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Staff changes for Stenger, Slay

Saint Louis, Mo. — St. Louis County Executive-elect Steve Stenger continues to hire staff for his coming term while St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay appointed a new Director of Human Services.

Cordell Whitlock was a news anchor and reporter for KSDK in St. Louis for nearly a decade before stepping down in 2009. Whitlock has been tapped as Communications Director for Stenger, whose term officially begins on January 1, 2015. Mike Chapman, currently legislative assistant for St. Louis County Councilwoman Colleen Wasinger, will serve as Stenger’s Director of Operations.

Chapman boasts a lengthy resume in management, with work experience at Missouri’s Department of Public Safety and in Washington D.C. at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff and the Department of State.

In the City of St. Louis, Slay appointed Eddie Roth as the new Director of the Department of Human Services. Roth is Slay’s current deputy chief of staff and replaces Bill Siedhoff, a stalwart member of the Slay cabinet. Siedhoff served in the position for more than 13 years. Roth has his own extensive background with Slay and is a former Director of Operations and Director of the Department of Public Safety.

“Eddie Roth is a compassionate person and an energetic and effective administrator,” Slay said in a statement. “St. Louis is the primary provider of homeless services in the region. I’ve asked Eddie to quicken the metabolism of the system, to build on the work of Bill Siedhoff and his staff, to help homeless service providers and their clients succeed as good neighbors, and through rapid re-housing to help provide lasting alternatives to the street.”

The Department of Human Services has five divisions including Homeless Services, the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, Veterans Affairs, Youth and Family Services, and the Office on the Disabled. City officials said Roth would oversee the department’s $23.3 million annual budget, which includes $21.6 million in grant funds.