Affiliation: University of Arizona

In order to get a wider perspective of the oil and gas industry in Lafayette, the research team decided it would be important to interview community leaders, in addition to oilfield workers. The team reached out to several government officials including Joey Durel, the Lafayette City Mayor and Parish President. We called his office and explained the oral history project to his secretary, Becky Perez. Becky helped us schedule an interview with Mr. Durel on July 29th at his office.

Joey Durel was the Lafayette City Mayor and Parish President at the time of his interview. He was serving his third term. Mr. Durel was born and raised in Lafayette, attended ULL, and began his career in business. He became Chairman of the Board of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce in 2001 and began serving his first term as mayor and president in January 2004. Mr. Durel shared his perspective on how the oil and gas industry developed and impacted Lafayette.