Acting Savannah City Manager Stephanie Cutter on Wednesday announced several new hires. Five are department directors:
· Joy Kerkhoff, who most recently served as acting director, has been appointed director of Purchasing, serving beneath Bureau Chief Sean Brandon. Kerkhoff brings almost 35 years of purchasing experience, including service as the city’s assistant purchasing director for seven years, city buyer from 1998-2004; lead buyer at Savannah-Chatham County Board of Public Education from 1995 to 1998; and various buyer positions at the city of Dayton, Ohio; the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority; and several private businesses in Ohio. She is a graduate of Ohio State University.
· Lamont “Yogi” Holman has been appointed Civic Center director, where he will work beneath Bureau Chief Joe Shearouse. He returns to Savannah after previously serving as event manager (2006-2010) and then general manager (July 2010 to Present) of the Bojangles Coliseum/Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, N.C. Holman served as events coordinator at the Savannah Civic Center from 2000-2006. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where he received a bachelor’s degree in sports and entertainment management.
· Jennifer Herman has been hired by City Attorney Brooks Stillwell as assistant city attorney. Herman was a litigation attorney at the Savannah firm of Howard & Whatley from July 2008 to present. While there, she specialized in a wide range of casualty cases, including workers’ compensation claims. She previously served as an attorney in the Philadelphia firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin from 2005 to 2007, and the Philadelphia firm of Durant & Durant from 1999 to 2005. Herman received her bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Penn.; and her juris doctor from Rutgers School of Law in Camden, N.J.
· Daniel Stowers has been hired as Savannah’s new emergency management director. He will serve beneath Chief Charles Middleton, where he will coordinate the city’s emergency planning and response efforts. Stowers had served as planning director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency since 2007, and deputy director of the Chatham Emergency Management Agency from 1999-2007. He is the former assistant chief of the Pooler Fire Departtment, and was enlisted in the U.S. Army from 1989-1999. Stowers received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from the University of Phoenix.
· Cindy Landolt has been hired as revenue director, reporting to Bureau Chief Sean Brandon. Since 2005 she has served as director of Coastal Workforce Services, where she administers federal Workforce Investment Act funds to address unemployment in Savannah and surrounding counties. Landolt previously served as assistant revenue director (2004-2005), management projects coordinator (2001-2004), revenue supervisor (1998-2001), and revenue investigator (1995-1998). She earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Armstrong Atlantic State University, and a master’s in public administration from Georgia Southern University.
· Timothy Sheppard has been appointed Recorder’s Court director. He has served as the assistant director of Recorder’s Court since 2010. Previously he was the deputy court administrator for Chatham County Sate Court from 2004 to 2010. Sheppard earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Jacksonville University; and his master’s in public administration from Savannah State University.