Photo: Jake Underwood
Cleveland- Mayor Justin Bibb continues to build his staff and appointed four key positions. Frank Williams as Director of Public Works, Angela Shute-Woodson as Director of Community Relations and Senior Advisor to the Mayor, James D. DeRosa as Director of MOCAP, and Calley Mersmann as Senior Strategist of Transit and Mobility. About the additions, Mayor Justin Bibb said, “I am pleased to share that our cabinet-level and senior team hiring is nearly complete and that we have been able to attract and retain such outstanding talent to serve our residents,” then added, “The four leaders we are announcing today all have experience working right here, in Cleveland, and are hitting the ground running on a wide range of important projects and initiatives.”
You can read about the additions below.
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ABOUT THE NEW HIRES:
Frank Williams: Director of Public Works
Most recently served as the Administrator of the Division of Infrastructure Management for the City of Columbus where he was responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing the division’s operations and activities. His work included overseeing infrastructure planning, capital improvement planning, bridge program management, pavement program management, thoroughfare planning, right-of-way permits, addressing and mapping, zoning coordination, ADA programs, GIS asset management and 311 service requests for infrastructure needs. Frank also served as the City of Columbus’ transportation operations coordinator before being promoted to lead the division. Prior to his time in Columbus, he served the City of Cleveland for more than eight years in the Division of Street Construction, Maintenance & Repair. Frank holds a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from Franklin University and a B.S. in Business Management from American Public University. He is currently working on his Doctor of Education (EdD) in Organizational Leadership.
Angela Shute-Woodson: Director of Community Relations and Senior Advisor to the Mayor
has spent two decades as a professional and public servant in state and county government and has worked with the faith community in civic and social justice engagement for over 25 years. In addition to starting two consulting businesses, Angela is one of the founders of the Greater Cleveland Voter Alliance, an arm of Black Civic Engagement that has worked in the community under the Ohio Unity Umbrella/National Coalition of Black Civic Participation. She also leads Higher Heights, an organization promoting Black Women who seek to run for office. At the state level, she is Political Action Chair and Board Member to the NAACP Ohio Conference and serves as the Executive Board Chair of the Cleveland Branch. She is also the co-convener for the Black Women’s Roundtable Ohio Chapter. Angela served in the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Outreach and worked for 12 years as manager of MBE/SBE at the Cuyahoga County Office of Procurement and Diversity. She has numerous contacts—both locally and nationally—for community engagement and has worked with Global Cleveland, and the cities of Philadelphia, Columbus, Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit. She holds a B.A. from Clarion University and a Master’s in Contract Compliance from Florida Atlantic University.
James D. DeRosa: Director of MOCAP
has served as the Commissioner of the Division of Real Estate for the City of Cleveland since 2011 when this division was created to manage real estate transactions for the City of Cleveland, including leading the team that completed the Towpath Trail project. Previously, he was employed by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority as its system-wide Property Manager and Deputy Project Manager of Real Estate for the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project. Other employment includes City of Cleveland, Department of Economic Development, Empowerment Zone Office as Acting Director and Attorney as well as Staff Attorney at Jones Day. James holds an A.B. in International Studies from Kenyon College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and a Master of Urban Planning Design and Development from Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. He was selected by the German Marshall Fund of the United States as a Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2009. His civic involvement includes the Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Housing & Shelter Board and past leadership roles on the boards of Ingenuity Festival and Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation.
Calley Mersmann: Senior Strategist of Transit and Mobility
most recently served for four years as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator with the Cleveland City Planning Commission, where she coordinated transportation plans and initiatives, managed the creation and development of the city’s shared mobility program and led the Vision Zero Action Plan process to develop a strategy to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities from traffic crashes. Prior to joining the City of Cleveland, she was the Safe Routes to School Coordinator with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and managed the establishment of a district-wide travel plan for students walking and biking to approximately 70 K-8 schools across the city. From 2016 to 2018, Calley helped create the Open Streets Cleveland movement, which partnered with over 75 local organizations to produce 11 summer events on public streets in Cleveland, offering games, music, bicycle programming, and other resources to community members. She currently serves on the Ideastream Public Media Community Advisory Board and the Odum School of Ecology Alumni Working Group. She is also a founding member of the Radical Adventure Riders Northeast Ohio Chapter, a developing cycling group building an inclusive community for riders identifying as women, femme, trans, or nonbinary. Calley attended the University of Georgia as a Foundation Fellow, earning a Bachelor of Science in Ecology, and received a Master of Public Affairs with concentrations in local government and sustainable development from Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
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