BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Friends and family call him Mr. President. At 27 years old, Anthony Kenney will be the youngest person ever elected to the East Baton Rouge Metro Council.

In an exclusive interview, the Councilman-Elect tells WAFB he’s been preparing for this thanks to one of his local heroes.

Anthony Kenney said he graduated from Scotlandville Magnet High School in 2015. He said his election win is still surreal.

He will now represent the community he grew up in in City Hall. Kenney won the District 2 seat by just 255 votes. He said he’s ready to be a part of multi-generational leadership on the council.

“A lot of people talk about why so many young professionals, so many young people, leave Baton Rouge once they graduate from college or from high school because a lot of them don’t see the representation in elected officials in office in Baton Rouge,” explained Kenney. “I had so many opportunities to go out of town to different places across the nation even when I graduated from high school. I went to Southern University, the greatest HBCU in the world, because I knew I could not go and tend to anybody else backyard and not make sure my own backyard is not in good shape.”

Kenney also talked about crime in the area including the recent shooting death of eight-year-old Diellon Daniels in what police call a targeted attack. Kenney said access to services is necessary.

“Why are our young people feel as if they have to solve any kind of tension or problems by killing somebody? So, we have to ensure we have programming, wrap around services and mental health services for each and every person in this community especially our young people,” said Kenney. “We have to start young. We have to start with year-round programming that talks to these kids. Mentor these kids and expose these kids to life outside of crime.”

He plans to create a Unified Master Plan for District 2 with the goal of bringing all parts of the district together.

“So, this is the best opportunity in time with such a shift in leadership in Baton Rouge holistically that North Baton Rouge has a defined plan over the next ten years. So we know when anybody wants to come bring any business, development into our community, we have a unified plan that the community got behind,” explained Kenney.

His journey to this historic moment started in high school. That’s where he met a newly elected young lawmaker named Ted James. Kenney would go on to become James’s legislative aide in college. He called James his mentor.

“He was able to navigate, and he gave me a lot of tips and advice being young and elected,” explained Kenney. “If it wasn’t for him starting early, I wouldn’t be inspired by his work.”

“He’s always been a leader amongst his peers and very just focused on how he can play his part to move the community forward,” explained Ted James. “His story is one of community, but it’s also one of focus and one of being determined to accomplish his goals and I’m extremely proud of Anthony.”

“I hope I’m a blueprint and I’m an example, right, that people can actually get into this fight and be successful,” said Kenney.

Anthony Kenney will make history when he is sworn in on January 2.

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