Who’s who of Alexandria will advise City Council on City Manager Mark Jinks’ replacement

A veritable who’s who in Alexandria will interview the final candidates looking to succeed retiring City Manager Mark Jinks.

On Tuesday night, City Council approved the formation of three advisory committees that will interview the final candidates selected after a five-month-long national search.

“We appreciate all the folks from both staff and and from the community who have been willing to step up and help us advise us through this process,” Mayor Justin Wilson said.

The city manager is the highest-ranked public employee in Alexandria, and makes more than $250,000 a year.

Council unanimously approved the formation of a stakeholder (citizen) committee, with two representatives chosen by each Council member, and two employee committees, the latter two made up of rank and file city staff and leadership.

Councilman Canek Aguirre said that there is no Latino representation in the committees.

“Our city is 18% Latino, and yet with the two employee committees, there’s virtually no Latino representation,” Aguirre said. “I know that we have Latino staff here in the city. So, I just want to bring that to the attention of my colleagues, and I know (there is) some work that we have to do in that area.”

The interview process for candidates will conclude this month and a new city manager will soon after be announced, according to the city. City Council contracted with talent acquisition firm POLIHIRE to find candidates after Jinks announced his intent to retire in June, and the new manager is expected to begin work in December/January.

Members of the Ad Hoc Committees and the Council member who chose them are below.

Stakeholders Committee

• Agnes Artemel – (Councilmember Pepper)
• Jennifer Atkins – (Councilmember Chapman)
• Kevin Harris – (Vice Mayor Bennett-Parker)
• Matt Harris – (Councilmember Seifeldein)
• Nishita Henry – (Councilmember Jackson)
• Matt Keough – (Councilmember Jackson)
• Merrick Malone – (Councilmember Chapman)
• Nicole McGrew – (Vice Mayor Bennett-Parker)
• Michelle Millben – (Mayor Wilson)
• Ericka Miller – (Mayor Wilson)
• Mindy Lyle – (Councilmember Pepper)
• Ingris Moran – (Councilmember Aguirre)
• Honorable Joe Sestak – (Councilmember Seifeldein)
• Antonio Tamariz – (Councilmember Aguirre)

Employee Committee

• Rick Aslanian, Department of Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES)
• Carrie Beach, Planning & Zoning Department (P&Z)
• Shawn Brown, Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA)
• Allyson Coleman, Department of Human and Community Services (DCHS)
• Kadira Coley, Department of Finance/Retirement
• Audrey Davis, Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA)
• Capt. Patrick Evans, Alexandria Fire Department (AFD)
• Barbara Farrington, Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA)
• Kevin Greenlief, Department of Finance/Revenue
• Brian Hricik, Alexandria Fire Department (AFD)
• Travis MacRae, City Attorney’s Office
• David Miller, Office of Human Rights
• Sgt. Charlette Mitchell, Alexandria Police Department (APD)
• Tarrence Moorer, Department of Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES)
• Dr. Grace Page, Department of Human Resources/Wellness (DHR)
• Marvin Paz, Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA)
• Rebecca Pica, Department of Information Technology Services (ITS)
• Emily Poly, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
• Keia Waters, City Clerk’s Office
• Dana Wedeles, City Manager’s Office (CMO)
• Arthur Wicks, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
• Liz Williams, Office of Historic Alexandria/Gadsby’s Tavern (OHA)
• Matt Wise, Department of General Services (DGS)

Leadership Committee

• Joanna Anderson, City Attorney
• Rose Dawson, Director, Libraries
• Pamela Dudoff, Organizational Effectiveness Consultant, Office of Organizational Excellence (OOE)
• Kate Garvey, Director, DCHS
• Renee Gordon, Director, Department of Emergency and Customer Communications
• Dr. Alicia Hart, ACPS
• Don Hayes, Acting Chief, Alexandria Police Department
• Jen Jenkins, Acting Director/CHRO, Department of Human Resources (DHR)
• Yon Lambert, Director, T&ES
• Dana Lawhorne, Sheriff
• David Lord, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney
• Helen McIlvaine, Director, Office of Housing
• Karl Moritz, Director, Planning and Zoning
• Greg Parks, Clerk of the Court
• Vanetta Pledger, Director/CIO, Department of Information Technology Services
• Gloria Sitton, City Clerk
• Corey Smedley, Chief, Alexandria Fire Department
• Jim Spengler, Director, RPCA and OOE
• Terry Suehr, Director, Department of Project Implementation (DPI)