Joey Durel

September 1, 2010 – Summary of Joey Durel’s visit

The second meeting in the Meet the CEO series was held in Moody Hall on September 1 and featured City-Parish President Joey Durel.  Lafayette businessman Joey Durel is in his second term as Lafayette City/Parish President, and is certainly no stranger to the Lafayette Community. Mr. Durel graduated from UL-Lafayette in 1975 with a degree in Business Administration.  His 27+ years of business experience, as well as his entrepreneurial spirit led him into several successful business ventures. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce.  Mr. Durel has made it a priority to have an open and accessible administration, meeting with anyone, anywhere, and hosts a weekly call-in radio show “Lafayette Live with Joey Durel” to discuss various issues in the community and to answer questions about Lafayette Consolidated Government.

The meeting featured a number of short conversations on a variety of business topics, a few highlights were:

    Mr. Durel’s entry into public service after many years of successful entrepreneurial ventures was on invitation by friends who had encouraged him to become more involved in the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce by electing him to the board.  He turned down their suggestion that he run for school board because he thinks that is one of the most impossible jobs in any community because of the conflict between expectations and resource constraints.
    He is a Republican but doesn’t see himself in his office as aligned to any political party as either republican or democrat.  His approach is to do what is best for the Lafayette community so that it is a better place for its citizens with opportunities for our children and future generations.
    His strength as a CEO is to bring various stakeholders together is to “listen” to people.
    He doesn't think citizens are against taxes because they are for the things like fire and police protection and transportation improvements that all citizens are for.  What they are against are taxes that never go away and money that is wasted on inefficient operations.  When going to the public in the future for tax increases, he is considering tying tax elections to several specific projects with the promise that these projects are completed the tax will go away.  He also focuses the administration on the most efficient use of tax revenues.
    Joey likes controversy and challenge. His experience in getting things done is to encourage opposition to ideas so that the case can be made. This is the way to make things happen.
    He is very proud of the accomplishments of the City and Parish of Lafayette – such as the fiber initiative and the attention we have received around the country on its success.
    He is keen to see a comprehensive plan put in place for the city and its surroundings to manage its growth.

Summary Points submitted by:  Dr. Joby John, Dean, and Dr. Brooke Hamilton, MCOBA