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News Release

CHESAPEAKE HIRES FIRST HOUSING COORDINATOR

CHESAPEAKE- Chesapeake City Manager William E. Harrell announced today that Jim Liles has been hired as the City’s first Housing Program Coordinator. Liles will begin work in Chesapeake on October 22, 2007.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Mr. Liles’ background and experience to lead this new division,” said City Manager Harrell. “I am confident that he will make a positive impact on every facet of the housing arena here in Chesapeake.”

Liles most recently served as Executive Director of Tri-County Housing and Community Development Corporation in Fowler, Colorado, where he oversaw a three county housing and community development program. Liles also spent 27 years as the Executive Director of the Boulder County Housing Authority, Boulder, Colorado. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Regional & Community Planning from Kansas State University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to share in the growth and forward-looking attitudes of the City of Chesapeake,” said Liles. “I plan to immediately conduct a comprehensive assessment of all phases of the housing picture, from affordable housing to workforce needs to the homeless situation.”

Liles is the first Coordinator hired for the City’s new Office of Housing, a division of the Neighborhood Services Department. The division will have responsibility for affordable and market-based housing, including special needs housing and homelessness. It will also work closely with the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority to coordinate fair housing and affordable housing financing administration. Grant programs such as HUD, HOME and the American Dream Down Payment Initiative (ADDI) will also fall under the new division’s purview.