I do not profess to be knowledgeable on technical matters, except to say that it is generally an accepted fact that high-speed broadband availability for transferring and receiving data is very advantageous.
Lafayette Utilities System is in an ideal position to provide the broadband needs for our businesses and homes. When I came into office in 1980 as mayor it didn't take long to realize how financially sound our publicly owned utility system was. I had a special appreciation of how effective LUS was and has been over many years and administrations ' especially since I have a very pro-free market political philosophy. LUS continues to be a major factor and literally a powerful engine for the growth and progress of Lafayette.
One of the major reasons for such an effective operation for more than 100 years is the excellent guidance and counseling of our bond attorneys (Foley and Judell) and our consulting engineers (R.W. Beck). Thousands of bondholders of LUS reflect the confidence in the LUS system over the years, and this combination of consultants and investors has enabled LUS to be at the core of our city's growth and development.
As for the argument of government interference in the private sector, we have owned our own utility system for more than 100 years and it has competed successfully with investor-owned companies. This fiber optic project is also a case where the private sector companies have indicated that for them it is not an economically feasible project to undertake.
It should be noted that we have historically and legally implemented bond issues through our duly elected representatives. There is, and has been, ample public airing and debate on the issue. It would not make sense to have a public vote on every bond issue that comes up. The erroneous judicial decision should be challenged.
I hope that if the election is mandated the people of Lafayette will see the need for fiber-to-the-home (and business) and realize that LUS is in a very strong position to provide the appropriate investment.
This is a much needed and sound venture for Lafayette.
MAY 24 Blogger Robert Mann posts this entry about the Baton Rouge Chamber's recent report on Louisiana's higher education system. It's critical to economic development, and yet our system is facing a "funding crisis" with no way to resolve it, the report says. The Chamber says control of tuition and fees must be returned to the higher ed governing boards.
MAY 24 Here's a NBC33 story about Tyrann Mathieu. He has signed with the Arizona Cardinals, inking a $3 million, four-year deal. He gets a signing bonus of $265K, but gets another, larger bonus if he doesn't get cut from the team for doing drugs. The deal reportedly includes mandatory tests and meetings for the player.
MAY 24 Jarvis DeBerry posts here about the redonkulus rhetoric that would have us believe NOLA is a safe city with a murder problem. Maybe the city's crime stats don't compare with its murder stats because you can't manipulate a murder, he says: a dead body's a dead body. It just doesn't make sense, he says, and his readers agree: a poll asks if they believe the city is safe, and more than 90 percent say no.
MAY 24 Jindal administration officials announced Thursday that the privatization of public health care is going to cost a lot more than they budgeted for, the Advocate reports here. "I'm so surprised," said no one. Anywhere. The cost they're projecting now is more than $1 billion - a lot more than the $626 million budgeted for it. And, it's more than it cost the state to operate those hospitals. So why are we doing this again?
MAY 24 Blogger CB Forgotston ridicules the recent PR campaign by the state GOP in the wake of a legislative auditor's request to both major parties. The GOP (apparently unaware that the Dems got the same request) started yammering about being targeted because it had "killed" a tax increase. CB finds that laughable, but it's also pretty funny that the GOP was comparing this episode to the IRS scandal (Because the President has so much to do with our state auditor. Right?).
MAY 24 Politico details some recent fund-raising efforts by Sen. David Vitter, which have raised the question of his future political plans. This time, it is a $5,000 per head "bayou weekend" that includes "Cajun cooking" and an all-caps "alligator hunt," the story reports. Funds raised go to a super PAC that can spend money to support Vitter in federal or state races, the story points out.
MAY 24 The pink building on Royal in the quarter was sold at a sheriff's sale Thursday, this Picayune story reports. An injunction that would have halted the sale wasn't enforced because the family failed to post a $150,000 bond, the story reports. So the owner of the mortgages on the building bought it, for nearly $7 million. Now the feuding family will have to negotiate with that company to get a lease on the building that has housed their business for close to 60 years.
MAY 23 This post in Louisiana Voice tells us about a bill by a Winnsboro lege that would require all public high school students to take at least one Course Choice online class in order to graduate. (What?) Blogger Tom Aswell says it's a monument to "waste and corruption," especially in light of the problems he's exposed with the program in recent weeks. Idaho had a similar program, but voters removed it by a 2-1 margin, Aswell says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed