Supporters of reconvening the Lafayette Charter Commission aren't going down without a fight.
Bertrand
[Editor's Note: Councilman Don Bertrand contacted The Ind Friday morning to say he asked that the ordinance be moved from the Aug. 20 agenda to Aug. 27. This story has been adjusted to reflect that change.]
Supporters of reconvening the Lafayette Charter Commission aren't going down without a fight. District 7 Councilman Don Bertrand tells The Ind he has resubmitted to the clerk of the council Ordinance 180, which calls for reconvening the commission with an aim at ultimately redrawing the City-Parish Council districts to create five seats entirely within the city limits of Lafayette to give the city sovereignty over its finances and other affairs.
The ordinance is scheduled to be on the agenda for the Aug. 27 council meeting and, moreover, Bertrand tells us that even if the ordinance is shot down again on the 20th, he'll keep at it. "I'll keep putting it before the council until we get the five votes we need," the south Lafayette Republican says.
Bertrand is hoping that public pressure on the five councilmen who nixed the ordinance Tuesday night might shift at least one vote in favor of the ordinance, which is all supporters need to carry the day. Councilmen Jared Bellard, Jay Castille, Andy Naquin, Vice Chairman Kevin Naquin and William Theriot were the simple majority Tuesday who voted to kill the introductory ordinance. All but Andy Naquin represent mostly rural and small-town Lafayette Parish; Andy Naquin, in fact, is the only councilman whose district is wholly within the city limits of Lafayette. Council Chairman Brandon Shelvin, along with Councilmen Bertrand, Kenneth Boudreaux and Keith Patin, whose districts are mostly within the city, voted to approve the ordinance.
"I'm hoping for an epiphany," Betrand adds.
For more on why the city of Lafayette needs this ordinance to pass, click here.