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How a change in power left a Lafayette statue untouchable
ANDREW CAPPS, Lafayette Daily Advertiser
May 22, 2021
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LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Forty years ago, an incoming Lafayette mayor and a local Confederate history group quietly agreed to a plan that would ultimately make the city’s statue of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton untouchable for decades.
In April of 1980, outgoing-Mayor Kenny Bowen, who had recently lost his re-election bid to Dud Lastrapes, was planning to move the Mouton statue from its place in front of the old City Hall downtown to the new City Hall on University Avenue.
But Lafayette’s United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter, which donated the statue to the city in 1922 during a Jim Crow-era resurgence in white supremacy across the South, was searching for a way to derail Bowen’s plan.
Forty years ago, an incoming Lafayette mayor and a local Confederate history group quietly agreed to a plan that would ultimately make the city’s statue of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton untouchable for decades.
In April of 1980, outgoing-Mayor Kenny Bowen, who had recently lost his re-election bid to Dud Lastrapes, was planning to move the Mouton statue from its place in front of the old City Hall downtown to the new City Hall on University Avenue.
But Lafayette’s United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter, which donated the statue to the city in 1922 during a Jim Crow-era resurgence in white supremacy across the South, was searching for a way to derail Bowen’s plan.
Louisiana House Judiciary Committee advances bill to clarify Lafayette City Marshal salary
Louisiana House of Representatives
Sen. Gerald Bouderaux (D-Lafayette), Lafayette City Marshal Reginald Thomas and Joe Shumate, Jr. president of Louisiana City Marshals & City Constables Association, speak before the Louisiana House Judiciary Committee on May 13, 2021 about SB 120 regarding the salary of the Lafayette City Marshal.
and last updated 2021-05-13 21:58:11-04
BATON ROUGE, La. â A bill by Sen. Gerald Boudreaux (D-Lafayette) that would allow the Lafayette City Marshal to keep court fees moved through the Louisiana House Judiciary Committee Thursday.
Only Lafayette and Shreveport are exempt from the current state law regarding fees collected by the marshal s office.
Officials behind the project promised that by completion Lafayette would have “the preeminent police station in the Midwest”.
The new building will include more space for police, including a larger evidence room, but will also have a public parking garage.
Mayor Tony Roswarski said improvements will make the department a better place to work while offering space for advanced technology.
“Most importantly we’re going to give you every opportunity to make sure each and every night you go home safe to your families,” he said.
Chief of Police Patrick Flannelly said the building will take their department into the future.