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.
Read More
Josh Guillory
Forensic audit in hand, Guillory administration turned to FBI on LUS investigation
The gist: City-parish attorneys kicked the findings of a forensic auditor’s report into suspect transactions between LUS and LUS Fiber to the FBI, according to email correspondence with council members. Based on the same evidence in that forensic audit report, and other documents previously handed over, the district attorney declined to prosecute crimes alleged by […]
Read More
No evidence of malfeasance, records destruction or other crimes by former LUS director, district attorney finds
Despite persistent efforts, the Guillory administration failed to mount a compelling ad hoc criminal case against longtime LUS and LUS Fiber Director Terry Huval, the district attorney concludes in a pair of letters to LCG’s legal department and the mayor-president obtained by The Current through a public records request.
Read More
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.
Read More
Family will see redacted video of Trayford Pellerin’s shooting, no timeline set
The gist: A legal path has been cleared for the family of Trayford Pellerin to see the body-worn camera footage documenting the 31-year-old’s fatal encounter with Lafayette police. After a lengthy parlay among lawyers representing Pellerin’s family, Lafayette Consolidated Government and the three media organizations on one hand and the officers involved in the shooting […]
Read More
Guillory vetoes City Council ordinance to hire its own attorney
The gist: Over the objections of City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan, who called the ordinance “illegal,” the Lafayette City Council voted 3-1 last week to hire Baton Rouge attorney Lea Anne Batson to represent its interests in determining how city tax dollars are spent.
Read More
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.
Read More
Judge blocks release of Pellerin body cam videos
The gist: A district judge granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday afternoon preventing the release of police body cam video and other evidence related to the Aug. 21 shooting of Trayford Pellerin. Officers involved in the fatal encounter, in which Pellerin was struck 10 times by police gunfire, sought the order to protect their identities.
Read More
Trayford Pellerin’s family secures commitment from Guillory to see body cam footage in first steps toward reconciliation
Allowing the family to see the video would help bring clarity and closure to a publicly volatile situation. Through their attorney, the family commended Guillory’s efforts at reconciliation.
Read More
Trayford Pellerin’s family will meet with Guillory Friday
Mayor-President Josh Guillory, who waited days to express condolences to the family of the 31-year-old Black man killed in a spray of gunfire by Lafayette police officers on Aug. 21, will meet with the family Friday.
Read More
Lafayette will put up more to help renters, shifting $100,000 from business relief
LCG committed Tuesday to shift $100,000 out of emergency funds currently dedicated to its business relief program and repurpose another $300,000 in regular housing program money to rent relief.
Read More
COLUMN: The troubling economics of fixing the Buchanan garage
The Buchanan garage is a dilapidated property on prime real estate Downtown that’s been condemned because of government neglect. While it’d be great to get it back into commerce, the economics of Mayor-President Guillory’s plan don’t add up and they risk the financial health of the courthouse and the jail.
Read More