Movers and Shakers – January
Breanna Gallo
Stephen Mhere
The Gainesville City Commission voted Stephen Mhere as the new city auditor. He was one of three finalists selected by BakerTilly, the outside search firm. This appointment will make Mhere the fourth permanent charter officer under the direction of the City Commission. Since 2013, Mhere has served as a senior auditor with the city of Tampa. He also served as an auditor for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment from 2008 to 2013.
Mary Alford
The Alachua County Commission has selected Commissioner Mary Alford to be chair of the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). Alford is currently the vice chair of the BOCC. She has also served as chair of the Utility Advisory Board.
Alford has served on the boards of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Advisory, Alachua County Code Enforcement and several boards of local non-profit organizations, including Florida Defenders of the Environment, the Cultural Arts Coalition and the United Way of North Central Florida. She is a sixth-generation Floridian and Gainesville native. Alford received her undergraduate degree in environmental engineering and a Master of Engineering from the University of Florida.
Leroy Williams
Eastside High School principal Leroy Williams has been named Alachua County Public Schools’ Principal of the Year. His peers in the district selected him for the award based on his resume and responses to questions about supporting teacher and student performance. Williams has been with Alachua County Public Schools for 19 years.
Williams started his career as a teacher at Lincoln Middle School, where he later became dean and assistant principal, respectively. He then moved on to Eastside High, where he was named assistant principal in 2016 and then promoted to principal in 2021. Williams strongly believes in cultivating an environment where teachers, students, staff and the community work together to serve the ‘whole child,’ academically, socially and emotionally.
Mallory Becker
Gainesville High School assistant principal Mallory Becker has been named Alachua County Public Schools’ Assistant Principal of the Year. She was selected for this award by her peers districtwide based on her resume and responses to state-developed questions about teacher support and student performance. With nearly 30 years of experience as an educator, Becker has worked as a teacher and administrator in California and Alachua County.
Before her time at Gainesville High School, Becker was an assistant principal at Lincoln Middle School for four years and principal of the district’s online Alachua eSchool for a year. She has now been the assistant principal at Gainesville High School for six years. Becker strongly believes in providing academic opportunities for students based on their strengths and interests, even developing opportunities for all students to access advanced coursework.
