The recent change to the Lafayette parade route has raised some questions and concerns, and a city councilman is proposing changes to the process.
Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux - who represents the district where the route begins - was upset because the route change was made without his knowledge. At a council meeting, he discussed his problems with the process that was used. Downtown Lafayette officials - where the route passes and where the major change will be - also expressed concern not only about the process but about the decision itself.
At issue is the decision to send the route down Jefferson Street again. The route was moved back in the late 1990s for a landscaping-related reason: after the city spent millions on the streetscape that reconstructed the road and now adorns Jefferson Street with cypress trees, plantings, fancy light poles and pavers, officials at the time were loathe to subject that investment to the boisterous carnival crowds, and the route was shifted. City officials said they tested the route with floats to make sure the floats fit - but there are concerns that the people won't fit and/or the people will damage the plantings downtown - which recently were re-done at a cost of around $250,000.
Boudreaux's solution is to change the process of route selection. In an ordinance he's placed on Tuesday's council agenda for introduction, any route changes would have to be approved by the city council. (To read the proposed ordinance, scroll down)
If approved, the ordinance would change the make-up of the Lafayette Mardi Gras Activities Advisory Committee to:
(1) appointment by the Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association
(1) appointment by the Lafayette Mardi Gras Festival, Inc.
(1) member from the Krewe of Carnivale en Rio
(1) member from the association known as the Independent
(1) member from the Lafayette Centre Development District
(2) members representing the communities of Freetown/Port Rico, McComb/Veazey, and LaPlace (the neighborhoods through which the beginning of the parade passes)
(1) member appointed by the Lafayette City Council
and the Lafayette Chief of Police or his/her designee.
"The Chief of Police or his/her designee will represent the overall interests of the City of Lafayette not only in terms of the Police Department and its security issues but also the issues that other departments manage in staging the Mardi Gras activities and supporting the same, such as, but not limited to, the functions of the Department of Public Works, the Utilities Department, the Lafayette Fire Department, the Community Development and Planning Department and any such other departments and their involvement in any fashion with the staging of Mardi Gras activities," the ordinance state.
The ordinance also would revise the function of the committee.
"The Committee is to meet and, with input from participating krewes, discuss the staging of all Mardi Gras activities in the City of Lafayette and then is to make its recommendations to the Lafayette City Council concerning the staging of those activities. Any proposed changes to the parade routes or events as existed in the immediate previous year must be approved by resolution of the Lafayette City Council. All Mardi Gras parade activities or events requiring permits must also be approved by resolution of the Lafayette City Council," the ordinance states.
The ordinance would take effect for the 2026 Mardi Gras season - which means theoretically it could have an impact on the previously announced change to the route.
The ordinance is slated for introduction, which usually does not involve any discussion, at the council's regular meeting on Tuesday. It begins at 5:30 p.m. in the City-Parish Council Auditorium, 705 W. University Avenue. To see the councils' agendas, click here and select the date you want to see. In general, ordinances that are introduced are discussed and voted upon at a later meeting.
Here's the ordinance:
