(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Veteran city employee Cole Stallard has been named the next commissioner of the Department of Streets and Sanitation — a decision Chicago aldermen fully supported.
“I think this is an excellent appointment,” Ald. Michael Scott Jr., 24th Ward, said. “Cole is somebody who is always willing to pick up the phone, always willing to go the extra mile.”
But along with high praise, Stallard got a warning of sorts, given that he’ll be in the hot seat if core services aren’t delivered.
“To your family—you guys are going to have to be awful understanding about what’s going on,” 12th Ward Ald. George Cardenas said. “This is going to be an intense, intense demanding job.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot joked that Stallard should enjoy the warm welcome and praise—while it lasts.
“When the snow falls, when the tree falls, when the garbage stinks, take this moment of adulation, put it in your pocket, because you're going to need it on those days,” she said.
Stallard has worked for the city of Chicago for more than 20 years.
He’s served as deputy commissioner for Streets and Sanitation since 2014, managing more than 20 inches of snow within two weeks in 2021. He also oversaw the department’s efforts to support the city’s COVID-19 response and is credited with cutting the city’s graffiti-removal response time in half.
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