AW 5 2019 KEITH KISHBAUGH 15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT VERSUS DOCKETNO.: c2! )lg?l f) I As THECITYOF LAFAYETTE LAFAYETTE PARISH, LOUISIANA GOVERNMENT, LAFAYETTE GOVERNMENT, and LAFAYETTE CITY-PARISH a: CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT :5 3? 73 1 F0 RELIEF 0* .3 4v! 1 KISHBAUGH, a resident of the full age Of majority of Lafayette Parish, Inuisialf'a, 7-0 appearing herein as plaintiff, and respectfully avers as follows: I I. Made defendants herein are THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE GOVERNMENT, THE PARISH OF LAFAYETTE GOVERNMENT, and THE FORMER LAFAYETTE CITY-PARISH CONSOLIDATED parties all being political entities and divisions of governmental entities in the state Of Louisiana, said parties being currently responsible for the governing of the City of Lafayette, governing the Parish of Lafayette, and formerly governing the Consolidated'City-Parish of Lafayette Parish. H. Recently, an election to amend the Home Rule Charter for the Lafayette City- Parish Consolidated Government took place. The Charter amendment was rati?ed by the . voters of the City of Lafayette and the Parish of Lafayette December 8, 2018, and subsequently promulgated by the council December 18, 2018. The amended Charter sets forth the descriptions and boundaries of the Lafayette Parish Council Districts and the. City of Lafayette Council Districts. 111. After rati?cation of the Charter amendment as referred to above; it was discovered that some existing precincts were inadvertently omitted from the Charter amendment Under the Charter, as amended, voters within the omitted precincts will not be permitted to vote in any elections called for the City council, Parish council, and/ or Consolidated City-Parish goVeI-nment. - 54830430243114 a 1 I 5 Apr 5 2019 12:03am IV. . The Lafayette Parish Council Districts and the City of Lafayette Council Districts are established in the Amended Charter by reference to existing precincts within the City of Lafayette and Lafayette Parish, speci?cally Art. Transitional Provisions, Section 8-01, Council Districts, deal with the subject. V. The current governance of the City of Lafayette and the Parish of Lafayette, the - Council and Mayor-President, have advised that the Lafayette City-Parish Council proposes to rectify the omission of the precincts referenced above by adopting Ordinance 0?042-2019 (?Ordinance?). The proposed Ordinance adds the omitted precincts, and voters residing in those precincts, back to these districts by amending the district descriptions set forth in Section 8-01 of the Amended Charter. VI. The Ordinance proposed, which is set to be passed by the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council, is an illegal measure which con?icts with the Charterof 'the Lafayette Consolidated Government, as well as the current City of Lafayette Government and Lafayette Parish Government, as Section of the Amended Charter states that the amendments ?that are necessary to carry out the election of City Council positions and Parish Council positions? become effective on promulgation, which . occurred December 18, 2018. Section 8?01 of the Amended Charter provides: Council districts for the election of the ?rst City Council members and Parish Council members for the elections authorized by Section of the Charter shall be as follows, and shall remain as follows until changed by reapportionment: [City and Parish Districts are then described in Section 8-01 by precinct]. Section 843$) of the Amended Charter provides that ?the ?rst election for City Council . members and Parish Council members whose positions are established by the - amendments to this Charter shall be held at the same time as the primary and general - elections for the election of governor in 2019.? Thus, the Amended Charter provides that the election of City and Parish Council members shall be held concurrently with the gubernatorial election in 2018 and shall be held in those districts established and described in Section 8401 of the Amended Charter. - #4830-6302?8114 a 2 I 5 . nor 5 2013 12203Dm VII. The mandatory provisions of the Amended Charter with respect to the ?rst election of members cannot be altered, amended or revised by Ordinance. La. Constitution Art. 7 Mon provides that ?a Home Rule Charter shall be adopted, amended, or repealed when approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon at an election held for that purpose.? izII. Consistent therewith, the Lafayette City-Parish Charter, as amended, provides in Section 7-03 that the Charter may be amended by submission for rati?cation of the quali?ed electors of the City-Parish Government. A charter amendment must be approved by a majority vote of the electors of the City of Lafayette and a majority vote of the electors of the Parish of Lafayette. Otherwise, there is nothing in the law or the Charter document that would allow the Council acting alone to amend the Charter. I According to the above, any changes in district boundaries for the purposes of the ?rst election of council members under the Amended Charter may be made only by further amendment to the Charter. Such changes cannot be made by Ordinance of the governing body and thus, the proposed Ordinance is one that is illegal and should be restrained. IX. Allowing the proposed Ordinance to go into effect disenfranchises the voters of the City of Lafayette and the Parish of Lafayette who have a right to vote on any change in the Charter, as that Charter, under the terms of the Charter and under Louisiana Constitution, acts as a constitution for the governing of the City of Lafayette and the l?arish of Lafayette. Those constitutional rights cannot be deprived of the citizens in the City of Lafayette and the Parish of Lafayette and thus, the proposed Ordinance, which would be a deprivation of the rights of the citizens of the City of Lafayette and the Parish of Lafayette, should be restrained. WHEREFORE, premises considered, plaintiff prays that after due prowedings had, there be judgment herein declaring that the proposed Ordinance, #0-042?2019 of #4830-6302-8114 a 3 5 ?305/008 4. - Apr 5 2019 12:04pm the City of Lafayette Council and the Parish of Lafayette Council, be declared illegal and that passage of such and enforcement of such be restrained as illegal. Respectfully submitted, BROWNS BY: . LANE ROY (#11513) 600 Jefferson Street, Suite/goo Lafayette, LA 70501 Tel: (337) 4844240 (337) 484-1241 E?mail: COUNSEL FOR: Keith Kishbaugh . . PLEASE SERVE: City of Lafayette Government Parish of Lafayette Government, and Former Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government Through the Mayor-President Joel Robideaux 705 'West University Avenue Lafayette, Louisiana 70506 an483