BATON ROUGE — On the first Monday of his tenure as mayor-president, Sid Edwards named Lon Vicknair as his chief of staff.

Vicknair, 43, is a retired naval officer and most recently served as a senior commercial manager for PSC Group managing logistic and sustainability operations in multiple chemical facilities in Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee and California.

Vicknair, a Baton Rouge native, also volunteers as a reserve police officer in Central and as president of the Central Veterans Memorial.

“I’m excited to work for the citizens of Baton Rouge and Mayor Edwards to ensure Baton Rouge is the city that our children want to call home and becomes the example that other southern cities follow," Vicknair said.

Edwards' office said as chief of staff, Vicknair will provide oversight of all city-parish departments and coordinate special projects and interdepartmental initiatives.

"He will work with other capital area agencies to ensure compliance with legislation and that the concerns of citizens are addressed," Edwards' office added.

Edwards has been slowly building his administrative staff, announcing Baton Rouge businessman Charlie Davis as his chief administrative officer in December and retired BRPD Chief Jeff LeDuff and former fiscal analyst Monique Appeaning as assistant chief administrative officers on Friday.