All the mayor’s men and women... home again
By Carole Carlson ccarlson@post-trib.com February 18, 2012 9:28PM
J. Forest Hayes, Commerce Director city of Gary. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
State of the City
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson will deliver her first State of the City speech in a luncheon at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, at the Genesis Convention Center Indiana Room.
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Updated: March 20, 2012 8:02AM
GARY — When Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson began to consider her cabinet officials after sweeping into office last year, she had one plan in mind.
“My overall vision was this was a chance to reverse the brain drain,” she said.
“I wanted to raise the bar in terms of the caliber of individuals who are in public service. Given the challenges we have, we need someone other than me to do the heavy lifting.”
Freeman-Wilson’s administration is populated with impressive resumes.
Chief of Staff B.R. (Brigette) Lane, 37, is a Harvard University graduate, as is Freeman-Wilson.
Corporation counsel Niquelle Allen received a law degree from Vanderbilt University. Director of Redevelopment Valda D. Staton received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and her law degree from Stanford University.
Deputy Mayor Delvert Cole has a master’s degree in public policy from University of Chicago.
What they also have in common is Gary, their home town.
“I thought it was a bonus they were all from Gary and educated in the Gary school system,” said Freeman-Wilson. “They were people I knew of and I had a sense of what they were.”
In some cases, Freeman-Wilson grew up with them. She and Cole played in the band together at Roosevelt High School. She attended church with Staton who Freeman-Wilson described as an early role model.
Team work
The mayor’s new team is still getting to know one another.
“We have a unified sense of purpose, but we’re all competitors. We all want to win,” said Lane, who came home with her teenage daughter from Las Vegas where she managed regulatory compliance operations for a nationwide gaming machines operator.
“It will be interesting to see so many of us coming from the private sector where everything was customer-focused,” said Lane, an Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts graduate,
J. Forest Hayes, 47, is head of the newly created Department of Commerce.
“I’m the one who feels the most pressure,” he said.
The 1982 Wirt High graduate returned to Gary from Washington where he was president of Camden Consulting LLC, a government relations and community development company. Hayes has worked for U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Merrillville, and three other House members.
“This is my dream job,” said Hayes. “Everything always pointed in this direction,” he said of his preparation as a key aide to congressmen and as a lobbyist.
Niquelle Allen, 34, is returning to her hometown from Indianapolis, to head the city’s law department.
Allen and City Councilman Kyle Allen are cousins. Her father is former Gary police officer William Allen.
She received her law degree in 2002 from Vanderbilt University and focused her practice on labor and employment issues at Fleming Stage LLC in Indianapolis. She also launched her own business, a clothing store called Butterfly Consignment.
“I had no idea I’d be in this position. I really love my hometown. I believe my education and experience can be used to make it a better city,” she said.
Deputy Mayor Delvert Cole, 49, has lived in Gary all his life.
“You see things going on and see things that need to be done,” he said early on a snowy morning. Cole had arrived about an hour ahead of his secretary because he wanted to get an early jump on snow-clearing efforts.
A former Indiana state trooper, Cole chairs the Board of Public Works and Safety meetings and oversees General Services, parks, health and the Youth Services Bureau.
Cole was the Lake County Commissioners administrative assistant. He and other top aides now want to change the City Hall culture.
“The challenge is the mindset of our employees, making them more proactive. We’ll start by setting an example.”
Staton, 53, a private attorney for 28 years, has represented the Chicago Housing Authority, and the city of Chicago in complex real estate transactions.
Director of Communications Chelsea Whittington graduated from West Side High School and Howard University with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism. She has a master’s in organizational communications from Purdue University.
Whittington has worked in public relations for nearly 20 years and has served as spokeswoman for the Gary Community School Corp. She’s the sister of School Board member Ken Stalling. Whittington recently worked in public relations for U.S. Cellular in Chicago.
Freeman-Wilson says she’s grateful her team has come together.
“It’s one thing for me to take a leap of faith. I’m at a stage of my life where I can make those decisions to make a pay cut, but for a whole cast of folks to do it is something a special to me,” said Freeman-Wilson.
Reach reporter Carole Carlson at 648-3154.
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