Nearly seven years into his administration, it’s no surprise that Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-Iowa/New Hampshire/Florida—anywhere by Louisiana) would be losing many of his top appointees. After all, the ride is nearly over and they have to be looking for opportunities beyond the inevitable unemployment line once Jindal’s term ends in January of 2016.
A few left early on, barely two years in, causing raised eyebrows among some political observers. Lobbyist Luke Letlow bolted early from his position as Special Assistant and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs as did Ethics Administrator Richard Sherburne and Department of Transportation and Development (D)TD) Secretary William Ankner. Sherburne’s departure came after Jindal stripped the State Ethics Board of its adjudicatory authority, giving those responsibilities to a set of administrative law judges who have proved largely ineffective. Ankner left after a controversy arose over the awarding of a $60 million contract for a highway construction to high bidder Boh Brothers Construction.
Others, like Department of Health and Hospitals DHH) Secretary Bruce Greenstein and Office of Group Benefits (OGB) CEO Tommy Teague were shown the door—Teague for his reluctance to jump on board Jindal’s privatization train that ultimately carried OGB to the brink of bankruptcy before a controversial restructuring of OGB’s benefit package and Greenstein under the cloud of a federal investigation over the awarding of a contract by DHH to Greenstein’s former employer, CNSI. That cloud has since turned into a nine-count state grand jury indictment brought against Greenstein for perjury.
Still others bided their time until the right opportunities came along. Michael DiResto, a Jindal budget spokesman, left nearly 14 months ago to become Vice President for Economic Competitiveness for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and DNR Secretary Scott Angelle resigned to run for—and win—a seat on the Public Service Commission and recently announced he would be a candidate for governor next year.
And then there are those who walked for no apparent reason other than to get away from a struggling administration that has been virtually rudderless, thanks to a largely absent and detached governor. Jindal seems to be more preoccupied with running for president than completing his job, which he repeatedly called “the only job I ever wanted” before beginning his second term in 2012 and redirecting his attention from the Governor’s Mansion to the White House.
His first Commissioner of Administration, Angéle Davis, left shortly after attending a meeting in which Jindal’s then Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell directed Teague to draft a “tightly written” request for proposals (RFP) for a state employee health coverage plan in such a way that only one vendor would be qualified to bid. Vantage Health Plan of Monroe ultimately was awarded the $70 million contract.
Her successor, Paul Rainwater, was eventually moved over to serve as Jindal’s Chief of Staff but he, too, resigned last February without giving a reason other than to say he wanted to pursue opportunities in the private sector.
Another recent departure who did not explain her reason for leaving was Division of Administration (DOA) Executive Counsel Liz Murrill. Unconfirmed reports have surfaced, however, that she has confided to friends that she felt she could no longer legally carry out some of the duties assigned to her as the DOA attorney.
Over the ensuing 15 months left in Jindal’s floundering administration, there are certain to be other departures as appointees begin jockeying for positions in the private sector or attempt to latch onto the campaigns of candidates who have already announced for governor in the hope of landing another prestigious job in the next administration.
Among those we might expect to see jump ship between now and January 2016 include Jindal’s Chief of Staff Kyle Plotkin, the governor’s Communications Director Mike Reed and Deputy Communications Director Shannon Bates, and perhaps even a few cabinet-level appointees, including Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols.
Louisiana Voice 
How is it that Jindal continues to earn the Louisiana governor’s salary without even being in the state, much less doing the job? As a state employee if I were to travel out of state to pursue another job I would not be able to continue collecting my salary from the state of Louisiana.
EXACTLY!!!! Can you say payroll fraud?
I’m ready for all of them to leave! The whole bunch and 50 cents wouldn’t buy you a cup of coffee!
Why can’t Jindal pull a Sarah Palin and resign if he is going to pursue other interests. As goofy as Palin is, she did the right thing if she wasn’t going to devote her time and energies to being governor. Jindal is an unprincipled opportunist and a thief of the worst kind. He takes from the poor AND KEEPS IT..
I never imagined I’d ever have something good to say about megalomaniacal Sarah Palin, but here goes: at least Mrs. Palin resigned as Alaska’s governor before pursuing full-time her narcissistic glory.
I just hope that if Jindal does make it to the big race, the residents of Louisiana will stand up and speak loud and clear so that he goes not get the votes to win. Remember he speaks fast and he is intelligent. He will make a good impression on the voters that do not know what he is really capable of. It will be our job to get the word out to everyone. If he does succeed, then, we can only thank ourselves for doing nothing about it.
I think Li’l Booby has less than a snowball’s chance of getting the republican nomination. But I wholeheartedly agree with you that we citizens of Louisiana need to let the rest of the country know just what sort of individual we’ve been dealing with.
Jindal is just looking out for the taxpayers who foot the bill for the unaffordable state employee legacy costs.
I suggest that you might have overlooked the SIX Executive Counsels he has had to leave during his term. He is on his seventh one – must be some kind of record.
Don’t you wonder why each of them left so soon?
Didn’t Rainwater’s “no apparent reason” have something to do with a DWI?
No. His resignation was long after that incident. And to be fair, we purposely did not write about that because it happened on his own time in his personal vehicle and was in no way related to his job.