Joel Robideaux

Mayor-President
Lafayette Consolidated Government
Lafayette, LA

Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux took office in January of 2016. Since then, Robideaux has pursued strategic, forward-thinking initiatives representative of the community known for its wildcatter spirit. Leveraging Lafayette’s talent and infrastructure for the betterment of the community, he has turned to Smart City approaches to enhance government’s ability to operate effectively and efficiently. Through bold and concentrated actions, Lafayette continues to garner praise as an innovative community in its approaches to addressing critical issues and creating transparency. Pushing Lafayette’s pioneer spirit to the ultimate test, the Robideaux administration earned a spot as a Champion City in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ 2018 Mayors Challenge, competing with 34 of the most innovative cities in the U.S. for $1-5 million to bring an innovative solution to life to address an urgent community issue. Under Robideaux’s leadership, Lafayette was named a 2017 Gigabit Community by the Mozilla Foundation, receiving $150,000 in grants. Lafayette’s innovative approaches were also spotlighted at the 2017 SXSW during the “Smart City Day.” Joining a lineup of Smart City leaders, Mr. Robideaux shared Lafayette’s long history of proven innovations, including LUS Fiber, the EPA Smart City Air Challenge and Cajun Code Fest.