Six weeks after taking office, Mayor Levar M. Stoney has begun shaking up the administration at City Hall.

In a first step taken last week, he dumped four high-ranking executives from the administration of his predecessor, ranging from the tarnished director of public works to the long-serving fire chief.

Mayor Stoney did not mention the names of the departed in his Feb. 9 announcement, instead simply naming those who would fill the positions on an interim basis.

As yet, it is unclear what the administrative changes will mean for residents. Mayor Stoney stated that the city “was moving in a new direction” and that he was “excited to see” what the new leadership he installed “can do to improve our government and move our city forward.”

The ousted include:

• Emmanuel O. Adediran, director of public works;

• Robert A. Creecy, fire chief;

• Debra D. Gardner, deputy chief administrative officer, or DCAO, for human services, who oversaw social services, juvenile justice and parks and recreation; and

• Johnny L. McLean, director of human resources.

The mayor named Bobby Vincent Jr., deputy public works director and a 24-year city veteran, as interim director of the department; and promoted Debbie P. Jackson, the city’s training manager for seven years, as interim DCAO for human services.

He also named David Daniels, deputy fire chief and chief safety officer since 2015, as the interim fire chief; and Korita Jones, chief of HR’s compensation and benefits division, as interim human resources director.

Some of the changes were expected, notably Mr. Adediran and Ms. Gardner. Both are members of former Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ church, First Baptist Church of South Richmond, and their hiring led to cries of “cronyism” during last year’s mayoral campaign.

Mr. Adediran was a veteran city employee who served in the top post for public works since June 2015 and earned about $130,000 a year. He had been on the short list to go in the wake of Mayor Stoney’s campaign promises to address complaints about pothole repairs, tree trimming, grass cutting and other issues involving the department’s work.

In addition, Mr. Adediran was a reminder of a scandal in Mayor Jones’ final year in office that grew out of the disclosure that Mr. Adediran was using city time to serve as the volunteer construction manager for First Baptist’s satellite church in Chesterfield. While Mr. Adediran was ordered to forfeit a week’s vacation pay to make up for the city time he spent working on the church project, a six-month probe by the State Police, FBI and Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office ultimately cleared him and Mayor Jones of any criminal wrongdoing.

Ms. Gardner, who made $179,000 annually, had served less than two years in the city post after leaving an executive job with the state Department of Corrections. However, there were never any public complaints from the City Council about her ability to do the job.

The reason for Mr. McLean’s dismissal remains unclear. He joined the city in December 2013 and earned $152,000 annually. At least one member of City Council indicated Mr. McLean did not have the full confidence of the council members.

However, at the time he was dismissed, Mr. McLean was heading a major study of job descriptions and compensation for city employees, who have long complained that wages have fallen far behind those in surrounding counties. While the mayor’s office said the study would continue, it was not clear who would lead the work.

The dismissal of Chief Creecy, who was appointed by former Mayor L. Douglas Wilder in 2005 and earned $143,000 a year, was perhaps the most unexpected change to outsiders.

A 34-year veteran of the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services and one of the few to rise through the ranks to the top spot, Chief Creecy had been in a early retirement program and was scheduled to leave in September.

During his tenure, the department added its first new fire station in South Side in 40 years, began the first replacement program for aging fire trucks and renovated two other stations.

However, the firefighters association, led by Keith Andes, had been calling for Chief Creecy’s ouster, claiming he failed to keep members of the department safe from asbestos during station renovation work and had not done enough to improve salaries, despite the chief’s success in maintaining parity in pay with police officers. The association also criticized Chief Creecy for hiring now interim Chief Daniels.

Chief Creecy, the only one of the four ousted officials who could be reached for comment, would only say that his dismissal “was part of the transition in a new administration.”

Neither Mayor Stoney nor Councilwoman Reva Trammell, chair of City Council’s Public Safety Committee, acknowledged his service or wished him well.

Three of the four ousted officials were awarded severance pay, but Chief Creecy’s was slashed in the wake of complaints about the severance paid to former staff members of former Mayor Jones and City Council.

The city ordinance on severance provides for an official who is terminated to receive one month of pay for each year of service, up to seven months of pay. Chief Creecy was limited to half that amount, while Mr. Adediran was not awarded any severance.

Asked about it, the mayor’s press secretary, Jim Nolan, said that the mayor’s office was not commenting on any decisions involving the four officials.