Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer will soon resign from his position soon to take a job in Governor Landry’s administration.
Although there are nearly 18 months left in Cromer’s term as Slidell mayor, he
will be stepping down to handle legislative affairs for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. In a bit of a surprise move, Cromer announced that he will step down effective January 20 in order to take the DOTD job.
"I’m going to be the legislative liaison officer for the DOTD and working with the legislative team over there on any legislation that would be forthcoming in this next session," Cormer said.
Cromer added that Governor Landry has a large agenda he is pushing. Cromer says he hopes to be one of the people that Landry can be trust to lean on for those changes to be implemented.
Cromer’s new position will entail handling legislative affairs and working with lawmakers and local officials on DOTD projects and programs. Cromer has previously described the agency as “having a reputation of being a tough agency to work with," noting that his goal is to improve relations between the DOTD and local governments.
“The job description right now is fairly broad," Cromer said. "They will enable me to fill in some of the blanks with it from what I’ve been told. One of the
big things is going to be communications between the legislators (who are actually pushing the buttons and making the votes) and the agency along with the governor’s office. This will hopefully ensure that we can move the agenda forward along with improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the
Department of Transportation for the state of Louisiana."
Cromer says while it's tough to walk away from a job he loves, he says he will always cherish the memories he made while Slidell's mayor. Cromer said he enjoyed seeing the smiles on kids' faces when he handed out candy canes during the city's annual Christmas parade. He also said he's pleased to be able to help make Slidell a better place to live.
“We’ve got new tennis courts, new skate parks, new pickleball courts going in along with multi-purpose fields of all kinds. Those are the things that stand out in my mind,” Cromer said. “I love what we’re doing in the city here. We’ve
made Slidell a good place to be."
Cromer says he's excited for what's on his horizon.
“This is a good opportunity for me," Cromer said. “I’ve got a year-and-a-half left, and then I’m going to be pushed out the door. I do love what I’m doing, and this has been a tough decision to make. But, when the governor’s office calls you and says they want you to take a look at an opportunity … that makes it really hard to say no.
“Our governor is a pretty convincing individual and the folks working with him carry that weight and clout," Cromer added. "These opportunities don’t come along except maybe once in a lifetime, and to be a part of a major restructure
and reformulation of state government under Governor Landry is very exciting for me.”