Rochester Mayor Malik Evans is announcing some changes among his senior staff.
As he wraps up his second year in office, Evans announced a couple of departures on Tuesday, including Deputy Mayor Patrick Cunningham and Corporation Linda Kingsley. They will both retire at the end of this year.
Cunningham and Kingsley joined the Evans administration on January 1, 2022, with a commitment to serve for 12 months, and both will have served two full years before retiring.
Cunningham became Deputy Mayor after a career in the financial services sector. That included a post as CEO of Manning & Napier.
Kingsley has had two stints as Corporation Counsel in Rochester. She held that job from 1994 to 2005, before joining the Evans administration. She has also worked in private practice and taught at Albany Law School. This week, she will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement in Municipal Law Award from the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
Succeeding Kingsley at City Hall as the city’s top attorney will be Patrick Beath, who currently serves as Deputy Corporation Counsel, a position he's held since 2018. Previously, he was an assistant corporation counsel in special federal litigation with New York City's law department.
And the city’s current Budget Director, Michael Burns will become Deputy Mayor. A City Hall press release said that Burns has had nearly 25 years of leadership experience including positions at Regional Transit Service and Harris Interactive.
The mayor also announced two new hires, positions that were included in the current city budget.
That includes appointing Fred Rion as the City’s new Director of Emergency Management. Rion most recently served as Emergency Manager for SUNY Brockport. His previous jobs included emergency management roles with Monroe County.
Evans also announced that Sade McCallan will be Emerging Initiatives Manager. In that role, McCallan will coordinate the city’s efforts about areas that include homelessness, cannabis and healthy food accessibility.
McCallan recently served as a management analyst at the city manager’s office in Waco, Texas.
Evans said that these two new appointments will be crucial to achieving some of his administration's priorities in the coming years.
