The Lafayette City Council took a step closer to creating an advisory committee to approve changes to Mardi Gras parade routes and events.
The council successfully introduced an ordinance that seeks to create a nine-person Mardi Gras Activities Advisory Committee at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. It also deferred a vote on a measure that would have provided space for the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission along the Jefferson Street parade route.
But the make-up of that committee and whether or not a parade would still be coming to Jefferson Street was part of a heated debate between Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux and Mayor-President Monique Boulet.
The debate centered on whether the council had authority to approve or disapprove changes to Mardi Gras parade routes following an October announcement by Mayor-President Monique Boulet that moved the route along Jefferson Street.
The change caught some people, such as Boudreaux and his constituents, off guard, he said.
"So, Kenneth, can I formally apologize that I did not call you personally? I don't know if the entire community should suffer for that," Boulet said. "The feedback that I got is that people of Lafayette don't think this is a very serious issue."
Boudreaux, referencing a 1999 ordinance that created an advisory committee, said it shows the council should have some say. The three-person committee's purpose was to meet with krewes to discuss Mardi Gras activities in the parish and to make recommendations to the council.
That original ordinance did not give the council any authorization power.
The seeks to expand that authority to the City Council, according to a draft ordinance posted on the Lafayette Consolidated Government's website.
Rachel Godeaux, Boulet's Chief Administrative Officer, said that, to her knowledge, the committee has never met. City-Parish Attorney Patrick Ottinger said he was not aware of the 1999 ordinance during the last meeting.
"I don't know the last time they presented to the council to get approval on the parade route," Godeaux said. "I think there's a lot left to be desired in the (1999) ordinance. I think (Boudreaux) and I spoke about who this approval actually relied with. Is it the administration? The council?"
The committee may have never met since its creation because there was never a need to do so, Boudreaux said. With Boulet's route change, the committee was triggered and began the recommendation process.
"It's not political at all for me. It's about people," Boudreaux said. "It's not about when the last time it was used. Now it's about it needs to be used, and it's an ordinance on our books."
"(The Jefferson Street route) doesn't have to happen in 2026. If we're really serious about getting it right and doing the right thing, we can all say, 'you know, we identified all these things, let's wait,' " Boudreaux added.
At the last meeting, Boudreaux and Councilman Andy Naquin requested a delay in changing the route for next year to allow for more discussion. The council took no action. Boudreaux instructed the council clerk to send a letter to Boulet asking her to delay the proposed route for a year.
Creating a committee isn't something Boulet's administration opposes, she said. She said she hopes it can be expanded to include other neighborhoods in the process and allow for the public to be involved.
The drafted ordinance only provides two members to represent three of Lafayette's historic neighborhoods: LaPlace, McComb-Veazey, and Freetown-Port Rico.
"It's a city-wide event, so if we're gonna open up the discussion, I want to see it open to the city," Boulet said in an interview after the meeting. "Whichever route we land on is fine. I'm not tied to one or the other."
Cost questions
Prior to Tuesday night's meeting, Boudreaux posted a copy of a memo addressed to the administration on Facebook.
The memo, dated Nov. 7, lays out eight inquiries, including the cost of the route change to the city, the cost of trimming over 90 cypress trees to allow the float to pass, how the city plans to protect over $250,000 in recent plantings along Jefferson Street and the city's liability for property damage to businesses.
The expected cost of all Mardi Gras festivities will exceed $400,000. The increased cost associated with the Jefferson Street change would be "nominal," according to an internal memo sent to Boudreaux. The bulk of spending goes toward public safety measures.
Tree trimming is already a service provided to the district and would not be accounted in Mardi Gras expenditures, the memo reads. New plantings would likely be protected by fencing, but discussions are ongoing.
LCG liabilities and risk exposure to property damage to downtown properties would not be any greater.