The Heyman Center in Lafayette is expected to have a full house tonight, as Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux will give his annual city address.

Expanding on culture and technology, and how the two intertwine, are some of the main facets Mayor-President Joel Robideaux will focus on tonight.

As part of the theme, Robideaux is expected to provide an update on his CREATE imitative to support the cultural economy. This is an effort supported with $500,000 in annual property tax that voters were convinced in 2017 to rededicate from other purposes. He will also touch on other hot-button issues like drainage. Mayor-President says drainage will always be a problem in this area, but their goal is to work smarter on how they address it, maintain it and ensures the public is always involved.

“If it gets to the point that there’s more money that’s needed then we’ll have that conversation. We’ll be open about it and say, this is what we think. But we’re not there yet. The public has allowed us to rededicate some existing tax dollars. We’re going to spend that money. We’re going to do it wisely. We’re going to make it transparent to the public. And then, I think we’ll start establishing a really good relationship with the public and letting them know we are being good Stuarts of their money,” said Robideaux.

In his annual address, Roubideaux is also expected to unveil new initiatives aimed at government transparency and efficiency. A culture and technology showcase will follow the report.