Carlton Williams to replace Adam Thiel as Philadelphia managing director, Mayor Parker announces

Managing director Adam Thiel is stepping down from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker's administration after more than two years. 

Parker announced the change at a news conference at City Hall Tuesday afternoon. Thiel is going to work in the private sector, Parker said.

Carlton Williams, the current director of the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, is set to take over the managing director role, Parker said. Thiel's departure date is still being finalized, but the transition will be a "warm handoff," Parker said.

Thiel previously served as Philadelphia's fire commissioner. He was also the director of the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management from 2019 to 2022.

Parker credited Thiel with managing the city's response to the deadly medical jet crash in Northeast Philadelphia in January 2025, last summer's municipal workers' strike and the city's strategy for managing the fentanyl crisis

Under Williams, the city added additional trash days in some neighborhoods, undertook beautification projects and created a "Clean and Green Cabinet," Parker said. Williams also oversaw the response to two major winter storms in Philadelphia.

"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 exceling at it," Parker said.

Williams said Parker's leadership is why he accepted the position.

"You just don't take these jobs because of the glamour, you take the jobs because you believe that you can make a change ... I believe in her vision of making Philadelphia the safest, cleanest, greenest big city in the nation with access to economic opportunity for all," he said.

Williams' appointment to the managing role, which comes with an annual salary of $300,000, takes effect Aug. 17.