Promoted From Within: Skyler, Gibbs New Mayoral Deputies

Promoted From Within
Skyler, Gibbs New Mayoral Deputies

LINDA GIBBS: Has right background. Mayor Bloomberg last week filled two Deputy Mayor positions by elevating his Director of Communications - who will be the youngest in memory to hold the position - and his Homeless Services Commissioner.

Edward Skyler, who has been serving as Mr. Bloomberg's 32-year-old chief spokesman, was named Deputy Mayor for Administration Jan. 9, and the following day Linda Gibbs was appointed Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services.

Sharing Shaw's Duties

The latter position is a new one; Mr. Skyler is stepping into the post formerly held by Patricia Harris, whom the Mayor named his First Deputy Mayor last month. For all practical purposes, however, the two new deputies are dividing up the portfolio previously handled by Marc V. Shaw, the departing Deputy Mayor for Operations.

Mr. Skyler will assist the Mayor in managing the Police and Fire Departments and Office of Emergency Management, as well as the Offices of Labor Relations and Management and Budget. He will directly oversee other key agencies including the Departments of Sanitation and Citywide Administrative Services. All those agencies were previously Mr. Shaw's responsibility.

ED SKYLER: A big step up. Ms. Gibbs will assume oversight responsibility for the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which previously was the province of Deputy Mayor for Policy Dennis M. Walcott. But the other major agencies that will report to her - the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Human Resources Administration, the Administration for Children's Services, Homeless Services, and the Correction and Probation Departments - all had been Mr. Shaw's responsibility.

Confidants Advance

The moves continued a shakeout of Mr. Bloomberg's top aides that began when the Mayor announced more than a month ago that Mr. Shaw would be leaving for a more lucrative job in the private sector. It continued with Ms. Harris's elevation and that of Kevin Sheekey, who had managed his re-election campaign, to be Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs. Two weeks ago, it was announced that the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Peter Madonia, would be leaving at the end of this month to become Chief Operating Officer of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Ms. Harris, Mr. Sheekey and Mr. Skyler have worked for Mr. Bloomberg dating back to his pre-mayoral days as top staffers at his financial data company, Bloomberg LP. Ms. Harris was previously a top aide to Mayor Ed Koch, Mr. Sheekey worked for the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Mr. Skyler was a mayoral press aide during Rudy Giuliani's second term.

Unrestrained Defender

While Ms. Gibbs is as low-key as she is competent, Mr. Skyler has sometimes seemed to function as Mr. Bloomberg's id.

He initiated a memorably truculent, obscenity-laden confrontation with WCBSTV reporter Andrew Kirtzman a few years ago after Mr. Kirtzman sought to press the Mayor on an issue after Mr. Bloomberg had terminated a press conference.

And when off-duty cops and firefighters angry about stalled contract talks began showing up at Mr. Bloomberg's public appearances - including lunch dates - a couple of years ago and loudly heckling him, it was Mr. Skyler who denounced them as "thugs."

His willingness to take on those he views as Mr. Bloomberg's tormentors has endeared him to his boss, and several veteran government officials said the trust the Mayor has in him will help Mr. Skyler to overcome his lack of experience as an administrator of large agencies. While Mr. Shaw had been the Budget Director for both the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as well as the Director of the City Council's Finance Division, Mr. Skyler's largest administrative responsibility until now was overseeing the 25-member mayoral communications office. He is a protg of former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern.

Ms. Gibbs, who began her work in city government in the late 1980s as a staff attorney for the Charter Revision Commission, worked for Mr. Shaw as a Special Adviser at the Council and a Deputy Director at the Office of Management and Budget during the Giuliani administration. She also served as then-ACS Commissioner (and current Fire Commissioner) Nicholas Scoppetta's Deputy Commissioner for Management and Planning and played a key role in transforming what had been a badly mismanaged agency when they first got there.

Praise From Advocates

During her tenure as Homeless Services Commissioner, she has gotten high marks from advocates for the homeless and helped record numbers of families secure permanent housing.

Both Mr. Skyler and Ms. Gibbs will be paid $184,612 a year.

On Jan. 11, Mr. Bloomberg named James Anderson to fill Mr. Skyler's post as Communications Director and tapped Stu Loeser as his Press Secretary.

Mr. Anderson had been the Associate Commissioner for Communications at the Department of Homeless Services. Mr. Loeser, a longtime political operative who worked in the campaigns of top Democrats including President Clinton, Al Gore and Chuck Schumer, earned a reputation for tenacity as Mr. Bloomberg's chief campaign spokesman last year.