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As Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration nears 1,000 days in office, several key positions are being filled by new people.
Less than a year ahead of next year’s mayoral primary election, the mayor announced Managing Director Adam Thiel would be leaving his office in what was only described as a return “to the private sector.”
The mayor spent almost a half-hour offering a glowing review of Thiel’s time in office, which included an extended leave for military service that occurred when two of the city’s major labor unions went on strike last summer.
From 2016 to 2024, Thiel was the fire commissioner and also a deputy managing director. He also was the head of the city’s Office of Emergency Management from 2019 to 2022.
The man who filled in for Thiel now has his job. Carlton Williams, who ran the mayor’s “Clean and Green” initiatives, is the new managing director.
Williams started out as a park guard, working within the parks system in the city as a youth. He has held a series of positions in city government, including streets commissioner and senior positions in the Parks and Recreation Department and the Department of Licenses and Inspections.
He spoke of his efforts to help people at all times after being given one of the most important positions in city government.
“No matter who you are, or where you live, and what neighborhood you’re from, people can see me on the street and ask me, ‘Can you help me?’ I give them my card and tell them, ‘Call me, I’ll see what I can do,’” Williams said.