Mayor-President Candidate Series: Simone Champagne

Simone Champagne is the current Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Youngsville and a declared candidate for Lafayette Mayor-President. She joined Acadiana's Morning News as part of the ongoing candidate series on KPEL. Champagne is a familiar face to many, especially in Iberia Parish. She was CAO for Iberia Parish before winning a seat in the Louisiana House representing Iberia and Vermilion Parishes. She resigned from that seat in 2015 to take the position in Youngsville which was already one of Lafayette Parish's fastest-growing cities

The issues of flooding and drainage hit close to home for Champagne and she detailed some of the things they did in Youngsville after the 2016 flooding. She says it's all about priorities.

Water has no boundaries. So it won't stop... it's a regional issue. It's not just a parish issue. We plan. We prioritize and we continue to seek funding in Youngsville.

Some opponents have said that Champagne would the epitome of the internal struggle that every Mayor-President has had: balancing the needs of the city with the needs of the parish. Champagne says she is up for the challenge and had a similar experience as a legislator acting on behalf of voters in a large area geographically.

We asked her about businesses that have opted to locate in Youngsville over Lafayette and how does the Unified Development Code factor in. You can listen to the full interview with Simone Champagne below:

The Mayor-President candidate series continues tomorrow with Carlee Alm-Labar.