PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker named seven new high-level appointments Friday, including three newly-created positions, new Public Property and Procurement commissioners and a new director for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
In making the announcement, the mayor offered her most pointed remarks yet on the Trump administration, just as the president prepares to make his first visit to the city since taking office.
“The environment we are currently living in has been a bit challenging and uncertain,” Parker said just before naming activist Tyrell Brown as the new LGBTQ Affairs chief. “As much as I have committed to the people of Philadelphia that I will remain laser-focused on the agenda they have elected me to deliver, I believe it is also equally important to safeguard the rights of every Philadelphian, regardless of their race, class, religion, zip code, sexual orientation or identity.”
Though Parker’s remarks were hardly provocative and she didn’t mention the president by name, it was a departure from her usual stance of not commenting at all on the federal administration.
She said Brown’s appointment would be one of the most important she would make.
“I am ready to do this work with our community to make our community safer and more prosperous and more equitable,” Brown said.
Brown replaces Celena Morrison, who left the office in November, eight months after getting national attention when she videoed a confrontation with a state trooper during a tumultuous traffic stop on the Schuylkill Expressway.
In addition to Brown, Parker announced that Joe Brasky would become the permanent Public Property commissioner. Brasky, an 18-year employee of the department, has served as interim commissioner for more than a year since Parker tapped his former boss, Bridget Collins-Greenwald, to lead Quality of Life enforcement at the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
The mayor also named Ronald Hovey to run the Procurement Department and Patricia Wellenbach as Chief Strategy and Partnerships officer.
New jobs
Parker announced she created three new positions that will add about $400,000 to the city payroll. They include:
– A director of Business Impact and Supplier Diversity. Nadir Jones, formerly of CBRE Group, will serve in the role — within the Commerce Department’s Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement — at a salary of $182,000.
Jones described himself as passionate about championing business diversity.
“My mission is clear,” he said, “to pave the way for underrepresented entrepreneurs to flourish in this economy.”
– A director of Home Appraisal Equity, within the Department of Planning and Development. The mayor has tapped Andy Toy, previously the policy director at the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, at a salary of $112,000.
Toy said his job would be to help homeowners get full access to the equity in their homes so they can use it for renovations or other projects that are currently out of reach because their homes are undervalued.
“Equity in Philadelphia is a good word,” he said. “In some places, they’re trying to exclude equity. I don’t understand that.”
– A director of Pan-Hellenic and HBCU Engagement within the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood and Community Engagement with the goal of involving Black Greek organizations, known as the Divine Nine, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Philadelphia projects and programs. Robin Torrence, a long-time school district employee, will fill the role. Her salary is $90,000.
Mayor Parker said she was inspired to create a Pan-Hellenic and HBCU engagement office after seeing their participation in the United Negro College Fund’s Mayor’s Masked Ball last week. Torrence promised to pursue opportunities to involve them.
“The Divine Nine and the HBCUs will be doing a whole lot moving forward,” she said. “Stay tuned because I have a list of things we will be doing.”
Parker's process
Parker has generally been slow to fill top positions and once again stressed her preference for making sure hires are a good fit.
“We will not be rushed,” she said.
There still is no permanent commissioner for the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities.