Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro announced changes in some of the leadership positions in the DA’s office but he said he didn’t make ‘wholesale’ firings like his predecessor.

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New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.

Cannizzaro was officially sworn in Sunday and announced the changes Monday.

“It's not like we walked in here and wholesale fired people,” he said. “We've given everybody an opportunity. As I've said, everybody has an opportunity to earn their job, to keep their job.”

Since he was first sworn in to fill the remainder of Jordan's term, twelve staffers have resigned, he fired three more and four have been laid off due to changes in their positions. According to Cannizzaro, 19 people in all have left the office so far.

“The overwhelming majority of people who have left this office have left because they have gone onto other jobs not because they were fired,” Cannizzaro said.

His predecessor, Eddie Jordan, resigned in 2007 because the office faced a more than $3 million racial discrimination judgment, because Jordan fired 46 staffers when he took office.

That's 46 compared to three fired so far by Cannizzaro and of those he let go, though he did acknowledge being less than satisfied with some workers.

“Some performances have been lacking, I will say that,” he said.

Cannizzaro said Graymond Martin will serve as First Assistant District Attorney.

“I think he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the District Attorney’s office especially in these particular times,” Cannizzaro said.

Martin began his career as a New Orleans police officer, and at one point, served as Former Mayor Marc Morial's Executive Assistant for Intergovernmental Relations.

“I would hope that when my tenure here is over, that people will look back and say that Mr. Cannizzaro was the hardest working district attorney that this city ever had, and that they'll say that Graymond Martin worked even harder,” Martin said.

He's one of two men close to Cannizzaro who had high-profile ties to the Marc Morial administration.

The second is Billy Schultz, who emceed Cannizzaro’s swearing in Sunday.

Schultz was one of Morial's top political strategists, who was convicted of a misdemeanor and served prison time for failing to file tax returns.

A spokeswoman for the DA’s office said Schultz was a member of Cannizzaro’s transition team, that he volunteers his efforts and is a "longtime ally" of Cannizzaro’s.

The new District Attorney also announced he'll appoint long-time DA's office administrator Val Solino as Chief Operating Officer.

New Orleans Police Captain Jeff Winn will serve as the Chief of Investigators. Winn is currently on assignment from the NOPD.