Street taps solicitor to be city's new managing director
Pedro Ramos got the nod. His replacement as solicitor will be city's highest-ranking openly gay administrator.
Posted on Fri, Jan. 28, 2005
By Marcia Gelbart
Inquirer Staff Writer
Mayor Street, moving fast to fill the government's No. 2 spot before it is officially vacated, yesterday announced the promotion of City Solicitor Pedro Ramos to the job of managing director.
The mayor also stayed within the confines of City Hall in naming Ramos' soon-to-be-successor, Deputy Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr.
The cabinet-level appointments enhance the representation of Latinos in the city's political machinery. Also, while Street has named gay and lesbian department heads, Diaz now becomes the highest-ranking openly gay administration member.
"When we were looking for a managing director to replace Phil Goldsmith," Street said, "we really were looking for someone who could hit the ground running, someone who understood the goals and objectives of our city, someone who could be a part of the team that we have developed and could handle the challenges of down-sizing this government."
In choosing Ramos, Street filled the job most critical to the city's day-to-day operation with somebody who has less than one year's experience in City Hall; Ramos joined the administration last March.
At the same time, the appointment underscores Street's confidence in Ramos, who is 39. In 2000, the mayor appointed him to the school board, and before that they worked closely together on teachers' contract negotiations.
Ramos also had served as vice president and chief of staff to Judith Rodin when she was president of the University of Pennsylvania. Before that, he worked as an employee-benefits lawyer at the firm of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll.
"I know I will have big shoes to fill," said Ramos, who will start his new position sometime this spring, when Goldsmith expects to leave what is generally thought to be the government's most demanding job. Ramos will earn $154,502, about $1,000 less than he makes now.
"It's really close to a 24/7 position," said City Councilman Brian J. O'Neill. "You have to deal with each of the 17 Council offices, but be loyal to your boss - the mayor - and still keep your eye on the budget."
Councilman Michael A. Nutter said: "You're part manager, part politician... . You are involved in any number of complicated, at times confrontational, at times life-and-death situations, from snow removal, to big fires, to explosions, public policy."
Both men said Ramos was up to the job.
Among Ramos' first challenges may be playing boss to his 20-year-old niece, Ana, who started work in November as an assistant managing director. Her father is Councilman Juan F. Ramos, older brother to Pedro.
Diaz, 58, joined the Street administration in March 2002, and is now chair of the city Law Department's regulatory and government law unit. Known as "Romy," he is to be paid $155,429 annually as solicitor. He must be confirmed by City Council.
Before moving to Philadelphia, he worked primarily in Washington, serving at one point as an appointee of President Bill Clinton at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Street, by acting quickly to fill the jobs, broke with his penchant for assigning people to "acting" positions for long periods before formally appointing them.
As to the finance-director job, vacant for six months, which Street initially said he would fill by the end of 2004, the mayor said yesterday: "We haven't found the person we want. It's as simple as that."