The New Iberia City Council unanimously voted to hire a new demographer for redistricting and and reapportionment services, largely due to what council members called the “turmoil” of this upcoming election.

Mayor Freddie DeCourt brought two proposals from separate demographers to the council during the meeting. The first was Mike Hefner who had been used by city government during the census 10 years ago and was also used by Iberia Parish Government and the Iberia Parish School Board during the recent census.

Hefner’s proposal came in at $12,900, while the other demographer, Cedric Floyd, came in at $15,000.

“It’s time to pick one and begin to work and go through each district,” DeCourt said. “This is a big topic, this has affected our upcoming marshal’s race because 30 polling places are closed and that has been a real issue.”

DeCourt said the city is spending more than $6,000 in advertising to inform local residents where they their polling location is due to the closing of multiple locations.

City Councilwoman Deidre Ledbetter said she was not in favor of choosing Hefner for the job as a result of the confusion.

“He was the one who engineered our current situation for our upcoming election where we have so many less polling precincts and sites,” Ledbetter said. “I’m (not) of a persuasion to use somebody who pushed something on the parish council and didn’t give them a lot of time to understand what’s going on.”

Councilwoman Deedy Johson-Reid agreed, saying there was no “Plan B” in orchestrating the November election.

“Now we have to get citizens trying to solve a problem of government, so I’m not in favor of using him as well,” Johnson-Reid said.

DeCourt said that he had already interviewed Floyd, and was impressed by his work experience. Councilman Dustin Suire added that although Floyd was more expensive, the payoff may be worth it.

“Seeing what the parish went through, are we willing to go through what they had to go through for over $2,100?” he asked. “I know there’s times we have to be conservative, but in this case I think we should make the right decision.”

With every council member agreeing with the change, the vote was unanimous to hire Floyd for the redistricting work.

In other business, the council also unanimously passed a resolution opposing the closure of any railroads in the city of New Iberia.

DeCourt said the resolution came after a town hall meeting was held, where more than 50 local residents attended to voice their concerns over the possible closure of railroads.

“We did this in my last term and it’s the same issue,” DeCourt said. “We told them then we didn’t want to close them, and we’re doing it again to say we had a message at the town hall meeting.”

Councilman David Broussard said the state Department of Transportation and Developmenet has to pay the railroad company between $200,000 to $300,000 for each crossing, which was the cause of the state’s desire to shut down some of the many crossings in New Iberia.

“They already closed (the crossings) on Lee and Prairie (streets),” Broussard said. “Now they’re talking about closing Caroline and Providence (streets), and we’re sending a message that we don’t want any closed.”

Ledbetter said that one of her main questions to the state DOTD has yet to be answered, namely that if the crossing on Caroline Street was closed would the state widen the road on Glenn Street so that more traffic would be able to flow through.

“It’s not wide enough for larger vehicles,” Ledbetter said. “It’s really small and that’s an inconvenience that would cost the city money.”

Johnson-Reid added that the closure of the railroad crossing on Lee Street has caused “a mess” in that area.

“If anybody ever had to ride on Lee Street where its closed, it’s so difficult to get to where you’re going because of them closing that crossing,” Johnson-Reid said. “We can not have another situation like that.”

The council unanimously voted on the resolution of opposition. The resolution will be sent to the state DOTD.