BATON ROUGE - Hundreds of Glen Oaks residents gathered at the high school auditorium for a community meeting about crime prevention.

One resident, Ms. Dorothy Thomas, talked about how she felt about the growing number of people getting involved in this initiative.

"Very good, it lets me know that we are together and we support this, so I'm glad to see a lot of people from our area here tonight," Thomas said.

The idea was proposed by Senator Regina Barrow and Councilman Darryl Hurst, who both have ties to the community, as they grew up and resided there. Hurst says it's time to bring Glen Oaks back by putting the power back into the hands of the people who live there.

"When you go to South Baton Rouge, there's a lot of homeowner's associations where people are investing based on deed responsibilities," Hurst said. "In North Baton Rouge, you don't see a lot of those, so what I told the people is if you're not going to invest in yourself then who will? Here's an opportunity for $8 and .33 a month to tell your neighbors I care about where I live, work and play."

If voted for, residents will pay $100 a year that would provide funds for services to the area like patrols, crime cameras and beautification projects, but ultimately it is up to the citizens to pick and choose how they'd like to improve their neighborhoods.

"It gives the opportunity to the community to frame what kind of community they want to live in and set the parameters to what they want to see in their communities," Barrow said. "These are things that we can create for our community, and each community is different, so what one community may see as a priority, the other may see something else,and that's what makes it so unique."

The vote isn't until October, but Hurst, Barrow and other local leaders are getting the word out and hosting meetings so people can ask questions and get answers about why it's time to stop the crime and bring Glen Oaks back to it's prime.

"If I can afford it, I'm going to do it," Thomas said.

If voted yes, residents will pay their fees during the next tax year in 2024 and will receive the funding for projects in January of 2025.