Hwy 308 reopened to traffic
June 28, 2011John Alford Ashley
June 30, 2011
Following a 29-minute executive session on Wednesday, eight of the 14 members present for a special session of the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority Board of Commissioners offered a majority vote to name Steve Vassallo as the parish’s business relations agency top administrator.
“I’m thrilled,” Vassallo said following the vote. “This is a great opportunity and I’m just overwhelmed.”
Vassallo has yet to complete negotiations with the board that could result in a three-year contract and base salary in a range from $76,105 to $105,000 plus benefits. “I’m comfortable within those parameters,” he said.
Vassallo has been operating his own economic development firm, Global Colors of Economic Success, since 2007 in Madison, Miss. His career in economic development dates back to 1987 and has taken him from Mississippi, to Texas, Colorado, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Voting in favor of Vassallo were board members, Don Hingle, Colin Seibert, Clarence Williams, Matthew Armand, Lori Davis, Morris Hebert and Mike Voisin. The one descending vote was an abstention cast by board commissioner and Tri-Parish Times owner Darrin Guidry, who questioned Vassallo’s past working relationship with Johnson and Associates, the search firm used by TEDA, from 1999 to 2007.
“I just didn’t feel like I could vote yes,” Guidry said. “In the same instance, he is a very qualified person. I didn’t feel strong enough to oppose this. It just left questions and I didn’t have all the answers, [but] I think he will be a good CEO.”
“We are very pleased and excited that we have what we feel is an excellent candidate for the new CEO of TEDA, subject to negotiations,” Board Chairman Hingle said.
Vassallo is expected to begin work as the new TEDA CEO on Aug. 8.
For more detailed coverage of this decision see next Wednesday’s Tri-Parish Times.
