Ascension Parish President Clint Cointment had this entire leadership team easily ratified by the Parish Council this week, but not without some harsh words for his top aide, Chief Administrative Officer Ruth Phillips.
First-term council member Michael "Todd" Varnado charged that Phillips does not have "the temperament nor the restraint to be in such a highly regarded position in Ascension Parish" and urged his fellow council members, the public and media to condemn her alleged behavior.
"Threats and strong-arming of elected officials is never, ever OK. It will not be tolerated nor dismissed," Varnado told his fellow council members. "In my opinion, this is (neither) a reflection nor behavior of a responsible CAO (that) District 5 of Ascension Parish will consider at any level."
Varnado did not describe what kind of "threats" or "strong-arming" allegedly had occurred and would not elaborate on them after a council meeting Thursday night where he leveled the claim against Phillips.
Michael Todd Varnado
Phillips has been with Cointment as a top aide since he first took office in 2020, often serving in liaison roles between him and the public, the council and other groups. She has been his CAO since the end of the two-term president's first term last year and is the third person to serve in that position under Cointment.
Phillips took over in November for Patrick Goldsmith, a former finance chief who left for Gov. Jeff Landry's administration about three months after replacing Cointment's first CAO, John Diez.
Under the home rule charter, key positions in parish government, even when an administration is reelected and officials carryover from one term to the next, are considered interim until the council ratifies them.
Interim appointees have 120 days to be ratified.
Cointment thanked the council for approving the team he needs for the next 3½ years and said he respected whatever reasons the council members who were opposed to his appointees had for their votes.
The president suggested Varnado's comments may have stemmed from some kind of misunderstanding between him and Phillips, adding that he has "passionate" team members and that sometimes that intensity can be misconstrued as "aggression."
"And I think that's the possibility here. I wasn't privy to the conversation. But, again, I seek out passionate people. I want to make a difference in this parish, so when I look to hire people, they need to be passionate about what they do," he said.
Phillips also clashed with some former members of the council in the prior term, particularly over the selection of a site for a new animal shelter. The council took over for a time and picked another site that failed. Cointment later handed off the job to Ricky Compton, his infrastructure division director.
Phillips left the council meeting Thursday before it ended. She declined any further comment on the matter.
"The Parish president spoke with you last night, and we feel that it has been adequately responded to," she said Friday.
This new council, which took office in January after elections last year, has a significantly new makeup and has generally sided with the administration in the early days of the new term.
Despite Varnado's words, Phillips was ratified on a 9-2 vote with only council member Dennis Cullen also opposed with Varnado. Phillips was one of only three officials who drew even a single "no" vote.
The only others to draw any opposition were Bill Dawson, director of utilities, and Compton. Cullen was opposed to each; he did not provide a reason for his votes before or after the meeting. Both men were ratified 10-1.
All of the other top officials were ratified unanimously: Council Secretary Cinnamon McKey, Chief Financial Officer Dawn Caballero, Public Works Director Ron Savoy, Planning and Development Director Eric Poche, Human Resources Director Katherine Cason and Lamar-Dixon Expo Center Director Kyle Rogers.
Cointment added that Varnado's comments would not affect his ability to work with the administration and said Varnado can reach out either through him or other officials in the administration.
"We're not going to persecute him for his opinions. We're going to make sure he has access to the administration," he said.