Supporters of the ordinance included Jaci Russo, owner of a marketing/branding firm; Cathy Webre, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority; Thomas Guilbeau, an attorney whose firm is located on Jefferson Street; Julie Calzone, an ad agency owner; and Acadiana Center for the Arts Executive Director Gerd Wuestemann, among others.
“When I come to work Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday morning, there is quite a bit of litter from the go cups, but I think that’s a very small detail,” Russo told the council. “When we look at the open alcohol ordinance, what I see it doing first and foremost is preventing the bums who hang out in the park all day drinking, from being able to do that anymore. There are no rules right now that give police the power to move those people on, and at times there will be 13, 14, 15 men, and occasionally women, sitting in the park drinking alcohol in the middle of the day. And that really keeps families from using this asset that is a taxpayer public park.”
Russo also referred to what police have characterized as “trunk drinkers” — people who drive downtown with alcohol, which they consume on the sidewalks without ever patronizing the bars. Supporters of the go cup ban argue that the prohibition would significantly reduce this population, thereby addressing the overall problem of large, unruly crowds on weekends.
Hector LaSala, an architecture professor at UL who has editorialized eloquently in The Daily Advertiser on the need for embracing smart growth principles in our urban core, characterized the revitalization of downtown Lafayette as “halfway there,” and suggested that downtown Lafayette becoming a Bourbon Street, which it closely resembles after midnight on weekends, isn’t what the community envisioned more than a decade ago when the revitalization effort began.
“Vibrant downtowns, which is our goal, have clubs and bars,” LaSala acknowledged. “But they also have retail, offices and more especially housing. And as long as our downtown is known as just party town, I think that we are basically preventing the downtown [from becoming] what actually all the effort has been about — to make it a full-time, 24/7 place where people of all ages can live, play, shop and have a great community to live in.”
“Are any of us going to move out or take our businesses out if you don’t pass this ordinance? No. But I do think what happens is, more residents will not come to the district, more people will not come to the district, more businesses will not come to the district,” said Calzone, who also lives downtown. “And the perception is, the situation we have downtown on some nights, on weekend nights, really does create a negative impact for the district. So again, it’s not the cure-all, it’s not the panacea. But it’s an important first step in helping us do what we need to do in the downtown area.”
The council did hear from a few residents opposed to the ordinance, some of whom used a “slippery slope” argument: First we ban go cups. What’s next? One asked rhetorically whether a ban on open containers could lead us to a “police state.” Others enshrined go cups among the pantheon of cultural touchstones that make Acadiana unique.
“I feel like my rights are under attack,” observed Jacob White, a 20-something resident who opposes the proposed ban. “Now I can’t carry my drink. What’s next? Now I can’t use my cell phone when I’m on the sidewalk? I don’t know. I just find this to be an assault.”
District 1 Councilman Purvis Morrison took exception with information provided to The Independent from a source who said Morrison is now in favor of the ordinance. (He was one of the five-member majority that voted against the ordinance two weeks ago.) “It’s not a done deal to say that I’m supporting the ordinance or not supporting the ordinance,” Morrison said.
The public comment portion devoted to the go cup ordinance took the better part of an hour and a half. Council Chairman Jay Castille was evidently so ready for the meeting to conclude, he accidentally gavelled its adjournment before the council voted.
JUNE 17 If anyone ever wonders why Saints fans hate Atlanta with a capital H, here's a good indication. Radio "professionals" at an Atlanta station created an entire segment around making fun of former Saints player Steve Gleason, who is now paralyzed by ALS. Listen, nobody's ever accused DJs of being rocket scientists. But how could someone think it is amusing to pretend to ask a man with a degenerative, fatal disease if he will be alive next week? The DJs have been fired, and are now whining about how gutless their former bosses are. Wow.
JUNE 18 Here's the latest from the Advocate on the fatal hit-and-run accident allegedly involving the president of the Livingston Parish School Board. He's accused by police of hitting a 21-year-old man on a highway early Sunday and driving away. The man died at a hospital later. On Monday, police seized the president's truck and towed it away. But he's available for board meetings: apparently a $500 bond is sufficient for this type of thing over in St. Helena Parish.
JUNE 18 Former broadcast journalist Griffin Scott has posted this plea on his blog for financial assistance from his readers. Scott, who says he was fired after he wrote something fairly innocuous (for Facebook) on his wall, is suing a media giant for his job back. He's framed himself as David going after a bloated media giant, and he's probably not far off.
JUNE 18 Here's a fairly absurd column posted on DIG Magazine about the completely absurd practice of naming killer storms. Tornadoes don't have names. Blizzards don't have names. But hurricanes do, and there's a big process to bestow them, Jacques Cormery writes. He's right about the crazy assemblage of names -- this year, there's everything from Tanya to Humberto -- and his idea that we don't waste good names on killer storms is a good one.
JUNE 17 Political columnist John Maginnis has some advice for Louisiana Republicans: grow up. After the schism that occurred in this past session - fiscal hawks teaming up with Democrats to spank the Republican "majority" and hand Gov. Jindal his, er, aspirations for continued solon control -- they need to figure out how to get along with each other, Maginnis writes.
JUNE 17 Here's the Picayune's obit story for Dorothy 'Miss Dot' Domilise, the lady who made poboys at the uptown restaurant that bears her name. Miss Dot moved to New Orleans during World War II, where she met and married her husband Sam. When she passed away Friday she was 90, and had spent more than 60 of those years working at the restaurant on Annunciation Street.
JUNE 17 This editorial in the Advocate speaks in favor of the consent decrees that have federal judges overseeing police operations and the sheriff's parish prison in New Orleans. Mayor Landrieu and Sheriff Gusman can't get along, so outside forces, like the Inspector General and the judges, are needed to make sure things run right, the editorial opines.
JUNE 18 Here's a post from Manny Schewitz on Forward Progressives that is good for a chuckle. Manny had an epiphany back in November, and is sharing it with us today: he believes that Fox "News" is killing the GOP by pandering to right wing nuts. Now, don't get it twisted: Manny's not broke up about it. He says he enjoys watching the downward spiral with a shot of whiskey and "a schadenfreude chaser."
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed