Saying her work is complete, Esther Hunter resigned last week as Mayor Ralph Becker's senior adviser.

Hunter was part of the leadership team charged with heading up the city's planning department after Becker decided not to retain Louis Zunguze as director of community development and later dismissed George Shaw as planning director.

Since then, Becker has assembled a new team, hiring Frank Gray as director of community and economic development, Bob Farrington as economic development director, and Wilf Sommerkorn as planning director.

"Really, a lot of my work is done," Hunter said Tuesday.

Hunter said she and Becker had been talking for several months about her role with the city and whether she would remain on his staff after this year. Hunter said she told Becker on Dec. 10 that she planned to resign.

"My main focus was getting planning up and running," she said.

Becker made revamping the planning division a top priority, fulfilling a campaign promise and responding to an audit commissioned by the City Council that labeled the division "dysfunctional."

"I don't think all that work is done yet," Hunter said, "but they have some really good people in place now."

Hunter's duties with the city also included working to make city operations more transparent, particularly in its planning and building services functions. That project, too, is complete, she said. The city plans to launch its transparency initiative in January.

Hunter said she plans to resume her consulting and therapy work, as well as her role as a community activist.

"We appreciated the year of service Esther gave," said Helen Langan, Becker's spokeswoman. "We look forward to her continued involvement as an advocate for neighborhoods and a committed member of our community."

The mayor plans to take some time to determine the projects and duties of a new senior adviser, as well as the skills needed to carry them out. It may take several months before the position is filled, Langan said.

---

E-mail: jpage@desnews.com