Could Lafayette's consolidated government be coming to an end?

Claire Taylor | The Daily Advertiser

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Lafayette residents would elect their own city council for the first time in 22 years under a proposal being discussed behind the scenes.

"I've spoken to a handful of councilmen about the possibility of having something on the ballot either in the fall or spring that would 'fix the charter,' " said Kevin Blanchard, who served on a Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce committee that looked at amending the charter in 2013.

What is most likely to be proposed is replacing the nine-member city-parish council with separate city and parish councils, he said.

The change would give Lafayette residents more control over the taxes they pay and the utilities system they own.

The charter has never evolved since it was approved in 1992

The Home Rule Charter that created Lafayette Consolidated Government has not undergone any major changes since it was approved in 1992 and the city and parish governments united in 1996.

A charter commission in 2010 considered various changes to the charter, opting to place on the ballot total deconsolidation.

In October 2011, voters in Lafayette Parish soundly rejected that idea.

"I think that a lot of voters felt that that was skipping past marriage counseling and going directly to divorce," Blanchard said.

A 2013 attempt to create five city-parish council districts composed entirely of city of Lafayette residents did not get past the council.

The idea being formulated today would draw separate city council and parish council districts, with different people elected to serve on each.

Council members representing few Lafayette residents vote on Lafayette-only issues

When the governments united in 1996, the city of Lafayette lost its mayor and council.

The other five, smaller municipalities in the parish, like Broussard and Youngsville, did not consolidate. Their residents elect their own mayor and council and vote to elect the city-parish council and mayor-president.

Currently, the full council votes on matters that only impact the city of Lafayette.

Even though some of the council districts have few residents in the city of Lafayette, those council representatives get the same vote on city matters as council members whose districts are comprised of 90 percent or more Lafayette residents.

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That wasn’t a big deal in 1996 because the city’s population ensured it held a majority of five on the nine-member council.

But with annexations and growth by the five smaller municipalities, some fear the city of Lafayette will lose its majority vote when council districts are re-drawn using the 2020 U.S. Census results.

City of Lafayette versus parish population of each city-parish council district: *

District 1, Kevin Naquin, 14 percent city, 86 percent outside the city

District 2, Jay Castille, 14 percent city, 86 percent outside the city

District 3, Pat Lewis, 91 percent city, 9 percent outside the city

District 4, Kenneth Boudreaux, 93 percent city, 7 percent outside the city

District 5, Jared Bellard, 31 percent city, 69 percent outside the city

District 6, Bruce Conque, 100 percent city

District 7, Nanette Cook, 61 percent city, 39 percent outside the city

District 8, Liz Webb-Hebert, 91 percent city, 9 percent outside the city

District 9, William Theriot, 6 percent city, 94 percent outside the city

* Based on 2010 Census

(Source: Lafayette Consolidated Government)

What needs to happen to get council changes on the ballot

In order to place a proposal, whatever it turns out to be, on the Dec. 8 ballot, the council will have to introduce the measure at its July 10 meeting, with a final vote July 24.

Six of the nine council members would have to vote to call the election.

If approved by a majority of voters parish wide, an election would be needed, possibly in the fall of 2019, to choose city and parish council members, who would take office in January 2020.

The change would not shorten the term of any current council member.

Several who would not be able to run for re-election because of term limits, would be able to run either for the new city council or parish council.

The mayor-president would continue to be elected parish wide.

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