If you wonder, as you read the new census numbers, why East Baton Rouge Parish is shrinking as a capital city, let’s look at CATS as a microcosm of the status quo in local government and the lack of excellence and leadership. Check out this timeline:
- April 2022: CATS fires its CEO, Bill Deville, after six years, claiming a scandal.
- June 2022: The CATS board names Dwana Williams as interim CEO. She had been with CATS since 2003. After 16 months, while a search is supposed to be in process, she abruptly resigns.
- August 2023: The CATS board names another interim CEO, Theo Richards, who had been employed with CATS since 2010.
- March 2024: After conducting a national search, CATS hires its interim CEO, Richards.
I am not a fan of CATS—our failed city bus system—and can’t say I was surprised by its new CEO hire. Well, not really “new.” Richards has been on staff for 14 years and was the second of back-to-back interim CEOs, serving for the last eight months.
Did the search committee and board select a robust, experienced, innovative leader who will finally clean up CATS and deliver for Baton Rouge and Baker? It hired a 14-year employee who most recently was director of business development and outreach. His previous experience was working for two nonprofits. I was told by one expert, “He is a nice guy but has no transit experience.”
Who were the other candidates from the search firm and did any of the best want this job? Was Richards the best selection, or was he simply local, likable and the one the committee and board got to know as interim CEO? In other words, the most risk averse. Go with the status quo as Baton Rouge often does—and make sure nothing changes.
Get the rest of columnist Rolfe McCollister’s take on CATS, as well as digital-only bonus content that includes his thoughts on the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition’s $2 million grant and a tribute to Tom Greene and Bob Greer Jr.
