Editor’s note: Since the original publication of this story, Bell has resigned as chief administrative officer of the city-parish. His resignation came just hours after The Advocate reported inconsistencies between Bell’s résumé and credentials.
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome today concluded a several months-long search for Baton Rouge’s next chief administrative officer, naming former Walla Walla, Washington, Deputy City Manager Troy Bell to the city-parish’s No. 2 position.
Broome announced Bell’s hiring earlier today, adding that interim CAO William Daniel will become the city-parish’s director of environmental services.
Bell is scheduled to join Broome’s cabinet this week.
“Mr. Bell has an impressive, documented record of public service on federal, state and local levels, including administration in a number of U.S. cities. I am absolutely assured that he will successfully lead the daily operations of our city and parish,” Broome says in a statement.
The announcement about Bell’s hiring comes more than 100 days into Broome’s mayoral term.
Broome made finding a new CAO—and a police chief—an early priority of her administration, saying shortly after being elected that she intended to replace Daniel, who served under former Mayor Kip Holden and has remained in the position on an interim basis since Broome took office in January.
The mayor had told the Press Club of Baton Rouge she would name a new CAO within two weeks of her Feb. 27 appearance. The deadline lapsed, becoming one of several early delays of the new administration. Broome marked her first 100 days in office last week, telling Daily Report that she “learned her lesson” for publicly issuing a self-imposed deadline and that she was “concluding” the process of rounding out her administration.
Bell will manage the day-to-day operations at City Hall, supervising the city-parish’s three assistant chief administrative officers. Broome says she feels confident in the decision she’s made.
“I believe Mr. Bell is a passionate, community-centered public servant with a wealth of experience that will add value to my cabinet,” she says. “I welcome his experience and new ideas to help continue my administration’s mission of improving the quality of life for the people who live and work in our Capital Region.”
Bell, a former Miami police officer, has worked in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. A city-parish news release says he’s a continuing lecturer at Purdue University in Indiana and holds multiple bachelor’s degrees from the University of Miami, including in economics, international finance and a concentration in mechanical engineering. He also has a master of public administration from City University of New York’s Baruch College.
Bell previously served as special assistant to the city manager in Beverly Hills, California, and utility/public works capital programs director for Miami-Dade County in Florida. In a statement, Bell says his prior experience in strong mayor-governments in Florida and Indiana will be beneficial to his role in Baton Rouge.
“My work history is defined by a passion to serve, empower and improve communities,” he says.
And though Bell was terminated from his short-lived tenure as deputy city manager in Walla Walla, Washington, Allen Pomraning, the city’s mayor and council chairman, endorsed Bell in the city-parish’s statement.
“Mr. Bell is a facilitator for solutions that are ‘the right thing’ to do,” Pomraning says. “He is a man of the people and for the people, and the right person to help heal municipal challenges. Prepare for a city administrator who will move your city forward.”
