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.
Lafayette Consolidated Government
After video of Pellerin’s death is released, calls for greater transparency renew
Pellerin’s family and local activists want Lafayette to adopt a proactive policy for releasing body-worn camera footage.
8 min read
Opinion: The City Council has lost control over LUS and LUS Fiber
The past and current mayor-president have used loopholes to appoint unqualified directors for LUS and LUS Fiber without the City Council’s approval.
8 min read
Guillory calls Lafayette’s government by split councils a disaster, warns against deconsolidation
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.
5 min read
3/9 Council Preview: New detention ponds, approving a contentious development and appointing board members
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the city and parish councils.
4 min read
Acadiana ‘really responded’ during February freeze
Hotel rooms arranged by local housing advocates kept hundreds of people warm during last week’s crushing freeze. Donations poured in across the Acadiana region. But the makeup of people in need underscores rising housing insecurity in the area.
3 min read
Link: Protect the City Committee appointments finalized
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:
- District 1 — Joseph Catalon, landman
- District 2 — Mark Pope, former LCG environmental services manager
- District 3 — Roddy Bergeron, IT executive
- District 4 — Jan Swift, attorney and former director of Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation
- District 5 — Tina Shelvin Bingham, executive director of McComb Veazey Neighborhood
- At large — Stuart Breaux, former assistant city-parish attorney
- At large — Bill Leyendecker, retired LCG parks and recreation manager
2/23 Council Preview: Protect the City Committee, five new detention ponds, rent assistance and announcing the Adjudication Bureau
Here’s a selection of items on the agendas for this week’s meetings of the city and parish councils.
5 min read
COLUMN: Will dysfunction continue to define LCG in 2021?
There’s a Cold War between the mayor-president and the City Council that could flare up at any time. The city faces a slew of controversial issues, while the parish’s finances continue to teeter on the brink of collapse, and consolidation is put on trial. These are the major stories I’ll be tracking at LCG this year.
8 min read
COLUMN: 2021 could be a make-or-break year for Lafayette’s economy
The elephant in the room is how much longer this damn pandemic will last and who will be left standing when it finally ends. But that’s not the only aspect of our local economy with an uncertain fate.
10 min read
Council Preview 1/5 — Lafayette surveillance cameras, more CARES Act funding, conditional pay raises for city marshal’s office, board and commission seats
The gist: After a holiday hiatus, the work of consolidated government resumes with a pair of relatively light agendas. On tap: electing officers, budgeting CARES Act funding and getting answers on a surveillance camera contract awarded to a private firm without council approval.
6 min read
Guillory contracts private firm to deploy surveillance cameras; council out of the loop
The contract licenses Lafayette police to use the camera footage for “law enforcement purposes” only but appears to place no such restriction on the firm, which will own, maintain and operate the cameras — and the data it collects.
10 min read