Lafayette Group Speaks Out Against LCG

"Reclaiming Lafayette!", a political action group, has been formed in opposition to Lafayette Consolidated Government's plan to sell Lafayette Utilities System.

A spokesperson for the group is planning to present the group's stance at the next LCG meeting.

In the prepared speech, the group plans to bring to light LCG's "behind-the-scenes wheeling-and-dealing, double-speak, and hidden motives" that they "are forced to endure from this government". Reclaim Lafayette also claims that "there is an unprecedented level of distrust for this government (LCG)".

The prepared speech outlines NextGen's proposal to bring in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as a research partner (NextGen is the company looking to purchase LUS), and claims that LCG has an "obsession with turning Lafayette into a Smart City". Reclaiming Lafayette, according to the speech, also believes that LCG has "an obsession with renewable energy sources  ... right here, right now (sic)."

The group is afraid that LCG is following California's model, and will next be mandating renewable energy it its construction codes.

The group is also concerned that the research NextGen and its research partner UL will rely heavily on federal grant money which, they believe, would put our country further into debt.

Instead of selling LUS to an outside company, Reclaim Lafayette believes that LCG should concentrate on current infrastructure, improving roads and bridges, drainage, fire and police protection, instead of the projects LCG "seems to believe will make Lafayette stand out".

The speech goes on to say that Reclaim Lafayette believes that "we don't need 'experts' coming in here to tell us how we should model and develop our city and parish". The group also believes that LCG's current path is "mindless Group Think", and never thought that LCG's leadership would be "selling out our unique individuality . . . as a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers".

The group is also against bike paths, walking, mixed use buildings (retail shops below, residential unit on the upper levels), "parklets" (the tables and chairs at the corner of Congress and Second Streets), sharing the road with bicyclists, and instituting a carbon tax.

Reclaim Lafayette calls the Lafayette Cosolidated Governement's sustainability plan (Plan Lafayette) a "political issue, and not one based on science", and considers the plan to be "extreme government overreach".

The group ends its speech with this:  "We the people (of Reclaim Lafayette) are fed up with the direction the Big Goverment LCG is steering our city and parish. We want our conservative city and parish back!".