A Man of Many Hats

As of today, Al Restaino will have three titles when he becomes acting city administrator in addition to heading the largest of three city departments and also retaining his original title as director of the Office of Community Development in another department.

As acting city administrator, he will be in charge of all day-to-day operations in the city through the end of the year, as appointed by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, who appointed herself for the role after the Sept. 23 departure of City Administrator Eric Berry.

As department head, he is in charge of Administration, Finance, Health and Social Services, which includes fifteen divisions. Originally just including fiscal operations such as tax collection, tax assessment, audit & control and purchasing, the department received health and social services in a reorganization under former Mayor Mark Fury. Most recently, IT and media were added to the department.

The Office of Community Development is responsible for submission of Community Development Block Grant requests to Union County. Click here for a link to all aspects of the division, which is in the Department of Public Works & Urban Development and was formerly Restaino's full-time job.

Restaino will receive one salary for all the varied responsibilities. Normally when a director is also acting city administrator, he or she receives the salary connected to the higher office. All three department heads report to the city administrator.