LAFAYETTE — Two candidates are seeking election to the District 4 seat on the new Lafayette City Council: Nannette Cook and Joyce Linde.
Lafayette voters decided last year to de-consolidate the Lafayette City-Parish Council. Now everyone in the parish will vote on a new parish council member, and people living in the city limits will vote on both a parish council member and a city council member. If you want to know what districts you are in, check your ballot by clicking here .
City District 3 extends south starting near Girard Park just south of Johnston Street and ends just before the cities of Youngsville and Broussard. If you want to see a map of the districts, CLICK HERE: https://lcg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=668d0511de2b490cb3143376b9738bf8
Facebook pages for both candidates are below:
Nannette Cook: https://www.facebook.com/nanettecookcouncilwoman/
Joyce Linde: https://www.facebook.com/linde4lafayette/
We've asked all candidates for both councils the same set of questions.Here are the questions and each candidate's answers.
NANNETTE COOK
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself in five sentences – who are you and what’s your background?
I am a wife of 37 years, married to David Cook. I am a mother of 5 grown children and one grandchild. I have a Masters Degree in Education and I am a teacher at Cathedral Carmel Elementary with 37 years of teaching experience. I have lived in Lafayette for the past 59 years and have grown up in this community.
2. Why do you want to run for office?
My inspiration to become a public servant came from my father who was on the city council in the 70"s. Both my parents taught me to get involved and make a difference where I can. This is why I decided to run for public office, to get more involved and help facilitate changes needed in our community.
3. What issue is the most important for you to tackle in your district?
Issues most important in my district as well as all over the parish is drainage. I have spent many hours working on drainage improvements at the local level and looking at the bigger conversation with our parish wide watershed management. Discussions with members of the watershed council, Clay Higgins office and the corp of engineers have helped to establish a more regional plan for drainage.
4. What distinguishes you from other candidates?
Having been on the City-Parish council for almost 4 years I have the knowledge needed to address issues in the community. I have had the opportunity to work with members of LCG as well as members of the state to assist me with any projects I was working on. I am the only candidate with the needed experience to serve on the new City Council for Lafayette.
JOYCE LINDE
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself in five sentences – who are you and what’s your background?
Married to Mel Linde for 51 years. My dear husband, Mel passed away on September 16th but he encouraged me to run for City Council. He is missed every minute of every day. I have three children, Shane and Mark Boudreaux and Melanie Linde Gautreaux and seven grandchildren and one great grandchild
I have a BFA from ULL in Fine Arts and worked as a successful photographer and artist until 2009. I then became politically active and two non-profit organizations with the mission to inform citizens on public policy that affect them, to promote qualified candidates for office and to hold those elected accountable.
Very active in the Acadiana and Fleur de lis Republican Women and Louisiana Federation of Republican Women. I am the Legislative Chair for ARW and LFRW.
2. Why do you want to run for office?
I am running for City Council because it is my belief that Lafayette is moving in the wrong direction. The Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Code is creating an unfriendly business climate and more and more are moving to communities such as Youngsville. Lafayette is one of the more conservative communities in the Louisiana and the current council is moving in a more progressive direction which is opposed by many citizens with whom I have spoken. I will work to restore government’s priorities to the basics of fiscal responsibility, focus upon flooding and improving drainage and improving roads and infrastructure and providing police and fire protection.
3. What issue is the most important for you to tackle in your district?
The most important issue is to focus upon the poor drainage and threat of flooding that is a factor in Lafayette. The 2016 flood was devastating to many families in Acadiana and the 2016 flood was a direct result of not being pro-active in improving drainage and in developing an approved plan that would provide federal grants for improving drainage. This work is being done, currently, by private citizens who have been aggressive in developing a regional plan that will improve drainage and work toward alleviating flooding. www.dredgethevermilion.org; It is time to be pro-active on the issues that citizens care about and that threaten their safety and wealth and strikes fear in their hearts whenever a heavy rain comes.
4. What distinguishes you from other candidates?
I have a long standing reputation for being for smaller government, lower taxes and individual freedom. I have worked diligently to preserve our constitutional rights, but always in the background. This is the first time I have run for political
Office. My work as a successful Louisiana artist and as the founder of the organizations that fought to preserve those rights gives me a unique perspective and connection with many different people from many different backgrounds. I am
Fearless when it comes to protecting our rights and when standing up for what I believe to infringe upon my belief that government needs to focus upon the basics.
I have kept up with the things like the Comprehensive Plan, UDC, Fix the Charter that affect citizens and I hear their dissatisfaction with the current leadership. It is important to listen to the tax-paying citizens and respect the fact that it is “THEIR” money we are spending. We need to respect their hard-work and respect what they want from government.
