UPDATED: Taveras Makes Three Senior Appointments

UPDATED: Taveras Makes Three Senior Appointments

Providence Mayor-elect Angel Taveras announced yesterday he had made three new appointments to his administration.

Taveras said he had chosen former Providence Business News reporter David Ortiz to serve as Press Secretary and would retain two current directors—Pleshette Mitchell as Director of the Office of Neighborhood Services and Sybil Bailey as Director of Human Resources.

“Sybil and Pleshette are capable, valued members of the administration and I look forward to working with them both beginning on January 3,” said J.R. Pagliarini, the mayor-elect’s incoming Chief of Staff.

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Press team

Ortiz, who currently is the Director of Development for AS220, will work under Melissa Withers, the incoming Communications Director.

“I am ecstatic to welcome David Ortiz to our team as Press Secretary,” said Withers. “David is a former reporter who understands the news cycle. As an active member of the community he's also someone who knows Providence and what makes the City unique. I've always been impressed by his skills and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work side by side.”

Round of minority appointments

The appointments are the first Taveras has made since GoLocalProv reported that most of his initial appointments were non-minorities—in contrast to his predecessor, David Cicilline, whose first picks were minorities.

All three of the appointees yesterday hailed from minority groups. Ortiz is Latino, while both Mitchell and Bailey are African-American women, according to Taveras spokeswoman Arianne Lynch.