Shawn Townsend, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture, is leaving his role in mid-July, Washington City Paper reported Thursday. Townsend is leaving for a day job in the private sector, though he hasn’t specified publicly which job he’ll be taking.

Townsend, the first “night mayor,” spent much of his time handling complaints about the city’s reopening plan, according to a Washington Post profile on him and his fiancé, Symone Sanders, VP Kamala Harris’ senior advisor.

Townsend is departing weeks after the District lifted the majority of its restrictions on restaurant and entertainment venue capacity that were set in place at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m happy to be leaving nightlife in a place where things are back open and people can get back to work. People can come back and visit the city,” he told City Paper. “I’m grateful for the opportunity the mayor gave me to be in this position.”

Reppin #DCisOpen with my buddy @born2Ieadu! pic.twitter.com/xCRtGmCp7v

— Shawn Townsend (@shawnjtownsend) June 17, 2021

Townsend and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office didn’t immediately respond to DCist’s requests for comment. (City offices are closed Friday, in observance of the national Juneteenth holiday.)

Bowser told City Paper in a statement: “We are incredibly grateful to Director Alexander-Reid and Director Townsend for their dedicated service to our community,” she said, referring to Sheila Alexander-Reid, who is stepping down as the director of D.C.’s LGBTQ affairs office in July. “We know they will both continue to move D.C. forward and improve the lives of Washingtonians in their roles outside the D.C. government.”

Bowser appointed Townsend to the role in November 2018. Previously, he had been on the other side of the nightlife industry, serving for years as an investigator and supervisor within D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. Before that, he was a compliance officer with the D.C. Office of Complaints. He studied journalism at New Mexico State University.

Friends described Townsend to the Post as a “Southern gentleman from South Carolina” and a “cheerleader for D.C.’s cultural scene” who moved to the area as a child when his stepfather was stationed at Bolling Air Force Base.

During his tenure, he advocated for go-go to become the official music of D.C. — which did happen — and was known to visit restaurants and bars in person to ask how he could support them. According to the Post, Townsend volunteered at Hook Hall, where service industry workers got free meals during the pandemic.

Townsend’s parting advice, per City Paper, is for the next night mayor to not call themselves … well, the night mayor. Apparently, Bowser didn’t like the name, which gave the impression that she was only the mayor during the day. Townsend added that publicity is not the point of the role:

“The key to success is don’t worry about the visibility of the office or the work you’re doing,” he told City Paper, “as long as the goal of helping a business or a worker continues to be a priority.”