Calling it the first official act of his administration, mayor-elect Kasim Reed introduced Peter T. Aman as his COO.
Aman will lead the executive management of all of the city’s departments, including, police, fire, aviation, watershed management, parks and recreation and human resources.”
“Peter has the expertise and ability to help lead our city government as we strive to improve city services,” Reed said.
Aman, who is a partner in the consulting firm Bain & Company, is no stranger to the city and how it works. Beginning in 2002 his company provided $7 million in pro-bono services to the city, which included developing a turnaround plan and creating an economic development plan for the city.
Aman said he was eager to follow Reed’s election promises of increasing public safety, fixing the city’s pension problems, improving service delivery and opening the recreation centers.
“We want to set a clear vision and targets,” said Aman, who has lived in Atlanta since 1996. “And people will be held accountable. We want to build the best team from inside and outside of the city.”
Reed’s hiring of Aman appears to be the first step in putting together that team. He said that within the next “24-48” hours, he would be naming a new interim police chief to take over for Richard Pennington. On Friday, he said he would announce his plans on hiring a permanent chief.
With Aman’s arrival and the naming of a new chief, Reed is moving forward as mayor-elect, despite a looming threat from Mary Norwood to call for a recount. Norwood lost last week’s election by a little more than 700 votes, and although Reed was officially certified on Saturday, she can still call for a recount under state law.
“As of right now, I am the mayor-elect and everything that she is doing is to reverse the vote,” Reed said. “If I were sitting in a room not doing anything that would be the height of irresponsibility.”
