INDReporter

Durel: What a sad time for Lafayette!

by Walter Pierce

From left: Stanley, Durel and Robideaux

City-Parish President Joey Durel, whose longtime right-hand man, Chief Administrative Officer Dee Stanley, is running to replace him and has been the subject of the nastiest of nasty campaign tactics by operatives close to Joel Robideaux, has evidently had enough.

This reporter was copied on an email moments ago in which Durel instructed his executive aide, Cydra Wingerter, to provide local media with details about a robo call to Lafayette Parish residents she made last week under the auspices of Lafayette Consolidated Government. The call, according to Durel’s email, concerned the Unified Development Code.

But supporters of Stanley’s competitor, Joel Robideaux, have been insinuating and outright lying that a robo call made the next day by Stanley’s wife criticizing the ugly push poll that week targeting her husband was actually issued through LCG. That would be a criminal offense. But Blue Rolfes’ robo call in support of her husband was conducted through an out-of-state firm, yet the lies and innuendo from Robideaux’s supporters on social media continue, prompting Durel to act.

“Unfortunately, unscrupulous Robideaux campaign supporters seem to be accusing LCG of aiding another candidate of using LCG resources for a campaign Robo call,” Durel writes to Wingerter. “This is basically accusing LCG of what would seem to be a criminal act. I apologize for you being dragged into a campaign, but we have been put into a position to have to defend LCG.”

Durel concludes the email: "What a sad time for Lafayette!"

The Advertiser’s Claire Taylor and Richard Burgess, The Acadiana Advocate’s bureau chief, were also copied on the email.

[Update: Just after 3 p.m. Friday Wingerter responded: "Two robo calls were placed from our system on October 8-9, 2015; the subject being notification of an upcoming Zoning Commission meeting. The first call was placed on Thursday, October 8th at 6:15 pm to all numbers in the database within Lafayette Parish. A second identical call was sent to the Lafayette City-Parish Councilmen on Friday, October 9th at 8:15 am as a follow-up measure."]

Below is the receipt Stanley provided to The IND showing that he used an Oregon company for the robo call recorded by Rolfes.