Several Northside community organizations co-authored a comprehensive agenda calling for school board and LCG candidates to see generational poverty, lack of economic progress and failing schools as a local crisis deserving urgent intervention, the Current reports.
The document, which is extremely detailed and includes specific suggestions to address issues, was put together by a comprehensive group of organizations and people, is being offered to candidates as a road map to revitalizing the Northside. It is the result of months of work, says Greg Davis, a member.
It's not just a list of problems, he said in an interview with KATC.
"We wanted to know what actions needed to be taken to solve problems, because in North Lafayette we havw lots of problems that need to be solved," he said. "We wanted to identify the problems and suggest solutions, and so that's what that document is about."
Davis said the group worked overtime to get the document together prior to the election, he said.
"We wanted to get it done for this upcoming election so we could introduce it into the forums and discussions, the questions for candidates, so people can make intelligent decision as to which of those candidates is going to best represent the interests of north Lafayette," Davis said. "After the election, this can serve as a mechanism for us to work with the Lafayette Parish School System and Lafayette government to get things done."
In the vein of offering solutions vs. complaints, the coalition also is committed to staying together after the election to offer help to those governments in bringing the community in to those solutions, Davis said.
Davis said the solutions are varied and complicated, because the issues are as well.
"There is no silver bullet. There's no one thing you can point to that is going to solve the problems," Davis said. "It's going to involve a whole lot of things, and this provides a road map to bringing all of these multitude of things that need to happen. It's intended as a guide. It's not going to happen overnight, it's going to happen over a period of time."
The groups and people who participated in the document include: Senior Pastoral Alliance, Pastor Ricky Carter, President; State of Greater Black Lafayette, Bishop John Milton, President; Oasis Coterie (Truman), Pastor Ken Lazard, President; NAACP, Marja Broussard, President; Louis A. Martinet Society, Franchesca Hamilton-Acker, President; Women of Wisdom, Phyllis Coleman-Mouton, President; 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette, Melvin Caesar, President; Magnolia Peace Officers Association, Savannah Butler, President; Greater SW Louisiana Black Chamber, Corey Jack, 2 nd Vice President; Black Firefighters Association, Forrest Chaisson, President; Raintree Townhome Association, Linda Smith, Board Chairman; McComb Veazey Coterie, Tina Shelvin-Bringham, President; National Organization of University Women, Elsie Azare, President; Rev. Gregory Hill, Senior Pastoral Alliance; Alana Jackson, NAACP; Stephen Bartley, Greater SW Louisiana Black Chamber; Whalen Gibbs Jr., 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette; Lendon Lewis, 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette; Gobb Williams, Magnolia Peace Officers Association; Alton Trahan, Black Firefighters Association; Fredrick Prejean, Community Activist; Kelly Garrett, Community Activist; Mia Cole, KJCB; Susannah Malveaux, The Southern View; Skyra Rideau, Community Activist and Greg Davis Sr., Community Activist.
The topics addressed include economic development, employment, housing, transportation, education, criminal justice, recreation, quality of life, accountability, community development, cultural tourism, technology and public safety.
To read the Current's article, click here.
Here's the document:
