The recipe for improving Lafayette's future starts with the simplest ingredient, one everyone knows but few ever conjure up - follow-through by passionate citizens.
It can't start with anything else, City-Parish President Joey Durel said Thursday to members of the705, a 3-month-old networking and service group for 18- to 40-year-olds in Lafayette. Change takes action and action takes energy. But energy is something young members of the705 seemed to have in ample supply.
"Soon Lafayette could be a great pivot-point with the I-10/I-49 intersection," said Alan Kryszewski, 30-year-old assistant vice president of financial systems at IberiaBank. After Durel's talk ended, Kryszewski started rolling on the boon this would have for Lafayette's reputation with trade companies, and his face lit up with excitement.
He knows his stuff, hitting facts and examples from other cities in rapid-fire fashion with a passion for the good this could do for his new home (Kryszewski moved from Texas). He wants to see Lafayette grow. Durel's point was that he should make it happen.
The705 want a role in the change facing Lafayette, which is proving to be Louisiana's most progressive city with projects like the LITE Center, and job and wage growth. Durel encouraged the705 to become a well-known community voice by attending public functions en masse, sending speakers to City-Parish Council meetings, and getting members onto a variety of local government committees.
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