Gloria Martin-Roberts. Photo courtesy of the City of Harrisburg.
Harrisburg has two new top officials, replacing recently departed city employees.
City Communications Director Matt Maisel told TheBurg that Building and Housing Development and Economic Development Department Director Dennise Hill has left her position and that Gloria Martin-Roberts, a former city council president, has become the interim director.
Additionally, Harrisburg recently hired Joel Seiders as the City Engineer, filling a position that was left vacant when former engineer Dan Snow departed the city in March.
Martin-Roberts started as the interim director of the city’s housing and economic development department on Monday and will retain the seat until Harrisburg hires a new director, she said. In her role, she will help administer federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for affordable housing projects, as well as federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
Hill, whose last day in her role was last week, served as the director since early 2022 and as the interim director before that.
Martin-Roberts previously served as a Harrisburg City Council member for eight years and as council president for two years. She has also held positions as the director of prevention in the state’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, the director of preventative health programs in the state’s Department of Health, the chief operating officer at Hamilton Health Center and as a workforce development and drug and alcohol consultant.
“Building and housing and economic development are things I’ve been consistently involved in,” Martin-Roberts told TheBurg. “These were major priorities for me.”
Seiders, a Perry County native, began as city engineer on May 20. According to Seider’s LinkedIn profile, he has worked as a PA bridge manager for Camp Hill-based Volkert, Inc., as a civil engineer consultant for the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and as a Civil Engineer Consultant for PennDOT, among other positions.
When reached by phone, Seiders said that he took the position, hoping to be able to make a difference in the city and to bring together his various engineering experiences and skills into one role. His priority is to continue ongoing road projects, as well as promote additional safety improvements, he said.
Hill, the former housing department head for the city, became the most recent Harrisburg official to resign in recent months, following the departure of Snow and the announcement from city Business Administrator Dan Hartman that his last day would be on June 7.
According to Maisel, the business administrator job has not yet been posted online, but Mayor Wanda WIlliams is in discussion with interested candidates.
Story was updated to include comments from Joel Seiders.
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