The future of Lafayette's government could lie in the hands of the voters after a city parish meeting this Tuesday. The issue at hand is deconsolidation. Plans for the city and parish to split up has been talked about for more than two years, but before the proposal gets to the public, city council members have to approve.
Parish president Joey Durel said, "If consolidation isn't working than there's no point in dragging this on for six more years." Talks of deconsolidation have been going on for more than two years. After 14 years of consolidated government city officials say it's time to let the people decide if this is the form of government they want.
"Deconsolidation is simple; it's taking the current form of government that we went into 14 years ago and going back to the former forms of government with a separate city and a separate parish," said City-Parish council member Kenneth Broudreaux.
The problem is many people of Lafayette have no clue what's going on. "I really don't know to much about it to have an opinion," said Lafayette resident, Mark Martin. Other residents like Blake Duhon and Jessica Orr agree. All of them say they would like to learn more about it in order to make an informed decision.
The only way the residents will get a chance to vote on it is if the council members agree. In order for the proposal to pass, six of the nine council members must vote the same. As of right now, the council members are split. Council member Sam Dore says Tuesday's proposal could end up being tabled.
Sarah Rosario
srosario@katctv.com


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