Avondale Estates has named Dave Deiters chairman of the Downtown Development Authority while Sam Collier, last year’s chair, is now vice chair. Meantime Lisa Shortell could become the first city commissioner in recent years to join the DDA, pending a commission vote during its April 23 meeting.
City officials considered adding a commissioner to the DDA back in 2015. At that time Mayor Jonathan Elmore said, “We attended several DDA seminars, where [experts] emphasized [that] we appoint a [commissioner] to create cohesion between the commission and DDA. Our two boards have pretty much operated independently from one another.”
Shortell, who’s lived in Avondale since 1989, is a longtime city advocate and a prolific attendee of the city’s many board and commission meetings before her election last November.
Deiters, a retired CEO of Highland Consulting, has served the DDA as a resident. A city attorney recently ruled, however, that he also qualifies as a local business owner since he runs a consulting business out of his home. Though already a DDA member, Deiters replaces Laura Haass, a local business owner who resigned several months ago. Shortell, if approved, comes on board as a resident.
Rounding out the seven-member board: Treasurer and resident Matt Delicata, local business owner Rachel Herzog, local business owner Allen Kim, and resident Jennifer Joyner.
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