PHILADELPHIA — In a major personnel shift for City Hall, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced Tuesday afternoon that Managing Director Adam Thiel is stepping down from his post. He will be replaced by veteran city leader Carlton Williams, who currently serves as the director of the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives.
The transition in the city's top operational role marks one of the most significant cabinet changes since Mayor Parker took office in 2024. While a final departure date for Thiel is still being ironed out, Parker emphasized that the turnover will feature a "warm handoff" between the two officials. Williams' formal appointment is slated to take effect on August 17.
A Departure for the Private Sector
During a press conference at City Hall, Mayor Parker offered a glowing review of Thiel's service to Philadelphia, confirming that the outgoing managing director is leaving municipal government to take a position in the private sector.
Thiel has been a prominent fixture in city leadership for nearly a decade. Before stepping into the managing director role at the start of Parker's administration, he served as Philadelphia's Fire Commissioner from 2016 to 2024. He led the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management from 2019 to 2022.
Mayor Parker credited Thiel with guiding the city through several high-stakes crises, including:
- Managing the emergency response to the deadly medical jet crash in Northeast Philadelphia in January 2025.
- Navigating last summer's major municipal workers' strike.
- Spearheading the city's overarching operational strategy to combat the fentanyl crisis.
Veteran City Leader Steps Up
For Carlton Williams, the promotion represents the culmination of a public service career that began at the ground level—working as a Philadelphia park guard in his youth. Over the years, Williams has worked his way through the ranks of city government, holding executive titles such as Streets Commissioner and senior leadership roles within the Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Parks and Recreation Department.
Most recently, as the head of Parker's flagship Clean and Green Initiatives, Williams oversaw the creation of the "Clean and Green Cabinet," managed targeted beautification projects, added supplemental trash collection days in underserved neighborhoods, and coordinated the city's response to two major winter storms.
"In Carlton Williams, I want you to know that we have a trusted, a tested, and experienced city leader who's already doing the work and excelling at it," Mayor Parker said during Tuesday's announcement.
Williams, who already stepped in to handle managing director duties temporarily when Thiel took an extended leave for military service last summer, said his acceptance of the $300,000-a-year role is rooted in a belief in Parker's long-term goals for the city.
"You just don't take these jobs because of the glamour, you take the jobs because you believe that you can make a change," Williams told reporters. "I believe in her vision of making Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all."
