BATON ROUGE - One of the most common calls to 2 On Your Side involves some form of blight. Property blight is a big one. It's something that East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards says has become magnified since taking office.

In terms of tearing down condemned properties, the city is working faster compared previous years but there is more to be done to reach Edwards' goal. The city has its eye on at least 6,000 blighted properties in the parish. So far, 113 condemned properties have been demolished this year. Last year, 46 properties were torn down.

"I knocked one down myself, I was so proud," Edwards said.

The city is on pace to knock down 180 properties this year, but Edwards has a goal of 230 to 240. Recently, 2 On Your Side has taken a closer look at some blighted properties that have been in bad shape for years. One of those properties, 123 North 13th Street, was deleted from the council agenda two weeks ago after Metro Councilwoman Caroline Coleman said it had been demolished. We checked - it hadn't been. But a permit was pulled last week and it has finally been demolished after being recommended for condemnation in 2022.

It's a repetitive cycle. Some council members touch base with their constituents granting them more time to make changes, or delete them from the agenda. Some property owners use that time to make changes or demolish the property, others remain boarded up, or are caught up in red tape.

Edwards acknowledges that every property has a story, but boarded-up properties invite crime.

"It's atrocious, it's terrible," Edwards said.

The mayor's office is working to bring in more help to tackle the blight in the parish. Senate Bill 236 went into effect August 1 and will be another tool to help speed up the condemnation process, giving the parish the ability to clear titles faster.

"I would prefer to put buildings and homes back into commerce. I've been meeting with multiple developers talking about putting houses in Baton Rouge, new housing, so we're looking at all of that," he said.

One such property on Pocasset Street near Mohican Street was purchased by the City of Baton Rouge in 2012. In May 2024, 2 On Your Side was called by a neighbor after the house had been broken into and vandalized. The city has since fixed it up and brought it back into commerce. More of that could be coming.

"It's so slow-moving and we want to accelerate it," he said. "It's the amount of properties, how widespread it is over our parish."

Edwards says there's a lot more discussion to come to streamline the blight in the parish. For now, he's putting trust in the Metro Council to do right and accelerate the process.

In the near future, Edwards says his office plans to renegotiate contracts with its garbage and trash vendors soon. Right now, there is no contract to pick up large piles of vegetative debris.