Changes At City Hall As St. Pete Fires 3 Directors, Managers: Report

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The city of St. Petersburg saw an exodus of higher-level employees earlier this month when four directors and managers were fired or resigned, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Marketing director Nina Mahmoudi, who held the position for eight years, resigned Dec. 2.

Meanwhile, three employees — Alfred Wendler, real estate and property management director; Diana Rawleigh, pavement and traffic operations director; and Blair Barnhardt, pavement and traffic manager — were fired from their roles.

Related Stories:

• Deputy Mayor Accused Of Bullying Resigns: St. Petersburg
• Hostile Workplace Prompts St. Pete Spokeswoman To Resign: Letter
• Mayor Ken Welch Appoints 4 To Key Roles In St. Pete Administration

The city wouldn’t comment to the Times on the reasons for their firings.

Patch has reached out to the city’s public information officer, Erica Riggins, for more information.

The firings come after Deputy Mayor Stephanie Owens resigned in early September.

Her resignation came days after the city’s communications director, Janelle Irwin Taylor, stepped down from her role and accused Owens, her supervisor, of bullying.

After this incident, Mayor Ken Welch eliminated the deputy mayor position.

Later that month, Welch announced four key promotions and appointments:

• Riggins, a 20-year news veteran and morning anchor and morning anchor on Spectrum Bay News 9, to public information officer.
• Jordan “Doyle” Walsh, an eight-year veteran of local government in the Tampa Bay area who served as a senior advisor to Welch and as an aide to Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long, as interim chief of staff. (In November, he was officially named chief of staff.)
• Alizza Punzalan-Randle, a nonprofit executive who most recently served as chief development officer for St. Pete Free Clinic as managing director for communications and community engagement.
• Shelly Loos, a veteran stakeholder and engagement executive with national, state and local experience, as director stakeholder and community engagement.