[StBernard] [LANDRIEU] Senior Landrieu Aide to Lead Louisiana Recovery Authority

[Westley Annis]

Senior Landrieu Aide to Lead

Louisiana Recovery Authority
Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal names Landrieu Legislative Director 

Paul Rainwater as new LRA Executive Director.

 

WASHINGTON - Paul Rainwater, Legislative Director and Chief of Operations
for U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., was today named Executive Director
of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) by Governor-elect Bobby Jindal,
R-La.  The Lake Charles, La., native will begin work in the new position
when the governor-elect is sworn in on January 14.  The LRA is the state's
principal planning and coordinating agency for managing the recovery from
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the devastating failure of federal levees
that followed.

"Governor-elect Jindal could not have chosen a better candidate to lead our
state's continued recovery," Sen. Landrieu said today.  "From the
battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to the flooded neighborhoods of south
Louisiana after the storms, Paul Rainwater came to Capitol Hill with a solid
track record for steady leadership and dedicated service.  

"He was a key player in securing the $3 billion to help make the Road Home
whole, and his reform-minded stewardship will benefit all Louisianians
tremendously in the months ahead."

Rainwater previously served as the Director of Hazard Mitigation and
Intergovernmental Affairs for the LRA from June 2006 to January 2007. There
he managed the hazard mitigation program's policies, served as the agency's
hazard mitigation team leader, coordinated with state and federal agencies
to set mitigation priorities, coordinated with the FEMA Region 6 hazard
mitigation team and served as a spokesperson at 64 public hearings and
meetings on recovery efforts. 

Rainwater is also currently serving as a lieutenant colonel in the
Congressional Liaison Office of the Louisiana National Guard. He previously
served as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves' 336th
Finance Command from August 2005 to May 2007. 

He was deployed to Kuwait and Afghanistan as the lead finance officer for
military operations from November 2001 to May 2002, and was deployed to
Kuwait and Iraq as part of the Southwest Asia Personnel Command in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom from January 2004 to December 2004. 

Rainwater has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation
Medal, and the Combat Action Badge. 


>From July 2000 to June 2006, Rainwater served as the Chief Administrative

Office for the City of Lake Charles, managing 10 department heads, serving
as the lead on the development of a $90 million budget, and coordinating
state and federal capital outlay requests. 

Rainwater formerly served as the Manager of Governmental Affairs for Conoco,
Inc., Gulf Coast Business Unit in Baton Rouge from 1998 to July 2000. He
also previously served as the Manager for Public Affairs for ARCO Chemical
in Lake Charles from 1995 to May 1998, managing community affairs programs
and coordinating state and federal legislative initiatives. From 1988 to
1996, Rainwater served as an Administrative Aide to the Parish Administrator
on the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury in Lake Charles. 

Rainwater has a bachelor's of arts in government from McNeese State
University, a master's degree in international relations from Salve Regina
University in Rhode Island, and is a Louisiana State University-Certified
Local Government Manager.

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