BATON ROUGE - The lead organizer of Together Baton Rouge is no longer heading up the organization he helped build over the past decade.

On Thursday, Together BR confirmed Broderick Bagert had left the politically-charged organization. He is replaced by Perry Perkins.

The departure comes at a contentious time for Together BR, which has been scrutinized for its criticism of Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption Program and opposition to ExxonMobil's requested tax breaks.

Additionally, First United Methodist Church announced this week it had voted to pulls its support of Together BR, though it claimed its withdrawal had nothing to do with group's stance on the ExxonMobil situation.

Bagert said his leaving had nothing to do with the recent controversy surrounding the organization.