Mayor John Street announced the appointment of Vice President and Chief of Staff Pedro Ramos to the position of city solicitor for Philadelphia yesterday morning.
Ramos, a Penn alumnus, will assume the position after current City Solicitor Judge Nelson Diaz steps down on Jan. 31.
"I thank the mayor for the honor of being called to serve the city government as city solicitor," Ramos said.
Ramos said he is looking forward to serving and working to "have the government function as smoothly and effectively as possible with respect to the Law Department."
When Ramos leaves his position in March, Vice President and General Counsel Wendy White will absorb his duties.
"I'm going to pick up the responsibilities that Pedro had for the rest of Dr. Rodin's term," White said. "I will continue to be senior vice president and general counsel."
White said she is confident that Ramos has the abilities and qualifications for the position of solicitor.
"He has a perfect background for this job and was the obvious candidate," she said. "He has the skills and talent and experience to do this job -- he's perfectly suited for it," White added.
University President Judith Rodin also assured that Ramos is prepared to serve the city as solicitor.
"He will be very effective in the city. He knows all the players; he's politically dextrous," Rodin said.
"The mayor is very fortunate to have gotten somebody of Pedro's quality in that role," she added.
Ramos cites his experience at Penn as being particularly good preparation for his upcoming position in Philadelphia's city government.
"Penn is in itself among the most complicated types of organizations that anybody could really be exposed to," Ramos said.
Ramos also cited the direct and positive influence of Rodin as important to his personal and professional development.
"I couldn't have asked for a better mentor and model than Dr. Rodin," Ramos said.
Ramos predicts that his time at Penn will ease the transition to working for the city.
"Sometimes on campus the Penn community doesn't appreciate how vital the University is to the city economically and culturally and intellectually," Ramos said. "Penn is really a very significant part of the city and thankfully in the last 10 years it has played that role."
University spokeswoman Lori Doyle noted that Ramos' position with the city will maintain the ties between Penn and Philadelphia.
"We already have a very good relationship with the city, but it can't hurt," she said.
As solicitor, Ramos will act as the chief attorney for the City of Philadelphia. According to a press release from Street's office, Ramos will serve on the mayor's cabinet and manage all the city's legal activities.
Rodin noted that Ramos will face difficulties when he takes over for Diaz.
"He comes in at a very challenging time in the city and he will be the city's chief lawyer," Rodin said. "So it will be extremely interesting for him, to say the least."
One of the most anticipated problems Ramos will deal with is the FBI probe on City Hall.
Before working for the University, Ramos served as president of the Board of Education for the District of Philadelphia, and was a partner at the law firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. Prior to that, Ramos completed his judicial degree at the University of Michigan Law School after receiving his bachelor's degree from Penn in 1987.
