Jindal picks friends, allies for jobs

Gov. Bobby Jindal has repeated the same mantra for four years: “Who you know is not more important than what you know.”

But who you know certainly seems to help in the job application vetting process for Jindal’s administration.

A recent flurry of hires and appointments in the last few months since Jindal was re-elected include former parish presidents and former lawmakers, many of whom were either term-limited or lost bids for re-election, all of whom were Jindal allies.

Meanwhile, two members of the governor’s former chief of staff’s family have been moved into administration jobs, with nice paychecks.

They may all be qualified for their roles, but it seems unlikely that they got to their posts only because of their resumes.

Among the recent hires:

• Former St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis was chosen to take charge of Louisiana’s emergency preparedness office. As director of the Governor’s Office on Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Davis leads planning and response efforts to storms, floods and other disasters in the state. He was unable to run for a fourth term as parish president because of term limits.

• Former St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro was tapped to lead Louisiana’s hazard mitigation efforts for the Jindal administration. In a newly-created job, Taffaro oversees programs that dole out money for elevating homes and making other improvements to houses and public infrastructure to protect against future storms. Taffaro was appointed to the position after losing his re-election bid in the fall.

• Former state Rep. Jane Smith was appointed as deputy secretary of the Department of Revenue in the governor’s administration. Smith, a Republican from Bossier City, was term-limited from the state House and was defeated this fall in an election for a Senate seat.

• Matt Parker, brother-in-law of Jindal’s former chief of staff and continued political adviser Timmy Teepell, was hired as the governor’s intergovernmental affairs director. He had worked as campaign manager for Jindal’s 2011 successful re-election bid.

• Teepell’s brother, Taylor Teepell, was picked as Jindal’s deputy legislative affairs director. He had been director of the state Republican Party’s Victory Fund, the fundraising arm for this fall’s elections.

• Teepell’s former executive assistant, Melissa Henderson Mann, was chosen as the new legislative liaison for the Department of Transportation and Development in the Jindal administration.

Most recently, the Republican governor tapped three former lawmakers to be on the pardon board, one of a few state government boards that give an annual salary to their members.

The pardon board jobs pay $36,000 a year. The panel makes recommendations to the governor about clemency and pardon applications from convicted individuals.

Jindal selected former state House members Rickey Hardy of Lafayette, Henry “Tank” Powell of Ponchatoula and M.J. “Mert” Smiley of St. Amant to the board.

Hardy, a Democrat who supported Jindal in several legislative initiatives, lost his bid for re-election in the fall. Powell, a Republican who was term-limited from the House in 2008, was first appointed by Jindal during the governor’s first term.

Smiley, a Republican and Jindal legislative ally, left the House to run for Ascension Parish assessor. He can serve on the pardon board for one year, until he takes office as assessor in January 2013. Jindal then will have to name a replacement for the rest of the four-year term.

Jindal’s spokesman, Frank Collins, defended the hiring and appointment decisions, saying those tapped for the jobs had the needed qualifications and experience.

“The governor has made over 3,000 appointments since he’s been in on office. The bottom line is the governor appoints people who support his agenda for moving the state forward, not the other way around,” Collins said in a statement.

And certainly, knowing the governor n and having the right political ties n doesn’t hurt.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Melinda Deslatte covers Louisiana politics for The Associated Press.