Discussions around deconsolidating Lafayette Consolidated Government aren’t just the academic musings of the chattering class. They’re about making local government more responsive to its citizens.
Currency
A series exploring the highs and lows of Lafayette’s economy, providing critical commentary about what’s working and what’s not.
COLUMN: How Lafayette can pivot from oil and gas with what it already has
A generational challenge has no easy solutions. But there are opportunities to pivot using what we already have at our disposal.
7 min read
COLUMN: Replacing lost oil jobs is a generational challenge for Lafayette
Few will admit it out loud: What has been Lafayette’s most important economic sector will likely never recover the ground it lost.
7 min read
COLUMN: Passing a local mask mandate will help Lafayette’s businesses
Lost in the rancor is consideration of the positive impact that a mask mandate will have on Lafayette’s businesses.
6 min read
Analysis: Lafayette wages trail cost of living
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.
3 min read
COLUMN: Will dysfunction continue to define LCG in 2021?
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.
8 min read
Lafayette residents have lost more income than they did in the 1980s
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.
6 min read
COLUMN: The parish needs to raise taxes (don’t shoot the messenger)
Every part of parish government is underfunded. And there’s no way to fix it without raising taxes.
6 min read
COLUMN: The city of Lafayette is trapped in consolidated government
For the city to control its own affairs, this failed experiment in consolidation must end so our city can be free to govern itself.
6 min read
COLUMN: LCG passes budget that solves nothing
Lafayette’s city and parish councils passed a compromise budget that doesn’t address any of the city’s or parish’s major budgetary problems.
8 min read
COLUMN: Guillory’s austerity is budgeting for an alternate reality
While Lafayette’s economic forecast isn’t bright, it’s not near as dark as the mayor-president has made it out to be. That means the City Council can avoid drastic cuts.
8 min read
COLUMN: The parish’s lose-lose proposition to raise taxes
Saying the parish should live within its means is one thing, but actually cutting millions from a threadbare budget is something else entirely. Parish government now faces the unenviable choice of raising taxes or cutting essential services.
7 min read