Freddie O’Connell released a first round of staff picks on Tuesday morning, his second day as mayor.
Campaign manager Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace will be O’Connell’s chief of staff, while Bob Mendes — an O’Connell ally when both served on the Metro Council — will be O’Connell’s chief development officer. Wally Dietz stays on as legal director, and Kristin Wilson will remain as chief of operations and performance, both holdovers from Mayor John Cooper's office. Bonita Dobbins will remain as an executive assistant, and Kathy Floyd-Buggs stays on as director of neighborhoods. Katy Varney, a veteran public relations executive formerly at MP&F Strategic Communications, is listed as an interim director of communications, while campaign spokesperson Alex Apple is listed as deputy communications director. Before the announcement, O’Connell confirmed that finance director Kelly Flannery would leave her post.
The mayor’s office historically runs through a few key lieutenants, who help complement more specialized roles like finance director, director of planning and legal director. Last term, Cooper had staffers like Ben Eagles, Mike Jameson, Tom Jurkovich, Ginger Hausser and Sam Wilcox helping to manage the office’s 30-person team across the city’s major projects. Mendes, Varney and Pomeroy-Wallace will likely make up O’Connell’s inner circle, building on years of experience and relationships across the city to help the mayor further city priorities.
O’Connell did not expound on Mendes’ charge as chief development officer. Mendes ended his second term as an at-large councilmember last month and practices commercial and bankruptcy law at Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison. He led the council’s special committee on the East Bank in 2022 and 2023 and is an outspoken critic of former Mayor Cooper’s deal with the Titans for a new $2.1 billion domed arena.
The mayor did not address the future of other principals in the Cooper office, like sustainability chief Kendra Abkowitz or NDOT Director Diana Alarcon.
