LWV-Lafayette assisted in forming "Doorways", an informal alliance of individuals and organizations, based on these mutual beliefs and needs for local housing.

LWV-Lafayette assisted in forming "Doorways", an informal alliance of individuals and organizations, based on these mutual beliefs and needs for local housing. Alliance members worked towards selection of a full board for the Lafayette Housing Authority and supported the implementation of PlanLafayette, the comprehensive long-range plan or "guidebook" for the parish's growth, development and redevelopment.

Doorways believes that the community cannot solve Lafayette's growing housing needs with single-family homes alone, nor only with federal, state, private, church and other non-profit resources. Grassroots community involvement and participation in finding the resources is necessary to meet the ever- growing needs of our residents who are in the 30-60% of average median income.

Doorways believe that the implementation of the housing and neighborhood elements of Lafayette Consolidated Government's PlanLafayette requires public pressure to address these needs and that this is the right time to:

• Heighten community awareness of the lack of lower cost housing alternatives to single-family dwellings as Lafayette's economy grows.
• Create suitable, affordable and diverse housing inventory in balanced mixed income, mixed-use new development, infill and redevelopment projects, and in use of adjudicated properties to meet the needs of all types of households.
  • Increasing housing options for:
  • single person households
  • retirees
  • disabled individuals
  • low income households
  • homeless
  • those at risk to become homeless
• Promote additional sustainable housing trusts and investment incentives or subsidies for funding/providing lower cost housing alternatives public, private, and non-profit at least a part of which require holding the initial and resale prices and rent at or below market value.
• Mitigate the potential impacts of the future I-49 Connector in surrounding neighborhoods.
• Facilitate sustainable, active interagency collaboration and coordination to promote and supplement the housing programs of the federal government and the private and non-profit sector.
• Examine oversight of local compliance/enforcement of regulations.
• Establish permanent rather than temporary housing as the prevention for homelessness.
• Prevent economic, ethnic, and social isolation of any segment of the Lafayette community.
• Advocate preservation and adaptive re-use of existing structures.

POWERING LAFAYETTE'S ELECTRICAL FUTURE

With the Sierra Club Acadiana Group, LWV-Lafayette formed a coalition, "Powering Lafayette's Electrical Future", to address:

the lack of legal clarity in the Lafayette Consolidated Government's charter as to the City-Parish Council's being the final voting authority for matters of the City of Lafayette-owned Lafayette Utilities System or the charter's designated authority, the Lafayette Public Utilities Authority, the LPUA. the need for a formal process of including public participation in discussing and creating LUS' required integrated resource plan (IRP) on a regular basis.

A blog, Powering Lafayette, developed by members of the collaboration between the Sierra Club Acadiana Group and the Lafayette League of Women Voters, publishes occasional short articles on locally-relevant public information broadly related to local electrical power generation planning, governance, management, usage, costs, and potential savings.

LAFAYETTE GARDEN CLUB

The League has partnered with the Lafayette Garden Club for

a forum on recycling a half-day workshop on water conservation publication and dissemination of recycling information for Lafayette Parish.

LAFAYETTE UTILITIES SYSTEM

The League of Women Voters of Lafayette partnered with the Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) to sponsor "Smart Changes, Huge Saving", an Energy Efficiency Workshop. Open to all residential and small business owners and developers, the workshop focused on energy efficiency measures that can lead to huge savings of energy and money.

The workshop was presented under the auspices of PlanLafayette, the comprehensive long-range plan or "guidebook" for the parish's growth, development and redevelopment, as part of the action plan to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy use as it is related to the Policy on Housing and Neighborhoods within the comprehensive plan.