The City Council of Lafayette convened on December 16, 2025, to conduct routine approvals, honor former Mayor J.D. Monge, and address critical public safety and operational issues. The meeting featured public testimony regarding cemetery burial moratoriums, trail safety, and airport noise, followed by detailed staff reports on winter mobility, fiscal year accomplishments, and emergency preparedness for an impending wind event. A significant portion of the agenda was dedicated to formally declaring a vacancy caused by the former Mayor's resignation and establishing a timeline for filling the seat.
We did that. Okay. So do you want to make the one? I couldn't figure out how to stand used this. I don't know that he's the one with the keyboard. You need your car to authenticate. Do you have to authenticate on your phone? I forgot my phone calls if I had to pay them. If we get all cultures, Mayor Tapia Vega. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Barnes. Here. Councilor Friedman. Councilor Gallegos. Good evening. Counselor Gianola. Here. And Counselor Jensen. Here. Mayor, we have a quorum. I move to excuse uh Council Friedman and Councilor Friedman. Counselor Friedman. I second. Great. We have a motion. We have a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no. We will move right into the public input. For those of you who wish to speak, please fill out a speaker request form there in the back through that glass door right there. Will you come up? Please just state your name and address, and you'll have five minutes to speak. We'll start with Frank Archelletta. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, council members and staff here. I'm directing uh this this evening to the new council members so they can get a better understanding what transpired at the Loftus Cemetery. Education and results. New council members, I will contribute knowledge to you about the Loftus Cemetery, so you will be able to understand this tragic history. The story of the Lofty Cemetery needs to be told. As we admit and concede that the situation at the cemetery was serious, and it was a mistake and illegal to dig up babies who were buried and were dug up to allow other human beings to be buried in the baby's plots. Is there any regret, sorrow, remorse, and a sense of guilt for the past wrong causation and motivation? The only reason why this mistake happened is because the clerks, the Saxons did not log in their record books, maps, or database, they hang burial plots of a hundred or more. Do not forget they pay and they own these burial plots. 150 letters went out, but there could be 300, 400, 500 people still need to be buried at that cemetery. Council, your voice and words matter. You must apply moral clarity, common sense, and judgment to the critical cemetery issue. With that being said, here folks, I know for a fact for over 70 years what transpired at the cemetery.