Commissioner Bruce Conque offered a PowerPoint presentation to his fellow commissioners outlining “in a broad brush stroke” a model for future governance in Lafayette Parish that is based loosely on the consolidated form of government that has been in place in Duval County, Fla., of which the city of Jacksonville is the county seat, for more than 40 years.
“Tonight, it is my intent to make an argument for an independent city of Lafayette government,” Conque said.
According to Conque’s model, the parish of Lafayette would be divided into seven political subdivisions, or services districts: one urban service district for each of the municipalities – Broussard, Carencro, Duson, Lafayette, Scott and Youngsville – and a seventh general service district for unincorporated Lafayette Parish. Each service district would have a council and mayor, as the smaller municipalities currently do, save for the service district comprising unincorporated Lafayette Parish, which would have only a council and no chief executive. According to Conque’s model, the general (unincorporated) services district would use intergovernmental agreements for its services and would not use a layered bureaucracy of departments; it could exist with as small a staff as the elected council and a few employees. Additionally, none of the smaller municipalities’ current forms of government would be affected by the change to services districts, which is more or less a alternative way of saying “municipal boundaries.”
But the former District 6 City-Parish Councilman was quick to note that the model he proposes doesn’t necessarily require a repeal of the current Lafayette Home Rule Charter.
“No, this is not a call for deconsolidation,” Conque stressed. “You can’t undo what does not exist. There is no consolidation of governments in Lafayette Parish.”
Conque pointed to the sovereignty of the smaller municipalities in making his case that Lafayette (Parish) Consolidated Government is not, nor has it ever been, truly consolidated. Moreover, Conque noted, the accounting books for the city and parish of Lafayette are also separate. The only municipality in the parish that does not have complete control of its affairs is the largest – Lafayette.
“I’m certainly open to other options,” Conque acknowledged. “However, my priority will always be an independent government for the city of Lafayette. Give the citizens of Lafayette equal status with those who reside in Broussard, Carencro, Duson, Scott and Youngsville. Give us our own council and mayor.”
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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