NEW ORLEANS -- The board of commissioners of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad voted Thursday to suspend General Manager James Bridger amid multiple investigations into his lavish spending habits.
Bridger was suspended without pay for 60 days starting Sept. 1, forfeiting his $350,000 annual salary while he is out. Meanwhile, the legislative auditor, city inspector general and district attorney will continue investigations into Bridger's free-wheeling use of a public credit card and other controversial expenses.
"We are very, very concerned about the revenue issues here, about potential financial mismanagement,” said President Pro-Tem James Baldwin.
Last week, the board voted to rein in take-home cars and strip Bridger and other managers of their public credit cards. Records show that Bridger racked up more than $100,000 in credit card expenses over three years, spending wildly on meals, bar tabs and gifts.
Also at last week's meeting, the board put a halt to Bridger's practice of donating Public Belt's two restored antique cars for charitable fund-raising. The attorney general ruled that a public agency cannot give away public assets without getting something in return.
Despite the intense scrutiny of Bridger, he was not without his supporters at the meeting, as a tense exchange between Commissioner Troy Henry and Board President James Baldwin shows:
"Now we find out that at the 11th hour there, in essence, was this coup d'etat attempt,” said Commissioner Troy Henry.
"I resent that comment,” Baldwin said.
"I understand you do. I will tell you that I think it's a mean-spirited attempt to solicit additional media scrutiny and embarrass Mr. Bridger,” Henry said.
But Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, the first agency to raise questions about Public Belt spending, said Thursday’s move was long overdue.
"I think there's a lot of questions that need to be asked about how did this deteriorate to the point that we've had the auditors here for five months, that the inspector general is here and we're finding out, at least, we've found out the district attorney's office is here conducting an investigation,” Goyeneche said. “This is not the end of this. This is the beginning of another phase of this investigation."
