May 28—A local rule to ensure at least one of the seven members appointed to the Lafayette Airport Commision is Black is discriminatory and must stop, the Federal Aviation Administration has determined.
The Lafayette City and Parish councils on Tuesday are expected to consider introducing an ordinance removing the requirement that one of the City Council's three appointments to the airport commission be a Black resident.
Seven people are appointed to the Lafayette Airport Commission, including three by the City Council, two by the Parish Council, one by the mayor-president and one collectively by the mayors of the other five municipalities in the parish. Only the City Council is required to appoint a Black person to the commission.
Gene Roth, director of the National External Operations Program, FAA Office of Civil Rights, in a May 13 letter to the airport commission's attorney, said the racial requirement "does not comply with the Commission's nondiscrimination obligations."
While the requirement for a Black appointee may seem like a way to overcome historic discrimination based on race, Roth wrote that it sets up different qualifications for different airport commission appointees, which is discriminatory, no matter how well-meaning the intent.
"With the quota for the single position satisfied, decision makers and the public might be unconcerned that the remainder of the Commission members are not representative of the local community," Roth wrote. "Even if that is not the current result, it is a risk in any future selections."
The current Airport Commission includes two Black representatives, Samuel Pierre and Patrick Edmond Sr., both appointed in late 2019 by the former City-Parish Council, which has since been split into the City Council and Parish Council.
"The FAA is a funding mechanism" for Lafayette Regional Airport, Pierre said Thursday. "I entirely disagree with (the rule), but at the same time, what can I possibly say or do if they are a source of our funding?"
The airport has received more than $40 million in recent years, including funds to build a new terminal that could be open in the fourth quarter of 2021, Steven Picou, airport executive director, said Thursday.
"If the council doesn't adopt this, then we are not in compliance with our grant assurances and we are jeopardizing millions of dollars for the airport potentially," he said. "The FAA could pull funding for the airport."
The rule the FAA cites, Picou said, has been in effect for many years. During an in-depth study of the Lafayette airport, the FAA found the airport commission racial requirement and said it has to change.
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