Triumph of a proposition for funding public transit follows a 15-month constituency building campaign that brought together diverse institutions from across the city. Local leaders focused on neighborhood issues and organized a 1,000 person assembly to launch a month long effort to Get Out the Vote.

In photo, Diana Dorroh and Deborah Quinn of Together Baton Rouge team up Saturday morning to walk Baton Rouge neighborhoods and encourage voters to cast their ballot in support of CATS.

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"A wheelchair-using retired U.S. Air Force captain who travels to the hospital by bus three times a week.

A New York transplant who hoped to get to her job without having to purchase a vehicle.

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"Perhaps because it was held in a church, or because so many clergy and faithful were in the hall, a recent Together Baton Rouge luncheon saw at least a minor miracle: Political leaders were made to pay attention to the concerns of poor people.

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"Better wages, improved schools, grocery stores in northern neighborhoods and local tax revenue dedicated to mass transit are among the goals Together Baton Rouge plans to work toward in 2012, leaders of the church and nonprofit coalition announced Tuesday. 'We're here to celebrate the accomplishments of 2011, and they are considerable,' the Rev. Melvin Rushing, pastor of Progressive Baptist Church and Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, told hundreds of supporters."

Coalition Sets 2012 Goals, The Advocate

"More than 150 community activists on Tuesday applauded a state agency's move to sue the owners and overseer of a historic north Baton Rouge cemetery they say has fallen into an embarrassing state of neglect.

The three lawsuits...set the stage for appointment of a receiver to take over managing Gilbert Memorial Park Cemetery, Assistant Attorney General Ryan Seidemann told members of Together Baton Rouge at a luncheon meeting at St. Mary Baptist Church." In photo, leader Roena Wilford shows how graves crisscross.

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More than 1,100 leaders of Together Baton Rouge assembled from approximately 70 congregations and organizations., thirty-five of which made annual pledges. Invited guests included the Mayor, District Attorney, Sheriff, Metro Council Members and State legislators; all committed to work with the organization.

Since then, the organization has advanced its transportation agenda. With a bus system that gets 1/3 the per capita funding of peer cities and forces passengers to wait an average of 75 minutes, the Mayor invited Together Baton Rouge to work with the City to create some solutions. The resulting plan will create a dedicated source of revenue for transit for the first time in the City's history more than doubling the budget from $12 Million to $30 Million in order to expand bus routes and reduce wait times.

"Changing BR Together." The Advocate, 05/21/11

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"One Bridge, And Others." Baton Rouge Advocate

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Together Baton Rouge gets its first victory in winning the reconstruction of the Blue Grass Bridge in Glen Oaks.

"This is a great victory for our community," said Mackie Smothers-El, a Glen Oaks residents and TBR leader. "This is restoring my faith in democracy."

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"The charge to this commission will be to come up with a plan that the city can support; that the parish can support," said the Rev. Melvin Rushing, a member of Together Baton Rouge and pastor with Progressive Baptist Church and Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church.

Mayor introduces mass transit panel,The Advocate

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