[StBernard] Pair of outgoing parish presidents land statewide positions

[Westley Annis]

Pair of outgoing parish presidents land statewide positions

wwltv.com

Posted on December 7, 2011 at 6:12 PM

Updated today at 6:56 PM

Scott Satchfield / Eyewitness News

NEW ORLEANS -- Only a couple weeks removed from a close loss in his bid for
reelection as St. Bernard president, Craig Taffaro is now taking on a
statewide position.

"I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running and kind of spreading the
recovery beyond St. Bernard's borders," he said.

Taffaro is Louisiana's new director of hazard mitigation -- a job that puts
him in charge of the home-elevation grant program. Worth hundreds of
millions of dollars, the program has had its share of troubles lately, with
numerous contractors suspended over allegations of fraud.

"One of the first things we're gonna do is take an assessment of the entire
program," Taffaro said. "The goal is to get the money to where it needs to
be, both to residents and to municipalities, so that they can make good use
of these federal dollars."

In doing so, he'll earn $150,000 a year in salary -- something Eyewitness
News Political Analyst Clancy DuBos believes will soften the blow of
Taffaro's recent runoff defeat.

"It goes to show you that sometimes when you lose, you wind up winning in
the long run," DuBos said.

Several days ago, outgoing St. Tammany President Kevin Davis, who was forced
out due to term limits, took a job to become the state's new homeland
security chief.

DuBos believes Gov. Bobby Jindal made the selections, in part, because both
men have experience in their new fields.

"While some may argue these guys, you know, lack some technical
qualifications, I think no one can deny that each of them has faced a
crucible in terms of Katrina, BP, the Pearl River problems, and other issues
that have come their way," he said.

"We've developed a certain skill set out of necessity and if we can use
those skills to benefit the state as a larger entity, we're willing to do
that," Taffaro said.

Taffaro said he'll resign as St. Bernard president, in order to begin his
new position, within the next couple of weeks.

At that time, the St. Bernard Council will select an interim replacement,
before incoming president David Peralta officially takes office Jan. 10.