Harrisburg has named Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia business administrator and chief of staff, Mayor Linda Thompson announced Friday.
Mendez-Saldivia, who now lives in Miami, will join the distressed Pennsylvania capital on April 23.
“Mr. Mendez-Saldivia is an excellent choice to help manage city operations,” former Harrisburg receiver David Unkovic said before his resignation on Friday.
Unkovic had called for such an administrator as part of his proposed financial plan. The position had remained vacant for more than two years.
Mendez-Saldivia will start at an annual salary of $110,000. Thompson cannot fire him, according to the financial plan.
In Miami-Dade County, Mendez-Saldivia implemented a billion-dollar capital improvement program for municipal and county infrastructure, while renovating departmental management operations.
He is a registered professional engineer and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami.
Mendez-Saldivia has served as acting public works director for the city of Miami, chief community planning and development officer for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the special administrator for Miami-Dade County Public Works.
Harrisburg is saddled with more than $310 million of bond debt related to an incinerator retrofit project, and last month skipped two general obligation bond payments totaling $5.3 million.
