DPW reorganization may influence next director choice

Current Director of Public Works William Daniel says the city-parish likely will promote his immediate replacement from within. However, that person may be an interim director, and the position may be re-examined once the department’s reorganization plan is ready in a few months. HNTB, a national infrastructure firm with a Baton Rouge location, is the lead consultant for the project that Daniel says will result in a new organization chart for DPW and lead to better service and efficiency. For example, he says, contractors would like a faster response time when they need to make change orders on a project. A big part of what’s driving the process, Daniel says, is the high-technology sewer system the city-parish is in the process of installing. “We’re trying to bring those same kinds of technological advances to the rest of DPW,” Daniel says. “We’re a paper-and-pencil organization, and we want to be an electronic organization. That’s the only way we’re going to be more efficient.” Mayor Kip Holden announced last week that his chief administrative officer, John Carpenter, would resign Friday, and that Daniel would replace Carpenter as CAO. —David Jacobs