Barbara Festervan, the director of Shreveport's Water & Sewage Department (DOWUS), resigned her position effective Aug. 14.
Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins introduced by Zoom on the Shreveport Council's Aug. 25 agenda his nomination of William Daniel to replace Festervan. The council should confirm the nomination at the Tuesday, Aug. 11, meeting.
To say that Daniel is taking over a troubled city department is an understatement.
The city is under an oppressive EPA consent decree that requires substantial upgrades of its sanitary sewer system. The estimated costs of compliance have more than tripled from the estimate at the time the decree was signed.
The city is also on the hook to refunds millions of dollars of overcharges for water and sewer. Fortunately, DOWUS has the reserves for this massive expenditure.
Problems with city billings for water and sewer continue. This has been a major problem for DOWUS since the Tyler administration.
Like practically every other city department, DOWUS is understaffed and underfunded. The prospects of any budget increase for 2021 are zero to none.
And to top if off, Festervan will leave with a wealth of institutional knowledge that unfortunately is exclusive to her. Thankfully, she will still be in the area and, hopefully, will be available for consultations.
Daniel and Chief Administrative Officer Henry Whitehorn have a relationship from Whitehorn's tenure in Baton Rouge.
Daniel’s resume is impressive.
He leaves his job as the Gonzales In frastructure Division Director from 2017 to come to Shreveport.
Daniel worked for the City-Parish of East Baton Rouge from 2010 to 2017 with his last position being the director of environmental services. He also served as the chief administrative officer and director of the public works.
Daniel will the first "outsider" as a department head in the Perkins administration. His prior relationship with Whitehorn is a plus, especially since Whitehorn himself is an "outsider" as well.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE August 14 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.