November 8, 2013
By Stephanie West
City Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio has announced the appointment of chairs and senior staff of his transition team. De Blasio named Jennifer Jones Austin and Carl Weisbrod, two civic leaders with extensive public and private sector experience, as co-chairs of the transition. “We’re building a team that’s devoted to building one great city where everyone shares in our prosperity,” said de Blasio. “Above all, I want to create a government with the competence to safeguard the health and security of all New Yorkers.”
“Our greatest source of wealth is the diversity of our people,” de Blasio continued. “We’re going to create a government that reflects the face of our city- the greatest on earth."
Austin and Weisbrod have many years of experience at the highest levels of city government and leading institutions
In New York City. Austin currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. Weisbrod has led top city agencies and public/private partnerships in three Mayoral administrations.
In addition to naming Weisbrod and Austin as co-chairs, the De Blasio transition also announced the staff leadership positions.
Laura Santucci will serve as executive director; and Ursulina Ramirez will serve as deputy executive director. Santucci worked most recently as acting executive director of the Democratic National Committee and Ramirez served as Deputy Public Advocate and senior policy adviser to de Blasio in the Public Advocate’s office.
De Blasio has also launched a web site for the transition – www.transition2013.com.
