Youngsville Vs Broussard, The Battle For Annexation – Wingin’ It Wednesday

This week on "Wingin' It Wednesday", panelist Mike Stagg, Warren Caudle, and Carol Ross joined "Mornings with Ken and Bernie" to discuss the impending annexation legal battle between Youngsville and Broussard as well as Vice President's Joe Biden's plan to improve mental health services and facilities.

Here's what the panel had to say:

1. Youngsville filed a lawsuit this year to contest Broussard's annexation of a 40-foot-by-40-foot parcel. District Judge John Trahan ruled Monday that Youngsville can move forward with the lawsuit.  Why can't we all just get along?

Warren Caudle started us off:

When consolidation happened, it was my understanding that all the parish and Lafayette became one. That meant the boundaries were frozen. They’re always going to fight over property and who can get what taxes out of it, but they’re annexing property that really is the parish property that shouldn’t belong to Youngsville or Broussard.
The courts are avenue for dispute, that’s where dispute resolution takes place; let them have at it.

Carol Ross added:

This is a 40x40 square that Youngsville says they need for a lift station, however Broussard says it is keeping them from annexing additional property. The developer of that property say they want to be in Broussard because the development costs and the sales taxes in Youngsville are much higher.
The lawyer for Broussard says Youngsville has no standing. The judge said they do.

Mike Stagg Concluded:

I’m going to go back to the basic fact that Broussard put up the money to allow the road be built, the Ambassador Caffery extension. The city of LCG did not put up the money and neither did Youngsville. The core issue is that Broussard has rights, the developer has rights, and Youngsville is trying to get in on a piece of property for sales tax.
The whole problem is this flawed model of consolidation we have. It needs to be all or nothing. The true losers of consolidation have been the city of Lafayette.

 

2. Vice President Joe Biden is meeting today with families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy before announcing new funding for mental health services.  The White House says the 100-million dollar plan is aimed at increasing access to mental health services and improving mental health facilities.

Carol stated:

At one time they were institutionalizing too many people, then they went the other way and institutionalized to little people. We do need more mental health services, the trick is where is the funding coming from. Apparently, half of the money will come via the Affordable Care Act to help urban communities provide those services, and the other half will come from the department of agriculture to help fund the rural areas.

 

Warren added:

One of the things that’s come up with all of these shooters is the amount of drugs they’re on and the side effects of these drugs. We de-instatutionalize these people, throw them on the streets, then they end up in prison. It’s a revolving door.
The one thing about it is there is always money in it. It’s something that does need to be brought to light and we really do need to work on it.

Mike stated:

Since the Sandy Hook shooting194 other children have been killed by guns in the United States. Including children at schools. Congress has refused to any legislation to pass that would do things like regulate the size of gun clips or restrict the sale of semiautomatic weapons.
They have refused to allow background checks on gun sales, mental health checks, so providing these services is the least they can do.

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Now it’s your turn to tell us what you think about today’s Wingin’ It Wednesday topics. Who got it right, who got it wrong, and who was way off? Let us know in the comment section.