City-parish says moving top administrator to consultant role will save $70,000 a year

BATON ROUGE — The city-parish government wants to change the mayor-president's chief administrative officer to a highly paid consultant in an effort to save money, even though the math doesn't appear to be mathing, the mayor's office said Wednesday.

Christel Slaughter had been hired at a salary of $156,000 three weeks ago, but will instead provide "professional services" for $180,000. Metro Council members must agree to the proposed switch.

Despite the higher cost, the city-parish will save money by not providing benefits to Slaughter, according to Mason Batts, an executive director in the mayor's office.

With Slaughter not in line for city-parish-paid benefits, East Baton Rouge Parish should save nearly $70,000, Batts said. Slaughter is expected to perform the same duties she would do