Going on two years without permanent directors and headed for uncertainty, LUS and LUS Fiber could risk their financial health without permanent and steady leadership, the systems’ consulting engineer warns in an annual report issued last month.
Mayor-President Josh Guillory announced late Friday that 101 employees were notified today that they are being laid off due to coronavirus.
Regardless of the merit’s of Mayor-President Josh Guillory small business forgivable loan program, the process he’s used doesn’t lead to good policymaking while ignoring our community’s looming housing crisis.
Housing advocates say the money is better used to help stabilize growing housing insecurity in the region. The proposal will go before the council next week for approval.
City Council members and the administration will go into executive session Tuesday to discuss the administration’s “legal strategy” for backing away from a lawsuit filed to stop several special taxing districts. The mayor-president and some council members are at odds over the issue. Less controversial decisions will be made on applying for millions in grants and continuing the process of splitting control of boards between the city and parish councils.
Lafayette’s city and parish councils are back in session Tuesday with jam-packed agendas that include refinancing hundreds of millions in bonds, reorganizing more than a dozen boards and commissions, rededicating the CREATE millage, and more.
New clarity to state guidelines that had shuttered hundreds of Lafayette businesses for weeks has already sprung open local shops, in effect beginning the first local thaw on commerce. But officials remain stark in their warnings to heed state orders to stay home and stay safe, sending a mixed message about the state of urgency.
Calling it his “safe shop policy,” Guillory said the guidance is needed to address the deluge of unemployment claims filed in recent weeks.
Citing “unprecedented fiscal challenges,” Lafayette’s mayor-president is setting expectations for deep cuts.
Programs typically strained in normal circumstances are poised to be slammed from two sides, as job losses surge people into unprecedented vulnerability and contributions dry up.
On Monday, Lafayette reported an 800% increase in confirmed cases from a week ago. But that jump doesn’t necessarily tell us very much.
Lafayette, St. Martin and Acadia parishes have confirmed coronavirus fatalities.
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