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May 27, 2010

DHA Announces New Chief Executive Officer

The Durham Housing Authority is pleased to announce the arrival of its new Chief Executive Officer, Dallas Parks, who comes to DHA from St. Louis and offers expertise in all areas of Public Housing, especially the Housing Choice Voucher Program, Procurement, Information Technology and customer service. Mr. Parks holds a Bachelor's degree from Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee and a Master's degree in management from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. He will begin work at DHA on Tuesday, June 1.

Board Chairman Tom Niemann said the Durham Community was fortunate to attract such a distinguished candidate. "Mr. Parks offers DHA an excellent blend of management expertise and commitment to community service that will serve him well in Durham. He led the turnaround at the Trenton, New Jersey Housing Authority, and has more recently been engaged as a management consultant, working with housing authorities in Memphis (Tennessee) and Miami-Dade (Florida). He has previously led housing authorities in Kansas City and St. Louis Missouri.

Describing his goals in working with DHA, Mr. Parks likened his approach to that of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson. "I want to simply throw as hard as I can for as long as I can," he said.

That had particular resonance with board Chairman Tom Niemann. "Being from St. Louis and a big Cardinals fan, that sealed the deal for me. His solid track record of success, his commitment to excellence and his outreach towards the communities he has served were the main things that our Board of Commissioners found compelling. We're looking forward to working with him," Niemann said.

A few weeks after the arrival of Mr. Parks, DHA will bid farewell to Harrison Shannon, the agency's leader since 2005. Mr. Shannon has remained on board to ensure a smooth transition to his successor. "Harrison has guided DHA through some very difficult years, bringing its financial position back to one of strength and credibility as well as driving the completion of its HOPE VI project," said Niemann. "We still have some work to do, but Durham is indebted to Harrison for putting a strategic plan into place and modernizing the agency."

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Contact Information

All media inquiries to DHA should be directed to our Corporate Communications Office. Please use the following contact information:

Jean Bolduc, Director
jbolduc@dha-nc.org
(919) 683-1551 ext. 386 - Phone
(919) 683-1237 - Fax

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