The marriage that is consolidated government is crumbling before our eyes, with both the City and Parish Councils failing to follow the fundamentals of healthy relationships. Something’s got to change.
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the City and Parish councils.
The report’s headline is simple — consolidation is unfair and dysfunctional — but its findings go a bit deeper than that. Here are several big takeaways.
Most of the Protect the City Committee’s attention has been focused on how consolidation isn’t working for the city. But consolidation is hurting not just the city but the rest of the parish as well.
Since consolidation, the city of Lafayette has spent more than $100 million propping up the parish’s perpetually faltering finances. $100 million can buy a lot of opportunity.
Rather than contribute constructively to the important community dialog about the future of consolidated government, Guillory chose to pollute the waters by twisting the truth to fit his preferred narrative. The city and parish of Lafayette deserve better.
In an at-times barbed response to the committee reviewing Lafayette’s form of government, Mayor-President Josh Guillory argues the city of Lafayette has thrived under consolidation, attempting to upend contentions that the arrangement has been unfair.
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.
All seven seats are now filled on a committee to study what city residents get out of Lafayette’s peculiar form of consolidated government. Five members were appointed for each district, directly by the relevant council member. And two more were appointed at-large by vote Tuesday night.
Here is the full list:
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the city and parish councils.
With virtually no discussion, Lafayette’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create a committee to review what city taxpayers get out consolidated government. The resolution creates a seven-member group called the “Protect the City Committee,” which will convene for six months and report its findings.
This could be a first step toward putting measure to break up combined form of government before voters.
City voters can apply to join the committee by sending a resume to [email protected]
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.
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