LAFAYETTE--Its time for the full story.

Thats the message of Fire and Police Civil Service Board Chairman Jason Boudreaux
following an emotional November 1st meeting of the Lafayette City-Parish Council where the
actions and character of Board members were recently challenged.
We believe its important for the people of Lafayette to have all the facts about our
Board to make an informed decision about what theyre seeing in the news, Jason Boudreaux
said.
At Tuesday nights meeting Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux (no relation) blasted the
Board and its attorney for being corrupt and racist, which led to a call to investigate two Board
members and a 6-3 Council vote to remove a third.
The problem here, Jason Boudreaux said, is politics, not corruption.
He believes the Councils recent actions stem from a disagreement between the Board
and Kenneth Boudreaux over the qualifications for the then-vacant Lafayette chief of police
position.
At its May 2016 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to maintain the existing
education requirements for Chief of Police. To be eligible, applicants needed to have a
bachelors degree, a requirement put in place in the 1980s. The need for a bachelors degree
meant that Interim Police Chief Reginald Thomas failed to meet the qualifications to seek the
position full time.
Some members of the community, including Kenneth Boudreaux and the local NAACP,
saw the decision of the all-white Board as racially motivated.
We are well aware that certain people disagree with our decision, Jason Boudreaux
said. But our actions were within the powers of the Board and were done in accordance with
the law. We believe it was fair. We stand by what we did.
According to him, the Boards ability to perform its duties has been compromised by
interference from the Council since this decision was made. He cited Tuesday nights 6-3 vote to
remove a board member as an example.
You cant just have the Council or administration or anyone else vote to remove a Board
member. It goes against what the civil service system was built on and that is to help classified
employees and this Board function without any political pressure.
What Jason Boudreaux hopes to see moving forward, especially now that a chief of
police for Lafayette has been named, is the repairing of the relationships strained by recent
events.
Its time to stop the mudslinging. The Board and the Council must respect one anothers
decisions. We need to move past this for the sake of our community.
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For further information, please contact Angie Schexnayder, Fire and Police Civil Service Board
secretary at aschexnayder@lafayettela.gov or 291-8762.
The Boards next meeting will be held Wednesday, November 9, 2016, at 9:00 AM in City Hall.
At this meeting, Chairman Jason Boudreaux plans to read a more detailed statement about the
events that transpired on November 1, 2016, and the Boards response.