July 5, 2024 | From City of New Orleans
City Hall Spotlight: Freda Richardson-Taylor
What New Orleans neighborhood do you live in? / Where did you grow up?
I live in beautiful New Orleans East, but I grew up in Chilly Gentilly, 7th Ward on Randolph Avenue (one block long, but it was such a family-friendly block, full of two-parent homes that watched after each other. We couldn't stray too far in the neighborhood without one parent noticing us and telling us to make it back to Randolph immediately 🙂.
Describe your job to us!
I have the privilege and honor of co-leading the BEST staff in City Hall - FINANCE! As Deputy Director of Finance & Comptroller, I wear two hats. I oversee the entire Department of Finance under newly appointed Director Romy Schofield-Samuel and lead up the Bureau of Accounting. I'm incredibly proud of the Bureau of Accounting, as they are a resilient force. This year marks the first year in 5 years that we have finally been able to produce & submit the City's Annual Audit ON TIME to the LLA! This is such a feat because the obstacles we faced kept coming: in June 2019, we went live with BRASS (or ERP Financial System), and in December 2019, we were hit with a Cyber Attack; then, in March 2020, we started COVID-19, and we finally recovered this year, after battling & defeating the configurations of our new BRASS system.
Tell us about your career path.
My career path started in the 11th grade at my beloved Alma Mater, McDonogh 35 College Preparatory High School, where I took my first Accounting course under the late Glenda Ganier-Simpkins; taking her course changed my life & opened my eyes to the Accounting world when I graduated in 1993. I then matriculated to my parents' Alma Mater, THEE Southern University A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA, where I received my B.S. in Accounting in May 1997. My first job was as a Junior Accountant at the City of New Orleans in the Bureau of Treasury for ten months. My then Supervisor Joyce Atkins encourged me not to wait to long to acquire my Master's Degree, she said, "you'll get stuck here and never go back; you better go to grad school now!" I love that woman who became like an Aunt to me. I listened and moved to Richardson, Texas, to attend the University of Texas at Dallas and obtained my M.B.A. in May 2001. I then moved back to New Orleans and landed a job as an Accountant at the New Orleans Aviation Board. I was there for 15 years and matriculated from Accountant I to Senior Accountant to Principal Accountant to Acting Capital Manager. In December 2017, I was allowed to interview & become Assistant Comptroller in January 2018, the first year of Mayor LaToya Cantrell's Administration. After assisting Comptroller Charlene Rollins in producing our 2017 Audit to the LLA in June 2018, our new CFO Norman White brought me aboard as the Finance Lead to configure our New ERP System BRASS. This was my first time being on a sizable IT project, creating & implementing from inception to fruition, and it was worth it. By September 2019, I became the Comptroller of the Bureau of Accounting. Since then, I navigated throughout City Government in the Finance arena, and in April 2024, I was appointed Interim Deputy Director of Finance.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy helping EVERYBODY! My lifeblood is hearing my co-workers and vendors say, "You have been so helpful; thank you so much!" It comes from my upbringing. My parents were both educators, and the students they taught throughout the years never forget how they "helped" them along the way. From students to the teachers to the janitorial staff, my parents treated everyone equally and taught us the same way. It harms NO ONE to be friendly & greet people with a smile & a warm heart. That is my daily driving force to help somebody along the way.
What challenges do you find to be the greatest in your role?
The expectancy from others that their fire is your fire! As the Comptroller, over Payroll, Accounts Payable, and Accounting division, we get daily fires we must put out. Now grant it, some of them are genuinely fires, but some of them are poor planning & execution on their part. The only way we all become better in our lanes is to become more accountable and hold our teams more responsible. I would appreciate your help; knowing your team still needs to complete their due diligence goes much further than demanding others what isn't demanded of your team. My team knows I have their back 100%, and when they are correct, I will back them; when they are wrong, I will also acknowledge that. We can only grow if we genuinely look in the mirror and say, "That's on me!"
What is your favorite thing about New Orleans?
The family atmosphere! You can go to the corner store, the grocery store, a sporting event, the French Quarter, or even a concert, and I guarantee you will run into somebody that you know or who knows someone you know! We are indeed a Southern City with Southern Charm. I'm a proud New Orleanian, and so is my husband, Edgar Taylor (love you, Hunniebear)