OLD HANDS AND NEW FACES
Indianapolis Mayor-elect Greg Ballard has chosen old hands and new faces to lead his administration. I told you yesterday that Ballard has chosen Westside community activist Olgen Williams to be his Deputy Mayor for Neighborhoods. This morning Ballard is announcing former Indiana Secretary of State Chief of Staff Paul Okeson as his own Chief of Staff.
Also heading up the leadership team are Chris Cotterill as Corporation Counsel, Carolin Requiz Smith as Director of Latino Affairs, John Cochran as Special Counsel to the Mayor, Greg Wilson as Director of Minority Business Development, and Marcus Barlow as Press Secretary. Cotterill is the General Counsel for Indiana Office of Technology and manages the state’s website, www.IN.gov. Requiz Smith is the Director of the office of Minority Health for the Indiana State Department of Health and is an Executive Board Member for the Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs. Cochran is an attorney with John, Lewis, and Wilkins. (Full disclosure, I’m Of Counsel there also.) He served as Ballard’s campaign manager and is also the executive director of the mayoral transition team.
Wilson is a small business owner who has extensive experience with minority MBE vendor programs. And Barlow is currently the spokesperson for the Family and Social Services Administration.
“It is a privilege to have people of this stature work in my administration,” Ballard said in a statement. “We have been charged with making our city safer and becoming better stewards of the taxpayers’ money. This team will make these things happen.”
Ballard has yet to name a public safety director, comptroller, fire chief, and director of the Capital Improvement Board and head of Metropolitan Development. A campaign spokesman says those appointments will come soon.
