This is problematic for two reasons. One, it suggests that people in our community really are having trouble making ends meet. Two, it harms our economic competitiveness as it relates to being able to retain our best and brightest.
There’s a Cold War between the mayor-president and the City Council that could flare up at any time. The city faces a slew of controversial issues, while the parish’s finances continue to teeter on the brink of collapse, and consolidation is put on trial. These are the major stories I’ll be tracking at LCG this year.
The gist: The push toward deconsolidation may take a big step forward as the City Council considers establishing a committee to assess how consolidation is working. Meanwhile, the city’s police may breathe easier, millions more arrive from the federal government, and the parish government continues to not have enough money to pay for its needs.
The elephant in the room is how much longer this damn pandemic will last and who will be left standing when it finally ends. But that’s not the only aspect of our local economy with an uncertain fate.
The gist: After a holiday hiatus, the work of consolidated government resumes with a pair of relatively light agendas. On tap: electing officers, budgeting CARES Act funding and getting answers on a surveillance camera contract awarded to a private firm without council approval.
The gist: Wednesday (tonight) the City Council will finally decide if it’s going to subsidize the old federal courthouse developer’s profits. Both councils will decide whether to reaffirm the mayor-president’s emergency powers. And Lafayette may be getting a new development code — kind of. Meanwhile, the parish’s deteriorating finances continue to force tough decisions on […]
You often hear that as bad as the economy is now, at least it’s not as bad as the 1980s. But in terms of impact on personal income, new data shows that it’s actually worse.
The gist: A relatively lightweight pair of council meetings is again on deck this week: another developer looking for more public subsidies, new grants for the police department, and the administration seeking to establish new restrictions on minors relative to their use of electric bikes and scooters and late-night access to Downtown. Bigger news is […]
Every part of parish government is underfunded. And there’s no way to fix it without raising taxes.
Instead of doing the bare minimum and enforcing existing guidelines, he’s blaming the medical community.
The gist: After the torrid pace of recent months, the agendas for both of this week’s council meetings are relatively light. There are some big discussion items to watch: redevelopment of the old federal courthouse and filling long-vacant director positions.
For the city to control its own affairs, this failed experiment in consolidation must end so our city can be free to govern itself.
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