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.
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budget cuts
COLUMN: Lafayette’s top 10 unresolved budget issues
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.
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COLUMN: Cutting quality of life services will backfire, hurting Lafayette’s economy for years to come
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.
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COLUMN: Parish government isn’t ‘living within its means’
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.
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Interim parks director Wittenberg leaves for Carencro parks job
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.
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COLUMN: How bad is the city’s fiscal emergency?
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.
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Council Preview: Buildings, sewers, help for the needy, budget cuts and more appointments than you can count
The gist: Tuesday’s agendas are jam-packed, with 130 items across five meetings: the normal city, parish and joint council meetings plus two emergency meetings, one for the parish and one for the joint councils. There’s everything from updates and reports on a range of topics to big next steps on major road and sewer projects, […]
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Parks & Rec employee put on administrative leave same week Boudreaux was pushed out
The gist: A Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department employee was placed on administrative leave the same week longtime Director Gerald Boudreaux tendered his resignation after a heated discussion with Mayor-President Josh Guillory the morning of June 2. The employee later returned to the office but has since been temporarily suspended.
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Guillory’s cuts only the tip of the inevitable iceberg
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.
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Questions surround parks & rec director’s ‘retirement’
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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