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Obtructionism

The issue de jure in Lafayette is the continuing obstructionism of both incumbents, but most noticeably BellSouth, even after the city voted for a fiber optic utility in July. The incumbents have worked hard to use the State Public Service Commission, the courts and even the legislative auditor's office as tools to overturn the vote. They've been stymied at every turn having lost at both the PSC and the courts.

[Watch this space for a link to a more extensive analysis of incumbent misbeheavior.]

The incumbent's most valuable tool has been the "Municipal Fair Competition Act." Its clauses have provided the basis for both regulatory and legal challenges. The city-parish agreed to this law, reluctantly, as a compromise arrangment with which both sides could live. The law and its meaning was hammered out in detail in long meetings between all the concerned parties. BellSouth has consistently betrayed this agreement.

Lafayette Coming Together agrees with the officials of Lafayette and New Orleans who have called for the law's repeal.and is working for that repeal.

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This page was once home to a "Frequently Asked Questions" Page concerning the Lafayette Fiber to the Home Referendum. That page can be accessed in our archive.