January 18, 2010: The newest appointee to the General Executive Board (GEB) of the Teamsters Union is Al Mixon, of Cleveland. There have been five vacancies in the union’s top body in the past year, providing an opportunity to add some innovative and diverse leadership, but Hoffa has for the most part appointed more of the in-crowd.

Mixon replaces Carroll Haynes of New York, who retired as head of Local 237 in 2007, but held on to his top post until recently. Mixon was first hired in Cleveland by Jackie Presser, who later became IBT president and was indicted for racketeering in Local 507. Mixon became the principal officer of Local 507 in 2003 and serves as the chairman of the Teamster National Black Caucus; he is presently the only African American on the 26-member GEB.

Other 2009 GEB appointees were Rome Aloise of Oakland Calif., who assumed the positions of his retiring brother in law, Chuck Mack, and Brad Slawson of Minneapolis, who replaced the retiring Cheryl Johnson. With Johnson’s retirement, there are no women as voting members of the GEB.

Two other 2009 GEB vacancies remain unfilled. Walt Lytle, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Jim Santangelo, of Los Angeles, recently retired. Santangelo departed after TDU revealed that the union paid $500,000 to secretly settle a sexual harassment lawsuit involving him.