The long-expected lawsuit against Lafayette Consolidated Government has been filed by a Lafayette citizen over the controversial new home rule charter.
The lawsuit is for injunctive relief and was filed by Keith Kishbaugh against The City of Lafayette Government, Lafayette Parish Government, and Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government.
KATC has obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in the 15th Judicial District in Lafayette Parish and targets LCG’s decision to side with its own attorneys and resolve the new home rule charter and its dependencies with voter precincts. The lawsuit states:
The Ordinance proposed, which is set to be passed by the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council, is an illegal measure which conflicts with the Charter of the Lafayette Consolidated Government, as well as the current City of Lafayette Government and Lafayette Parish Government, as Section A-12 of the Amended Charter states that the amendments “that are necessary to carry out the election of City Council positions and Parish Council positions” become effective on promulgation, which occurred Dec. 18, 2018.
The injunction seeks a judgement declaring that the proposed Ordinance #O-04202019 of the City of Lafayette Council and the Parish of Lafayette Council be declared illegal and that its passage and enforcement be restrained as illegal.
Fix the Charter, who championed last fall’s deconsolidation vote, issued a statement on their Facebook page, which states:
Last week, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry issued a statement claiming that the council’s decision to fix its issues with the new home rule charter by ordinance may violate the state constitution.
Read the entire lawsuit below.
