City Parish Council TRIPLES Bus Fare for the Disabled
Please call the council and the parish president to express your disgust and displeasure!
Below is a letter I sent off to the Advertiser and to our beloved City Parish Council who TRIPLED the rates for bus fare for the disabled in Lafayette last night. Please, if you feel outraged like I do, contact them also, and forward this to others who will do the same. This is a portion of our popluation who can least afford this.
Cheramie
Upon hearing yesterday of the increase in rates in the Lafayette ParaTransit bus system, I was appalled. This bus service carries the city's disabled from one scheduled destination to another for a rate of fifty cents each way. Last night, Lafayette's City Parish Council increased this to $1.50 per ride.
This makes no sense at all as this segment of the population, the disabled, can least afford an increase in spending, particularly a tripling in their travel budget. While I understand that gas prices are increasing, what the Council neglects to realize is that Disability Checks are not increasing and neither are wages.
If an increase in fares was necessary, I do not understand why it was not a small increase or a gradual increase over time. Who among us can say that we can handle a 300% increase in spending in any area of our budgets?
What this increase also does is to effectively triple a portion of these individuals' budgets when they have no other alternative for travel. They utilize this service because they are disabled - they cannot drive. So, they will be held hostage for this fare increase even if they cannot pay it and many of them will have to sacrifice other essential items in their budgets to pay for this.
And, as they could not drive, they were not likely to be able to arrive at the October 7, 2008, meeting to discuss this issue. The Council has effectively targeted a section of the population that is unable to fight this issue and passed this increase rather quietly. While they would not and could not have attempt to pass a 300% increase to any facet of life that affected the River Ranch dwellers of this city without extreme protest and, in all likelihood, a resounding defeat, they can and have done so to a largely underrepresented population.
And while in Democratic societies we boycott services or products that we feel are overpriced, these individuals will be largely unable to do so. The people who use this service often have no other means of transportation and need this service to get to doctor's visits, to work, and to other destinations. This service is the key to freedom and travel for the people who use it and now they will have no choice but to pay for it.
The above is a letter I sent to the city parish council of the city and to the local newspaper.
If you would like to contact the council and the city parish president:
Call them and see how your council person voted: (337) 291-8800. Ask them to call you back. I did. And e-mail them too.
Here are all of their e-mail addresses and Joey Durel's too:
KeithPatin@lafayettela.gov, PurvisMorrison@lafayettela.gov, JayCastille@lafayettela.gov, BrandonShelvin@lafayettela.gov, KennethBoudreaux@lafayettela.gov, JaredBellard@lafayettela.gov, BruceConque@lafayettela.gov, DonBertrand@lafayettela.gov, WilliamTheriot@lafayettela.gov, president@lafayettegov.com
Here's how to tell who your council person is:
http://gis.lafayettela.gov/website2/CouncilDistricts_081602/viewer.htm
Local media outlets:
The Daily Advertiser -- http://www.theadvertiser.com/
The Advocate -- http://www.2theadvocate.com/
The Independent -- www.theind.com/
The Times of Acadiana -- www.timesofacadiana.com/
KLFY TV10: http://www.klfy.com/
KATC TV-3: www.katc.com/
Below is a letter I sent off to the Advertiser and to our beloved City Parish Council who TRIPLED the rates for bus fare for the disabled in Lafayette last night. Please, if you feel outraged like I do, contact them also, and forward this to others who will do the same. This is a portion of our popluation who can least afford this.
Cheramie
Upon hearing yesterday of the increase in rates in the Lafayette ParaTransit bus system, I was appalled. This bus service carries the city's disabled from one scheduled destination to another for a rate of fifty cents each way. Last night, Lafayette's City Parish Council increased this to $1.50 per ride.
This makes no sense at all as this segment of the population, the disabled, can least afford an increase in spending, particularly a tripling in their travel budget. While I understand that gas prices are increasing, what the Council neglects to realize is that Disability Checks are not increasing and neither are wages.
If an increase in fares was necessary, I do not understand why it was not a small increase or a gradual increase over time. Who among us can say that we can handle a 300% increase in spending in any area of our budgets?
What this increase also does is to effectively triple a portion of these individuals' budgets when they have no other alternative for travel. They utilize this service because they are disabled - they cannot drive. So, they will be held hostage for this fare increase even if they cannot pay it and many of them will have to sacrifice other essential items in their budgets to pay for this.
And, as they could not drive, they were not likely to be able to arrive at the October 7, 2008, meeting to discuss this issue. The Council has effectively targeted a section of the population that is unable to fight this issue and passed this increase rather quietly. While they would not and could not have attempt to pass a 300% increase to any facet of life that affected the River Ranch dwellers of this city without extreme protest and, in all likelihood, a resounding defeat, they can and have done so to a largely underrepresented population.
And while in Democratic societies we boycott services or products that we feel are overpriced, these individuals will be largely unable to do so. The people who use this service often have no other means of transportation and need this service to get to doctor's visits, to work, and to other destinations. This service is the key to freedom and travel for the people who use it and now they will have no choice but to pay for it.
The above is a letter I sent to the city parish council of the city and to the local newspaper.
If you would like to contact the council and the city parish president:
Call them and see how your council person voted: (337) 291-8800. Ask them to call you back. I did. And e-mail them too.
Here are all of their e-mail addresses and Joey Durel's too:
KeithPatin@lafayettela.gov, PurvisMorrison@lafayettela.gov, JayCastille@lafayettela.gov, BrandonShelvin@lafayettela.gov, KennethBoudreaux@lafayettela.gov, JaredBellard@lafayettela.gov, BruceConque@lafayettela.gov, DonBertrand@lafayettela.gov, WilliamTheriot@lafayettela.gov, president@lafayettegov.com
Here's how to tell who your council person is:
http://gis.lafayettela.gov/website2/CouncilDistricts_081602/viewer.htm
Local media outlets:
The Daily Advertiser -- http://www.theadvertiser.com/
The Advocate -- http://www.2theadvocate.com/
The Independent -- www.theind.com/
The Times of Acadiana -- www.timesofacadiana.com/
KLFY TV10: http://www.klfy.com/
KATC TV-3: www.katc.com/