The Baton Rouge Metro Council appears to be in the dark about the next step Mayor Sharon Weston Broome will take to fill the No. 2 position in city-parish government after newly hired Chief Administrative Officer Troy Bell resigned late Friday for allegedly lying about his credentials in his résumé.
In a statement issued Friday evening, Broome said she was “disappointed” that Bell withheld information during the hiring process. Her comments followed a report by The Advocate that Bell lied about having a master’s degree and appeared to have been fired from previous jobs from which he claimed to have resigned.
Several Metro Council members say they are not sure what comes next. A spokeswoman for Broome says she was unable to get a statement from the mayor in time for this morning’s publication, but says that Bell was slated to earn $144,019 as CAO. The pay range for the position is $89,748 to $149,155.
“As council members we have not gotten any information. I have no idea. I think the communications could be better,” Metro Councilwoman Barbara Freiberg says. “I’m just disappointed. It’s a shame we could go this long and have this many applications and still not have someone in place.”
Broome hired Bell last week following a lengthy and delayed national search to find someone to replace William Daniel, who served as CAO under former Mayor Kip Holden. Broome announced early on that she would find a new CAO and replace Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie, but Dabadie is still in office and there has been no public movement on that front.
Daniel served as interim CAO until Bell’s hiring, but is now serving as director of environmental services.
Councilwoman Tara Wicker, who served as an assistant CAO under former Mayor Bobby Simpson, stressed the importance of having a CAO to lead the administration’s staff and run the day-to-day operations of city-parish government. The CAO also often is the administration’s point person at the Metro Council.
“You’ve got to have that person who is leading the ship,” Wicker says. “Council members are curious about how things are going to be moving forward.”
Councilwoman Chauna Banks also says she hasn’t heard anything from the administration, adding that she hopes Broome will fill the position this week. Councilman Dwight Hudson, a Republican, echoed Banks sentiments.
“I would hope we can find a good, qualified replacement sooner rather than later,” says Hudson.
Republican Councilman Buddy Amoroso says he has been impressed with the Broome administration staffers he was worked with, and lauded the appointment of Daniel to environmental services. He says he hopes Broome will give an update at Wednesday’s council meeting.
—Sam Karlin
