Parish Council chair chastises fellow council members over library board delay
Parish Council Chair A.B. Rubin opened this week’s meeting with a condemnation of the Lafayette Library Board of Control.
He singled out what he called religious influence over the board and the council’s appointments to it, saying it is hurting the library’s ability to offer the best services.
“I can pray with the best. I can quote the Bible with some of the best. But is that proper?” he asked the room. “Imagine if we had all Muslims up here, all Malcolm Xs up here, all David Dukes up here. Would that represent our community? No, it wouldn’t.”
His remarks follow the council’s Oct. 7 decision to delay appointing a new member to the library board, instead of choosing one of the two applicants who met the deadline. Rubin called the applicants “very qualified,” but council members John Guilbeau, Bryan Tabor and Ken Stansbury moved to repost the position, with the appointment for the seat currently held by board member Erasto Padron Jr. now set for November.
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Rubin doubled down at this week’s meeting, blaming conservative activist Michael Lunsford for the delay. Lunsford’s organization, Citizens for a New Louisiana, has stirred activism in library controversies across the state. Parish Council members have consulted with Lunsford on board appointments in the past.
“I think [Lunsford] was the one who was behind the want to delay it as well,” Rubin said to open the meeting.
Reached for comment, Lunsford did not answer whether he had direct conversations with council members about the delay, nonetheless saying he supported it and has encouraged others to apply for the open seat.
“We don’t make any selections…the parish council does their own research,” says Lunsford. “If AB Rubin doesn’t like who gets appointed, he is in the minority party.”
The board has clashed with the library advocates and Rubin, most recently over the new Northeast Regional Library, where board members spoke several times against putting the library on leased land at Holy Rosary.