Randolph to rework cabinet, again

In Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph’s administration, change is constant.

Finance Director Dennis Muckelroy, in the position for less than a year, was fired last week, and Community Services Director Joni Tuck resigned after 19 months in her position, Muckelroy and Tuck said last week. Both said they felt like they departed parish government on good terms.

Randolph has already tabbed her selection to replace Muckelroy and will nominate the candidate – a civil service employee currently working in the parish’s finance department – at next week’s meeting, she said.

On the other hand, the Home Rule Charter does not mandate the parish to have a Community Services department, so Randolph could opt to eliminate the administrative position or otherwise restructure her cabinet. This decision has not yet been made, Randolph said.

Randolph told Muckelroy the department was being restructured and his would help cut costs, Muckelroy said. When asked if he felt the parish, which budgeted 4 percent raises for all employees this year, needed to cut salary spending, the departing finance director said the parish’s finances are in good standing.

“She told me she was basically trying to streamline our costs,” he said. “It was one of the cost-cutting measures she used that day.”

Because it is a personnel issue, Randolph declined to corroborate Muckelroy’s recollection.

Tuck left parish government to start work with the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, Randolph said. “It’s really where her interests lie, so it’s an excellent opportunity for her,” Randolph said.

The new job gives Tuck the opportunity to work on “tangible” projects in a variety of fields, including coastal restoration, Tuck said.

“I’ve really enjoyed and appreciated the role I’ve had with the parish,” Tuck said. “I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to serve the residents, the community and the administration – and the council, of course. But this is an opportunity to transition back into an industry that I have missed very much.”

The parish Charter allows Randolph the latitude to handpick her department heads, though all candidates must be ratified by a majority vote of the parish council. She has the authority to keep the directors employed as she sees fit.

Lafourche’s Charter further requires parish government to have at least three departments – Finance, Public Works and Civil Service – and directors to head each.

In a political climate that teeters on rancid, department heads serve at Randolph’s pleasure while also knowing the council can fire them with a seven-vote supermajority.

Randolph has said multiple times the council’s reputation for attempting to fire department heads, coupled with less salary flexibility than the private sector, has made it difficult to recruit candidates. The positions, often contingent upon the whims of the top executive, offer less long-term stability as the 2015 elections draw closer.

Last week’s departures make Parish Administrator Archie Chaisson III the longest-tenured Randolph appointment. Chaisson was ratified Jan. 8, 2013. Of department heads, Savonyé Anderson, director of Human Resources, has been in place the longest – since Feb. 26, 2013.

Also remaining are Don Edwards, in charge of Public Works, and Grayling Hadnott, who oversees Grants and Economic Development. Both were ratified July 23, 2013.

Muckelroy was hired April 9, 2013. Prior to joining Lafourche, he had senior-level finance experience at several casinos: Boomtown New Orleans, MGM Grand in Detroit, Mich., and Belle of Orleans, among others. He is a certified public accountant in Louisiana and Texas.

Muckelroy worked out of the Mathews Government Complex, though the parish’s Finance Department and the most of its staff are based in Thibodaux. Randolph said she’s yet to decide whether to return the directorship to the Thibodaux office.

“It was a good experience,” Muckelroy said. “I mostly worked in industry, so government was new to me. I felt like I brought a lot to the table for them.” His firing took him by surprise. “It came out of the blue. I couldn’t figure it out.”

Community Services oversees several parish services, including the animal shelter, recreation, Head Start, the coroner’s office and the Office of Community Action, according to the flow chart approved in the 2014 budget.

Criticism of the department has intensified over the past several months as the council and its auditor have questioned management of Community Action, which lost housing-rehabilitation grant funding, missed an application deadline for additional funds and may have overspent Community Services Block Grant funds, according to a report by the parish council’s internal auditor.

Tuck’s detractors said her lack of pre-Lafourche experience in managing federal assistance dollars and adhering to their cumbersome regulations was to fault for some of the department’s ills. Tuck maintains the department was in disarray prior to her appointment and said she spent a lot of time revamping the processes and in-house protocols to make management and disbursement of the funds more efficient.

In addition to the vacancy atop Community Services, the Office of Community Action is without an executive director. The parish council at its December meeting refused to confirm Erica Adams, current LIHEAP coordinator and the Community Action advisory board’s desired appointment.

Community Action has not had an executive director in more than a year, according to Debbie Triggs, president of the advisory board.

Instead of filling the position, the council deferred the appointment until February, after, Councilman Daniel Lorraine said, the state’s legislative auditor could review the office’s finances and program management.

Councilman Jerry Jones, who serves on the Community Action advisory board, called the Community Services leadership position a wasteful role, pointing out that the animal shelter, Head start and Community Action have their own directors. Jones said he would not support appointing anyone to that position.

For the Community Action director, Jones said he wouldn’t support any hire until the extent of lingering issues are identified and solved. Adams will continue serving as the interim director, he added.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s just not right,” Jones said. “Before we hire another director, the council is going to make sure it’s clean, so you won’t be passing the buck on the director that you hire.”

Charlotte Randolph