RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond’s director of human resources quietly left the post in October, leaving the city with a vital role to fill and the department under interim leadership for the fourth time during Mayor Levar Stoney’s tenure.
Mona Adkins-Easley was named director of Richmond’s Department of Human Resources in May 2021 after serving as interim director since October 2019.
Adkins-Easley is on leave and plans to retire at the end of the year, according to an internal email Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders sent to several city officials on Oct. 18.
“I am grateful for her years of service to the City of Richmond and know she will be missed,” Saunders wrote about Adkins-Easley in the email obtained by 8News. “During this transition, Robin Redmond has been asked to serve as the Interim Director of Human Resources.”
The department oversees Richmond’s workforce, including managing the payroll and benefits of more than 4,000 city employees and filling vacancies. It has had two other interim directors while Stoney has been in office, Korita Jones and Karen Garland.
Stoney tapped Jones, who eventually became the department’s permanent director, after he took office in 2017. Garland was chosen as interim director after Jones left the role.
Redmond has 30 years of experience working in human resources, Saunders wrote in his email to city officials. Her LinkedIn profile says she served as the city’s HR division chief for compensation and benefits for nearly four years before being named interim director.
In his email, Saunders acknowledged it was “an enormous undertaking” for Redmond to take over the department and asked the city officials to give her “some grace.” Saunders added that he would “work to find a more permanent solution” for the human resources department in the days ahead.
City spokesperson Petula Burks, who confirmed Adkins-Easley’s exit Wednesday, could not provide an update on the effort to find a permanent director since the Oct. 18 email, and Saunders did not respond to a request for comment.