Assistant directors of the Dallas Planning and Urban Design and Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization departments were tapped to serve as interim directors until the positions are permanently filled, City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced last week.
The surprise departures of Housing Director David Noguera and Planning Director Julia Ryan were confirmed earlier this month. Noguera accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Miami. Ryan is going to be a transportation planner with a consulting firm in Arkansas.
Assistant directors Cynthia Rogers-Ellickson and Andrea Gilles will lead the Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization and Planning and Urban Design departments, respectively, on an interim basis effective Monday, Sept. 25. PUD also recently accepted oversight of the city’s Office of Historic Preservation.
Interim Directors
Rogers-Ellickson began her career with the City of Dallas in 2006 and has since held various positions within the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization. She started as a manager in the Home Repair Program, then promoted to manager of Housing Development, Broandax said in a Sept. 14 memorandum to council members.
Rogers-Ellickson’s experience also includes serving as assistant director in the Department of Housing overseeing budget, compliance and administration. She previously worked for the City of Irving.
Broadnax also announced the permanent appointment of Darwin Wade as assistant director for the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, effective immediately.
Wade has over 20 years of successful experience in community development, federal grants management, affordable/market rate/tax credit development, and neighborhood revitalization coupled with exemplary leadership qualities and skills, Broadnax said. He currently oversees housing development activities through the Mixed Income Housing Development Bonus Program, Dallas Housing Finance Corporation, Dallas Public Facility Corporation, and the Dallas Housing Acquisition and Development Corporation.
Gilles has been assistant director of Dallas PUD for two years, responsible for the long-range planning and community engagement programs, zoning code amendments, city-initiated zonings, and urban design initiatives. Since joining the City, one of her primary roles has been to spearhead the ForwardDallas comprehensive land use plan update, a community-driven future land use vision to guide development in Dallas for the coming decades.
Gilles has over 15 years of community-based planning experience in Texas and the Washington, D.C. region. As an urban planner and advocate, Gilles has focused her work on inclusive community engagement, plan implementation, neighborhood investment and urban design.
Office of Community Police Oversight
Broadnax’s Sept. 14 memorandum also announced the departure of Tonya McClary, director of the Office of Community Police Oversight.
Elaine Chandler was named interim director, effective Sept. 21.
Chandler has served as the employee relations manager in Human Resources since 2019. Prior to joining the City, Elaine served as director of human resources in the healthcare industry where she led strategic initiatives in the delivery of people-related services in a highly regulated industry, Broadnax said.
