Lafayette City-Parish Council To Delay Vote On Proposed Charter Amendments
Jul 13, 2018 03:13PM ● By Flint Zerangue, Sr.
Charter Amendment Authors Announce Two-Week Deferral For Vote
Lafayette City-Parish Council Members Bruce Conque, Kenneth Boudreaux, and Jay Castile have announced they will delay the final vote to adopt the proposed Charter Amendment that would divide the City-Parish Council into two separate councils. If adopted, the amendment would then be placed on the ballot for voters to decide this fall.
The proposed amendment, if passed by the voters, would create a Lafayette City Council, who would represent those living within the Lafayette city limits, and a Lafayette Parish Council, who would represent those living within the parish, but in the unincorporated areas. It would not change the efficiencies created by consolidated services such as one public works department and one parks and recreation department.
According to City-Parish Council Member Bruce Conque, “There have been decades of discussion about the short-comings of the city-parish charter since it was adopted in 1992. This proposal presents our community the opportunity to have a discussion about a specific proposal, a version of which was first discussed in 2013. With this extension, we can spend additional time as a community getting into the specifics and fine-tuning the measure.”
Final adoption of this ordinance by the city-parish council will take place on August 7th. It was originally scheduled for July 24th. At the request of the proposal’s authors, attorneys for the city-parish studied today whether extending the final adoption would still meet the necessary legal deadlines for a December election and determined it would work.
Many of the Council members have already scheduled town hall meetings in the meantime to ensure that voters have more opportunities to ask questions and give feedback.
At present, following town hall meetings have been announced:
> Jay Castille, District 2: Thursday, July 19, 2018 beginning at 6:00 p.m.Carencro Community Center.
> Patrick “Pat” Lewis, District 3: Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 5:30 pm at the Lafayette City-Parish Council Auditorium located at 705 W. University Ave, Lafayette, LA.
> Kenneth P. Boudreaux, District 4: Tuesday, July 17, 2018 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Clifton Chenier Center auditorium. Mr. Boudreaux will also discuss the issue this Sunday on "The Community Hour" radio show which airs on 104.7 FM at 11:00 a.m.
> Nanette S. Cook, District 7: Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at 5:30 pm at the Comeaux Recreation Center located at 411 W. Bluebird, Lafayette, LA.
> Bruce M Conque, District 6 and Liz Hebert, District 8: Will co-host a meeting on Monday, July 16, 2018 from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm at the Southside Regional Library located at 6101 Johnston Street, Lafayette, LA.
Citizens are encouraged to attend to view maps and better understand the proposed Charter amendments.
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