SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore! Michael Bell, appointed by Mayor Nutter eight months ago to revamp the city's office of minority-business participation, was fired Tuesday after questions by the administration about his competence.
"There wasn't as much progress made in his portfolio as we would have liked," Nutter spokesman Doug Oliver said yesterday. "Given the importance of increasing minority-business participation and ensuring that economic opportunity is available to all, now was the appropriate time to make the change."
In a high-profile move, Nutter had put Bell in charge of helping minority-owned businesses obtain more city contract work. He was named head of the newly established Office of Economic Opportunity, which replaced the ill-reputed Minority Business Enterprise Council and is part of the city's Commerce Department.
Under Mayor John F. Street, the council became a source of embarrassment for its lack of monitoring and enforcement. It was at the center of the City Hall "bug" investigation into suspected pay-to-play political corruption in the awarding of city contracts.
A 17-year city employee, Bell earned $86,553.
His departure is the latest in a series of shake-ups at the Commerce Department, the largest being the resignation of director Andrew Altman. Altman, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, left this week for a position leading efforts to revitalize East London after the 2012 Summer Olympics.
On Tuesday, Nutter appointed Alan Greenberger, executive director of the Philadelphia Planning Commission, as Altman's temporary replacement. Nutter also announced a new position - chief operating officer of the Commerce Department - and named Kevin Dow to fill it.
There was no mention of Bell's departure.
Under Bell, who reported to Dow, the Economic Opportunity Office failed to issue a strategic plan for the office that was expected to be released Jan. 31.
Oliver said that no decision had been made yet on whether anyone would succeed Bell, but that the mayor's commitment to improving minority business participation was intact.
The personnel change "was an effort to ensure the office keeps the high profile it needs, and that everyone understands its level of importance in this administration," he said.
Separately, the administration is losing another senior official this week.
Wadell Ridley Jr., executive director of the Mayor's Office of Community Service, submitted his resignation last week, effective tomorrow.
He said in an interview yesterday that he was leaving for a new job. "At this time I cannot disclose what it is. However, it is the best thing for my family and I," Ridley said.
Hired 18 months ago at the start of the Nutter administration, he had a $91,361 salary and oversaw 90 employees and a $12 million budget.
Ridley previously worked as an assistant vice president of government relations for St. Joseph's University.
"It's our sense that even in a short period of time, he is leaving MOCS in a much better place than where he found it," Oliver said.
Contact staff writer Marcia Gelbart at 215-854-2338 or mgelbart@phillynews.com.
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