The parishioners of St. Edward Catholic Church have waited years for a multi-purpose building that could be used for events, but with the project moving forward some are concerned about who exactly is constructing the building. 

A peaceful protest was held Saturday morning at St. Edward where a dozen or so congregants arrived to decry the lack of minority contractors for the new building, which is being called the family life center. 

Organizer and New Iberia City Councilwoman Deidre Ledbetter said parishioners did not have enough transparency about who was being subcontracted for the building or how much was being spent. 

“We have been an African-American parish,” Ledbetter said. “We need, in my opinion, some minority contractors and subcontractors to be involved in the project for our church.”

Ledbetter pointed to an administrative building near the protest as an example. She said the building had not been built by minority contractors, but a smaller storage building near it was done almost exclusively by minority contractors. 

Ledbetter said the parishioners did not have enough access to the bidding documents and other information about the construction of the new building. The final authority of the project is in the hands of the church’s pastor, she said. 

Merv Boyance, a parishioner at St. Edward and HVAC contractor, said he had put in a bid for subcontract for the construction of the building, but was told that he was not the lowest bidder. 

“I sent an email to the contractor and asked if there were any minority subcontractors that bid, I did not get a reply,” Boyance said. I attended this school; baptism, first communion, confirmation, my roots are here. 

“My father’s roots are here, my grandfather and great-grandfather helped put the foundation for this church,” he added. “With all the tithes they did and the period of time they came up through life, I believe they would like to see parishioners who are minority work on this project.”

Boyance also said that he was told by the church’s pastor that the pastor didn’t care about the church’s history. 

“It’s time to say ‘no this is not acceptable,’ Ledbetter said. “We don’t have information, we don’t have minority contractors and we don’t have parishioner contractors that are going to be used on the new family life center.”