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Fire
Chief, Director of Neighborhoods and Business Development,
and Chief Information Officer Announced
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz on last week announced the
appointment of a new Fire Chief, Director of Neighborhoods
and Business Development, and Chief Information Officer.
Senior Battalion Chief Brian Byrd will become the city’s
next Fire and Rescue Department chief. He replaces Chief
Luis Santiago, who plans to retire on Aug. 2, 2018.
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Senior Battalion Chief Brian Byrd |
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Chief Byrd has been a Toledo firefighter since 1988. He was
promoted to lieutenant in 1992, captain in 1997, battalion
chief in 2000, and deputy chief in 2008. Chief Byrd is
currently responsible for administrative and emergency
operations of all personnel and resources in a fire district
comprised of six fire stations. He is responsible for daily
staffing, training, and logistics of 19 fire stations and
more than 100 firefighters/paramedics.
Chief Byrd has served as Lucas County Coordinator for the
Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Emergency Response Plan; sat on the Ohio
Department of Homeland Security EMS Subcommittee, and served
as proxy for the fire chief on the Lucas County Emergency
Medical Services Policy Board and on the Lucas County
Emergency Communications Board. He is a member of the
Salvation Army Advisory Board, sits on the board of
directors for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Northwest Ohio,
and serves as the national chairman and local coordinator
for the African American Male Wellness Walk Initiative.
Amy Sackman Odum, of Lima, was appointed by Mayor
Kapszukiewicz as the director of neighborhoods and business
development.
Odum is currently principal of Asodum LLC., a practice
focused on developing strategies for sustainable
communities. The firm’s services include grant acquisition
and management, land bank development, property maintenance
systems improvement, neighborhood capacity building, housing
assessment and planning, and land use development.
She was director of community development for the city of
Lima from 2004 to 2016. In that role, Odum directed,
managed, and coordinated activities of community development
department. Her duties included administration of 15 local,
state, and federal funding sources serving 25 different
project areas. As an active advocate for small to midsize
communities, Odum developed creative scalable partnerships
for land management, neighborhood design, and economic
development.
Anne Bennett, the former chief information officer for the
Toledo Museum of Art, was appointed as Toledo’s new Chief
Information Officer. Bennett supervised the museum’s
information technology from 2013 to 2017. She is currently a
consultant with Great Lakes Information Architects, a
boutique consulting firm. Bennett was chief information
officer for The Andersons Inc. in Maumee from 2007 to 2013.
“These three individuals are all committed to the people of
Toledo and my administration’s mission of making Toledo the
best possible city,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said. “Chief Byrd
is a veteran of the Toledo fire and rescue department while
Ms. Bennett and Ms. Odum bring new and innovative ideas from
the private and public sectors. They join a dynamic,
diverse, and talented team that has been assembled to make
sure Toledo is a successful city.” |
