Mayor Karl Dean announced two staff appointments Friday, naming a new education advisor and tapping a longtime Metro department head to serve an additional role in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development.
Wendy Tucker, a co-director of the Special Education Advocacy Center, has been named Dean’s new senior adviser on education. Tucker is set to begin her new Mayor’s Office position on Jan. 17.
Dean also announced Terry Cobb, director of the Metro Codes department, will assume additional duties as the new director of Development Services. In this role, Cobb will work in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development, led by Matt Wiltshire. Cobb’s first day is Feb. 1.
Tucker, an attorney, has been assigned to concentrate on school reform and special education. As Dean’s new senior education advisor, Tucker replaces Danielle Mezera, who in November took a job at the Tennessee Department of Education.
In previous years, Tucker co-chaired the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Special Education.
“Wendy is the right person to help move public education in Nashville forward,” Dean said in a statement.
As director of development services, Cobb will assist and serve as an ombudsman to business, commercial property owners, developers, contractors and others as they navigate the construction and development process through Metro departments, according to a Mayor’s Office press release.
“Terry has a lot of common sense and knowledge from his 20-plus years as Metro Codes director and his previous experience as a licensed general contractor,” Dean said. “He knows how to get things done.”