Changing minds about government consolidation

The Lafayette City-Parish Council is expected to vote on a resolution next week that would allow voters to decide whether they want to keep their home rule charter on the books. In other words, they’ll decide the fate of consolidated government in southwest Louisiana. Council Clerk Norma Dugas told 1012 Weekly this week that the provision has been placed on the March 9 agenda and council members are expected to weigh in on the matter. It’s unclear whether the votes are there to carry the motion all the way through, but proponents shouldn’t fret too much. That’s because City-Parish Attorney Pat Ottinger told the council last month that a petition can be circulated in surrounding communities to put the concept on the ballot – the only thing that’s needed is 20% of Lafayette Parish’s registered voters, or about 25,000 names. In 1992, Lafayette voters first approved their home rule charter, which went into effect in 1996. At the time, it became the third area of the state to make the leap to this president-council variety of governing, where the legislative and executive branches are separated, and the main municipality incorporated. Before that, the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government was formed by voters down the bayou in 1984. That initiative was based on the model that East Baton Rouge Parish pioneered back in its 1947 charter. [The Louisiana Police Jury Association classifies New Orleans has having a “city-parish home rule charter” as opposed to a “consolidated home rule charter.”] While things seem pretty sturdy in Terrebonne, there have been rumblings recently that suggest EBR could be hot on the trail of Lafayette Parish. In a recent issue of our sister publication, Baton Rouge Business Report, reporter Emma James tries to answer the big-picture question: “Should EBR abolish its metropolitan government?” To check it out, click here. – Jeremy Alford