Troy Bell has resigned from CAO of BR

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City-parish Chief Administrative Officer Troy Bell has resigned, mayor's spokeswoman Janene Tate has confirmed to The Advocate.

"I have accepted the resignation of Troy Bell," Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said in a statement. "I am disappointed that he chose to withhold information about his background while interviewing for and subsequently accepting the positon of chief administrative officer. I will not let this be a distraction to the commitment I have made to the people of the City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish.

"The mayor-president’s office will continue to serve our fellow residents in an efficient manner as we have since the beginning of my tenure."

Earlier Friday, The Advocate learned Bell does not hold the master's degree in public administration he claimed on the resume he submitted to become the top deputy at City Hall.

Bell began his new role on Monday. Both on the resume he submitted to East Baton Rouge Parish government when he applied for the job and on his LinkedIn page, Bell says he holds an MPA from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York.

His resume says he received a degree in 2011 from the college in New York City, where he concentrated in city management and was at the top of his class in the School of Public Affairs. But Bell never completed the necessary coursework to receive his MPA and never received a degree, according to a university spokeswoman.

"He owes money and, second, his coursework — he has not completed," said Neftalie Danier, the school's assistant director of alumni relations, after conferring with the university's registrar's office.

More to come.

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