Berry's Office?

We're told this basement office in City Hall is where new City Administrator Eric Berry is housed, not in City Hall Annex where previous city administrators have been located.

Many years ago, the mayor and city administrator shared offices and staff in the southeast corner of City Hall. Later the city administrator went to the third floor of the Annex, across Watchung Avenue from City Hall.

Berry began work Monday and will probably be on hand for the Dec. 6 City Council agenda fixing session in City Hall Library. He was formerly the business administrator in Trenton.

Berry's hiring gives the administration a full cabinet for the first time in a long while. He is in charge of day-to-day operations of the city, with three department heads reporting to him - the newly hired director of Public Works & Urban Development, Eric Jackson, also a former Trenton official; Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig, on the job since 2006; and Al Restaino, director of Administration, Finance, Health & Social Services since November 2010. In addition, newly appointed Fire Chief Frank Tidwell is part of the cabinet. Hellwig has a dual role as police director in addition to being department head (in effect reporting to himself). The city's new chief finance officer since January, Ron Zilinski, is also a former Trenton official.

City Clerk Abubakar Jalloh was appointed on Feb. 14 and has brought many innovations to his office.

Good luck to the new team in 2012!

--Bernice .