Lafayette has a lot to gain from the 2010 Census, as one of the top growth areas of the state over the past 10 years. (Estimates show the parish could pick up an extra seat in both houses of the state legislature.) It’s one of the reasons local officials are pushing for a so-called ‘fair count’ Census in 2010 and taking umbrage with recent comments from New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. An article in last week’s Times Picayune revealed that Nagin was encouraging residents still displaced by Hurricane Katrina, but hoping to return, to list the Crescent City as their home in the U.S. Census Bureau’s survey next Spring (that tactic violates Census regulations).
The stakes are high. The Census helps determine the allocation of some $300 billion annually in federal grants, as well as the reapportionment of congressional and state legislative seats for the next decade.
In an article in 10/12 magazine, Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel responded that New Orleans seems to want to have its cake and eat it, too.
“From what I understand, the Obama Administration has already eliminated ‘Fair Count’ as a necessity of this census,” he says. “This means that they will not ask where people actually reside, so even illegal aliens will be counted, which already results in a skewed count for areas like New Orleans. They say this is because people who are there still need services. Now it sounds like New Orleans would like to have it both ways. Count people who don’t actually reside in New Orleans as residents while also counting people who no longer reside in New Orleans. This would obviously result in the area having more representation than they would have had in a ‘Fair Count’ census.”
The Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce has also been working to promote a ‘fair count.’ The Chamber has teamed up with Shreveport demographer Elliot Stonecipher in hosting presentations on the importance of an accurate Census count. “The reason it’s so critical for Lafayette is that if there is a fair count we will certainly win because of our population growth,” says Chamber Vice President Bruce Conque. “Nagin’s comments are representative of what we would deem to be an unfair count.”
“Everything starts with New Orleans,” he adds, “and if they skew the numbers then we could be adversely impacted when reapportionment and redistricting occurs."
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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