Episode 46 Thomas Pressly - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Louisiana State Representative Thomas Pressly sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:33 1. Thomas, let’s start here today.

 

We have now done close to 50 interviews in this series. In our very first interview, Al Childs, in talking about the future of our community said, “I can’t tell you who the leaders are but I can tell you where they are. They’re in your generation, not mine.”

 

You actually represent the generation after me. And as I look around at you guys – whether it’s you, Mike Busada, Dinero’ Washington, Cassie Hammett, Madison Poche, Gabriel Balderas – to name but a very few, I see an unusually committed group of people, talented and willing to work to take responsibility for making our community better for the future.

 

Do you see what I see and do you feel part of a generation that is unusually committed to making our community better?

 

2:30 2. You are the first person we have interviewed who currently holds a political office. You are a Louisiana State Representative, 1 of 105 members in the state and 1 of 10 state representatives who represent either Caddo and/or Bossier Parish.

 

The regular legislative session in Baton Rouge this year runs from April 10-June 8.

 

What do you see other parts of the state doing better than our community? Or, in other words, from any perspective – economically, socially, legislatively, etc – what could this community learn from other areas in the state?

 

7:46 3. As you were preparing the campaign for your current seat, you wrote the following which I love:

 

“Ready or not, those of us in our 20s and 30s who grew up in Shreveport-Bossier and returned home are ready to take the reins of leadership. More importantly, because of the education we received – both inside and outside of Caddo and Bossier Parish classrooms – we are capable of leading this community. We understand there are systematic challenges in Shreveport-Bossier City that we must overcome in order for our community to reach its full potential. From an aging infrastructure and generational poverty to stagnate wage growth and a real estate market that could use a boost, the challenges that we as a community face are as real as they are vast.”

 

Talk to me about some of the things you see as our community’s greatest challenges.

 

11:34 4. In the same article as the previous quote I read, you also wrote the following:

 

“To build up our community, we must promote the positive opportunities and experiences that exist in northwest Louisiana. We can be a strong community, but we must be willing to work together – Shreveport, Bossier City and surrounding towns must be willing to put aside local differences and work together to make positive changes for us all. Additionally, we must change our attitude and perspective, particularly when we travel to or live in other communities. Instead of talking about the negatives, we must talk about the opportunities.”

 

Your quote above addresses some of the challenges we face as a community, both in terms of what is often a negative image of self and also a division between political views, racial backgrounds and socioeconomic situations.

 

Let’s break my question into two parts:

 

a. First, from your perspective, how do we get people from different backgrounds and opinions to collaborate more in the future toward the betterment of our community?

 

16:53 b. Second, you always strike me as a very positive person with a strong sense of pride of who we are as a community and what we can become. What words of wisdom or advice do you have for people who struggle with their image as Shreveport-Bossier residents?

 

22:39 5. Lastly, what makes you hopeful about our future?