Qualifying begins today for the special election, to be held April 4, for the District 6 city-parish council seat. So far, only one candidate, Sam Dore, has announced intentions to run. Dore, who works for Goodyear tires, ran unsuccesfully for the seat in 2007, garnering 35 percent of the vote. “I said then, in four years, I’d be running again,” Dore says. “Then [former councilman] Bruce [Conque] resigned and it just kind of upped the time frame for it.” Dore previously ran for the seat as a Democrat but recently switched to the Republican Party. Dore says he has always been a conservative and has found himself increasingly out of step with the Democratic Party. He says the politics of District 6, which has trended conservative, did not play a part in his decision. When asked what issues he plans to make a top priority, Dore re-iterated the theme he championed in his 2007 campaign, bringing unity to the council. “Just working with the council and moving Lafayette forward,” Dore says. “We’ve said it before, District 6, there’s not any big road projects in it, there’s not going to be any big building projects in it. It’s already built out but District 6 supports the whole parish.”
Several others considered likely candidates for the race say they will not be qualifying this week. Parish Republican Party official Denise Skinner says she is not running; the same goes for attorney Judy Kennedy. “I very seriously considered running,” Kennedy says, but adds that professional obligations prevent her from taking the time required to wage a campaign. “It’s strictly a time limitation.” Jaci Russo, a senior partner of the The Russo Group ad agency, is another name that has more recently emerged. Russo says she is considering, her main reservation being a potential move her family is considering that would place her residence outside the district. “I’ve grappled with the decision,” Russo says, noting she would like a female voice on the council. “I’m not ruling anything out.”
... written by Jason Faulk , February 12, 2009 - 09:21 pm
I would humbly suggest that District 6 is in fact one of the "close-in" sectors of the City of Lafayette, and as such it along with districts 3, 4, and much of 7 and 8 offer the best opportunities for ongoing gradual and organized development and redevelopment in our region.
In a lean energy future, more rail based in-city mass transit will be required, along with more neighborhood centers for commercial activity, with new parks and bicycle paths and complete streets serving all these needs along with the pedestrian within the half mile radius walking distance. The "conservative" approach to the health of citizen finances in Lafayette would be to recongize these facilities and our personal mobility as at least a 50% public good(utility.) From that point of discussion, knowing that mass transit more efficiently can move people from place to place, servicing this facility through our common taxation, and lessening the per-household automobile ownership rate (though not eliminating it entirely) we will reduce the net demand on our pocketbooks to maintain automobile fleets, and ultimately for the cost of maintaining roads per mile paved and number of vehicles and persons moved.
Achieving this goal will require public consensus along with leadership at the elected level.
It will also require a major overhaul of the City of Lafayette's zoning scheme, which at present is unchanged, and merely interacts with a parallel but unrequired Traditional Neighborhood Development zoning ordinance. Neither of these appear to be a complete "SmartCode" and I am curious is the TND code is form-based.
I would encourage Mr. Dore, should he ascend to the counsel without challenge, that he avail himself of the many fine efforts in our planning offices in Lafayette, and also inquire with many nationwide professional associations and federal and state agencies which have researched the public cost of private developments. (Inst. of Highway Planners, Am. Inst. of Architects, Am. Inst. of City Planners, Congress for the New Urbanism, etc.)
Much needs to be done for our city to resemble the City of small-town neighborhoods we'd love to see.
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In a lean energy future, more rail based in-city mass transit will be required, along with more neighborhood centers for commercial activity, with new parks and bicycle paths and complete streets serving all these needs along with the pedestrian within the half mile radius walking distance.
The "conservative" approach to the health of citizen finances in Lafayette would be to recongize these facilities and our personal mobility as at least a 50% public good(utility.) From that point of discussion, knowing that mass transit more efficiently can move people from place to place, servicing this facility through our common taxation, and lessening the per-household automobile ownership rate (though not eliminating it entirely) we will reduce the net demand on our pocketbooks to maintain automobile fleets, and ultimately for the cost of maintaining roads per mile paved and number of vehicles and persons moved.
Achieving this goal will require public consensus along with leadership at the elected level.
It will also require a major overhaul of the City of Lafayette's zoning scheme, which at present is unchanged, and merely interacts with a parallel but unrequired Traditional Neighborhood Development zoning ordinance.
Neither of these appear to be a complete "SmartCode" and I am curious is the TND code is form-based.
I would encourage Mr. Dore, should he ascend to the counsel without challenge, that he avail himself of the many fine efforts in our planning offices in Lafayette, and also inquire with many nationwide professional associations and federal and state agencies which have researched the public cost of private developments. (Inst. of Highway Planners, Am. Inst. of Architects, Am. Inst. of City Planners, Congress for the New Urbanism, etc.)
Much needs to be done for our city to resemble the City of small-town neighborhoods we'd love to see.