Do you want to become a municipal commissioner? It helps to be friendly with the mayor.

Mr. Hatch’s work experience appears to be a better fit in his new job than that of Ms. Fialkoff or Mr. Gutman, and gives him the kind of interagency knowledge that could help him provide service in his new position.

At the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Hatch, who has worked as an employment lawyer, will lead a campaign to raise awareness and enroll in the federal child tax credit program. He replaces Acting Commissioner Sandra Abeles, who joined the agency in 2014, and oversaw its application and technology divisions.

Mr. Hatch met Mr. de Blasio during John Edwards’ first presidential campaign in 2004; Mr. Hatch was deputy director of state for New York, while Mr. de Blasio was co-chair of the New York campaign. Mr. Hatch then worked as Mr. de Blasio’s chief of staff when he was a city councilor, before embarking on a traveling career through New York and national politics, with stints in the Working Families Party and as a Director of State for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

When he joined Blasio’s administration in 2014, Mr. Hatch jumped from job to job whenever he needed a skilled and hardworking team. In his most recent role, he worked as the ‘Covid-19 public-private partnership czar’, helping to raise $ 100 million in donations for the city’s fight against the pandemic.

Mr. Hatch declined to comment for this story.

The three appointments contrast with other major moves by M. de Blasio this year. He appointed Meisha Porter, a longtime municipal education official, to become chancellor of schools in February; for New York City emergency management, he hired John Scrivani, an accomplished emergency management professional; and in the Corrections Department he chose Vincent Schiraldi, who had worked inside the correctional systems as an operator and outside them as a reformer.

Yet appointing political allies to key government positions is not a new practice in municipal government, or for Mr. de Blasio, who in 2014 appointed one of his fundraisers to the taxi industry to a post of deputy commissioner at the agency that regulates the industry, the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He also appointed his 2013 campaign treasurer to head the city’s investigation department. The Daily News reported that in 2014 Mr de Blasio’s team put together a donor and lobbyist spreadsheet to use when appointing to various boards.

The appointment of a trusted ally to become a commissioner can also benefit this agency by raising its profile and strengthening its influence with the mayor.