Aldermen Confront Voters
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Two Opelousas Aldermen lashed out Tuesday night, criticizing prospective voters opposed to supporting a 1-cent sales tax renewal scheduled to be placed on the ballot during a Saturday election sometime in August.
Aldermen Marvin Richard and John Guilbeaux each spoke separately during the end of a regular Board of Aldermen meeting, although the tax election item was not listed as an agenda item.
Mayor Julius Alsandor opened the door for comment on the election topic before the meeting adjourned.
Alsandor mentioned that state lawmakers had unanimously approved on Tuesday, a legislative bill sponsored by State Representative Dustin Miller, which allows the city to call a special citywide election in order to place the tax proposition on the ballot..
The Board has called a special May 22 meeting to discuss whether to approve a resolution to place the election on an August ballot.
Alsandor has said that he and members of administration failed to act in time in order to place a tax renewal election on the ballot earlier in 2025.
As a result, the 15-year tax expired, necessitating the prospective election in August.
Richard, elected as the city’s alderman-at-large, said voters should look beyond their personal feelings and vote for the tax, which Alsandor said represents about 30 percent or $5 million of the annual municipal budget.
Opelousas, Richard said, has a chance to continue moving forward if the tax is renewed.
“It’s time to do the right thing for the city,” Richard said.
Richard blasted individuals who have hard-launched social media posts which indicate reasons why they think the tax proposition should fail.
Failure to approve the tax Richard said, will result in serious consequences for residents who depend on services normally provided by the city.
“If you vote no, there are going to be layoffs. If you don’t know that is going to happen, then you don’t know what’s going on,” Richard said.
Richard asked voters to avoid making the election personal, that is voting against the tax because they dislike any elected or appointed city official.
Guilbeaux, who is serving a first term as an alderman, said if voters have complaints about city-provided services now, things will become much worse if the tax fails.
“Just think about it. If you take away five or six million dollars from a budget, then what is the city going to be operating on?” Guilbeaux asked.
Guilbeaux said city revenues are at this point nearly insufficient to maintain proper operation.
“You look around and you can see the city is struggling now. Now just imagine if we don’t have that money. Think about it. We don’t pass the tax and it’s only going to get worse,” Guilbeaux added.
Guilbeaux also referenced the effect a tax failure would have on city employees.
“You take away all that money and ask yourself how are they going to feed their families? You need to stand up for what’s right and take a stand.
“If you don’t think we need this sales tax then you’re not for the city of Opelousas,” said Guilbeaux.
