PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker appointed two women Monday to lead the Sanitation Division and Streets Department, which will now operate separately.
“We’re going to do something new and innovative with these two appointments,” Parker said.
To fill the positions, Parker chose two Streets Department veterans: Kristin Del Rossi for Streets Department Commissioner, and Crystal Jacob Shipman for Sanitation Commissioner.
“Instead of focusing on doing things quickly, we’ve been focused on putting the right people in the right positions to serve our customers who are the citizens of Philadelphia,” Parker said.
She says the Streets Department will focus on paving, lighting and infrastructure projects, with $225 million in federal infrastructure projects coming down the pipeline.
The Sanitation Division’s main thrust will still be picking up trash on time but with an eye toward her promise of a cleaner, greener city, with duties like cracking down on illegal dumping.
The city charter specifies that the Sanitation Division is part of the Streets Department but the mayor’s office said she is working on an executive order in consultation with the Law Department that will, in essence, “loan” the Sanitation Division to the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, an office that Parker recently created.
Lauren Cristella, president of the watchdog group Committee of Seventy, said the move seemed to be a response to the increased accountability that a lot of advocates have been calling for, but said the legal basis for the move remains unclear.
“I have questions about what the specific executive order will detail,” Cristella said. “Right now it’s pretty vague about what authority this is derived under.
And if it’s only a temporary change, how long can we expect this to last before potentially seeing a permanent solution, which would need a charter change.”
The mayor’s office said the executive order is expected by the end of the month.
Parker also announced a new City Representative, Jazelle Jones, who has overseen the city’s large events as a deputy managing director since 2005. She also happens to be married to councilmember Curtis Jones.
For chief education officer, Parker chose Debora Carrera, who’s worked at the school district and state Education Department. The mayor also named Sharon Ward as Deputy Chief Education Officer. Ward is married to Joe Grace, the head of Parker’s Communications Office.
Parker still has not named new commissioners for Human Services, Parks and Recreation, prisons or health, among others.
Parker said more appointments are in the works and hinted that some — for instance, at Licenses and Inspections — could involve the kind of structural change that she brought to Streets and Sanitation.
“We’re in the process of bringing together the best and brightest,” Parker said. “We won’t make a knee-jerk reaction to a very complex department that significantly impacts the overall safety and health of our city.”