Melancon resigns
December 21, 2016
VIA HAND DELIVERY
Governor John Bel Edwards
Louisiana State Capitol
Fourth Floor
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dear Governor Edwards:
Please accept my resignation as Secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries on the close of business, December 31, 2016.
I accepted your appointment in the spirit of public service without the knowledge that I would be responsible for turning around a troubled State agency. However, many of the Department’s previous problems persist, driven in large part by the Coastal Conservation Association and individuals within the department.
I had contemplated resigning before now, but I realized that doing so would only empower those at the Department who have violated the trust of our State. Therefore, I chose to stick with the job, cooperate with the investigations into the previous administration, and see to it that the individuals who abused this agency would be brought to justice.
Last week, Ben Nevers and Matthew Block asked that I resign, effective in two months. I agreed to stay on but since have decided, for various reasons, that to stay that long continues to put a strain on my entire family. There is a time to come and a time to go. Having had a public service presence, in and out of public office, has been rewarding. Now is the time to go.
These past 11 months have been a mental and physical grind as we have had to continuously maneuver around people within and outside the Department who were part and parcel of the corrupt practices being uncovered. I believe that some individuals associated with the CCA and some of its political allies within the department will appear in the investigative documents. The investigations, and their outcomes, will either exonerate or will confirm.
When you asked me to serve as Secretary of the Department, you asked me to be fair with all stakeholders. I tried that, only to find that the CCA was not interested in the Department being fair to anyone but them. The Department has contracted with CCA for a total of $3.36 million over the past 6 years, and I have concerns about some of those contracts based on what was uncovered during audits and reviews. And let me note that the majority of Louisiana outdoor writers are gratuitously courted by the CCA and write exactly what they are instructed. There should be some ethics laws for such inappropriate collusion.
With that being said, I thank you again for the opportunity to serve the public. The vast majority of the people working for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries are good, hard-working, and honest public servants. Many of them assisted your administration and myself in the investigation of the Department’s previous administration, and I sincerely hope they do not have to be concerned about retribution. But they are definitely concerned. I see almost daily attempts to revert to the past bad practices. I am ever hopeful that the Louisiana Inspector General and the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, along with the recently hired independent auditors and the outside CPA firm, will flush out any other items of illegality or wrongdoing, if such does still exist. The agency and its employees are tremendous, but trust me, the department has a way to go to become the transparent and totally productive agency that it can be. The Department will need your and my successor’s continued leadership to make sure that such problems and outside intervention and disruption do not continue.
Governor, I still believe in you and your administration, and resign only as a disheartened supporter hoping to make a difference for the State of Louisiana and all of its citizens. To serve a privileged few is not in my calling.
Sincerely,
Charlie Melancon