Mayor-elect Parker announces more key appointments, vows to take time to make right decisions

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Two more key appointments have been made by the Parker Administration:  Adam Geer as Chief Public Safety Director and Craig Murphy as Acting Fire Commissioner.

Geer said there is much to be defined about his new position in the weeks and months to come.

“This is an amazing opportunity for the city to have someone who will be able to step back and look at how we can use all our areas for city government, all our community groups to have a common vision on how to support the police department and our other agencies,” Geer said.The position is new due to a charter change approved creating the post.

Geer was the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety. He said he believes that post gave him a foundation for oversight and presenting new ideas on how to improve public trust in the fairness and efficacy of local law enforcement.

“I’ve already worked on a policy as deputy inspector general that looks at tying in crime scene cleanup to beautification, which we know reduces violent crime,” Geer said. “So that’s CLIP working with the police department on a policy that’s interagency work. So, absolutely, I think it’s gonna have an impact.”

Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker stressed she doesn’t want the public safety director and the police commissioner at odds in her administration.

“They are to work together,” Parker said. “Why was it important for me to affirm that publicly? Because we don’t have time or the luxury of naysayers. Anyone who is hoping, or was hoping, or was thinking in any way imaginable that the two won’t be acting in sync, you are absolutely wrong.”

Craig Murphy, who was formerly the First Deputy Fire Commissioner, will at least temporarily move into the commissioner role. Murphy said he never had a second thought when asked if he wanted to take the job.

“This was not a difficult decision to make,” he said “When Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker asked you to serve there’s only one answer: Yes. I didn’t have to think twice about it. I believe in the mayor-elect and her vision for safer cleaner Greener Philadelphia.”

Parker also took time at the announcement to tell critics that she will fill her key positions when she has found the right people for the jobs.

“I don’t care how expert they are,” she said. “No one will bully us into thinking that we will be forced to make a decision until we know it is right for our vision, it is right for our chemistry, it is right for the people of our city and our team.”

She added that some people are the right fit for city government, but not in their current position.

“You can’t be limited to just seeing these people through this specific lens that you are interviewing for,” Parker said. “You should consider thinking of them from the perspective of where else might they add value.”

Parker then went on to explain that she doesn’t plan to run a government with people reporting in traditional ways to the mayor.

“You’re going to see a significant number of cabinet positions that were formally direct reports to the mayor that will not be direct reports to the mayor anymore, and you will see them being directed under very specific portfolios and a different leadership”

The mayor-elect said she’s pushing for more of a teamwork approach to government, instead of the traditional concentration of power.

“My mind doesn’t work that way. We have a team of people with very specific skill sets and talents who are equal. There is parity. There is no big mahoff in the c-suite of the Parker Administration. There are three people [Parker’s chief deputies].”

Parker says her administration’s organizational chart won’t be public until after she takes the oath of office. The administration’s plan for the first 100 days in office is also expected to be held until Tuesday’s inauguration, so the mayor-elect can give a full explanation of her action plan.