New city council districts being redrawn means a change in numbers and power

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – On Tuesday, the Lafayette City Council voted to hire a demographer to draw new boundary lines within four city council districts. 

A district that has lost more than a few thousand people belongs to City Councilman Glenn Lazard of District 5. Councilman Lazard says the recent census, which was ten years ago, shows his district way below the average median based on Lafayette's population. "I think district five is somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 below District 3," Lazard said.

City Council District 3 is represented by council member Liz Hebert. Lazard says over the past ten years his district, and City Councilman Pat Lewis' district lost population. Both districts sit along the Evangeline Thruway. "Districts three and four have gained population and that's because of the population shift in a southward direction. The lines have to be redrawn to make sure the numbers are balanced out basically." Lazard stated.

Council districts must be within 5%, plus or minus, of what would be considered the average median population. There are a total of five city council districts within Lafayette.

"It's not fair to have one council member representing 30, 000 people and another one only representing 20,000 people for example.  This process ensures equal representation basically," Councilman Lazard explained. According to the city council ordinance, districts 2, 3, 4, and 5 are outside the allowable five percent deviation.