Conque Pulls Budget Amendment Regarding 10% Council Pay Raise
Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Bruce Conque pulled a proposed budget amendment that could have potentially guaranteed a 10% per term pay raise for the new city and parish councils. The raise itself is nothing new and has been part of the current charter for years. The last time the public was involved it a debate over the raises was back in 2014.
Two members of the current council weren't at the meeting. Jared Bellard says he had a work commitment and Wiliam Theriot was out with a foot injury. The proposed amendment had the support of the remaining members of the council. But then it was pulled.
In a social media post made after Thursday's budget meeting, Conque said he would practice what he preaches and let the new split councils make their own budget decision on the issue.
In a call with KPEL's Bernadette Lee, Conque admits it was a poor choice. But that's not enough for Andy Naquin who is running against him in City Council District 2. In a post this morning, Naquin renewed his call to replace Bruce Conque and amounted the proposed amendment to "political games".
KPEL has reached out to Lafayette Consolidated Government for documents regarding pay raises in the period between 2014 and 2019. We'll continue to update this story as more details become available.