Durel Says Abandoned Vehicles Make For Difficult Conversation

Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel joined “Mornings with Ken and Bernie” for his weekly “Lafayette Live” segment today and discussed abandoned vehicles, the Committee of 100 and answered phone questions from KPEL Newsjunkies.

When asked if an ordinance that would allow local government to haul away someone's personal property because it was deemed unsightly would be unfair Durel replied,

It's a difficult conversation because I can assure you none of us want, when you have the highest value asset that you own and somebody is doing something next door to you that drives your property value down...While you have the right to have a vehicle on your property but when it's there for years and actually has a tree growing out of it, it's wasn't that you were exercising your right as much as you were lazy or didn't want to bother to haul it away.

We asked Durel to describe the 'Committee of 100' and he said,

It's a committee that is privately funded, in fact politicians cannot be members.  I have been fortunate enough to be one of a group of mayors invited to speak to the 'Committee of 100' and a group of bond rating agencies in New York.  The idea is to focus on the economic development of our state...One of the things I was really thrilled to see was a completely different spirit of regional approach to things.

A KPEL Newsjunkie called in and asked Durel why a Safe Speed van was stationed on Blue Bird Lane for a period of 20 days even though there are no businesses or homes for at least 1200 feet of road.  Durel replied,

It's probably there because it's on public property instead of being parked on private property.  But I will tell you it is completely driven by complaint calls by residents...If the van is there often it's because the police department is getting that many calls from local residents.

To listen to the interview, click the play button below: