Negrin Appointed Managing Director, Official Responsibilies Downsized
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Negrin Appointed Managing Director, Official Responsibilies Downsized
Catherine Lucey
As the Daily News reported this morning, Mayor Nutter today made attorney Richard Negrin managing director.
Negrin, a former member of the Board of Ethics, joined the administration in December as interim executive director of the Board of Revision of Taxes. He will replace Managing Director Camille Barnett, who is set to leave June 30 after two low-profile years as the city's chief operating officer. His salary will be $180,000, but with a 5 percent pay cut due to budget constraints.
Nutter said that Negrin will also hold the title of Deputy Mayor for Administration and Coordination, a reflection of the downsizing of the position's authority since Nutter took office. Negrin will directly oversee several departments, including 3-1-1 and technology, as well as coordinate work between other departments. He will collaborate with the four other deputy mayors, who will not report to him, but to the mayor.
"He is the person who will help to make things happen," Nutter said.
Practically, Nutter's announcement simply clarifies what has been practise for some time. Under the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, the city managing director is defined as the the city's chief operating officer. But in Nutter's government, many of those powers have been handed to the deputy mayors, who up until now reported to both the mayor and the managing director. Barnett largely focused on a few singular projects, like establishing the 3-1-1 non-emergency call center.
Negrin, who said he was humbled by the job offer, said he wasn't concerned about the title change. "Whatever the mayor wants to call me, I'm going to show up," he said.
Nutter said that as CEO of the city, he has authority to determine the responsibilities of his staff. He said he did not plan to seek a charter change to reflect the changes to the position.
Comments (24)
If the position has less authority than previous managing directors, why does Nutter still have to pay him more? Didn't they exceed the law in how much they paid Barnett in the first place?— anodyne- BINGO anodyne! We keep getting mediocre people at high rates an then they don't produce. Seriously, the org chart is way too heavy at the top for this administration!— sbdons1982
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Due to further management revitilization efforts, Negrin also will be named Chief Deputy Administrator and Controller of All Things Important, as well as Minister of the Grand Administration of Titles.- Negrin is a great guy and a perfect choice for the job. If only Nutter would allow him to actually make a decision. Nutter is and has always has been a failure. His election is the product of white guilt. Good Luck Rich-you will need it.— non excidet
- Everybody wants people in government with private sector experience (like Negrin- who had a senior position at Aramark).The guy will be one of the top 3 people, in running the government of the 6th largest City in the country. I think $180,000 is a bargain.— willll
- I am appalled, where are we getting the money? My increased property tax. I understanding there is a hiring freeze. It is do as I say not as I do. This is a joke. The Mayor keeps saying the sky is falling, but he replaces Barnett. He striped down the position to having little or no authority on operating departments. We now have a whole slue of Deputy Mayors and staff that do the job of one. Maybe in good times replace a non functioning high paid position but not when the sky is falling. I also think it sounds pretty slezzee that that Negrin was chief counsel for ARAMARK. Aramark is a major contractor with the City. Where is the transparency?— loue
- If you're not overseeing all of the biggest departments, how is it one of the top 3 people?— anodyne
- Rich Negrin is a stand up guy and I had the pleasure of working with him at the District Attorney's Office. He is an honorable, hard working man and this is a step in the right direction for the City. He could make a lot more as a private attorney and he is taking a pay cut because he loves the City. Rather than attacking him you need to give him the chance that he deserves.— Philalawyer
- Comment removed.
- Does he have any dogs that need to be walked?— union guy
- Philalawyer: Rich Negrin maybe a great and highly competent guy, it just does make sense hiring him at this time when we have a slue of Deputy Mayors that esentiallly perform the function of the MD and the city is broke.— loue
- Bravo! I've met this gentleman who definitely understands the need to be humble. Great Choice by a one term mayor.— anti-tax
- ...and this is a guy who worked for the BRT!— anti-tax
He is a lawyer and a corporate lawyer at that. Prior to joining ARAMARK, he was a lawyer with Morgan Lewis and a deputy DA. This makes him a competent lawyer maybe except he left the DA to go to a private law firm and then gave up a partnership to work for aramark. He is also a member of Congresso's board though I would think he has or will need to resign that responsibility given the extensive contracts the city has with Congresso.... Did we need Barnett? Her performance says no. If not do we another MDO? Do we need another deputy mayor? Could Barnett's responsibilities as few as they were have been distributed amongst the other deputies? Do we need another lawyer or do we need somebody with competent experience and abilities as a city manager to actually help run this city since the current crop people with mayor in their title or councilman in their title can't decide which shoe to put on first.— nebulus- Loue: Street was a Joke. And the DCC should be ashamed for running this City into the ground. I have been disappointed by Nutter to date, but I like Negrin. I believe that if you start having the Mayor focus on cuts in each department (2% is not enough if you ask me) and reducing the ridiculous amounts of waste that occurs every day in City Hall then it is a good thing. I think if you give Rich the chance he can make it a valuable position. If I am wrong and two years later the City is not turned around then Nutter will be out anyway, as will anyone in his admin.— Philalawyer
- Ha Ha, a member of the City Board of Ethics, a contradiction in terms.— sportsnutz
- Excellent choice. Despite what several have said in these comments, Negrin has exactly the kind of experience needed to turn the MD position around, and clean up after Barnett. He never really got a chance to turn things around at the BRT, although by all accounts, he was working on it before the board pulled the rug out from under him. It's funny that he's left behind lucrative private sector jobs to work in public service, and he's attacked for that very same thing. No one (at least no one who actually knows him, it seems) has questioned his ethics or dedication to Philadelphia, so let's see what he can do.— PhilaExPat
- My original comment was about whether this mayor is capable of aligning salaries with responsibilities for the people that he hires and that he wants, and whether he sets an appropriate example when it comes to laying off regular workers and dealing with the unions. But since a number of people have pushed this, what exactly about practicing law would qualify one to be a chief operating officer, just because it was "private sector." In the private sector you don't get to be a COO by being an associate general counsel, and obviously those of you drawing this conclusion don't actually understand management. And yes, he did give up a private sector salary to work in the public sector - when he already went to work at BRT six months ago for an even LOWER salary. So what's your point?— anodyne
- This is another sham hire by Nutter. It's bad enough that Barnett is going to fleece the city for a lifetime pension after less than two-and-a-half years of very little work. Now Nutter is trying to sell us on the idea that Barnett needs a replacement. What a joke!— Boru
- My question - who then is in charge of those do-nothings at the soon-to-be-abolished BRT? Does that fall under his balliwick?— citylumberjack
- @anodyne - General Counsel is not an automatic ticket to the executive wing, but it's not exactly unheard of. Herb Kelliher was CEO at Southwest Airlines, Ken Chenault is Chairman and CEO at American Express, Sumner Redstone - all are lawyers, so something must qualify them. What's more, Negrin was a VP at Aramark, as well as associate general counsel. While I don't pretend to know exactly what his job responsibilities were, that sounds a little more involved (and more managerial/executive) than you're making it sound. I don't really get your point regarding Negrin's salary at the BRT - shouldn't the city's managing director make more than the ED of the BRT? And shouldn't we be paying a MD enough to attract someone actually qualified for the position? My original point (which was not actually directed at anodyne, BTW) was, there is no indication that Negrin will be anything like Barnett in this position. To the contrary, by all accounts, this is an opportunity for a positive change in City Hall, and Negrin, given the chance, might be able to clean up the city's operations. Give the guy a chance.— PhilaExPat
- Follow the City Charter. Let Negrin do the job he is supposed to do and fire all of the useless deputy mayors that are all Nuttin's buddies. Would save several million $.— Smokey
- I almost forgot -it is nice to see that Negrin has a few friends posting for him, but it means NOTHING! He is a NUTTER HACK! WE DON:T NEED YOU!!!!! Join the Pretzel Party and save your taxpayer dough today!— OldSchoolG
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Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns. E-mail tips to brennac@phillynews.com
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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