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Mike Edwards, Interim Aviation Director, announces the Baton Rouge airport has struck a deal to try to get more direct touristy flights Tuesday June 12, 2018, in Baton Rouge, La. Via Airlines will move in and begin by serving Austin and Orlando, though on a non-daily basis. The craft will be smaller 50-seaters, but the airport hopes it will boost their leisure travel.

After a two-year, messy process that one Metro Council member referred to as "a joke," Baton Rouge has finally appointed a new airport director.

Pro Tem Scott Wilson indicated his decision to elevate interim Mike Edwards to permanent leadership was born of extraordinary frustration and a desire to finally end the hiring process.

"This search has been a disaster," Wilson said.

"I don't want this to keep going on. ... We're spinning our tires and not getting anywhere."

The previous airport director, Anthony Marino, resigned in 2016. His second-in-command, Ralph Hennessy, led on a temporary basis but quit for the private sector earlier this year, aggravated he was not officially offered the top job.

Most top-level city-parish leaders are either elected by the public or appointed by the mayor, but the airport director is one of a handful which must be appointed by the Metro Council. The parish planning director is a similar position filled by the Metro Council in recent memory.

Like the last hiring of a planning director, some council members led by Barbara Freiberg sought to conduct a national search for airport director. The committee, composed of council members and airport commissioners, decided on three finalists.

However, the council was unable to make a final decision, and over the months, all three rescinded their applications. The last man standing said the bickering over the job had become a "political nightmare."

Edwards has been leading the airport since Hennessy's departure. He previously served as the director of operations. He applied for the permanent job but did not advance to the final round. A city-parish consultant spoke favorably of Edwards but suggested he could use a few more years' experience.

The council was presented with three options at their Wednesday meeting: hire Edwards outright, perform an expedited and targeted search of candidates or start the whole process over again.

Freiberg urged her colleagues to give the city-parish's headhunters another month to solicit resumes. The firm has previously committed to do such work at no additional cost. Freiberg pointed out that several council members were absent during previous votes to select an airport director, which could have made the difference.

She also questioned whether council members who were not present at interviews had the opportunity to view the videos of the candidates' responses.

"Have you done your homework? Do you really know what you're doing?" she asked.

Freiberg said her preference should not be interpreted as a slight to the current staff, she just wants to make sure they're the strongest candidates for the job. She found an ally in councilman Dwight Hudson.

"I know that everyone is frustrated," he said, but asked for another 30 days to re-open the search.

However, the exhaustion over the search was overwhelming.

Wilson said the council proved it would not listen to its own search committee before and questioned whether the next time would be any different. The whole process has embarrassed the city-parish before the people who might otherwise have applied.

"They've seen this joke," he said.

Freiberg, Hudson, Chandler Loupe and Matt Watson voted to keep the search alive. Wilson, Denise Amoroso, Chauna Banks, LaMont Cole, Donna Collins-Lewis, Erika Green and Trae Welch voted against, with Tara Wicker not voting.

On a second ballot, everyone agreed to hire Edwards with the exception of Freiberg and Hudson.

Edwards, in a statement released later Wednesday evening, said he is honored by the appointment. "I am excited to lead our experienced team, from growing our Aviation Business Park to expanding our list of nonstop flights and airline seating capacity. I look forward to the challenge of developing BTR as an engine for economic development in our community.”

Follow Steve Hardy on Twitter, @SteveRHardy.