Iqbal Merchant was once City-Parish Councilman Brandon Shelvin's Landlord, renting him commercial space in Lafayette, before he says Shelvin failed to pay rent.

"When I had to call him he said 'I'm a councilman,' and I said well you can be a state representative or a state senator, if I don't get my rent, I will file for eviction," Merchant said.
Merchant had Shelvin served with eviction papers and filed a small claim against him in July 2008. Both issues were eventually settled, but Merchant accuses the councilman of using intimidating tactics over the course of this ordeal. Merchant thinks Shelvin had animal control officers sent to his home to investigate a legitimate bird breeding operation in his backyard.

"He tried to flex his muscles to harass me using the city 'machinery,' " said Merchant. When asked if he thought this was an abuse of power, Merchant replied:

"Absolutely, there's no doubt about that."

Merchant's associations with Shelvin don't end there. He also rented a home on St. Bernadette Drive to Shelvin's girlfriend back in 2008. Although the home is located outside of District 3, which is Shelvin's district, Merchant believes Shelvin lived in the home with his girlfriend while in office. If true, that would be a violation of a Lafayette charter requiring councilmen to live in the district they represent.

"Whenever I went to the house, whether they needed a repair person, or to inspect my house, or to conduct any repairs, he was always there," Merchant said.

Shelvin's legal address is in his district, and city-parish officials say they have no record of any complaints about him not living in his district. Repeated phone calls to the councilman went unanswered Wednesday.

Jim Hummel

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