The Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs, an access point for policy and community advocates, welcomes its new deputy director, Eddie Bautista. For the last 16 yeas, Bautista was an organizer at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, fighting for environmental justice in low-income neighborhoods. He was promoted to the director of community planning in 1997. In 2003 he won a Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World award, which brought $100,000 over two years to his organization. He never expected to work in government service, he said, but is excited about his new job. “The potential to serve multiple policy and community movements proved to be irresistible,” he said. Bautista will replace Kevin Fullington, who has left the public sector for Herrick, Feinstein, a midtown law firm, where he will co-chair the government relations practice. Fullington spent many years in government, serving as deputy director at City Legislative Affairs for two years, and as the chief of staff in the office of the minority leader for four years.

Ray Brecia was promoted to associate director of the Urban Justice Center. Brecia will continue to direct the center’s Community Development Project, which represents community groups in areas from workers’ rights to economic development. He joined the agency in 1998 as director of its Mental Health Project.

Melba Butler resigned from the Harlem Dowling-Westside Center, a child welfare advocacy group, where she served as executive director since 1990. She plans to continue her work in child welfare by pursuing a doctorate in the Hunter College School of Social Work. She will also be teaching a master’s level course in social work. She began as program director at Harlem Dowing-Westside in 1984, and helped the organization expand its work in Harlem. Dorothy Worrell will serve as the interim executive director, while the board chooses a new director. Worrell has been with the agency since February 1999, most recently serving as deputy executive director.

The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), a member-based housing advocacy coalition, is saying goodbye to Policy Director David Greenberg. His research has helped boost the organization’s affordable housing and Section 8 campaigns since September 2004. He will be moving to MDRC, formerly known as the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, a group that specializes in welfare reform, to research low-wage work and community revitalization in New York City. ANHD has begun a search for his replacement.

Jeffrey Kay was recently appointed director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations. He got his start in government as an analyst at the Office of Management and Budget in December of 1997 and also served as a legislative representative there, before moving to the Office of Operations. He will be replacing Susan Kupferman who resigned as director, a position she’s held since 2002. Among other accomplishments, she helped develop a feature on the agency’s website that allows New Yorkers to review the performance of city agencies in their own area and compare it to others. She was recently named president of the Bridges and Tunnels division of the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Leslie Koch was selected by the mayor and governor to be president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. Koch has a strong record of attracting private sector support for public projects. Since October 2003, she has headed the Fund for Public Schools, the Department of Education’s fundraising division.

After serving as interim commissioner at the Department of Consumer Affairs since last May, Jonathan Mintz has been officially appointed its commissioner by Mayor Bloomberg. He joined the agency in 2002 and he is credited with helping to boost access to the Earned Income Tax Credit, and slicing the business licensing wait time for everything from cabarets to sidewalk cafes by a third in the face of growing applications. Before joining the department, Mintz worked as an educator and a lawyer.