WILLIAM “JACK” SIMMONS AND LYNETTE DRAWN-WILLIAMSON
William “Jack” Simmons, who has been under fire for months over his management of Allegheny County’s Shuman Juvenile Detention Center, has finally been let go.
In May, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald told the New Pittsburgh Courier that he had no vendetta against Simmons, but that new measures would be instituted by County Manager William McCain in the wake of the January beating of a juvenile by a guard.
Those changes—security being handled by county police, changes to improve overall morale initiated following reports by employees of favoritism, and the county human resources department taking over hiring of part-time staff, previously done in-house—limited much of Simmons’ former autonomy.
As of July 25, both Simmons and Deputy Director Lynette Drawn-Williamson are no longer employed by the county.
William Stickman, an independent Public Safety Consultant who spent 35 years working in Corrections and retired as the deputy secretary of Corrections for the State of PA and recently served as the interim warden at the Allegheny County Jail, has been appointed as interim director at Shuman.
In addition, Lillian Reese-McGhee has been appointed to replace Drawn-Williamson as deputy director, and will start in her position on Monday, August 5, 2013. Reese-McGhee is a certified public accountant with 28 years of management and fiscal experience, and has worked in both city and county government.
Fitzgerald said the search for a new director would begin shortly.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
About Post Author
