Simon Out as Chief-of-Staff, Third Top Staffer Leaves Elorza's Office in 18-months

Simon Out as Chief-of-Staff, Third Top Staffer Leaves Elorza's Office in 18-months

Today, the office of Jorge Elorza has announced that Tony Simon is leaving the Mayor's office. With Simon leaving, all three of the Mayor's top staffers have now left City Hall.

Simon who is the current Chief of Staff "will be leaving his position with the city in order to pursue a new career opportunity. Simon will remain to assist with the transition through the month of August," according to the Mayor's office.

As first reported by GoLocalProv, Elorza's Chief Operating Officer resigned to assume the position of Chief-of-Staff for Governor Gina Raimondo. Previously, David Ortiz, who served as Senior Adviser to the Mayor and Director of Strategic Communications left to join the staff of General Treasurer Seth Magaziner.

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Smiley's position has not been filled and Ortiz's slot was never filled -- he left in August, 2015 after just eight months with Elorza.

Replacing Simon will be Nicole Pollock who  joined the Elorza administration in February 2015 as Chief Innovation Officer and has served as Chief of Policy and Innovation for the administration since this spring. "She has led initiatives to improve and streamline city services, increase data transparency, and measure the effectiveness of the City's processes and programs," said the Mayor's office in a release.

The Mayor's office lacks diversity, according to a GoLocal review of the top staff appointments and department heads show that nearly all are white. Ray Rickman, former State Representative and Civil Rights leader, said this weekend in a taping of ABC6's "In the Arena," that Elorza needs to appoint more minorities to key positions.