The Louisiana Board of Ethics voted Friday to permanently hire the acting state ethics administrator David Bordelon. (Julie O'Donoghue/Louisiana Illuminator)
The Louisiana Board of Ethics voted unanimously Friday to make a job offer to its acting ethics administrator eight months after legislators took unprecedented steps to block his hiring.
The ethics board made David Bordelon its top staff member on a temporary basis in December in order to appease state lawmakers. Legislators filed an unsuccessful lawsuit last fall to try to stop the board from picking a new administrator at that time, and Bordelon’s interim status was considered a compromise.
Legislators were not objecting to Bordelon personally. The lawsuit was aimed at delaying any hiring until several board positions turned over to new appointees at the beginning of 2025.
When the ethics board hired Bordelon for the temporary position at the end of 2024, it was made up of appointees picked by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and members of the Louisiana Legislature in their previous terms of office.
Legislators wanted the board to wait to select a permanent ethics administrator until appointees from Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and current-term lawmakers had been seated.
A 2024 law change Landry pushed gave governors and lawmakers more influence over the new people seated on the ethics board.
Previously, governors and legislators’ ethics board appointees were required to be selected from a list provided by leaders of Louisiana’s private colleges and universities. Starting this year, Landry and legislators can now put who they want on the board without outside input.
The board that hired Bordelon this week includes members picked by Edwards and previous lawmakers as well as Landry and current legislators.
Board chairman Jason Amato, appointed by Landry, has been impressed by Bordelon’s leadership. State government leaders and legislators have enjoyed working with Bordelon, he said.
As the permanent ethics administrator, Bordelon will have to help the board navigate dozens of ethics and campaign finance law changes approved this year that loosen restrictions on government officials.
Criticism and scrutiny of the ethics board has skyrocketed since Landry took over as governor in 2024.
Landry has had a fraught relationship with the board for years after being reprimanded multiple times for ethical and campaign finance problems. Presently, the governor is negotiating with the board for charges he faces for not disclosing flights he took to Hawaii on a political donor’s private plane while attorney general.
The ethics board investigates local and state government officials – everyone from the governor to small town employees – for allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest and campaign finance violations. It can fine and charge public servants with violating the state ethics code, though its ability to fully enforce those laws remains relatively weak.
Comments