Kimberly Richardson has been chosen as Peoria’s next assistant city manager. Monday will be her first day on the job.
“We’re very excited that she's coming on board, she brings some great experience,” said City Manager Patrick Urich. "She understands city government really well. She's been the deputy city manager in Evanston, and really has been very active at the state and national level in public administration.”
The city announced Richardson’s hiring on Friday. Her responsibilities will include overseeing the city’s economic development department, the emergency communications center, and the information systems staff.
“She'll be focused also on supervisory activities ... for the time being, and then as we get into the roll out of the American Rescue Plan funding, she'll be helping us in that effort as well,” said Urich.
During her time in Evanston, Richardson supervised department directors and oversaw the daily operations of the city manager’s office.
Urich said Richardson’s extensive work background, particularly in relation to diversity and inclusion efforts, set her apart from other candidates.
“She has been working in a very diverse community in the Chicago suburbs, and understands the challenges of service delivery in that type of environment,” said Urich. “She has some great background in managing difficult projects. She led reparations efforts that were underway in Evanston and really kind of shepherded that process through.”
Richardson fills the office previously held by Deborah Roettler, who left the position in the fall. Richardson’s starting annual salary is $190,000.
