![Mayor-President Josh Guillory at council meeting](https://media.thecurrentla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/14162024/TG8_0063.jpg)
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.
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.
LCG’s budgetmaking process can be complicated in a normal year, and this is far from a normal year. Newly split councils, a mayor-president deadset on slashing budgets, and an uncertain economy has created a perfect storm for a tense budgetmaking process. As the councils round the corner on amending this budget, these are some of the top issues still to be resolved.
In order to be economically competitive as a city, Lafayette needs to offer quality of life amenities. In the rush to cut budgets, Mayor-President Guillory is putting the city’s quality of life at risk, reducing its ability to retain and attract people, especially young families.
Parish government has been on life support for years now. With the city’s finances now strained, it’s time for the parish to get serious about living within its means.
The gist: Frank Wittenberg, who took over Lafayette’s Parks & Recreation Department in early June after longtime director Gerald Boudreaux was pushed out, retired today from the department and accepted a position as director of Carencro’s Parks & Recreation Commission.
It’s not surprising that the decision to shutter widely used cultural and community facilities has sparked significant public outcry. But it’s a choice — not a necessity.
Before we break out the tar and feathers, we need to appreciate the context of Guillory’s budget cuts. Given the dire straits of the city’s financials, these cuts—and more—are arguably inevitable.
Mayor-President Josh Guillory had an uneasy time explaining an email he sent to council members Tuesday morning claiming longtime Parks & Recreation Director Gerald Boudreaux would be “announcing his retirement from LCG soon.”
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