[StBernard] Newly elected St. Bernard leaders look toward the future

[Westley Annis]

Newly elected St. Bernard leaders look toward the future

wwltv.com

Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:31 PM

Updated yesterday at 11:02 PM

CHALMETTE, La. -- David Peralta won't officially take office until the
second week of January, but he's already putting in work as St. Bernard
president-elect.

Monday, Peralta said he's focused on building a transition team and learning
more about the parish's finances.

"There's budget hearings going on now. I'm attending those budget hearings.
Once we find that out, that's the first order of business, obviously. We
have to make sure government continues to run as smooth as possible," he
said.

The transition comes after Peralta scored an upset win in Saturday's runoff,
unseating incumbent Craig Taffaro by fewer than 600 votes.

"I think they saw a fresh face, a fresh voice, someone that they hope will
listen to them," Peralta said. "One of the things I've promised from the
very beginning is transparency. I think it's one of the most important
things we can do, Scott. I think it's paramount."

It's a reason Peralta said he'll push for the creation of an independent
inspector general position in St. Bernard -- something that would require a
legislative change and, ultimately, an approval from voters.

He believes it'll happen.

"The biggest complaint we heard was, what's going on in government? They
didn't feel like they knew what was going on and they certainly didn't feel
that they were part of government," Peralta said.

But when it comes to law enforcement, St. Bernard voters resisted change,
electing Chief Deputy Jimmy Pohlmann over Councilman Wayne Landry for
sheriff.

"I know people have confidence in this department, they have respect for
this department, and I think they trust us here," Pohlmann said.

While Pohlmann said he's also confident in the department's current
operations, he's already eyeing some key changes.

"When it comes to promotions, the way we handle our internal affairs, you
know, take-home car policies, detail policies -- things -- a restructuring
of our department here," he said. "There's things that need to be done that
I didn't have an opportunity to do, because of course, the sheriff is the
only one who can make those types of decisions."

Pohlmann said work is underway to build his transition team, although he
isn't scheduled to take over as sheriff until July. That's when Sheriff Jack
Stephens' term officially ends.

Pohlmann said all of the newly-elected St. Bernard leaders plan to meet
within the next month to begin working together on some of the parish's most
immediate challenges.