Memphis Mayor-elect Paul Young’s administration continued to take shape this week, with the incoming mayor announcing most of his remaining appointments.

Young takes office Jan. 1. 

The new appointments, if they clear the Memphis City Council, would bring new blood into Memphis city government and include some familiar faces from outgoing Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration, a government Young served in.

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The new administration will also have interims in several key roles.

Walter Person, now deputy finance director for the city, will become the interim chief financial officer. Antonio Adams, the city’s current deputy chief operating officer, will serve as the city’s interim chief operating officer. Melvin Jamerson will serve as interim head of general services, which runs the city’s vehicle fleet, maintenance and real estate.

The interims are just some of the hires to come. The Young administration announced it was in the process of filling a special adviser to the mayor on public safety. 

Young said the interim positions — COO, CFO, and general services — would still see a broader search, and the interim candidates would be considered and other permanent hires. 

In the past few months, Young had announced a handful of appointees.

This fall, he named Tannera Gibson as chief legal officer and Penelope Huston as chief communications officer. Earlier this month, he said he would reappoint Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis.

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However, he had not announced other positions as he looks to complete his staff. Young’s transition team interviewed existing city division directors and other people interested over the past several months. 

The new appointees, and a few modifications to existing positions, include: 

• Chief information officer, Eric Keane
• Chief of policy and programs, Haley Simmons
• Chief of staff, Mairi Albertson
• Deputy chief of staff, Karen Gause
• Special assistant: Community Affairs Director, Dr. Reginald Boyce
• Special assistant: Government/Legislative Affairs, Lydia Holmes Sokoll
• Special assistant/youth services director, Brian Harris
• Executive assistant, Renee Sekander

“We recognize the importance of the work we are tasked with and are building a solutions-oriented team capable of innovative thought and response,” Young said in a statement. “This team will be mission-focused on crime, community, and creating a stronger Memphis — our priorities will be defined by our city’s needs.”

Keane spent 22 years at FedEx in various information technology executive roles. Simmons, who helped lead efforts to secure universal needs-based prekindergarten, comes over from Seeding Success, which has helped oversee that program.

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Sekander, who will be Young’s executive assistant, served as his field director during his mayoral bid, working on his grass-roots strategy. 

Albertson, Young’s new chief of staff, worked with Young when he led Housing and Community Development for the city and served as its deputy director.

Gause, who will be Young’s deputy chief of staff, administered Shelby County government’s $130 million rental relief fund. 

Boyce, the senior pastor at Riverside Baptist Church and head of youth-focused nonprofit Empower 901, will be a special assistant to the mayor for community affairs.

Harris, a school teacher active in Memphis politics who has worked in local operations for Amazon and Best Buy, will serve as a special assistant for youth services.

“We were encouraged by the many high-quality candidates we had the opportunity to speak with during the interviewing and vetting process; both the internal and external candidate pools were exceptional.”

Emily Greer
Co-chair of Paul Young’s transition-team appointment committee

“We were encouraged by the many high-quality candidates we had the opportunity to speak with during the interviewing and vetting process; both the internal and external candidate pools were exceptional,” said Emily Greer, the co-chair of Young’s transition-team appointment committee. 

The incoming mayor will reappoint many of the people he served with when he was a member of the Strickland administration. Division heads and senior-level staff were invited to reapply for their jobs. Most existing directors who were interviewed are staying. 

They are: 

• Chief human resources officer Fonda Fouche
• Fire services director (fire chief) Gina Sweat
• Police services director (police chief) Cerelyn Davis
• 311 director Carolyn Malone
• Animal services director Ty Coleman
• Engineering director Manny Belen
• Gangs-violence intervention prevention (GVIP) director Jimmie Johnson
• Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development director John Zeanah
• Housing and community development director Ashley Cash
• Libraries director Keenon McCloy
• Parks and neighborhoods director Nick Walker
• Public works director Robert Knecht
• Solid-waste director Philip Davis
• Special assistant for neighborhood affairs director Steve Shular

CFO Shirley Ford is leaving city government and COO Chandell Ryan will succeed Young as head of the Downtown Memphis Commission.