Not surprisingly Cedric Glover and LeVette Fuller have applied for the vacant Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Executive Director position.
Neither of them merit serious consideration for the job. Both of them need a regular paycheck.
Their resumes do not satisfy the basic requirements of the executive director position.
Most people say Glover has never really had a "real job". He is no longer on the taxpayer's dime, after spending 12 years on the dole as a city councilman, mayor, and a state representative.
Glover does not have a college degree. He has no actual hands on management experience for a staff of 15 and a budget exceeding $1 million. Glover has no experience in land use planning or downtown development.
At the legislature, Glover had a well-documented record of not attending committee meetings and a reputation of being very non-diligent in the discharge of his duties. Glover's MO is to be long on blustery oratory and short on performance.
Glover has accumulated many political enemies along the way, and they easily outnumber his allies.
Unlike the mayor's office, he cannot hide from the public that can easily monitor his work habits and job performance if he were the executive director.
Glover has almost $39,000 in his campaign fund account from his failed Senate race to replace Greg Tarver. This money can be spent on his future political endeavors as well as contributions to other political candidates. Glover endorsed Tom Arceneaux for mayor in the run-off election against his lifelong political enemy Greg Tarver.
Fuller was a librarian before her service on the Council. She is now a local business realtor. She is not a Shreveport property owner.
Like Glover, she has no hands on management experience nor any land use or downtown development experience. Her efforts to contain urban sprawl are not relevant to the DDA job.
Fuller was not viewed as a friend of downtown Shreveport while she was on the Council. She was not easily approachable and her social media postings while on the Council and since her service invoke controversy and dissension. Its frequently said that Fuller does not play well with others and her actions in recent years certainly confirm this characterization.
While on the Council, Fuller was frequently not available to the media, with the exception of being on the KEEL morning show with her long time buddy Erin McCarty. Fuller will not wear the downtown ambassador badge very well, and it is unlikely that she overcome the political distractors that she accumulated as a council member.
Fuller ran a dismal campaign for mayor in 2022, finishing fifth. Her last campaign finance report indicated a fund balance of $3700. Although she did not openly endorse Arceneaux for mayor, she was named a chair of one of Arceneaux's transition committees.
Reportedly, both Glover and Fuller have started "hire me" campaigns touting virtues that do not match up with the posted job description much less meet the fundamental requirements.
The downtown building owners who underwrite the DDA with a special ad valorem tax should make their voices heard to the search committee composed of Michael Corbin, Terry Moore, Kevin Bryant, Jeri Little, and Drayden Dunn.