Editor's note: An early, incomplete version of this post was mistakenly published last week.
A City Hall post that hasn't been occupied since the Masiello administration was recently filled.
Nadine Marrero is the City of Buffalo's new environmental affairs director. Her hiring was effective March 12.
Brendan R. Mehaffy, executive director of the Office of Strategic Planning, said Marrero's duties will include overseeing the environmental review processes for city projects, as well as helping to develop the city's environmental policy. She will be managing several projects, including a few related to the Buffalo River, Mehaffy said.
He called Marrero "a perfect fit" for his office.
Marrero has worked for American Consulting Professionals of NY and has worked on projects including the once-proposed Ambassador Bridge and projects on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
From 2001 to 2006, she worked as a project planner and planning associate for Buffalo Place, where she co-authored sections of a downtown planning document called the Queen City Hub, according to her resume. She also worked for Heart of the City Neighborhoods in Buffalo in 2001 as a housing development specialist.
She is section director for the Western New York Section of the American Planning Association, an organization for which Mehaffy has been an executive committee member.
"To have her experience is going to be really valuable," Mehaffy said.
Marrero is a graduate of City Honors and Canisius College and has a master's degree in urban planning from the University at Buffalo. She is a lifetime city resident, Mehaffy said.
Some of the duties of that position had been performed by Gregory Bernas, who held the title of assistant environmental program coordinator and who recently retired.
Mehaffy said there were about 20 total applicants for the position, which was originally advertised shortly after he was appointed by Mayor Byron W. Brown in 2010, and then again recently.
Because of budgetary reasons, no hire was made in 2010, Mehaffy said.
This The first time around, the job was posted with Grow WNY, the Air & Waste Management Association, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, he said.
As part of the recent hiring process, the city reached out to some of the top candidates who emerged after the earlier posting.
Here's a posting from August 2010.
Marrero's starting salary is $52,142, and the salary range for the position goes up to $61,596.
The Office of Strategic Planning is also in the process of searching for candidates for the job of director of development.
The last person to hold the title of environmental affairs director was James Smith, and he retired in 2004, said Brown spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge.
--Aaron Besecker
Follow me on Twitter: @BeseckerBN
tagged
Byron Brown | City of Buffalo | new employees
