On this short holiday week, officials working on the reorganization of the Department of Public Works that East Baton Rouge Parish voters recently approved told Daily Report they expect the transition to take months.
“In the very short run everything will stay the same,” says Christel Slaughter of SSA Consultants, which is working with the city-parish on the reorganization. “But over the next 60 days things are going to have to start changing rather quickly.”
The reorganization plan, which required an amendment to the city-parish Plan of Government, becomes official Jan. 15. At that point, six unclassified department head positions will have to be created, which requires approval from the Metro Council and the Personnel Board. Salaries will have to be set for those positions.
Also this week, Forum 35 discussed its new logo and rebranding effort with Daily Report. It marks the first time since the organization’s inception 21 years ago that the young professionals group has gotten an updated look, and the organization’s leaders says it’s meant to reinvigorate membership as it looks for its next big project.
“Going into the 21st year—into the next 10 to 20 years—we wanted to get something that could give us a spark,” says Forum 35 President Eric Dexter.
—Steve Sanoski Read the complete Daily Report Week in Review.
