UPDATE: St. Edward Church leadership has met to discuss concerns raised by a group planning to protest at the church this weekend.
The Concerned Parishioners of St. Edward/ St. Jude Catholic Church and the Iberia Parish Chapter NAACP plan a protest this weekend, to call attention to their concerns about how the parish is handling contract awards for building projects.
When we received notice of the planned, peaceful protest, we reached out to the Diocese. Initially, parish leaders of St. Edward said they were going to review the concerns and decisions made in the construction process.
Today, here's what we received.
Parish leaders at St. Edward Church in New Iberia took seriously the concerns raised on May 4, 2020 by concerned Parishioners of St. Edward/ St. Jude Catholic Church and the Iberia Parish Chapter NAACP. St. Edward Parish leadership has given these concerns careful consideration and review.
From the onset, all qualified contractors from the parish were invited via bulletin announcements to bid on the various sub-contracts for the Family Life Center project. In fairness to all who prepared bids, the lowest bids were accepted. Since concerns were raised, St. Edward Parish leadership has reviewed the bidding process and believes it to be fair and in keeping with good business practice. The parish is grateful to all who have submitted bids.
We have reached out to leaders of the protest for a response.
The protest will be at the St. Edward/ St. Jude Church Rectory, 200 Ambassador W Lemelle, New Iberia, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
The groups are protesting the following:
1. Lack of information about the building projects for parishioners
2. Lack of a formal bidding process for the large building projects
3. Lack of African American/minority contractors being awarded the large projects
4. Lack of parishioner contractors being awarded the large projects
Anyone who would like to attend should bring their mask, as protesters say they will be practicing social distancing and wearing masks.
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