Mayor Parker appoints 5 women to new leadership roles

Mayor Cherelle Parker, in announcing several appointments to her administration Monday, said she will be splitting the city’s Department of Streets, creating a new department overseeing trash collection.

The Streets Department, through its transportation and sanitation divisions, has historically overseen road repair and repaving projects alongside waste collection and illegal dumping enforcement.

But Parker is separating those duties. On Monday, she appointed Streets Department staff member Crystal Jacobs Shipman as sanitation commissioner, where she will oversee trash pickup, recycling and efforts to curb illegal dumping.

Shipman will report to former Streets Department commissioner Carlton Williams, who Parker named as director of clean and green initiatives, a new position created under her administration.

Parker appointed longtime Streets Department engineer Kristin Del Rossi as commissioner of the transportation side of the department. In that role, she will manage repaving, pothole repair, street lighting and transportation infrastructure.

5th Square, an urbanist political action committee that supports safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, celebrated Parker’s decision to split Streets. The PAC’s chair Steph Davis said in a statement that transportation issues had been “subsumed by the larger sanitation operations in terms of budget and staffing.”

“We are hopeful that this means a shift in how city government approaches our streets,” Davis added.

Parker also announced her decision to hire Debora Carrera as her chief education officer and Sharon Ward as deputy chief education officer, a newly-created position.

Carrera, a Kensington native, mentioned working to achieve Parker’s education priorities, such as year-round programming at schools and building modernization. After spending 27 years in the School District of Philadelphia, she most recently served as executive deputy secretary and special advisor in the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Ward worked in Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration and most recently served as a consultant for the Education Law Center, one of the groups involved in the landmark court ruling that declared the state’s school funding system to be unconstitutional.

“We are at a turning point for our schools,” Ward said. “Our children and adults should no longer have to suffer just with the crumbs, and we will amplify our mayor’s message that our children deserve the whole loaf.”

Longtime municipal government employee Jazelle Jones was picked as city representative and director of special events. She will act as an ambassador for Philadelphia and help coordinate large gatherings, officials said. Jones is married to Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr.

Representatives from the Mayor’s Office said more prominent hires will be announced later this week. Parker made 10 appointments last week and said Deputy Health Commissioner Frank A. Franklin would take over for Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, who is resigning as health commissioner Feb. 15.

“The Parker administration is continuing to take shape,” Parker said at a City Hall news conference Monday. “Instead of focusing on doing things quickly and on somebody else’s timeline, we’ve been focused on putting the right people in the right position to serve our customers, who are the citizens of Philadelphia.”