Running for Office: Metro Council Dist. 7

Hazel L. Bradley, a Democrat, is running for the Metro Council District 7 seat held by C. Denise Marcelle, also a Democrat.

Metro Council District 7 is a north-south district generally stretching from Clayton Drive and Sycamore Street in the north; Plank Road and North Acadian to the west; Bawell to the south; and Airline Highway, North Ardenwood Drive and North Foster Drive to the east.

Bradley, an educator, said she was born and reared in East Baton Rouge Parish and has lived in the north Baton Rouge area for 10 years.

She describes herself as a “grassroots Democrat” and said she is a granddaughter of the late Annie Smart, a welfare and civil-rights activist who, Bradley said, inspired her foray into politics.

Bradley said she will collaborate with local nonprofit organizations and government agencies to address the city-parish’s ills.

“I will address the issue of poverty and homelessness by working closely with the Office of Social Services … to provide a variety of human economic services and activities to low-income individuals,” she said.

She also said she’d partner with local homeless shelters to “get people off the streets and into safe havens and helping them improve their qualities of life.”

Bradley said she wants the former Prescott Middle School used as a Head Start Center, and would like to work with the East Baton Rouge school system and BREC to create a summer enrichment program giving students summer LEAP remediation.

She said community statistics show “students are lagging behind when it comes to reading, writing and standardized testing.” Inadequate education, she said, can lead to crime and poverty.

Bradley also said she’d like to see agencies like the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, the Louisiana Workforce Commission and local community colleges and technical schools offer more job skills training for individuals in her district.

For more information about Bradley, visit www.hazelbradley.com.

The primary election is Nov. 6. A runoff election, if needed, is Dec. 8.