PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker introduced more new appointments to her administration at City Hall on Wednesday, including the new prisons commissioner.
With just one day left until her 100th day in office, Parker is still filling high level positions, but she defended the pace at which she’s moving. “I am intentional about not rushing,” she said. “We have to make sure we get people who support and believe in our agenda.”
The mayor says she’s hired 70 senior staff so far, including Michael Resnick, who she announced on Monday to lead the Philadelphia Department of Prisons as commissioner. Resnick succeeds Blanche Carney, who retired earlier this month after a turbulent tenure.
An inmate fatally beaten by his cellmate last month was the latest death inside Philadelphia’s prisons. A prisoner who walked away from his work detail last November was the third person to escape in 2023. And this week, advocates asked for a contempt of court order because of prison understaffing.
However, Resnick says Baltimore prisons were in similar shape when he became commissioner there in 2016. “Within two years of being there, we were able to satisfy the monitor, we were in substantial compliance with the conditions of confinement, so it’s daunting but it’s doable,” he said.
Resnick says his priorities are decreasing the prison population and increasing staffing levels, which had fallen during his predecessor’s tenure. He got started on recruiting efforts immediately, asking people to apply for corrections jobs at the city’s employment website.
Parker says she sought input from the employees’ union on the appointment. The union had given Carney a vote of no confidence, but gave Resnick the thumbs up.
The mayor also introduced the previously appointed chief information officer Melissa Scott and announced the appointment of Charlene Waller as director of the Commission on Aging.