[Update: House Bill 531 was deferred Thursday morning at the request of Lafayette officials.]
The Senate Local and Municipal Affairs Committee on Thursday will take up a now-controversial bill by state Rep. Joel Robideaux, no party-Lafayette, that would create the Lafayette Parish Redevelopment Authority. The purpose of the bill is help Lafayette Parish deal with blighted properties in the parish by expediting the process by which dilapidated buildings are razed or refurbished and move back into commerce. The House Bill 531 zipped through the House on May 12 by a 96-0 margin.
However, a section of the bill granting the redevelopment authority — an appointed commission — the power to levy taxes and “call for any tax or other election” has generated opposition from both ends of the political spectrum.
On Wednesday, the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee came out against HB 531, calling it a “badly flawed bill,” adding:
In addition, the bill would create yet another taxing authority with the apparently unchecked power to create Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts. These districts would target City of Lafayette residents and those living in unincorporated areas because the proposed law gives small municipalities in the parish the ability to opt out of participation in the scheme.
HB 531 represents the second attempt in two years by the Durel administration to solve a genuine problem — the proliferation of blighted and adjudicated properties. As was the case last year, this proposal would produce a powerful bureaucracy with the ability to seize and transfer property to new owners of its choosing. This organization would operate beyond the supervision of elected government and beyond the reach of citizen control. It is a proposal rich with opportunities for abuse.
We urge the Senators to reject this bill. We also recommend that the Durel administration engage a broader community dialog on this issue of concern to all residents and property owners.
The Dems push back against the bill came a few days the Tea Party of Lafayette targeted the bill in an letter to Senate committee members, characterizing it as “an egregious power grab with statewide implications, in that it opens the door to the use of de facto eminent domain at the local level (a power currently denied local governments in state law) and takes the power to deal with said properties away from local elected officials and gives it to a five member, appointed (un-elected) commission or authority. What’s even worse, it puts the power of taxation into the hands of this autonomous 5-member board.”
Read House Bill 531 here.
JUNE 17 If anyone ever wonders why Saints fans hate Atlanta with a capital H, here's a good indication. Radio "professionals" at an Atlanta station created an entire segment around making fun of former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is now paralyzed by ALS. Listen, nobody's ever accused DJs of being rocket scientists. But how could someone think it is amusing to pretend to ask a man with a degenerative, fatal disease if he will be alive next week? The DJs have been fired, and are now whining about how gutless their former bosses are. Wow.
JUNE 18 Here's the latest from the Advocate on the fatal hit-and-run accident allegedly involving the president of the Livingston Parish School Board. He's accused by police of hitting a 21-year-old man on a highway early Sunday and driving away. The man died at a hospital later. On Monday, police seized the president's truck and towed it away. But he's available for board meetings: apparently a $500 bond is sufficient for this type of thing over in St. Helena Parish.
JUNE 18 Former broadcast journalist Griffin Scott has posted this plea on his blog for financial assistance from his readers. Scott, who says he was fired after he wrote something fairly innocuous (for Facebook) on his wall, is suing a media giant for his job back. He's framed himself as David going after a bloated media giant, and he's probably not far off.
JUNE 18 Here's a fairly absurd column posted on DIG Magazine about the completely absurd practice of naming killer storms. Tornadoes don't have names. Blizzards don't have names. But hurricanes do, and there's a big process to bestow them, Jacques Cormery writes. He's right about the crazy assemblage of names -- this year, there's everything from Tanya to Humberto -- and his idea that we don't waste good names on killer storms is a good one.
JUNE 17 Political columnist John Maginnis has some advice for Louisiana Republicans: grow up. After the schism that occurred in this past session - fiscal hawks teaming up with Democrats to spank the Republican "majority" and hand Gov. Jindal his, er, aspirations for continued solon control -- they need to figure out how to get along with each other, Maginnis writes.
JUNE 17 Here's the Picayune's obit story for Dorothy 'Miss Dot' Domilise, the lady who made poboys at the uptown restaurant that bears her name. Miss Dot moved to New Orleans during World War II, where she met and married her husband Sam. When she passed away Friday she was 90, and had spent more than 60 of those years working at the restaurant on Annunciation Street.
JUNE 17 This editorial in the Advocate speaks in favor of the consent decrees that have federal judges overseeing police operations and the sheriff's parish prison in New Orleans. Mayor Landrieu and Sheriff Gusman can't get along, so outside forces, like the Inspector General and the judges, are needed to make sure things run right, the editorial opines.
JUNE 18 Here's a post from Manny Schewitz on Forward Progressives that is good for a chuckle. Manny had an epiphany back in November, and is sharing it with us today: he believes that Fox "News" is killing the GOP by pandering to right wing nuts. Now, don't get it twisted: Manny's not broke up about it. He says he enjoys watching the downward spiral with a shot of whiskey and "a schadenfreude chaser."
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