"I will be leaving the position January 1st."
Speaking with Eyewitness News over the phone, Jefferson Parish Chief Operating Officer Keith Conley confirms that he is stepping down.
"I have an interest in pursuing one of the elected offices that are coming up in 2019 in Jefferson Parish. So I decided that I will step down and dedicate my time and resources to running a campaign," Conley said.
Conley has had a long history in Jefferson Parish government.
He was a Kenner City Councilmember before joining Jefferson Parish President Mike Yenni's administration.
"There's an open seat for council-at-large. Which is similar to what I held in Kenner. And I definitely enjoyed that work. Working with people on that level on the government side-and I look forward into going back into that," Conley said.
But as he told WWL-TV's Paul Murphy this afternoon, he's not ruling out running for Parish President either.
"Anything that...that comes open would certainly pique my interest...."
"Including Parish President?" Murphy asked.
Yes," Conley replied.
"If he tries to run against Mike Yenni, that might be difficult cause how can he criticize Yenni's policies when he helped implement those policies," WWL-TV Politicial Analyst Clancy Dubos said.
Over the past few years, Yenni's come under intense scrutiny.
In 2016, Eyewitness News broke the story about a sexting scandal where Yenni allegedly sent sexually explicit text to a 17 year old boy, leading to a recall effort which was eventually dropped.
Then this year, upset residents complained about the Parish's lack of effort in fixing the foul smell affecting parts of the Parish.
"He could've stepped down from Mike Yenni's campaign two years ago when the scandal first broke--he chose not to--so I don't see how he could run for Parish President without looking like he's part of the machines that wants to continue Mike Yenni's tenure in office," DuBos said.
That was a challenge and unforeseen and it was through building a team community with the council--and with the executive staff and our employees that--that we were able to keep moving forward," Conley said.
It's uncertain if President Mike Yenni will run for re-election.
Other names have come up as potential candidates for President, including former Parish President John Young and Councilwoman at large Cynthia Lee Sheng, however, it's still to early to tell who will be in
The primary is in October.