to write home about or to brag about. He has not given himself time to achieve all of the things he said he was going to do. Ambition is one thing, but blind ambition is something else.

The point is that he should either be all in for Shreveport, or allow someone else the opportunity to lead the city. But he cannot do that because election day is still over two years away. He has just over 18 months on the job, and now he is ready to become U. S. Senator. It is a fool’s play, and totally irresponsible on his part.

The mayor did not have any experience when he became mayor, and now he is going to defeat a sitting senator, who is popular among his constituents. It does not make any political sense, and the mayor is smarter than that, or he should be.

His lack of political experience was on full display in the first months of his administration with his attempts to impose an $18 garbage fee on the citizens of Shreveport that was met with universal disapproval, and ultimately ending up at a more reasonable fee that the citizens accepted.

And who can forget the city insurance debacle that no one still knows what really happened during that fiasco. Then there was the selection process used to choose a new chief of police that was flawed from the beginning, and left a lot of Shreveporters angry and disgusted with the whole process, and with the mayor. He squandered a lot of goodwill that citizens had for him in the first six months with his obvious missteps and political misadventures.

The mayor made a lot of promises, and gave a lot of people hope that he was the leader that the citizens had been looking for. Yes, ambition can be a good thing, but blind ambition can lead you down the wrong road. Shreveporters elected the mayor to do a job, and he should do that job. And that’s my take.