Why It's Important!

This is a historic moment for Lafayette!  It's as important as anything that has happened here in the last 50, maybe 100 years.  The proposed LUS fiber optic network is being put to a public vote --.we believe the date will be July 16th.

This effort is our way, as a community, to show our respect for the amazing cultural and civic past of Lafayette and to launch a grand new vision for our future.  It is a decision we must make together.  Do we say Yes! to our future or do we simply sit back and allow big out-of-state companies to tell us what to do and when to do it?

To us, it's not just about higher quality cable TV, telephone and high-speed internet services for less.  We believe that the LUS fiber optic network proposal represents an historic opportunity for the people of Lafayette.  It is another step in our progress that began more than 100 years ago when the people of Lafayette first voted to form a municipal electric utility.  Establishment of the railroad, the University, and the Oil Center are also prime examples of the visionary civic spirit of Lafayette.  Even the amazing growth our City has seen toward the south over the last 50 years could not have happened without the visionary leadership of Mayor Rayburn Bertrand (1960 to 1972) and the civic culture that supported him.

We are in a unique position in that we own our municipal electric utility and control our rights-of-way.  This allows us to implement the most advanced telecommunications infrastructure possible connecting us to the biggest markets and companies on earth.
Lafayette Yes!

This is important because Lafayette has historically sought this kind of linkage with the world.  For more than 50 years, Lafayette worked to find a way to build a deep-water port.  In fact, LEDA – the Lafayette Economic Development Authority was originally the “Harbor and Industrial Development Commission".  Civic leaders believed that a deep water port was the way to increase business and trade in and out of Lafayette while making the most of our cultural advantages.  Likewise, today, the LUS fiber optic network is our long-awaited opportunity to build a “digital deep-water port" enabling us to transact commerce with the entire world, while offering our unique cultural products and services to an expanding market.  And prospects for development of a robust local film industry, computer game industry center, and music industry cluster are greatly enhanced by this kind of technology.  This means good, high-paying jobs that our children will stay in Lafayette for.  And that is perhaps the most important thing.

I sincerely hope you will join this effort so that we can take our future into our own hands, and work together, ensuring a bright future for Lafayette.

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